New Infinium Labs Console To be Free

[Ioman]

New details of Infinium Labs' plans for the Phantom Game Service have emerged, with company president Kevin Bachus revealing that the Phantom console will effectively be free, and providing the first pictures of the hardware itself.

Describing the pricing decision as "something we had to do," Bachus told US website GameDaily that the hardware would be provided free of charge to consumers who sign up for the Phantom Gaming Service, the broadband game and game-related content delivery system on which the console - which has no external disc drives - relies.

The service, starting at $29.95 a month, will offer users certain basic content for free, and access to either buy premium games at prices comparable to regular retail or rent them, usually $5 for three days.


"When I look at the company, what I see is a services company," Bachus said. "People were excited about the idea, but they were skeptical about the company's ability to execute."


The console features a PC-like architecture, with 256 megabytes of random access memory and a 40 gigabyte hard drive, running an embedded version of Windows XP. It will use a custom controller and support surround sound and high-definition TV.

[Ioman]

Picture 2

[Ioman]

Picture 3

[Ioman]

Picture 4

[dang]

is that the ethernet cable going into the front or a single joystick/keyboard plug?

[Ioman]

Originally posted by dang
is that the ethernet cable going into the front or a single joystick/keyboard plug?

I think its a cable that goes to the keyboard/mouse.

[Archon]

just cause it looks cool, doesnt change the fact that it probably sucks

[dang]

i never said it looked cool. Having one input for your input devices does not seem like a smart move. I guess they dont plan on having games where more then one person can play locally?

[ECA]

what a way to rent games FOREVER...
No game purchase, only rent.
Lets get in on the service, could make some big bucks in the first 3 months until the dweebs figure it out and run from it...

[theguy]

First thing, terrible idea. Second, it was originally supposed to be a user configurable machine? With like a 3.0ghz P4, 512mb ram, etc...also, I read a report on gamespot that the console is not free, rather it's a $200 mid-range pc? And what's up with the monthly subscription? Lame! HardOCP was right to bash Infinium!