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Infinium Labs to Miss Release Date

Posted by Zonk on from the what-is-the-color-of-shocked-anyway? dept.

Saist (and several others) writes "WhereisPhantom.com is reporting that Infinium Labs will not release the Phantom until 2005. " While this doesn't appear to widely reported or verified yet, coming as it does on the heels of recent news it's not hard to imagine that this is true.

43 comments

  1. Not Surprising by alatesystems · · Score: 4, Informative

    This "company" sucks. I hope they get prosecuted into the ground.

    In case that gets slashdotted like it did last week:
    Coral Cache(yes, i already loaded it through coral so it should be in the coral cache)

    Mirror 1

    Mirror 1

    Chris

    1. Re:Not Surprising by Torgo's+Pizza · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I was a little more prepared this time. Mirrors and a text-only page set up ahead of time.

  2. Because they have to acquire launch titles. by angryflute · · Score: 5, Funny

    The first one they have in the works for The Phantom is Duke Nuk'em Forever.

    1. Re:Because they have to acquire launch titles. by superpulpsicle · · Score: 2, Funny

      I think I have posted the fact that this vaporware console has been in the making since early 90s. This phantom box was in development back when NEO GEO was popular. Actually I still have an old magazine listing the game port dates. I can't wait.

      - 2005 - Pong

      - 2006 - Pac Man

      - 2007 - Asteroid

      - 2050 - Duke Nukem

  3. Prosecuted? Hoo Cares? by Safety+Cap · · Score: 2, Funny

    I hope they get prosecuted into the ground.

    They're going to run out of cash and crash and burn before they release anything---just like all of their founders' other ventures.
    --
    Yeah, right.
  4. I don't get it by Frac · · Score: 3, Funny

    How do you miss the release date of "NEHVAH!!!"

    I did hear they're waiting for the Duke Nukem Forever port, so that could be the problem.

    1. Re:I don't get it by EyeSavant · · Score: 1

      It is called the PHANTOM console. What more clues do you need?

  5. Strange editorial by PIPBoy3000 · · Score: 1

    For some reason, whenever someone offers to sell their site to the people who might not like it, I start to question their neutrality. It's a good thing that CBS and Fox don't work that way. Er, they don't, do they?

    1. Re:Strange editorial by Ayaress · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I don't know. Most of what they have, you can see elsewhere first. But Infinium only knows the language of money. They didn't like HardOCP talking about them, they sued them. HardOCP didn't back down, and they won.

      They don't like Penny-Arcade ripping on them, so they basically say, "They really love us, it's just a sort of hazing ritual they put the new guys in the industry through." Of course, they never said Bill Gates performed freakish acts of carnal violence, they just made a few jokes about how big it and its controller was. I think there's a long way between an eight hundred pound grizzley bear and a dead dog.

      Infinium just can't turn off the hype/fud/doubletalk for ten seconds and make a serious effort to tell gamers what they're doing. Even Microsoft turned off the spin machine regularly and honestly laid it out: Here's our system, here's what it does, and here's the games you'll be able to get for it when it comes out.

      We've gotten all hype and no substance on what the Phantom really does that makes it different than my PC can already do, and they have not one developer willing to admit that their game will be in the Phantom lineup.

      Instead of pulling it out and telling us straight up (Jesus, I hope that doesn't sound as dirty to you as it does to me) what their deal really is, they attack or belittle everybody who attack them.

      Infinium won't play by the rules, so this guy basically just said he'll play by theirs instead (and in the process makes a bit of an attack on their ethics). "You want me to go away, fine. You've got a bunch of investory money, you're not behind on the payments for the shiny cars that money bought you, and I'm not proud. Let's get with the checkbook."

      I'm not saying its not a bit unethcial, but hell, if somebody put $100,000 on the table in front of me, I don't think my ethics would mean jack shit when they finished talking.

  6. This Chris Campbell guy by BigChigger · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Sounds like a Microsoft shill.

    BC

  7. Interesting.... by ivan256 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    2005, eh? Do they have advance knowledge of when hell is going to freeze over?

    Really, only one in ten startups succeed... And those are ordinary startups, not one that are trying to compete against Microsoft and have a CEO with a history of fraud.

    1. Re:Interesting.... by gl4ss · · Score: 2, Interesting

      it just depends on how you define 'success'.

      so far it has brought a gazillion bucks to the ceo, I'd consider that a massive success.

      -

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  8. Huuricanes by evil+crash · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Shoulda blamed the delay on hurricane Ivan....

    --
    "Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."-THG
  9. Yeesh by Otter · · Score: 1, Insightful

    How little of a life do you have to have to run an anti-Phantom site?

