Phantom Console... Will You Buy One?

[firestorm]

Personally i own an Xbox and am quite happy with it but im interested in the future of the Phantom... if there is a future for it, lol.

From what i understand it uses broadband to transfer the games to a hard drive in the unit. Considering good games these days are aroung 2GB+ in size what if the user has only got something like 256K ADSL? That will take many hours, even days before you can actually PLAY the game.

Then say that there is a large amount of pressure on the distribution server which causes the download speed to decrease even further, not to mention if the server goes down, you dont get any games. Personally i think that "broadband only" will be the death of this console, not to mention the late release date compared to Xbox, GC and Ps2.

As stated, i just want to know what other people think about the phantom.

Does it have a future or not?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Phantom has no future. Best I can gather it's a scam to make the guy running it a lot of money. The hardware is to be given away free (thogu minimum 1 year contract or so), and when you calculate the takings from subscription compared with costs (figures that have been posted on t' 'net before but I can't remember) it'll be five years or so before the first 100,000 units ever become profitable.

If they wanted a subscription service on PC hardware, why create a 'console'? Why not just develop a software delivery platform for people's current PC hardware?

 

[McFly]

Phantom is a phantom. There's really nothing else you have to know about it.

Fredi

 

[GwymWeepa]

Its the most appropriately named electronics device ever.

 

[Guden Oden]

If the hardware specs were decent with PC standards, it would have been at least worth considering, but last I heard it was to use budget versions of the GFFX series graphics chips, and even the high-end models were duds...

On the other hand, the thing's been so delayed now they must have uprated it by now. NV probably isn't even manufacturing the FX chips anymore.

 

[cthellis42]

It all depends on if I can get and hack the hardware cheaply, really.

 

[Acert93]

It has a FX5700 I believe. That can barely play most PC games well and the eye candy is only DX 8.1.

I am betting the Xenon beats the pants off of it this fall for about the same price. :| I would not buy a system where I do not own the games.

 

[digitalwanderer]

It all depends on if I can get and hack the hardware cheaply, really.

Yup.

 

[AlNom]

I much preferred the ApeXtreme concept.

 

[Ty]

Its the most appropriately named electronics device ever.

I thought the same thing when I first heard the name.

I plan to buy one...when they are forced to liquidate their assets and are selling their remains on eBay.

 

[sunscar]

Answering the question.... Nope, already own a PC with superior specs and I like to actually own my games. Guess that's the cave man in me.

Later

 

[eastcore]

Personally i own an Xbox and am quite happy with it but im interested in the future of the Phantom... if there is a future for it, lol.

From what i understand it uses broadband to transfer the games to a hard drive in the unit. Considering good games these days are aroung 2GB+ in size what if the user has only got something like 256K ADSL? That will take many hours, even days before you can actually PLAY the game.

Then say that there is a large amount of pressure on the distribution server which causes the download speed to decrease even further, not to mention if the server goes down, you dont get any games. Personally i think that "broadband only" will be the death of this console, not to mention the late release date compared to Xbox, GC and Ps2.

As stated, i just want to know what other people think about the phantom.

Does it have a future or not?

The Phantom will flop. Plain and simple.

 

[YeuEmMaiMai]

why have yet another PC rip off on the market?

Xbox should have been an indication of how well that theory works.....(still loosing money)

 

[Fox5]

why have yet another PC rip off on the market?

Xbox should have been an indication of how well that theory works.....(still loosing money)

It may be a financial failure but it's come very close to driving the gamecube out of the marketplace and is a major force in the US market place. You could also say that the gamecube is the only thing that has kept the xbox from being a serious competitor to sony.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The people behind Phantom don't have a $9 billion income on the side to finance their console though. As such, financially XB indicates Phantom is fiscally doomed so it's something you want to get involved in unless you don't my dead technology lying around the house.

 

[AzBat]

Once again, the Phantom is not a competitor to any console on the market. It's a gaming service, the hardware is irrelevant. Compare it mainly to TiVo, DirectTV, XM, Sirius, cell phones, etc. There currently is no product out there that does what Infinium Labs is wanting to do with the Phantom, a gaming service. The closest thing I can think of Nintendo's Chinese iQue device. Whether or not IL is actually successful is totally different matter, but to compare it to any of the current game consoles in ludicrous.

