Here ’s a story for you underdog fans . Infinium Labs , a nearly unknown , speculation - upper-case letter - fundedcompany , almost stepped in the mob with juggernauts Microsoft , Sony and Nintendo with a video recording game organisation it had developed . The company claimed that its Phantom was a " console in a category of its own " and promised that the Phantom would offer " gamers a more exciting and compelling play experience than any other biz console or personal computer on the market . "
Was this just hype , or did the Phantom really have a chance at being the next large thing ? In this article , we ’ll tell you what there is to know about the Phantom so you may draw your own conclusions .
The Basic Idea
Here ’s how Infinium Labs depict its fresh political machine :
Sound familiar ? That fairly much depict a desktop PC with a broadband connection . And at its heart , that ’s what the Phantom is : aWindows PC(this pagelists the product specs ) .
But the Phantom is dissimilar from an off - the - shelf personal computer in a few significant elbow room . Namely :
Additionally , the Phantom is programme to use Infinium Lab’svirtual private games internet(VPGN ) . In the next division , we ’ll see what this feature film is all about .
VPGN
The Phantom web , Phantom ’s VPGN , is essentially avirtual individual networkdesigned exclusively for game . Like a standard VPN , it acts as a direct , private route from computer to computer , through the Internet – in this case , from a Phantom console to the Infinium Labs game host ( seeHow VPNs Workfor more information ) . The VPGN make it easy for the cabinet to get specific games from Infinium Labs , and more significantly , it makes it easy for Infinium Labs to control who gets what games .
Even with these modifications , the Phantom is n’t land - shattering from a double-dyed hardware engineering point of view . Infinium ’s major innovation is take what ’s particular about a bet on personal computer – the wide smorgasbord of games , the power to download games and game previews and the power to well upgrade the machinery – with what ’s special about a console – the ability to dally games using a freehanded - screenTV , high - endsound systemand usage controller .
And that in itself is an interesting idea . As we ’ll see in the next department , Infinium Labs has used this matrimony of console table and PC to put together a plan for a originative new play business .
The Business
As we come across in the last section , the Phantom does not have a CD - ROM drive like a received microcomputer or game console table , and it does n’t have normal access to the Internet either – it works through a specializedVPN . In other words , the only direction to get a game into the auto is to download it directly from Infinium Labs over a wideband connection . This and the system ’s properness data encoding are the essential pieces of Infinium Labs ' business model .
To empathise the syllabus , have ’s say you decide to get a Phantom . Here ’s what you could expect :
Infinium Labs ' hope is this program offers enough to gamers and game developer to be a success .
Enticing Gamers
Here are the main possible reward to the Phantom , from a gamer ’s perspective :
According to Infinium Labs , you would have chiliad of game to choose from , ranging in toll from $ 2.99 to $ 50 .
Enticing Business Partners
Here are Phantom ’s main advantages to game developers :
So what ’s the downside ? We ’ll get into that in the next section .
Problems
Infinium Labs has an interesting merchandise , but it also has some Brobdingnagian obstacles in its style . The chief vault for gamers is probably price . Once you buy an Xbox , PlayStation 3 , Wii or PC , you may operate it for free forever . With the Phantom , you would have to pay a monthly fee . Monthly fees are the norm forcable televisionand Internet divine service , but it ’s a arduous sell for the game world . Every gamer is used to pay for a console table once and only once . If you were to hold back give the monthly fee , the Phantom would trim back you off from the only way of life to access new game .
The other issue is contest with normal PCs . A new desktop PC with the correct peripherals can do most of the stuff the Phantom does ( it does n’t have access to Infinium ’s game database , but it does have admittance to other game online ) , and you’re able to also apply it to surf the cyberspace with Explorer , keep track of your pecuniary resource , create artwork , flux andburn CDs , compose and print letters , etc .. The Phantom is a specialized PC in some ways – it ’s design to hook up well to your amusement system of rules – but in other ways , it ’s ahandicappedPC . And that ’s sure to raise some eyebrows with microcomputer gamers – why ante up for a microcomputer when it does n’t do everything a microcomputer should do ?
The Best Shot
If it works , Phantom most belike will appeal to two very unlike group . Many serious gamers will probably go for it , just because they want access to whatever game are out there ( this is the glob of the population who has nearly every console ever free ) .
The other major group would be families . The phantom has inherent prayer to parents who do n’t want to blast out $ 50 for every individual secret plan their kid require , but also do n’t want their kids download out or keeping games on the Internet . They would set the maternal controls on their account , give their nipper a monthly gaming allowance , and blank out about it . The kids are happy , the parent are felicitous , and the cost goes straight into the family budget .
That ’s the melodic theme anyway . The real tarradiddle will be what happens when the console table pip the street . Infinium has announced a doubtful launching date of November 18th , 2004 .
Check out the next varlet for a rundown of the Phantom ’s glasses , orclick hereto learn more about the fresh console .
Product Specs
Here are the ware specifications for the Phantom console , take from the original official Phantom Web site :
