Oh yeah, [H] won against Infinium yesterday....

[Pete]

Yes, they've captured that Stormtrooper look quite nicely.

OMG, look out! It's Vader!

/me flees Xbox 2

Seriously, unless they price this thing at DVD player level, I don't see them making much headway. Actually, wasn't there some sort of DVD player + games machine a while back? That didn't get too far, either. It's an intriguing prospect--at least from their bank account's POV--but I think it's five years ahead of its time. Then again, in five years MS, Sony, and Ninty may be so entrenched in online gaming that they'd have a much harder time getting in the door.

So, do I consider the Phantom as a media hub that can game? I'm not that tempted, to be honest, but who knows? Depending on the content they provide, they may make it interesting. Heck, if they could make it some sort of PVR and intro it with networked Tetris, Bomberman, etc. at the price of a regular TiVO ... well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Their first order of business is to arrange some sort of lotto-like payment plan with Kyle ($1000 a year over 200 years).

 

[ChrisRay]

Didnt Panasonic's 3DO play movies and games? I remember having one a way while back after the console flopped. I forgot what we did with it. But it played Dragons Lair perfectly.

Sorry for the off topic bit. Pete just made me think.

 

[Pete]

Oddly enough, Panasonic's GameCube also offered DVD playback where Ninty's didn't. But I'm thinking of something else, that came out after the 3DO and M2, sometime around the Jaguar, IIRC. For some reason I think it starts with a "V."

 

[Tim Murray]

I remember it, it was a DVD platform that offered some sort of weird proprietary gaming tech. failed miserably. don't know if there were even any games after launch.

 

[Pete]

Found it. It was the Nuon, and it was released a mere six years after the Jaguar. No cigar for me.

 

[FrgMstr]

I expect a thesis-length rant from WaltC on this topic. 8)

No rant, as it's hardly worth the trouble...

But I will say...it's amusing to see what some characterize as a "victory" (esp. frgmstr as he does here), because all I see is that IL has dropped its suit against [H]. Generally in civil court cases of this type a "winner" can only be declared in one of two ways. Either a judge or jury reaches a finding and a judgment is levied against the defendant, or else a settlement between the parties is reached and the case summarily dismissed on account of the defendant and litigant coming to a formal agreement which ususally includes, but does not have to, financial renumeration of some kind.

Therefore, I would characterize this as [H] being "let off the hook" as opposed to a victory of any kind for either party, since no finding was reached by a civil court and no settlement between the parties occurred, hence no one can literally be said to have "won." Looks like to me that IL simply got tired of the whole thing and dropped its suit unilaterally and quite independently of any civil court decree or judgment against any party or in favor of any party.

There certainly were "winners" here, though. As I said from the start, the lawyers are the winners and the nitwits on both sides who listened to them in the first place were the losers, without a doubt, as only the lawyers involved in these proceedings will pocket anything from them, of course...

So at long last I think we can say, "cut, print, and wrap it," to signal the end of one of the most ridiculous and lunatic PR demonstrations it's ever been my displeasure to observe... Thank goodness.

Now, all that remains to be seen is whether IL is populated by the crooks and charlatans [H] has constantly implied, or whether there will actually be a Phantom console after all. I see it this way: regardless of the suits being dropped by both sides, [H] can only legitmately claim "victory" if the Phantom never materializes; but if it does then I can't see how [H] should do more than apologize humbly for its crass pomposity...

Once again you drone on without really paying attention to the facts. I know, I know...you have trouble with the real world outside of the Matrix-esque dream world you create in your head. Let me help you with the real world though.

No suit was "dropped" by IL or [H]. Be clear on this. KB Networks WON. Go read the Federal Judge's order posted at the link below.

http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTEwNDg3NjUxMEVmbXUwTVdKRHZfMV8xX2wuZ2lm

The fact is that we sued them for declaratory judgment. Their giving up was in fact the release from liability that we were suing for. Nothing was "dropped" and nothing was "settled" by either side. IL was the party being sued so they could not just “dropâ€￾ the suit. Our story stands as posted and a United States Federal Court ordered that KBN was not in the wrong as charged repeatedly by IL both publicly and privately.

That is 100% victory in my book.

We posted all supporting documentation about what happened and I think the person characterizing things wrong is you.

 

[FrgMstr]

Sorry about restating what others had already pointed out.

I will add though...

If Walt thinks I am nuts for spending 200K to stand up for my rights, he would have really given both barrels to folks like Benjamin Franklin and a few others a couple hundred years back.

 

[K.I.L.E.R]

Since you're a millionaire, can I borrow $100,000? Please?

Sorry about restating what others had already pointed out.

I will add though...

If Walt thinks I am nuts for spending 200K to stand up for my rights, he would have really given both barrels to folks like Benjamin Franklin and a few others a couple hundred years back.

 

[FrgMstr]

Since you're a millionaire, can I borrow $100,000? Please?

Sorry about restating what others had already pointed out.

I will add though...

If Walt thinks I am nuts for spending 200K to stand up for my rights, he would have really given both barrels to folks like Benjamin Franklin and a few others a couple hundred years back.

I am not a millionaire or anything close to it. Would it make you feel better to tell you that I am 37 years old and that I have spent everything I have ever saved in my life on this lawsuit? That means our 401Ks, stocks & bonds, mutual funds and every cent of cash I had. I am also still over $30,000 in debt to the lawyers at the time of last billing and that does not include the last 45 days of litigation.

I did not fight this fight because it was convenient for me. I fought these guys because they were trying to trample me and my business and the right that I am assured by the Constitution on the United States of America. To save that money, all I had to do was take our article in question down.

Twenty years from now I would not know where that money was ever spent, but I would damn sure know that I did the wrong thing and let some company force me to bend over for them.

While I have not slept well for the last year with this hanging over my head, I can tell you that I will sleep well from here out and I will be able to get up in the morning and look in the mirror and know I did the right thing for myself and our readers.

 

[aranfell]

"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people." (George Bernard Shaw, english playwrite)

Enjoy, Aranfell