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Mysterious Phantom Game Console Unveiled
wishforunity writes "On Sunday, Infinium Labs released a video on their website about the specifications of their upcoming console (as mentioned previously on Slashdot.) It includes footage of the interface that will be used to purchase and rent games online. This thing seems like a beefed up computer in a box shape (deja vu?) You can see the video at Phantom.net." The specs include "custom OS on Windows XPe kernel, up to 3.0GHz processor with 256MB DDR RAM, 100+ Gigabyte internal storage device, on-board RF wireless modules, Dolby Digital 7.1 Surround Sound", and "ordering is expected to begin in October", but there's no software announcements - although the example interface in the video shows games such as Sonic Speedsters and, uhm, Bikini Karate Babes. Update: 08/18 00:57 GMT by S : An interview at Gigex.com has word that the price of the baseline unit will be "below $399", and the compulsory online subscription will be $9.95 per month, with game prices ranging from $2.99 to $50.
Subject line says it all...
Right. This will ever exist.
I used to bulls-eye womp-rats in my pants
Just get a SFF PC box with video out, slap Windows XP Media Center & a few console ports in like Vice City & KOTOR...
Then they better start by fixing the video stream links first if they want us to buy into their idea.
I sense a large number of Bikini jokes incoming... you were warned...
On Arrakis: early worm gets the bird. Magister mundi sum!
I guess this means that we're that much closer to me recieving my beta test box!
redune.com: The World 3.2 Megapixels at a time
Yeah but its a cool website and that alone gets my dollars
Do we really need another console?
...
I mean, looking at xbox and PS2 alone, I feel that one of them should be abandoned. not to mention GameCube
besides, who wants to see naked [flat] girls?
I built this thing 2 years ago. I don't have to rent the games, it plays over 5000 titles (thanks MAME, Zsnes, etc), it has four console gaming pads and an authentic arcade joystick. It cost me $300. -> http://www.mini-itx.com/
You'll get a better deal out of making your own and you won't be insulted by titles like "Bikini Kombat Sluts", (and if you like that sort of thing, stick to the XBox with DOA Beach Volleyball. It probably has loads more "gameplay" than this cheap knockoff).
Funny...I haven't heard any of the noteworthy third party developers (or even Acclaim, for that matter) announce any form of software support for the Phantom. Even if it does debut, it's going to die very quickly unless they manage to pull in some form of third party support.
Goo goo g'joob.
The website may be cool, but I suspect the server is about to get very, very hot.
Since glTron is GPLd, and Sonic Speedsters doesn't seem to provide anything similar to source code, do you think this might be a case of Copyleft violation?
Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
I'd buy Bikini Buttkick Babes (or whatever its called) in an instant, if it were available right now.
... not so sure that their implementation would work, as a 'game' ... yet.
:)
Those screenshots look pretty fun! The concept works on me!
Just
Either way though it looks like this thing is just a Linux box in nice packaging - albeit, expensive and therefore doomed.
Hope the game makes it to Linux though - that'd be a *GREAT* game for the Linux Game Front!
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Seconded. Very nice website.
They can certainly talk the talk...
Unlike that pitiful Indrema.
Unique selling point: "It runs on Linux!"
Er, hello? Like, gamers don't give a fuck? And no game programmer I know is a Linux freak.
The Indrema was essentially a cut-down Xbox. 600MHz vs 733. Not much else. It failed because everybody was just like, "err,no" (=ECRAY "Program exited before being run")
This thing is much more of a PC. I don't know how cheaply they can sell hardware like that.
custom OS on Windows XPe kernel
Remember, Windows is simply a kernel, please don't call the OS MS/Windows.
They sure do have the killer apps...
http://pc.ign.com/articles/373/373791p1.html
Ok, I looked at the specs and I did notice that it says it will play pc games. That in itself could be a dream for some people who do not want to dedicate a full computer to windows (or is that a full partition). Anyways that in itself would be a good selling point, but it seems to be lacking even a cd rom, much less a dvd rom.
So it seems to be completely dependent on them, which would not get my money. I have avoided tivo and replay tv because of the subscription concept. A console which I would bet will have some form of subscription service will be one reason for me to pass on it.
If ignorance is bliss, the world is full of blissful people
$5 says they get real bitchy with the first site that publishes how to turn the hardware into something useful.
You know, I was fully expecting to see some sort of DOA rip off from the sound of that title, but instead, when I followed the link, I was treated to the exquisite nausea of what looked like a warp hole back to the days of interactive multimedia games on the 32X-CD Sega Genesis.
What else are we to expect, ports of Corpse Killer and Night Trap?
Save the day by changing camera viewpoints!
I can't think of any game developer who wouldn't give a $5 (or even a $10) cut to a distributor who handled the online sales and downloading of games. As a genre jumpstarted by online sales of Doom, such a transition should be natural. Companies reach a wider market without having to pay for boxes, manuals, and disks, and consumers who might not have a game available at the local Walmart can still purchase AAA games. You don't deal with any of the hardware issues (or hardware duplication issues), and there aren't any warranty returns.
On the other hand, the prospect of spending 399 dollars on a P3 800 / nVidia based system just doesn't seem... Competitive. As for "blowing everything out of the water," it hardly beats this generation of consoles at its highly inflated price. Time will show how well it specs against the P3, Xbox2, and the GameTesseract, but if past performance is any indication it will not be able to compete.
