The Phantom was supposed to be “console in a class of its own”, “a console built by gamers for gamers”, and a revolutionary product that would change the way we played games.
It all started back in 2002, when Infinium Labs (now known as Phantom Entertainment) issued a press release to all news outlets stating that they would soon release a “revolutionary new gaming platform” that would offer an on-demand video game service, delivering downloadable games via an online subscription. Though the press release contained no specific information, it did include a computer-generated mock-up. Because the company provided suspicious sounding details, news sites such as IGN and Wired deemed the Phantom vaporware. [H]ard|OCP even researched it and wrote an article on the company and the operation, and faced a defensive lawsuit in turn.
The Phantom’s release date was constantly pushed back and information about it was always changing. Although Infinium Labs provided trailers and playable prototype demos, many people began to doubt that the console would ever be released. The Phantom became even more controversial in both the gaming and business worlds due to a number of financial scandals involving Infinium Labs. Many accused the company of “pumping and dumping”, a form of stock fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false statements, and stealing money from other investors and people who pre-ordered the console.
Even though there was a lot of bad behind the Phantom, I will admit that I liked the ideas behind it.
For instance, instead of buying games from a retail store, you would download them from a network. This would mean that there would be no CD, DVD, or Cartridge slot; all downloaded games would be stored on the hard drive. This would have made it easier for game designers (big and small) to get games to the players, thus cutting the prices of games as it gets pretty expensive making the discs, boxing, and getting shelf space. There would also be a trial and rental feature for every game. The console would, in theory, have the largest game library in history, as the games would be PC games, independently developed games, and possible Xbox ports.
Yes, you could just buy a PC, but the Phantom would have a plus side for gamers as it would already have the top specs (at the time) built-in, it would be easily upgradeable, it featured Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound, it could be hooked up to a TV, and it would be built on a special version of Windows. Oh and for families, it would save parents $50.00 any time their kids wanted a new game as the parents could give them a “game allowance”, parents could also control what the kids could and couldn’t play and not have to worry about what would be downloaded onto the family computer. It would have definitely been the perfect addition to any high-tech entertainment system.
Though it was never released, the Phantom lives on today. Have you heard vaporware referred to as a Phantom? Yes, the Phantom has now become a popular icon for vaporware. Phantom Entertainment also eventually released the Lapboard, a wireless keyboard and mouse that may have been used as a controller for the Phantom.
