Phantom console disappears

PHANTOM ENTERTAINMENT, previously known as Infinium Labs, has removed all references to the infamous, and aptly named, Phantom console that was originally planned for release in November 2004.

This comes as no great surprise, as in February of this year it was revealed by the company that the Phantom gaming console was to be put on hold, indefinitely. It was also revealed in a SEC filing that Infinium had lost over $62.7 million in three years, over half of which was spent on marketing the company and its products. Products which have still not made it to market.

All that is left on the company promotional site is the Phantom keyboard and the Phantom game service. The keyboard consists of a wireless keyboard with a mouse rest and an accompanying optical mouse. While details are limited, the 'game service' appears to be similar to Gametap and what Valve provide with Steam - a download service for games on Windows PCs, hardly earth shattering stuff.

The console itself was alleged to have no removable storage device of its own, and would offer games by way of the aforementioned download service. It seems the development of this software will now be geared towards a standard PC as opposed to any proprietary console.

The company has not been short of controversy over the few years since it was formed. Hard OCP asked questions of Infinium, and its console, in an in-depth article in September 2003. The site was then threatened with legal action and asked to remove the article. Hard OCP refused and after much legal wrangling, Infinium backed down.

It remains to be seen if Phantom Entertainment can recuperate its expenditure on R&D - and legal costs - with any viable product. µ

See Also
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Phantom, HardOCP saga drags on
Infinium sues HardOCP in federal Florida court
Phantom threatens to legal HardOCP