Tommy McClain

 

[Guden Oden]

I agree it's ludicrous, because even current consoles come close to spanking the proposed Phantom specs when taking all the PC overhead in mind.

The phantom and its game download service will ONLY BE AS GOOD AS THE SOFTWARE THAT RUNS ON IT. If performance sucks, nobody's going to care abotu how unique what infinum's doing is; they'll just say "this sucks!" and not buy it. Infinum will go down the crapper as a result, unique thing or not.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Once again, the Phantom is not a competitor to any console on the market. It's a gaming service, the hardware is irrelevant.
Tommy McClain

Unless Phantom provide a service to provide games for non-Phantom hardware, it's just like a console in principle - sell games to your hardware only, and people will have to buy your hardware to access those games. The only difference is a subscription model instead of purchase, something that future consoles might head towards anyway for all we know.

As a gamer who wants to play games, I don't choose subscription service over purchase, but choose between graphics, games variety, control quality and general features - something the Phantom hardware is lacking in. Phantom offers a gaming platform that will surely crawl through games existing console hardware handles comfortably. Why would anyone want a Phantom?

 

[AzBat]

Unless Phantom provide a service to provide games for non-Phantom hardware, it's just like a console in principle - sell games to your hardware only, and people will have to buy your hardware to access those games. The only difference is a subscription model instead of purchase, something that future consoles might head towards anyway for all we know.

As a gamer who wants to play games, I don't choose subscription service over purchase, but choose between graphics, games variety, control quality and general features - something the Phantom hardware is lacking in. Phantom offers a gaming platform that will surely crawl through games existing console hardware handles comfortably. Why would anyone want a Phantom?

Who says their marketing to your demographic? Name me the most played game of all time?
.
.
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It's Solitaire for Windows. To a certain extent Nintendo and Microsoft seem to understand that these kind of casual gamers make up a pretty good size market, which has the potential to be very lucrative. Most casual gamers are not interested in the type of games that have insane level of detail or complexity that you, me and almost everyone on this forum play. Unfortunately, I don't see either one of the companies totally embracing this market like it seems IL are. It looks to me that IL and the Phantom are mainly trying to go after the Solitaire, Spider, FreeCell, Bejeweled average gamer-type instead of the Mario, Halo or GTA gamer-type that are being served by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. Will they also offer more complex games? Most definitely, but it will be the smaller, less complex games that will attract the masses. That's why I could see this kind of gaming service make it's way into other vertical markets like satellite TV. One of these days we may be able to purchase your games via satellite channels. Instead of pay-per-view, it will be pay-per-play. The game service could also be an extra monthly charge added to your monthly TV bill. Premium games could cost extra. It's even possible that it could make into other consoles or technology like it. What do you think Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service is?

Is the Phantom Game Service too early for its time? Seems likely. But that doesn't mean its trying to compete with Xbox, GameCube or PS2. It's very possible they're trying to get there foot in the door first in hopes that maybe some big companies will be interested in integrating into their own products. Anyway, I'm just trying to make sure you guys keep it all in perspective.

Tommy McClain


P.S. BTW, my wife is the epitome of the casual gamer. She loves the demos on Live Arcade, but gets sick at her stomach when she watches me play Halo or other first person shooters. Anyway, I'm probably going to buy the full version of some of the games. No, we don't have a PC.

 

[Phil]

heh, I'm not necessarely disagreeing with you Tommy, but when you say Solitaire demographic, I really can't help thinking of a few people being into those games, i.e. my Dad being one of them.

What those games however get just right is the play time and the easyness to get into while doing some work on the computer on a late night for instance. These games are so simplistic, I really doubt it would warrant any subscription based platform nor the price of such a game. What makes solitaire & co. gold is the availability of it... it being integrated into each and every Windows OS outthere. As of late though, the internet (having cheap and quick broadband internet access) has seemed to be quite a substitute for those little games though... I'm really not sure this is a viable long-term strategy... not now nor in the future. :?