Topic: Official *Phantom Console* News

[nonjagged]

http://www.gamerfeed.com/index.php?story=3616

Im gonna keep an eye out on this technology. In my opinion it is ahead of its time and all consoles will implement the same ideas as this console, its just that eg. Nintendo isnt supporting this concept because the BB or greater infrastructures are not completely out there.

I might even buy one of these consoles if bigname PC developers support it. Its all a matter whether or not IL make any idiotic public announcements against Nintendo, then I will keep an eye out on the console and its progress.

If anyone finds any decent links in future just drop em in this thread.


...and remember its OK to support competition like IL, when competition shows respect to Nintendo by not aggrevating Nintendo's fanboys in any way.

Rule of thumb its not OK to support arrogant n00bs like M$.



Fixed link and now got the right one

[manunited4eva22]

Wrong link there buddy.

[mouse_clicker]

But I don't like supporting competition regardless of their opinion of Nintendo when their product doesn't appear to be worth my money.

[BlkPaladin]

The problem with supporting the competition is that they are going to have pay royalities to use the different emulations to the respective companies and if they don't it would be infringment and if they do expect the system to cost more than most computers.

[nonjagged]

http://www.gamerfeed.com/index.php?story=3616

Its actually better to wait until the competition actually showcases the platform in an official capacity before you actually claim it doesnt appear to be worth your money.

My friends own Xbox's and the past few months they have spent full retail on endless piles of rehashes or dodgy crud B grade software which amazes me the torment they are going through until the Halo2 in 2004.

If my friends owned a Phantom which is naturally more powerful hardware being newer technology (and upgradeable) then they (friends) wouldnt be paying full retail for software but instead paying cheap as chips and hiring the average software to play it just once (game rentals through BB), hence saving hundreds of dollars per year and not having to trade dodgy games to Electronic Boutique only to be ripped-off severely and not having to go visit the dodgy Blockbuster stores that are cozy in bed with Sony.

The law of common sense.  Xbox is going to keel over. The Phantom is the alternative platform to the PC platform IF as I stated some big name PC developers get behind it. Phantom naturally would need a decent controller also but Im sure it wont be some hideously gigantic Duke of a Dud.

Surely John Carmack is not in M$'s pocket?
Surely Valve is not in M$'s pocket? I heard HL2 wont be on Xbox is is it temp exclusive on PC for a good while?

Naturally as I stated I will keep an eye on the progress until IL decide to launch and somehow with pure stupidity somehow start publically bashing Nintendo and or the Gamecube, then I will always give competition a chance to show what they can offer.

[JB]

I am convinced the Phantom is a hoax. The original site had an "extranet" link instead of an intranet link for employees.  The domain name infiniumlabs.com is registered to an individual, not a company. The Phantom is supposed to be have cross-platform compatibility. The only current way of achieving this is by basing the hardware on Yoshi's Box.  The IP-adres used to host the site belongs to IBM's Raleigh research center. Don't be taken in by this hoax!  

[JB]

IGN also believe it is a hoax. Look for the letter "All About Phantom".  

[JB]

Also there are no phone listings to be found for Infinium Labs in any of the cities where the company is supposed to have headquarters. The address in the whois-directory for the site is that of a person and not a company, which is easy to find out based on the phone listings.

[manunited4eva22]

heh, also his address 5380 is if  you convert it to number-alphabet is ech0. Very clever.

[JB]

You're right, that's probably not even his real address, altough it does appear that he lives near there.

[Oldskool]

Personally, this sounds like a system that plays those cheap flash and shockwave games... and I also think those games suck.b

[Cooolcorey]

Assuming that this was a real console, it would flop. On their site recently they were looking for beta testers. One of the requirements was that you had a 1.5 Mbps connection. Do you know how many people have that kind of speed? Not very damn many. Many cable users don't even get 1 Mbps.

So... if they were to release games with graphics/sound/length comparable to current consoles, then their games would be running around 1 gigabyte. To download a gigabyte on a 1 Mb connection would roughly take 120 minutes. If you thought the Playstation's loading times were bad, now you'll have to wait two hours for your game to download. Not my idea of fun.

Of course. if they don't release comparable software, then it'll flop anyway.

[nonjagged]

gamerankings.com had an article on The Phantom.
Its a PC pretending to be an Xb0x ....LOL.
Or the other way around?


will insert link here (brb)

[nonjagged]

Darn I did a search for the link (article is a few days old) and this is what came up:


Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC Drivers error '80040e14'

[Microsoft][ODBC SQL Server Driver][SQL Server]Full-Text Search is not enabled for the current database. Use sp_fulltext_database to enable full-text search for the database.

/itemrankings/news.asp, line 65

[nonjagged]

OK heres the article:

http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/launchnews.asp?newsid=86540

[KDR_11k]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/31709.html

Yet another article...

[JB]

I still don't believe it, the chance that they would ever get their $25 million investment back is very small.  There won't be many people that can subscribe to this service because of the bandwith requirements.  Asking people to pay for a pc(which is what it is) and then asking them to pay a monthly fee to be able to use it is ridiculous and I think a lot of people would agree with me. Then again, this would only be a problem if this was a real "console".

