The Phantom...Lives?

An Anonymous Reader writes "G4's Attack of the show has a writeup and video of a demonstration of the Phantom Gaming Service." From the article: "I certainly wouldn't be at this company doing what I'm doing if I wasn't absolutely sure that we're going to launch a product. It's natural for people to be skeptical. I think a lot of the skepticism is building on itself at this point: people are skeptical so therefore they become more skeptical and therefore they become more skeptical."

Comments

Reasons for skepticism

[yotto]

I'm not skeptical to be skeptical. I'm skeptical because this console was announced, what, 5 years ago? More?

Don't get me wrong, if it comes out and kicks ass I'll be all over it, but until I see a working machine I can fiddle with at the game store I'll place your console in the file folder with Duke Nukem Forever.

Re:Reasons for skepticism

[MBraynard]

Sometimes skepticism is based on Ignorance.

The product was announced less than two years ago, not five years ago.

Re:Reasons for skepticism

[evil-osm]

Haven't you heard? Duke is going to be the Photon's shipping game, the hardware is ready they are just waiting on the game ;)

Re:Reasons for skepticism

[Southpaw018]

Sometimes skepticism is based on a "working" model of the Phantom with a poorly welded modified ATX case, hotglued wires, cardboard patches, and nonfunctioning plugs that aren't connected to anything.

Re:Reasons for skepticism

[gl4ss]

phantom is legimate... ...if you consider not delivering legimate, dozen total revamps of the product, specs pulled out of ass etc.

look, people are skeptical about it being a good product EVEN IF IT MAKES IT TO THE MARKET! they've already had dozen dates/timelines they haven't met.

it doesn't take time to build a pc clone(however, a launch of the size that they were planning would have taken a shitload more of money than they had/have).

people were skeptical of the end of summer of 2003 release of hl2 - and for good reason, it never happened(came out a year later).

The Phantom Menace

[CDWalton]

Sorry, couldn't help it...

I thought

[Dark Paladin]

We were skeptical because we've been promised the moon, the sun and the stars for years, without delivery. Or perhaps because the main office were found to be a PO Box (or an empty office - I can't remember). Because every year there's some hardware, some sort of demo, but nothing real and tangible.

We're skeptical because many of us are empiricists who don't believe in empty promises anymore, but real results. Show us a machine, we can buy, and a real list of games that work, and we'll take a look at it. Until you actually say "On sale on [insert date here]", just shut up - we'll be a lot less skeptical that way.

Re:I thought

[Ayaress]

It was an empty office. A PO box wouldn't be all that unusual. A lot of businesses use PO boxes rather than post their address online. There are a lot of reasons, but they all come down to keeping people from snooping around, which is exactly what HardOCP did.

A physical breakthrough

[Max_Wells_SH]

At least they managed to create a perpetual skepticism machine!

Drinking the Kool-aid

[lazuli42]

"I certainly wouldn't be at this company doing what I'm doing if I wasn't absolutely sure that we're going to launch a product."

If you're still working for the company, obviously you're waiting for the payoff. Having this type of confidence in your employers doesn't translate into real-world guarantees that the business is going to launch the product.

This is modern American workplace's version of Stockholm Syndrome. Good luck, kiddo.

A myth of epic proportions

[theantipop]

It's articles like this that support the belief that the Phantom is real. Seriously though, when every company employee is merely treading water everytime they talk about the console, coupled with the fact that in it's current proposed specs its nowhere near competitive with next gen consoles you can't honestly expect them to finish the product. I mean when you have to spout bull like

last year we not only had Christmas but also a presidential election. So getting billboards and getting television ad space was very difficult to do last year

Please, for the sake of all those poor engineers who got suckered into working on this, just let the Phantom die in peace.

Re:i think...

[MindStalker]

Also Nintendo may beat them to this. I don't see how this can complete.

insightfull

[CoffeeJedi]

from TFA:
Have you beefed up the system specs in the last year?

Bachus: We've widened the Lies Pipeline signifigantly, and upgraded the Chicanery Processing Unit to be 30% faster.

Re:As an IL employee.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry, my post got erased somehow. Here it is:

I can tell you that this is the real deal. I was the one commissioned to build the prototype for the Phantom. It's a sweet machine.

I started by finding a plastic suitcase that had a futuristic shape. The specifications required a two-tone paint job, so I got some enamel from Lowe's and went to town on the sucker. The finish came out super-smooth.

I then moved on to building the internals. While painting the case, I ordered a eMachines T6212. When it arrived, I took out the insides and the power supply and stacked them neatly into the case. There were a few slots to cut out in the back, and I had to install a generic video card that had a composite output, but all went well.

I then proceeded to work on the software. I installed RedHat 6.1. It had no problems detecting all my hardware, so all was going well so far. I then downloaded MAME and started to install it. Halfway through, I had to change to root to install the rest of the software. This was also a snap, as I made the root password very easy to remember (root:root - easy, huh?). I like to work smarter, not harder.

Anyway, after 5 days of work, the prototype was complete. I had some other hardware modifications to do (erasing the Microsoft logo off the SideWinder controller) and I had to install a bunch of NES roms, but overall, I'd say the progress went well. Oh, I also changed the wallpaper in the default login to feature the Phantom logo.

I think you guys will really like this console once it's available. I play with it every day and I find it incredible that nobody has sold a product so good up to now.

Posting anonymously for obvious reasons.

What kind of glasses are you wearing?

