Phantom specs unveiled

[thegreatescape]

This would appear to be old news, but for those that havent seen them, the specs are on mega-games (i was looking for screen-savers. really.). ;)

http://www.megagames.com/news/html/hardware/phantomspecsunveiled.shtml

But to save you the trouble here they are without the excessive text at the top of the page. It also says the release date is sometime in q1 2004 :hmm:

The full Phantom specs were announced as follows:

Phantom Standard Components

- Custom OS on Windows XPe kernel
- Up to 3.0 GHz processor with 256MB DDR RAM
- High-performance nVidia video card
- High-performance Intel motherboard
- Dolby Digital 7.1 Surround Sound
- 100+ Gigabyte internal storage device
- On-board RF wireless modules
- S-Video, RCA or component video and PAL
- 10/100 baseT Ethernet
- 1 wireless controller
- Wireless keyboard and mouse
- 2 USB ports
- 4 controller ports
- 12’ Port Extension Cable

Phantom Optional Components

- Controllers, wireless and corded
- Keyboard and mouse with charging base station
- Storage expansion for additional game storage
- DSL modem
- Cable modem
- Wireless WIFI card
- Memory upgrades
- Speaker sets
- Flat screen displays

And i thought the dreamcast got penned for being too much like a pc @_@

[GrandAmChandler]

I need to see some screenshots before I even consider giving the phantom a chance..... x_x

[Evil E]

Have they come up with a price yet?

[KJN]

Here is an interesting article about the Phantom:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTEy

[thegreatescape]

Here is an interesting article about the Phantom:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTEy

Now im totally convinced its a hoax. And if it isnt, then its gonna bomb unbelievable bad. I definatley wouldnt want to be in an elevator with one of the investors allegedly backing the project. LOL
It really is a shame that a stupid hoax like that gets more publicity than that linux based console i remember reading about a couple of years ago in a pc gaming mag, and even then i only read about it when it was canned.

I just had a thought- even if its not vapourware, its nothing more than a pc crammed into a small box, and the "customised xp kernal" is nothing more than xp that only allows you to play certain games, and visit the phantom site to get new ones. Hardly revolutionary. :hmm:

-SMi

[Ed Oscuro]

With a processor that fast, it needs more RAM. At least 512MB.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hmm, webpage is totally ghetto, the "movie" is 1999-esque all the way (from the visual style to the quality of the render) and they've thrown in the phrase "The world's first console built by gamers for gamers." Hah, name me ONE console that was made without ever trying it out in the pre-production phase. Doesn't that qualify?

[Darth Sensei]

I agree that this has to be a hoax. Otherwise they'd have to charge at least $1500 for it and nobody is willing to pay that for a gaming console. It almost sounds like a console gamer's fantasy wish list of components.

Dave

[Ed Oscuro]

I think it's possible that this is all it is, a dream console.

I've got about as much optimisim about the Phantom's future as I feel likely to see a ghost.

[Anonymous]

I've asked VPs of Marketing at both Nintendo and Microsoft and both of their reactions to the Phantom were (and I'm not making this up):

"The what?"

I don't think the big three are all that concerned about it.

[jonjandran]

From all the research I've done on it , It is a real console and it's in production.

It's going to have a lot of built in crap games ( like cards, backgammon , etc ). The rest of the games will be downloadable. You will download the beginning of the game and it will continue to d-load the rest as you play.

It's going to have monthly rates. You get so many games a month for a certain $ amount. And next month you can get others or pay extra for more. Kind of like rentals. I think you'll be able to buy a game if you like it. Of course you'll only be able to keep a certain amount on the hard drive.

And it's going to be made to order. You can get different video cards and hard-drives , etc.

A couple of companies are already making games for it.

But like we all know, there have been a lot of consoles in production that were never officially released. So who knows ?

[CitizenWhite]

Is it just me... but would Microsoft allow a company to modify the Windows XP kernal for something that would compete with their system?

[Sylentwulf]

They sent me an invite to beta test this thing, but everytime I clicked the link (which WAS ON the official page), the website froze, stalled, or 404'ed on me.

There is NO WAY this thing is gonna be released. If it is, it'll be the next cd-i, or nuon. It's gonna fail in such a spectacular way that noone will even notice it was released. (unlike the 3d0,n-gage, or jaguar)

[bluecollarninja]

we should take bets on which fails first n-gage or phantom.

[Duncan]

we should take bets on which fails first n-gage or phantom.

Good question.

My bet's actually on the N-Gage going away first -- at least the Phantom resembles something that you could use to play video games. Conversely, the N-Gage looks like it was designed by and for the terminally retarded. And whose slick idea was it to put the cartridge port underneath the battery pack? :hmm:

Another point -- if you spend something like $400 on a Phantom, at least there's always the chance of getting some money back in litigation when the thing does turn out to be a hoax (and I'm pretty confident in the chances of that happening). But when you drop $300 on an N-Gage, Nokia simply points and laughs at your gullible nature.

Duncan :D

[Jonathan]

I'm going to play it safe and buy an atari.

[Duncan]

I'm going to play it safe and buy an atari.

Yeah, I was thinking about finally getting a Game Gear. At least I can watch TV on that, though I'll never be able to text-message anyone or even play a shitty version of Tomb Raider. Oh, the pain. :roll:

Duncan :D

[Captain Wrong]

I think it's real but I think it's a terrible idea and I think it'll end up like the Indrema (the Linux based box someone refered to above, BTW there was a big article about that system in one of the last issues of NextGen). The Indrema at least seemed like a good idea, open source, unlimited potential, basically it was a stripped down PC running Linux. This seems like a crippled PC that's only going to do limited things.

Who'se going to buy this? The PC gamers won't touch it, the console gamers aren't going to be interested as it won't have any of the hot properties, and it isn't going to do anything else.

I dont' think it's a hoax, I do think it's misguided and won't make it to market.