Infinium May Have Content Partners

eToychest writes "In a move that indicates the video game industry is embracing digital distribution as a vehicle to expand the market, more than 20 game publishers have signed on to supply titles for the Phantom Game Service." Their previously reported financial status is undoubtedly still an issue, though.

Comments

Who do they have in PR?

[cephyn]

I mean honestly...who in the world can say "Phantom Game Service" with a straight face? Are they really that oblivious to the obvious pun?

And furthermore

[cephyn]

Did anyone else read that as "Infinium may have Content Partners" as in "Infinium may have happy, satisfied partners" --- and subsequently chuckle?

what return will there be?

[spir0]

what return will the investors get? considering so much money has been spent on building a shell for a PC, how many subscribers will be needed over how long a period before the investors start seeing a return back? let alone when the company will start actually turning a profit.

After all that's been said and done, even if the Phantom DOES eventuate and some games DO start to come out, there is no way in hell I would consider getting one. The company just seems too flaky and dishonest.

Are you going to give them your credit card details?

Are you going to pay for a one year subscription in advance only to have the realise their folly 3 months through and close up shop?

For the record, I buy pretty much every game console that comes out, regardless of how much the company suck. Yes, I even have an Xbox and I thoroughly enjoy it.

But I'm way too paranoid to buy anything from Infinium Labs or whatever they may change their name to in the future to avoid bad press.

Re:Details?

[superpulpsicle]

Woh buddy hold up. This is Phantom we are talking about. I was thinking more or less games like "Ascii Susan". Who ever said anything about the hardware being good enough to run pac man.

Re:Details?

[MBCook]

I agree. Chronic Logic made Gish, Pontifix I & II, and some puzzle game. They're a nice company (I own two of their games), but they are hardly a big name console launch partner unless they have something big up their sleeve. Interplay? What have they done big in the last few years? Nothing stands out for me. They also have Vivendi. Same kind of things.

This list is all small publishers and left-overs. Where is EA, Sega, Rockstar, Activision, etc? Where are the companies with recent, big games? Where are the companies that have had "must-have" games in the past? None of those companies look like they'll be supplying a "killer app". They all look like little companies that are jumping on a console that they might be able to ride up if it becomes the next big thing. If not, no big loss (unlike EA trying to push a major game on the console).

I want to see a list of GAMES. When (if) the phantom gets here, it's going to need some good games. Show me the games, I'll believe you.

And please, NOT PORTS. I won't buy a console for ports, because I can buy the port that's already on the PC, X-Box, PS2, or GC that I already own. You need something UNIQUE.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Phantom is an interesting property, and if it takes off it could be quite a story. But for now, it's barely above the "scam/sham" level on my "hype-o-meter".

the real story on the games

[Artifex]

The article mentions 500 titles, including 1/2 of the top 50 PC games ever. In other words, at least some of these are not brand-new games. My question at this point would be, why would I want to pay for a crippled PC that requires a monthly service, just to bring me retreads of old games? Do we at least get to keep the content, or does it disappear if we don't pay the bill? At least the XBox has new titles, and I don't have to pay any monthly fee unless I want XBox Live. I'll probably buy an XBox soon enough so I can chip it for use as an extra, Replay-streaming media center, but I haven't rushed to buy it, yet.

Console gamers.

[BrookHarty]

Anyone play Q3A on a console? Exactly, it begs for a keyboard and mouse. Now, at 640x480, I think most games would run just fine on a pc->console conversion.

I don't know why everyone keeps dissing on Infinium, it takes time to get a startup going, and lots of money. They keep working at it, getting content providers, getting the prototype working, games working on it, problems solved, closer to launch.

And still, you give them no credit. These guys are not SCO or Microsoft, we shouldnt be treating this startup like criminals.

I personally think its a great idea, bringing the PC into the living room. Same thing Microsoft is trying to do with its home PC boxes.
When you get a PC in the living room, the choices are endless on what you can do, all types of entertainment media and communications.