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
    1. Re:Yeesh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      dunno if someone with uid of 3800 can be comment about other people "not having a life" ;)

    2. Re:Yeesh by pat_trick · · Score: 1

      If you had RTFA, as well as the other articles on the site, you'd find that it's not anti-Phantom. It's a guy asking an honest question--where /is/ the Phantom? The fact that the answers tend to bash Infinitum Labs is more because of IL digging their own holes.

    3. Re:Yeesh by KeeperS · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Everybody needs a hobby.

      I could just as easily turn around and ask "How little of a life do you have to have to immediately post on Slashdot about somebody else's life based only on the fact that they run a website?"

    4. Re:Yeesh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because that sort of comment is funny and takes less than a minute to do and is free, which are all things that the other website is not?

      I get your point, but your comparison sucked.

  10. Bad timing... by polyp2000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If they really are banking on bringing out this thing out in november 2005 I cannot imagine worse timing. With PStwo being released, and other stuff Nintendo DS & PSP release dates growing ever closer. The Phantom is technologically dated before it has even been released. No-one is going to fork out for what is nothing more than a glorified X-Box/PC with Next gen eg PS3 consoles on the Horizon. And what about launch titles?

    So Im predicting this is going to be a flop before it has even been release. (Unless they suddenly pull some magic cards out of the pack, I just dont think consumers are going to buy into a unheard of newcomer on the market so soon after christmas)

    Nick ...

    --
    Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
    1. Re:Bad timing... by Ayaress · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I wouldn't consider the PStwo an real problem for the Phantom, since it's basically the same thing as the existing Playstation 2, just smaller and cooler looking. The DS and PSP are both handhelds, and won't be competing directly with the Phantom.

      The main thing the Phantom has going against it right now is that it's got a dubious business plan, questionable managers, no end product that I couldn't turn my PC into with a dremel tool and some talent, and a two year history of making asses of themselves.

      They don't have to worry about their competition, they're doing a fine job of sinking their own boat.

    2. Re:Bad timing... by andy_fish · · Score: 1

      I only really skimmed the thing, but I think it said the new target date is actually March 2005. The only system being released near the same time is the PSP.

      But it sure would be great to have the launch date pushed back more, just so we have that much more time to make fun of it.

      --
      & I wish I knew the password to your heart . . . &
    3. Re:Bad timing... by cgenman · · Score: 1

      The farther ahead the release date, the longer they can milk the project without admitting it was a fraud... Maybe even long enough to slip away to South America, if they are smart.

      --
      The ______ Agenda
    4. Re:Bad timing... by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      (Unless they suddenly pull some magic cards out of the pack, I just dont think consumers are going to buy into a unheard of newcomer on the market so soon after christmas)

      Somehow I don't think a Prodigal Sorceror and Unholy Strength are going to help these dudes out very much...

    5. Re:Bad timing... by DeepHurtn! · · Score: 1

      The crazy thing is is that it doesn't even looked like a glorified PC -- more like a stripped and locked down PC that probably won't even be able to play current A-list games effectively (check out HardOCP's recent hardware analysis), let alone A-list games a couple of years into its life cycle. The *only* possible way I can see something like this succeeding is if they can get it in hotel rooms or something like that.

    6. Re:Bad timing... by Gogo+Dodo · · Score: 1
      So Im predicting this is going to be a flop before it has even been release.

      That's an easy prediction since there doesn't appear to be anything to buy anyways. It's an automatic flop.

  11. Raise your hand if you didn't see this coming. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This product has the perfect name... Phantom. You can barely make out any details, and you'll never get your hands on it.

    I can't believe that the Infinitum still think that they will be able to produce a gaming system that will have any standing against Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo. Especially when they plan on releasing it after the holiday sales season and right before E3.

    Someone should check to make sure these guys don't have access to anything sharp, lest they hurt themselves.

  12. I sure didn't see this comming... by Ayaress · · Score: 1

    ...I mean, they're releasing it in 2005! That's, like, way sooner than never.

  13. Easily Confirmed (Apparently) by roderick · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Not that WIP's continuing work isn't appreciated.

    The most telling indicator that this is true is that none of the major retailers will let you pre-order a Phantom through their site. Sony only confirmed the new PStwo today and you can already pre-order one on EBgames.com. However, neither they nor GameStop, Amazon, Best Buy, nor any other site I can find will let you pre-order the Phantom, officially coming out well within the pre-order window of most games & consoles. If the stores don't think it's going to happen, it's not going to happen.

    1. Re:Easily Confirmed (Apparently) by chrismcdirty · · Score: 1

      If I remember correctly, the only way you would be able to get a Phantom (if it were a real, tangible thing) would be to order it directly from Infinium Labs. I'm probably wrong, though.

      --
      It's like sex, except I'm having it!
  14. It's a classic "legal scam" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This has been done before. You start a company with a more or less reasonable business plan requiring millions of start-up capital. You get people on board with the cash. You go public to get even more cash and then you eventually burn up the start-up capital, claim you need millions more to continue, either you get more cash or you then close up shop. The founders/majority shareholders get out of it with a nice big profit.

