Slashdot Mirror
More Info on Phantom Game Console
MImeKillEr writes "Newsforge is reporting that the Phantom Game Console
discussed on Slashdot is really a DRM-protected PC, sans floppy or CD running Windows XP. It uses a proprietary encryption method to protect the data on its harddrive, and the only thing that differentiates this 'game console' from a standard, Windows-running PC is that it has no way to get data on or off of it except through a dedicated connection to Infinium Labs' own servers." Newsforge and Slashdot are both part of OSDN.
.. in case NewsForge gets /.ed.
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- By Robin 'Roblimo' Miller -
Over the last few months computer and gaming-related publications) have gotten stacks of press releases from a company called Infinium Labs touting its upcoming Phantom game console. Some game industry insiders have derided the Phantom as vaporware, while others have laughed it off as "just another set-top box." The truth is, it is neither vaporware nor purely a set-top box, but part of an online PC game retailing system designed to protect game publishers' intellectual property while increasing profits for broadband ISPs. The promise for consumers is the availability of more games, for less money, than ever before. Will Infinium be able to pull this off? At least $25 million worth of venture capital is betting "yes."
Let's start by saying the console is real, not vaporware. I've seen a working prototype in action. Inside the spacy-looking case it's just a PC running Windows XP that has no CD or floppy drive, and uses a proprietary encryption scheme for data stored on its hard drive.
The specs for the final, finished version that will be shipped to end users are still in flux, but at the $400 price point mentioned by Infinium CEO Tim Roberts while he and I were looking at a mockup hidden away at respected (but low-profile) Robrady Design in Sarasota, Florida, it ought to be no big deal to deliver a 2GHz Mini-ATX PC with a wireless keyboard, mouse, and cool-looking game controller.
In fact, Roberts said during our chat, one of the reasons now is a better time than the height of the dot-boom to launch Infinium Labs is that "component prices have dropped" enough to make this computer feasible at $400 per unit, a`price even lower than the $600 to $700 he spoke of as recently as February.
Really, the only thing that differentiates this 'game console' from a standard, Windows-running PC is that it has no way to get data on or off of it except through a dedicated connection to Infinium Labs' own servers via your broadband ISP, plus the fact that if you try to open it up or modify it or grab data from the hard drive, bad things will happen, starting with violation of the terms under which you will lease or purchase the Phantom.
The console is only the tip of the netberg
Roberts' big previous venture was SAVVIS, a company he helped start that provided (and still provides) secure VPNs and other networking services. The company's motto, right below its name in the top left corner of its Web site's main page, is, "The Network That Powers Wall Street(tm)."
Roberts "retired" (at age 28) after SAVVIS's IPO in 2000. His one major post-SAVVIS business, an application hosting service called Intira, was acquired in October, 2001 by a company called divine (that filed for a Chapter 11 reorganization in February, 2003.)
Note that both of these companies delivered information and services via the Internet. Now think of Tim Roberts not only as a dot-com IPO guy but also as an ardent gamer and as a family man with small children who wants to be able to let his kids play lots and lots of computer games without worrying about whether they're getting exposed to excess gore or other adult-level themes, and think about the fact that, Roberts says, the average computer or consumer electronics store only carries around 200 games even though there are tens of thousands of titles available. And even though the majority of gamers may not be obsessed, anti-social pimple-facers who love shoot-em-ups above all else, most of those top 200 games are likely to be aimed at the hard-cores, not at small children or Roberts or his wife or other families like theirs.
Now imagine Roberts the family man and Roberts the expert on secure Internet information delivery occupying one single body, postulate a growing number of U.S. households with broadband Internet connections, with broadband ISPs hungry to deliver more services so they can grab more customers, especially services for which they ca
Why are companies putting restrictions on everything you buy now??? Last time I checked, when you buy something it's yours. This is getting stupid.