[JB]

The day that the Phatnom console was to be officialy unveiled(according to their website) has come and gone, and nothing has happened.  The fact that, according to what it says on the website at this time, was supposed to be unveiled at a the Ultimate Gamers Expo, an event that was rescheduled for next year(the website still has the expo listed as taking place on 13-16 of August 2003), seems to point into the direction that this console is actually a fake.  

[Djunknown]

Well looks like this "HoaX" has shown its teeth. Check out the specs (Courtesy of Gamespot.com):

Custom OS running Windows XP kernel
3.0GHz processor
256MB DDR RAM
Nvidia video card
Intel motherboard
Dolby Digital 7.1 surround sound
100GB+ internal storage
Onboard RF wireless modules
S-video, RCA, component video, and PAL support
10/100 baseT Ethernet
Wireless controller
Wireless keyboard and mouse
2 USB ports
4 controller ports
12' port extension cable

Optional Components:
Controllers, wireless and corded
Keyboard and mouse with charging base station
Storage expansion for additional game storage
DSL modem
Cable modem
Wireless WIFI card
Memory upgrades
Speaker sets
Flat-screen display

Now THAT'S some power. Unless they want to look REALLY dumb, they're gonna press onwards. Looks like they took a page from Nintendo's book concerning Wireless peripherals. But with all that power, must come a hefty price. And I don't mean like XboX was 400 at Launch expensive, but it might reach over a thousand dollars. Now Infinium has stated they will sell models to fit your wallet, so if you want the power, you gotta pay the piper. Not to mention that Infinium has said you can ONLY get it online (No deals with retailers therefore getting a lion's share of profit.) and that it has 250 publishers and Developers currently "Interested."

My analysis/opinion? They aren't getting off the right foot by advertising with NO original content. By not getting it in a store means you are probably limiting people from A)Seeing it in action B)Taking it home right away. It looks like they're gonna have to pull a PS1 by having almost 100 percent 3rd party support for a while,until they have enough money (and interest) to make their own studio. Tecmo seem to be power whores, will they jump from MS's boat into the Phantom Zone? (yeah yeah cheap pun) The thing here is that they aren't really aiming for a killer app a la Halo, but for more of an exclusive experience akin to XboX Live. Will that entice gamers?

As with all newcomers, I'm skeptical about how far and how long are they willing to stay. With a new crop of contenders (EGM has an article in August issue), its history repeating itself. (Think back to the 90's, CD-i, 3DO, Sega CD, 32x, Virtual Boy, etc etc.) I for one will not make that crapshoot at launch, I'll let the brave (and rich) souls test the waters.
 

[rpglover]

this console seems more interesting every time i read about it, but i just dont think that something like this can do good
first of all, those specs are really really high- on a high end computer with those specs, you could pay upwards to 1500 dollars for something like that- the thing i dont think will work is the way you get games- i just have a feeling that infinium labs will loose a crapload of money on this- mostly due to pirating- they claim to get games you go to their server and get the games you want- they download onto you machine and then infinium bills you for the game depending on how large the game is- for some reason i just have a feeling that hackers will find a way to get around the billing system and get the games direct and put them right on to the system- that would loose infinium a lot of money not to mention the publishers and developers of the games themselves- maybe it wont happen but i just have that feeling

[KDR_11k]

They suffer from the same delusion as Bill Gates(*): The belief that every single home has unlimited broadband access.

(*): I'm not only referring to XBox Live, but some of his quotes and "future visions" as well.

[JB]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
They suffer from the same delusion as Bill Gates(*): The belief that every single home has unlimited broadband access.

(*): I'm not only referring to XBox Live, but some of his quotes and "future visions" as well.

I'm sorry, but the only people being delusional are the people who still don't believe that the Phantom is a big hoax. If you go to the website and view the html-source of the pre-register page you will see that the form on that page was never meant to be sent anywhere at all(if you know how html-forms work, that is). Think about it, why would Infinium Labs not want to receive reservations of their console from people? The most likely answer is because the Phantom is a hoax. There is a thread over at the C&VG website where the Phantom is being discussed. In that thread a few mistakes were pointed out in the "design" of the console when compared to the technical specs of the machine. I think the Phantom is either someone's school project or someone just having a big laugh.

[Grey Ninja]

Well, I did notice that the console features built in DSL and cable modems, yet accepts a RJ-45 jack instead of the appropriate plug-ins.

Even if it's not a hoax (which I am sure it is), I still ain't buying it, and it would be a toss up if I hated it or the Xbox more.  I think I would still hate the Xbox more, based on it's manufacturer, and its opening up the way to more PCs hidden in a box such as this one.

[KDR_11k]

I never believed this thing was real. The first time anyone ever linked to that page I already thought "HOAX". What angers me even more is that I confuse Infinium for Infineon too often! Seriously, with those claims only the POTUS could think it's real.

[vudu]

it's been a while since we heard anything about the phantom, but it turns out some (really bad) pictures were released today.  now, more than ever, i am sure this thing is a hoax.  no one could possible take 4 pictures of anything and show so little.

phantom images