    All the while in order to stay within the boundaries of a legit business so you can't get prosecuted, you DO spend some money on some product development... Just not at the levels you SHOULD be if you fully intended to bring the company into full fruition.

    Another strategy for the prime founder(s) is to make yourself such a pain in the ass that the other share-holders buy you out (again, at a huge profit). Wouldn't surprise me if you eventually hear that Bachus buys out Roberts.

    By then of course the company is a bleeding shell with no hope of recovery and the original founder is living large.

  15. where is the money going? by spir0 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Andre laMothe has managed to not spout shit endlessly and has produced a fantastic system called the xGameStation. it's aimed at a sligtly different market, sure, but he has managed to make a fantastic idea a reality, all without wasting billions of dollars.

    --
    The reason girls and Windows users don't understand UNIX is because all the documentation is in Man files.
    1. Re:where is the money going? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      You're slightly correct. Andre laMothe does spout shit endlessly, but he has produced an interesting system called the xGameStation. It's aimed at an entirely different market. The phantom is for idiots who can't make games work on their PC. (Actually, it looks like it's for the CEO, to make money, but forget that.) The xGameStation is for people who want to practice game programming. The two systems could not be more different if you put one in a white box and the other in a black one.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  16. release the Phantom! by townmouse · · Score: 1

    The Phantom is innocent, I tell you! Some villain has framed the Phantom - I don't know who it was, but once he's free, the Phantom won't rest until he has uncovered the devious plot and cleared his name. You must release the Phantom!

    --
    Ask me if I've been required to disclose any crypto keys.
  17. You know what the sad part of all this is? by WarlockD · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It IS a viable concept. Look at Stream? It took me a matter of moments to download an run Counter-Strike. Even if the system isn't perfect, its still a proof of concept

    After seeing the "prototype" that HardCOOP got. It took a YEAR to develop that? They didn't even have any software for it!

    It would of taking less than 3 weeks to get the prototype plastic box and case, as well as being under a $10,000 development hardware budget.

    Six months is NOT enough. While it might be a simple matter of getting the spec's of the system up, the software is going to be the issue. I also doubt they will even come out.

  18. NO! I'm the one with no life... by Ayanami+Rei · · Score: 1

    Play this into your phone...

    --
    THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME, MACROSSZERO STYLE ALSO FUCK BETA, ~NYORON
  19. www.whereisphantom.com by Vampyre_Dark · · Score: 0

    You want to know where the Phantom is? The entire stock(1) is in a landfill. Does anyone actually care about this machine? The whole thing seems to be a scam where they get people to invest in the hardware, and then spend their money.

    Their offices most likely consist of a 20x20 room with a mini-fridge full of beers and a pool table. They have one of their little nephews in the back room making case mods over the tiniest PC parts they can find, so that their work in progress shots can attract new investors.

  20. OT by Wtcher · · Score: 1

    Now if only The Phantom Menace got delayed...

    --
    ----- Wtcher Dragon, UDIC
  21. Not surprising by shoptroll · · Score: 2, Funny

    Not surprised. /me waits to see Penny-Arcade on friday roasting them over a suculent flame of spite

    --
    Insert Sig Here
  22. Hmmm... by Axem · · Score: 2, Funny

    At this rate the release date will be pushed past the apocalypse. So when you see the four elephants of the apocalypse ride, you know we're... maybe... less than halfway there.

    --
    We all live in a #FFFF00 submarine...
  23. Actually by Recoil_42 · · Score: 2, Informative

    The "Timothy Roberts can't orgasm unless he kills a dog" comic came AFTER they sued HardOCP -- Penny-Arcade was purposely trying to piss Infinium off with that one.

    All the comics before then were more or less harmless, the same kind of stuff that PA pulled on Microsoft.

    --


    Newsie, Moderator, www.tauniverse.com
  24. March 2004 by Aerion · · Score: 1

    This isn't the first time they've missed a release date - Phantom at one point had a release date of mid-to-late March, 2004.

    At that time I don't think anybody had seen a prototype. If a prototype even existed, Infinium had probably misplaced it somewhere among the flim-flam and deceit.

    1. Re:March 2004 by Rallion · · Score: 1

      The release date was in March 2004 as of April 2004, according to their website. I remember seeing the release date listed all over the site, but it was over a month late...

  25. New features and other news by Foo2rama · · Score: 1

    In a side note Infinium, just annouced that using there new "transparent" technology on the Phantom, they will be fully combatible with all video game platforms ever produced, and the technology that they are using will make it compatible with everything released or planned over the next 2 to 3 years. Related news: The President of Infinium just claimed to have walked on water, and the CEO parted the Red Sea. No word on the miracles that the Head QA guy is planning, although stigmata looks to be in the cards.

    --


    ---In a time of Chimpanzees I was a Monkey.