[Thedalek]

Did anyone else actually watch the video? I think this is a great idea. The pricing model seems right too... he wants to go the "cable tv" route, where you pay a monthly fee with a contract and get the hardware for free, or the "satellite radio" route where you pay a little for the hardware, and don't have to bind yourself with a yearly contract.

And when you participate in this scheme, what exactly do you own? Do you own any of the games you download? Do you own the box? If you stop paying Infinium money, would you still be able to play your games? If Infinium financially imploded, would your box still work?

These are some of the biggest concerns which IL still hasn't addressed. To you, it may look fine. To everyone else, it looks like a more strict version of Steam with an extra box you have to buy, too.

Re:What kind of glasses are you wearing?

[DJayC]

And when you participate in this scheme, what exactly do you own?

I don't know.. what do you own when you purchase a satellite radio receiver? You listen to the songs they decided to play, and you trust that they stay true to offering the best music for whatever channel you listen to. If the Phantom Network treats me as good as Sirius, I don't feel bad about not owning the content. I'm paying a service fee for premium, easily accessible content.

There are very few games I will play after the initial release.. I could care less if I own GTA6 after I beat it.. and it's perfect for sports games.. I don't have to blow 50 bucks a year for each title.. I can play it, when the new one comes out, I play that one.

If you care about owning that kind of media, I can see where you are coming from. I wouldn't use this type of service for music or movies, but when it comes to games, honestly, I would rather pay for a subscription based service, and I think there are other casual gamers out there that feel the same way.

Your argument isn't original.. it's been brought in every thread about any type of subscription based service. All I was saying is that if this thing works out, you can count me in. $9.00 a game so I can play it for a couple months is much cheaper than $50.

For those who care, go spend $450 on your next-gen console, and $50 bucks a game.. but I'm tired of my game and console graveyard building up and wasting space. Next stop, eBay!

Re:What kind of glasses are you wearing?

[DJayC]

Also, you wont be spending $300 on the box. He makes that clear.. the box will cost little or no money... and that's what makes this so appealing. Say it costs 20 bucks a month.. say I'd spend 800 dollars on a gaming PC. That's 40 months of gaming...

Stupidest thing I've read in a while

[Jtheletter]

people are skeptical so therefore they become more skeptical and therefore they become more skeptical.

How in the world does that even make any sense? By that logic the opposite should also hold true and anyone who believed in the product therefore believed more, and then more still!

Here's the real reasons people became more and more skeptical of the product - because the man leading the company has submarined so many other VC-funded startups it's insane anyone still gives him money. Because when the community did some digging their multimillion dollar funded base of operations was an empty storefront. Because the tech they were touting was beyond anything else at the time and there was nothing but some CG images to back up that they even had a prototype. Because when a website did some more digging and published and article full of facts they threatened to sue. Because every single time something came out about their "product" it was 'soon soon soon!' and yet nothing ever materialized.

Skepticism does not come from nothing and feed on itself. Skepticism comes from making outrageous claims and not backing them up and flying the face of logic with no proof.

I appologize for not linking to articles/slashdot posts/etc for all of the claims above, but I'm pretty sure /. readers are all too well aware of what I'm talking about.

Re:Stupidest thing I've read in a while

[Jerf]

How in the world does that even make any sense?

It doesn't on the individual scale, it does on the cultural scale. My skepticism re-inforces yours, re-inforces mine again. This is how "group-think", a very real phenomenon, happens.

By that logic the opposite should also hold true and anyone who believed in the product therefore believed more, and then more still!

It would, if there were critical mass. Remember when the PS/2 was released?

This, incidentally, is a sign that they have a major PR disaster on their hands. Nothing can win in the face of this "common knowlegde"; look at what happened to the "Sidetalker". We'd long since made up our collective minds before it came out. To this day, I have no personal, direct experience with the product, though I think I have enough evidence to know we were basically right. (Doesn't always happen, though!)

Short on cash.

[yotto]

2.5 weeks ago, StockPatrol.com has this to say:

Investors and observers who have been awaiting the debut of Infinium Labs Inc..s (OTCBB: IFLB) .Phantom Gaming System. will have to wait a little longer. The Company, which has repeatedly delayed introduction of its Phantom, now claims that its .goal. is to .commence the launch. of the product in the fourth quarter of 2005 . but only if it can first secure at least $11.5 million. That is just the beginning. Infinium says it will need $22.2 million over the next year. At last report, the Company had $4,102 in available cash.

You know, someone should warn G4

[AzraelKans]

I know this sort of thing gives them ratings, but G4 should think twice about showing scams, I mean theres some level of er.. "innocence" in trying to convince complete non gamers that the Killzone 2 trailer was "realtime gameplay" but seriously the "phantom"?!

In case you havent noticed the Phantom is a "console" that will fail in purpose, and as soon as it does, the extra "initial capital" from the naive investors will disappear in thin air. (except from the pockets of those who orchestrated the whole deal of course) check the bios of these guys they are con artists.

This sort of thing could blow in their faces. not that they should worry about their credibility (which is zero anyway) they should worry about investors seeking for blood when this thing finally blows its cover.

Re:i think...

[generic-man]

Cable companies can license the Phantom and bundle it with cable modems for little to no extra money up front. Companies like Comcast and Dish Network have their own video recorders which have taken quite a lot of TiVo's potential customer base away. For an extra ten bucks a month to play however many video games the Phantom will support, cable companies might just make money on the deal.

The Phantom...Lives?

[Necromancyr]

The Phantom...Lives? No. No it doesn't. Next article please.