Phantom console shows its substance
By Darren Waters
BBC News Online in Los Angeles
The much-hyped Phantom games service has made a strong debut at the
E3 games show in Los Angeles, impressing many of its critics.
The Phantom looks like other game consoles
The service combines a "games receiver", which looks much like a
games console, and a subscription which allows games to be
downloaded from the internet.
Phantom had been ridiculed for its substance-less qualities in the
last 18 months as the new company got off the ground without
showing any actual hardware.
The company has made light of such stories in its E3 marketing,
with slogans "Phantom lives" and "I Believe".
Downloadable library
"It's a games receiver for PC games," explained a spokesman for the
company.
It comes with a keyboard and mouse
"You pay $29.95 a month and for that you get the receiver, a lap
pad and games pad."
The receiver is a high-specification PC in a custom-designed box
which does not look out of place in a living room.
It comes free only if customers sign up for a two-year subscription
- it costs $199 without a subscription.
The lap pad is also a clever piece of design, combining a keyboard
and mouse which sit combined in your lap.
"Trying to play PC games in your living room is hard. This makes it
easy," said the Infinium spokesman.
The service is being compared with subscribing to cable or
satellite television.
The package comes with a library of free games and more can be
downloaded.
Phantom players
Kevin Bachus, president of Infinium Labs, said: "People my age who
grew up playing video games are now starting families of their own
and are eager to play together.
Early designs looked very different
"We'll have an array of titles. And all the customer will have to
do is sit down in front of the system, choose a title and begin to
play."
Phantom has announced deals with chip manufacturer AMD to provide
the main processor and Nvidia to provide the graphics chip.
The receiver has a Athlon XP 2500+ CPU, with a 40 gigabyte hard
drive and 256 megabytes of Ram.
Those specifications compare well with PCs available today although
it is unclear how the receiver will adapt to the fast changing
world of PC gaming.
"We think it will appeal to the hardcore gamer and the casual
gamer," said a spokesman.
The console will also allow for multiplayer games with other
Phantom owners as well as PC gamers.