Sadly, what the phantom people have is an interesting computer game distribution system that they are trying to leverage into a company-owned console, instead of taking advantage of existing infrastructure and happily taking a percentage. They are throwing away money in a foolhardy attempt to gain power.
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Translation: $398.99
It says up to 3.0GHz. I'll assume for $399 you dont get that processor.
256MB of ram isn't enough.
If this were microsoft,they might have a chance, because they would have billions of dollars in cash to burn through, ala the XBox. Even then, it would still be shitty.
Furthermore, I think the press is going to kill these guys. I sense bad reviews once it is released.
That being said. Its almost a good idea. A $400 computer is a good idea. Though, after the subscription costs, future upgrade costs, etc. Will it really be any (or much more) cheaper than a cheap gaming rig, which can actually do more.
I think these guys are going to throw a lot of FUD at misinformed consumers. Besides, I know too many console gamers that think PC games mostly suck. Mind you, there is some truth to that.
This thing has an uphill battle. But so does any new console.
You know there is almost a niche where this kind of thing could work, but unfortunately with it's stupid pay per play pricing scheme it is doomed to failure.
I think that if they made it a regualr generic pc, but totally standardized them so that every one they sold was the same and made a big deal about gauranteeing that any game would play on it out of the box without fiddling and that for a modest suscription fee it would download patches and whatnot and every two years you would get an updated modle, I think that a lot of suburbanites who aren't computer savy might buy it. With a completely homogenious product line, they could go to the game developers and say here test your game on this box and the game developers could make sure it worked. They could put a little "Phantom approved" logo on it.
If instead of spending all this time on making a secure backend for this streaming game stuff, they would spend time programing a sort of auto updater patch installer program they could make it more hands off for the idiot consumer. They could keep a database of games and the ratings for them and impiment a kind of V-chip for videogames to have a parental lock for games. "Parents don't be concerned about what your child is playing. The phantom has built in parental controls to keep your child from playing games that you don't approve of."
But no they aren't doing that, something that could succeed. They are trying to do what divx failed at and what the original versions of rhapsody and pressplay failed at, namely to try and make us pay and pay for something we otherwise would already own.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
the frikkin' thing uses all standard PC parts... feels more like Xbox rip off more than anything.
:-)
more games than ANY console?! man, they put out a video like that AND make insane statements like that. wish i could get some of that CRACK the marketting department is smokin'.
i'll be glad if this thing survives... then we don't have to laugh at Xbox about being last!
also, all of you owe it to yourselves to discover the horrific wrongness that is www.bikinikaratebabes.com.
however, if they put naked midgets and fat women in the game, I might just have to plunk down hard-earned cash.
admit it, you would too.
...all the games are of this quality.
Seriously, its a nice idea, but you really need a 3GHz processor to do that? To get games at the same quality as current console and PC games, nevermind next gen consoles out in 2 years time, even over their broadband system it will take too long to be practical or FUN. It will sell at first, purely out of newness and I would guess for people wanting to pop the components out for their PCs but I doubt it will last.
What graphics chip is that bloated cpu making up for? a Xabre?
I want 2D games back.
goodbye...
Q.
Insert Signature Here
What we have here is an amazing console that will have some top-quality games.
Why settle for "Quantum Redshift" and "Dead or Alive" when you can have even better titles, like "Sonic Speedsters" and "Bikini Karate Babes?" Team Ninja is going to be so jealous.
If you think that's extreme gaming, then wait until you see which titles really tap the power of the Phantom.
Now this is what is pissing me off. You KNOW this will be like BuyMusic.com. There will be one or two crap titles at 2.99 and the rest at 50. What I want to know is what does that cost get me? Can I download the game as many times as I want while I still use the service? Or do I have to pay for it each time I download it? What happens when the HDD runs out and I have to start deleting games, but later want to download them again...I'll bet I have to pay full price to do so.
This sounds almost exactly like the new cellphone my little brother just got. He paid a couple hundred for the phone, has an ungodly monthly fee for service, will pay $7/month for web access once his 3 free months run out, and he has to pay for individual games and ringtones. But guess what, once he ran out of space for the games, he deleted some...and then had to pay full price to redownload them. This is yet another consumer device which will feed off the masses and attempt to sucker people in with underhanded marketing techniques.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
This thing is going to crash and burn so hard that it's in danger of igniting the atmosphere.
"Slashdot is about legos and staplers." -Cmdr. Taco
Seriously, what are these guys smoking. I can see it now, two weeks (or less) after it is released. So one will figure out that if they put the board into a PC case, they have the worlds cheapest 3GHz computer.
Obligatory Penny Arcade reference.
If you've avoided Tivo because of the subscription concept, than simply buy a lifetime subscription. It lasts the lifetime of the box (which you can make repairs on), and it totally makes tv worth watching again.
I currently have no clever signature witicism to add here.
Exactly. MS is having enough trouble selling their Xbox right now. People who are clued in realize that any game that comes out for Xbox will eventually come out for their much nicer PC's. With the price of PCs still dropping, many folk are willing to spend the extra hundred or so to get a basic PC that runs 90% of Xbox games, and can be used for all other computing tasks that the Xbox disallows you from taking advantage of.
Soon, I envision most entry-level PCs coming with a video out as well as VGA for their onboard video. Kind of like with early 80's computers. When this happens, the Xbox will be double-fucked.