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View Full Version : Is the Phantom Console a Hoax?? Does it actually Exist??



Voodoo_Vince
09-25-2003, 02:43 PM
Could the Phantom Be a Hoax?
Posted by kanoe on 12:21 PM PST - September 18, 2003

Is it possible that the ever-elusive Phantom console doesn't exist at all?

Before anyone decides to reserve their copy of Infinium Labs' upcoming Phantom console, they should take a look at an investigative report just published by HardOCP.com. Though by now Infinium Labs has produced an impressive homepage and an equally impressive list of specifications for the Phantom, author Steve Lynch and editor Kyle Bennett suspect that Infinium Labs isn't all that it claims it is.

When Infinium Labs announced in a press release that they were building the Phantom back in January, they claimed that the console would be able to outperform all the current platforms, that it would be the fastest console on the market and will be an always-on broadband device with cross-platform capabilities. The press release also stated that the console would be released in November and would be so advanced that it would appeal to hardcore gamers but also simple and friendly enough for children to use. Basically, it sounded like a lot of big dreams that may or may not come true for the company.

Though the website for the phantom console went live in August, nothing has been seen of the Phantom console in reality besides a few 3D renderings. With this in mind, Steve Lynch and Kyle Bennett went to find out more about the elusive company and whether the Phantom does in fact exist. Their findings were surprising, to say the least, and certainly not reassuring for those of you who had hoped the Phantom would be all that it claims it will be.

Firstly, though the company claims to be helmed by industry veterans, the CEO of the company, Timothy Roberts, is currently employed by three different companies. Over the past eight years, Roberts has occupied eight different CEO/Director positions at investor-funded business ventures that have all been met with either very limited success or complete failure. As for Infinium Labs, Lynch and Bennett estimate that Roberts has secured at least $25 million from investors, but "has yet to produce a base of operations in the last eight months since the Phantom console was announced." Inquiries into the actual office site of Infinium Labs were fruitless; the address given for the mailing address in Longboat Key, FL turns out to lead to a Mail Boxes Etc. and that the address had no actual storefront or office area. The address for the headquarters in Sarasota, FL, is for an office building where no space is actually being rented or used by Infinium Labs.

For the full article and the real dirt on Infinium Labs, click .

here (http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTEy)

Above article is from G4

mdooz
09-25-2003, 03:18 PM
I think that there is a chance that it is real, but it won't sell very well.

RenoXG
09-25-2003, 03:23 PM
I think it's a very elaborate hoax. Probably designed by the same computer geeks that developed Linux.

Shadow20002
09-25-2003, 03:30 PM
Uh...compatible with all consoles huh ? How could they do that ? :watchout:

So then Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo gonna go out business ? :huh:

Variation-XBA
09-25-2003, 07:15 PM
Even if it is real, or going to come out, it'll be overpriced, you have to download the games...and the support wont be anywhere as good as all the other consoles....

I'll pass, and I'm telling everyone else to as well..

Reclaimer
09-25-2003, 07:39 PM
It would be an eloborate hoax if it where one. Wasn't it at E3? Could have sworn I read that it had something there. The stuff I was reading stated that it was going to be like a Dell computer. You buy the base model thingie and then pay for the rest of the crap like various size HDD's and what not. I don't know.. I really don't care at this point.. I think venturing into the console war this late would be suicide. It could be very much real, but it could also become extinct, just like the 3DO, the Turbo Graphx16, the Vectrex, the Coleco Vision, i-Phillips.
It just doesn't seem to be able to be a contender in this war. I don't see anything from it that could prove that it could come out swinging at a market that's in full swing like this. Look at how much Xbox had to struggle to make a foothold that late in the game. Show me something that could make this so profitable and tangible that it could stay afloat in this business, right when xbox is in the amist of launching over 200 games this year alone. Sony's handheld unit, whatever the Nintendo folks have cooking. Let alone all three have a second version of each console planned.

Too late for the Phantom? It might as well be vaporware at this point.

luke72
09-25-2003, 08:33 PM
personally, i've spent a whole lotta time in long boat key. I'm here to tell everyone that this is no place to conduct any kind of "takeover" type start-up. I say "tee-hee" to the the suggestion of an idea for a third party company to take over the console market at this point in time...i guess the world was also thought to be flat at one time as well, huh ?

Highlite23
09-25-2003, 10:42 PM
Well, according to this months GI, which includes a photo of the unit, the Phantom is currently available for pre-order on line at www.phantom.net and will be released in October.

If it is a hoax, the guys at GI are gonna look awfully silly.:D...I can live with that:)

Kraft
09-25-2003, 11:12 PM
I doubt it is a hoax for the sole reason that they've put in too much work. They obviously spent a lot of time and money on their website and would be facing a lot of lawsuits if they are taking money from preorders and aren't planning on delivering a system.

Voodoo_Vince
09-26-2003, 02:07 AM
Did anyone bother to read the article I linked about how Infium labs has No office and how the CEO is KNOWN for fraud???? I guess not

Chaotic
09-26-2003, 08:12 AM
speaking of this phantom console, what ever happened to the beta testing period? :huh: So no beta testing and they are just going to release it right to the market:o This thing will suck and be very expensive to buy,play,maintain.

ShannonX
09-26-2003, 05:45 PM
i just have to laugh when i think about the "phantom" console. kinda reminds me of dunke nukem "taking" forever.

Downtown Jimmy
09-27-2003, 09:06 PM
I think they are in the beta testing program now.. and they should be done October according to them. The whole deal seems fishy to me.

When its released it will be avaliable to purchase online... i dont think they are shipping the console to stores. This would really put a damper on their sales (thats if the thing is real).

wbio
09-28-2003, 07:55 AM
I think it's a hoax because in the 3d vid they had it running on a form of Windows. Do you think MS would really let any more competition into the console market? Plus, I am pretty sure it would be illegal to have it play games from things like Xbox and PS2 because emulators are illegal, and they would have to gain permission from MS, Sony, and Nintendo to do it, and I really doubt that would happen. Not to mention they have lied about where the office is located, and there has been no actual footage of the console and it's supposed to be out in Dec. Sounds like a hoax to me:o

SnoochyBoochy
09-28-2003, 09:16 AM
i guess we'll just have to wait and see if the phantom is actually released. if it isn't a hoax, i really have no desire to buy it :o

Nuclearcow
09-28-2003, 12:37 PM
This system is like that person at Ebay who has a user rating of 0, and is trying to sell something that retails for $1,000, at the low low price of $800. Ofcourse, once and a while those people come through...

Downtown Jimmy
09-28-2003, 05:12 PM
I am pretty sure it would be illegal to have it play games from things like Xbox and PS2 because emulators are illegal

Yes i dont think it will be running any Xbox games or PS2 games that dont go cross platform to the PC. I mainly heard its going have mainly PC games avaliable. Somewhere else I also heard that they have that cheesetastic low-tech fighting game on it Bikini Babes Fighter (something like that) anyone know of it?

Its shaping up to be just a PC console, something no one needs.

AC/DC Halo Man
09-28-2003, 06:08 PM
No one needs a phantom if it quote, "Plays most PC games." That is what the fricken computer is for, my god

DocHoliday78
09-28-2003, 06:49 PM
Wow this phantom looks like a piece of garbage. The great thing about consoles is that you dont have to upgrade them. They are making a crappy pc thats it.

AlphaRaptor
09-29-2003, 12:11 AM
Who knows how much legal stuff they'll have to go through. And if it can play games of all 3 platforms it would have to have an OS compatable with all 3. No dont see that ever happening.