Just imagine if people told Linus, stop it, Minix is all we need.

We are a society that builds on other peoples work, even if they fail, our society grows on experience. Glad there are people still trying after the whole dotbomb days. Make it or not, this is a interesting idea.

Re:Console gamers.

[Cyno01]

Uh, people have issues with Infinium because they've files lawsuits against people saying pretty much what every comment to this story has said. They seem to want to offer all the advantages of a hacked X-box w/ a hard drive, but you still have to pay for games. Not sure if thats a niche that needs to be filled.

Phantom console, phantom service?

[thirty2bit]

I still have reservations paying a monthly charge to 'rent games' regardless of how many publishers or titles they have signed on. And I own seven Porche GT3's, each a different color. But only on the Internet.

If Microsoft nixes the Xbox (are they still losing money on hardware / Xbox overall?) tomorrow, I can still drop discs in and play them next week. If I lose my broadband or (gasp!) move to an area without high-speed internet, I can still use my Xbox. My Xbox can't be remotely hacked, DOS'd, and won't need monthly security patches.

It's not time for a "on demand" content model yet.

The new obligatory Joke?

[Thedalek]

Is it now required that at every mention of Infinium Labs, someone has to make the DNF Joke? Who thinks it's still funny?

Found this article

[monsterhead78]

Found this article.. There have been a lot of people that have called the whole thing a hoax, whether it is because of the position of the system or because of the name. The creators say go ahead and speculate but stop laughing. The Phantom is a real thing and looks to revolutionize video gaming providing real-time game purchasing, game rental and try before you buy all on demand.

"Being a gamer, there is no two ways about it," says Dale Eldridge, Vice President of Infinium Labs. "You'll have CDs that get scratched that will no longer work and you have to front the cost to buy the same game multiple times. And you buy a system, the developer upgrades it, you can't play the game you have before on the same proprietary console, and then your little cheap $200 consumer item breaks because it is only a toy. The most frustrating is the titles only appeal to the 8-18 year olds and don't offer the genres and title selection which appeals to the 3-38 year olds which is 80% of the market today. It's frustrating. So what we've designed is a real machine with a hassle free service allowing you a infinite selection of gaming content. You no longer have to spend your time as an IT person. It can be in your living room, it can be easy to use, it is built for the hardcore horsepower driven gamer, it can appeal to all audiences, it can be convenient, and it can be FUN!'"

One of the interesting things, Tim Roberts (CEO and founder) noted is that other consoles are just PC's with Proprietary Operating Systems which actually raise the cost of games, since they have to be re-written to adapt to these consoles. He also stated that the proprietary consoles have "built themselves into a box"; this means that they have to purchase huge volumes of parts in order to achieve the economies of scale. This also ties them into the same technology for 5 years since they have produced tied up enormous amounts of there cash and don't want to obsolete themselves.

Roberts explained that the Beta tester requests were very successful. With over 28k applications on file to date we have collected some very resourceful testers which can help fine tune our product. We are planning on distributing emails to the 300 lucky testers on Sept 15th which will announce who has been selected. We will then shift gears and open beta tester requests for Europe, Asia, Mexico and Australia, as well as others. We are looking for the best, the elite hard core gamers and also the top hackers and crackers out there. We will be sending the United States and Canada beta testers consoles to them on Sept 15th. The beta testers will need to sign an agreement to provide 1 year worth of testing for us and commit to provide feed back to us regarding the service. They will be allowed to keep the equipment and games but will have to pay there own broadband access fees. We will be looking for 300 testers in each country, not just the United States and Canada.

We plan to launch our service in Europe and Asia in Q1 2005.

Unlike the other current-generation systems on the market today, all costing under 200 bucks, the Phantom looks to do something that no other video gaming console has done before. The Phantom is the most robust, upgradeable console which provides a better entertainment package and will drive down the cost of games to the consumers.

