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Phantom Gets Insider Bonus, Ex-Xbox Bigshot

Posted by simoniker on from the wackier-and-wackier dept.

Thanks to loonyboi for pointing to a HeraldTribune.com article revealing new controversy and a surprising senior appointment for Phantom 'PC game console' makers Infinium. The article reveals: "Infinium Labs Inc. dished out a stealthy stock dividend to insiders as soon as it became a publicly traded company, and without bothering to tell the stock-trading public through traditional channels." Infinium executives "declined... to be interviewed about the four-for-one dividend", but it's also noted, by way of an SEC filing, that "...Infinium has hired Kevin Bachus, who helped Microsoft develop its XBox gaming system... Bachus, with nearly 20 years of experience in the game development industry, has assumed the role of president and chief operating officer."

7 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Recipe Suggestions? by Babbster · · Score: 4, Funny

    What kind of sauce or seasoning should I use on crow. If this console makes it to market (and it's certainly gaining legitimacy), I'll be eating several helpings.

  2. Re:Here's a handy link by MachDelta · · Score: 4, Funny

    Crow Recipes.


    Gotta love the internet! ;)

  3. controversy? by ed_roman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't understand why this stock split news is controversial or important. Their stock split would not change the worth of a shareholder's equity.. it would just increase the number of shares out there, with each share being worth less, right? Why is it such a big deal that the Phantom guys didn't do a press release? Would that affect anyone economically?

  4. Vaporware is in the air... by imperator_mundi · · Score: 3, Informative
    from Heraldtribune:
    The shares were selling for $28.50 at the close of regular trading on Tuesday
    ...the company had 4,577,761 shares
    $28.5/stock and 4.5M stocks, that means some 140M$ paper... not that bad, but still far away from something that make you believable if you want to go after sony, M$ and Big N... and the fact that we're talking about financial statement but so far no games's screenshot is available reminds me of the good ol' times.... I still waiting for the flare one ;-)
  5. Who Cares? by mrshowtime · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Bill Gates could be named CEO tommorrow and it would not change a thing: The Phantom is nothing more than a Ghost. I see this system being a mere bump in the road for the PS3 and XBox2 to roll over when they come out. O.K. best case scenario:

    Phantom comes out and really DOES have just about every game you could play on your COMPUTER. So what? They certainly are not going to have really good "Only on Phantom" custom games, nor be able to play the games from any other current console. The price cannot be below $299 as I am certain that infinium labs cannot lose money on each system, so for the price of roughly both the Xbox and the PS2 and possibly even the Gamecube, one can get a Phantom.

    The biggest question everyone should be asking, is WHO is going to buy this system and WHY?

    --
    "Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
  6. 3DO revisited? by Craig+Maloney · · Score: 3, Interesting
    So they got someone who has game industry experience. This doesn't lend credibility to the project, it instead makes me wonder how they got this far without it. Witness the 3DO. They had Tripp Hawkins, who's rhetoric probably could have sold 3DOs to people without electricity or televisions. When the chips were down, and Sony and Sega rolled out their 32 bit machines, 3DO started the hype machine for the M2, which was going to knock everyones socks off. Rumors flew like doves at a wedding. The 3DO faithful would be rewarded for not straying from the one true machine. Months marched on, and the M2 rumors turned to circling like vultures, wondering if the M2 would ever see the light of day. Would Panasonic manufacture it? Almost weekly the answer changed. When it was all said and done, the M2 didn't appear. The revolutionary hardware that would have changed the world of gaming might have shown up in some obscure arcade machines, but the console never showed itself to the waiting public. The hopes died with the hype.

    I'm much more jaded nowadays when companies promise to release "the next big thing" without showing hardware sitting on a table hooked to a monitor. Any company can make rendered pictures of hardware, blowmold prototypes, and hire top name executives. What matters is hardware and software. Show me the Phantom running on a table... let me download some games to it and play them. Until then you can blow press releases out of your ass. You won't impress me; I've seen that act before.

  7. Why are Xbox executives fleeing? by Metroid72 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Is it just me that perceives that MS Xbox operations is constantly bleeding executives? It reminds me of Sega of America during the 90's Does anyone of you know how many former Xbox team members are out there? The program is not that old to be yielding so many 'Veterans'. I wouldn't be surprised if Ken Lobb turned out working on another 'Phantom' company soon.