"The consumer who enters the market earlier is obviously going to pay the price," says Roberts. "The people who bought the first generation of Tivo ended up having to pay a little more. And there are going to be people who will wait thinking that second generation product will be cheaper, faster and better. But our console is upgradeable, provides a refurbish program and also there are people who are willing to come in early and adopt the product and help launch our service. As we build our subscriber base, the consumer monthly service fee goes down offset by our economies of scale. But the most dramatic change to that is when the advertising revenue is achieved; consumers are predicted to spend 7 times mo

Re:Details?

[stoborrobots]

it's a freakin' x86-based windows box... and you don't want PC games on it?

So what are they going to release then?

Re:Details?

[Anonymous Coward]

I love the idea of being able to buy games without getting up off my ass.

You can already do that via Amazon. The hard part is getting off your ass to go pick 'em up out of your mailbox. It's this 9-meter trek that Infinium is trying to save you from.

Get your details

[MachDelta]

Out of curiosity, I visited all of the publishers websites to look for interesting or recognizable (to me) game titles. Here's what I found (not sure if its all accurate but it should be close):

21-6 Productions - crap
BraveTree - crap
Chronic Logic - Pontifex 1 & 2 (if anyone remembers that neat little demo)
Codemasters - Operation Flashpoint 1 & 2, IGI 2, Colin McRae Rally, TOCA, Dragon Empires,
Dreamcatcher Interactive - Painkiller
eGames - Raptor, Demonstar (loved those old shooters!), otherwise crap
Eidos - Thief, Dues Ex, Hitman, Legacy of Kain, Tomb Raider, Commandos, Blood Omen; series'
Enlight Interactive - X2: The Threat, Seven Kingdoms 1 & 2, Warlords Battlecry 3
Framework Studios - Crap
GamerBlitz - Crap
Gameware Development - Creatures
GarageGames - Crap, other than the Torque engine licenses
Global Software Publishing - Crap (educational/kids games)
Interplay - Fallout, Freespace... oh hell, does it matter? Aren't these guys bankrupt anyways? Their website doesn't even fucking work, who cares!
Kuma Reality Games - Some AA wannabe called Kumawar
Legacy Interactive - Crap
Max Gaming - Crap (Moon Tycoon anyone?)
O-3 Entertainment - Crap (GTA wannabe)
Riverdeep (aka Broderbund) - Crap (educational)
Skunk Studios - Crap
Vivendi Universal Games - AvP 2, Bard's Tale, CS:Z, Crash Bandicoot, Half-Life series, LOTR, NOLF 1 & 2, Simspons Hit n Run, SWAT 3 & 4, Diablo series, DAoC, Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Middle-Earth Online, WoW, Ghost Master, Empire Earth series, Ground Control series, Homeworld 2
Atari Inc - Civilization series, Driver series, Deer Hunter series (groan), Independence War, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Unreal Tournament series, Enter the Matrix, Wheel of Time, Unreal 2, Moo3, NWN series, Mechwarrior 3

So the only 'real' publishers they have are Atari (kinda), VUG, and Eidos. Add Interplay if they aren't actually dead yet (again? still? whatever). Codemasters, Enlight, and Dreamcatcher might be capable of publishing something decent too, I suppose.

All things considered though, it isn't a very impressive lineup. Their three big names are heavily into other consoles - I suspect their involvment here is just a continuation of their diversification strategy. So the chances of Phantom having a big hit/exclusive (Halo, Mario, etc) are pretty much nil. I mean, unless the Phantom intends to corner the market on educational software, i'm guessing this little ghosty is gonna get pounded into a very, very small niche by the competition.
But we'll see. I intend to sit back and watch the fireworks, whatever they may be. :)

Re:You have to work to make gamers cynical

[fondue]

"These aren't a bunch of hardcore gamers in a garage with a great vision."

As opposed to Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo...