Bachus Talks Phantom Rehabilitation Tactics

Thanks to HeraldTribune.com for its article discussing prospects for the Phantom PC 'console' with new Infinium president Kevin Bachus. Bachus, a recent ex-Microsoft appointment to the PR-challenged Infinium Labs, discusses possible release dates: "The challenge I have given my team... is we've got to be out with a product for this holiday season." He also acknowledges skepticism over the product: "When I first heard about Infinium I was squarely in that camp as well", but suggests the PC compatibility for the 'console' means that "...there are thousands of people out there writing Phantom games today... They just don't know it." GameSpy also has an interview with Bachus in which he argues: "What's interesting about our service is that we can offer an outlet for independent developers. Will we have something that's the gaming equivalent of The Sundance Channel? Probably."

Indie console

[CelticWhisper]

A "Sundance Channel of video games" sounds intriguing, but is there really a market for that sort of thing? OSS games are one thing, but would people be willing to pay for what are essentially going to be no-name games (by comparison to Resident Evil, Half-Life 2, Halo, etc.) and have them distributed via the DRMed-up-the-wazoo methods Infinium originally mentioned? Don't get me wrong-I'm all for giving small-time developers a way to get their stuff out, but...they really might be better off just releasing their stuff as shareware or under the GPL and remaining in the tried-and-true PC world.

Re:Indie console

[neostorm]

I think I can speak for myself and at least a dozen of my friends when I say we'd be a small portion of a market for that sort of thing.
There are very few really good games made, and more often lately I find myself having fun with some obscure indie developers lower-budget creation. With indie games the expectations are lower, and gameplay is generally the focus, so it's much more entertaining bang for my buck.
Whenever my skeptical gaming friends and I disguss our perspectives on the game industry today we always arrive at the conclusion that our middle-aged gaming years will be spent in the game industries equivalent of the sundance festival. It's nice to know other people are thinking along those lines as well.

As for if the Phantom can deliver it, that remains to be seen. I still haven't seen anything that really proves it's not a really elaborate hoax yet.

Re:Indie console

[PainKilleR-CE]

Frankly, I think if I'm going to buy a PC-console hybrid, it'll be the ApeXtreme, since that at least will let me use the games I already have and not require me to be signed into the mothership.

Re:Indie console

[chrismcdirty]

but would people be willing to pay for what are essentially going to be no-name games

I'm gonna say no. Remember that the people who already have all 3 consoles and a PC aren't their core market. The people that are extremely casual gamers are their market. The people who are only going to buy a game because of the name, because they really don't know what's good. They'll stick to GTA, Madden, Halo, etc. because that's what's popular.

Just a PC + Locked in distribution channel?

[Mawen]

The only way I would be interested in this thing is if it came with a keyboard / mouse, and oh, NTSC resolution is too low... gotta be at least 1024x768. Hmm.. I guess I already have one of these.

So the main appeal it seems is the distribution channel. Perhaps this can help make the indy/shareware-level type market more serious and worthwhile, both for customers who are sick of weeding through crap on the net, and for devs who get lost among the crap on the net and don't have good access to marketing resources. I'm thinking something along the lines of mp3.com, except with all the best items rising to the top of the charts.

Just like mp3.com was great for indy music makers and seekers alike, perhaps this can do something for the game industry, and perhaps enable some fresh ideas to rise to the top and get noticed. However, the XBox guy, and especially the "DRM up the wazoo" part freaks me out. I can see indy developers porting their stuff to Phantom just to gain more recognition for themselves in the PC or console world.

Of course, if Phantom never gains market share (which at this point would be no big surprise, except for the surprise that it turns out not to be vaporware), this won't be worth it, and if the returns to game devs get all the revenue milked by this mischevious Infinium CEO, then that could be bad as well.

Ooh... on the other hand, perhaps this is a chance to reform and revolutionize the gaming industry. IMO, input devices these days kinda suck. Consoles got with it and released controllers with dual analog sticks (and no mice), but the PC world is still mostly stuck with one 2D analog device (dual analog is too fringe to be a requirement in games). So my oddball and probably ignored idea is, use this as a chance to put in a new input paradigm, with a keyboard for typing, and two optical mice with loads (5-15) of buttons on them. Yeeahh! (Or maybe one of those 3D input devices [alsos.com])

Oh well, if infinium can dream, so can I...

Bachus: Lazy People+Phantom=$$$

[superultra]

Bachus may lend some credibility (although I'm not aware of anything CEG actually accomplished besides looking "cool" [gamespy.com]). However, the fact remains that the Phantom is targeting a mainstream audience, but it's going to require broadband, be more apprehensive to set up than a PS2, and it's going to have an indie games channel. Aren't all things generally associated with the traditionally hardcore? What's more is that Bachus can't give us a release date, but he's made his team promise to have it out by Christmas. According to Bachus, Infinium is targeting people who are too lazy to buy a DVD, go to the movie theater, or drive to EB to buy a game (because that takes "hours"), but while CEG was in dire straits due to the "as bad an environment for investment that has ever existed in this country -- including during the depression of the 1930s," DVD and movie theaters were booming, and I worked at EB for the last three years as an assistant manager, and EB and fellow video game retailers were apparently not at all even in the same country as CEG.

Will the Phantom succeed? Sure, if we're going by Bachus' definition of success, which consists of "raising capital," "raising enthusiasm," and "releasing products." Man, he's almost done! He's even been talking to Best Buy! Talking!

And Hotels? Bachus is excited about getting the Phantom in hotels? Hotels? Last time I checked, that streaming N64 with the generic controllers wasn't exactly cutting edge stuff Bachus.

Re:Bachus: Lazy People+Phantom=$$$

[Ayaress]

Note that they never made any mention of WHICH Christmas. Something I've learned from the very same third-party no-name developers they're talking about carrying: "Before Chrismas" does not neccessarily mean "Before THIS CHristmas."

The Phantom is a hoax. Why keep reporting on it?

[Anonymous Coward]

Everything points to this being a massive investment scam - the guy's a proven liar, his resume is full of lies, Infinium Labs was a made-up name until recently, its corporate headquarters address is a Mailboxes, Etc. box, the only demos have been non interactive and there are NO contracts on record with any chip manufacturers, or any sort of mass production deals.

Re:The Phantom is a hoax. Why keep reporting on it

[Ayaress]

They're reporting so that we can see how full of holes their whole scheme is. Every new post brings more little holes and contradictions to light. It's just like reporting the SCO mess: We already know they're full of shit, but the more they talk, the less credible their arguments become. Anyway, I'm currently 50/50 on it being a scam or not. Right now, I think this is the most probable scenario: Infinium drums up millions in investment, ships some half-assed POS console for $500 a pop, sells in numbers th

Re:The Phantom is a hoax. Why keep reporting on it

[ChaoticLimbs]

The beauty of the scam is that all they have to do from an engineering standpoint is to fit a PC into the plastic case. Since that would take a week's worth of development at best, they will pretend to work out the distribution model and server configurations until they go bankrupt. The officers will have already sold off their stock in the company, and the Johnny-come-lately investors will be stuck with the short shrift.
It's a beautiful con, worthy nearly of traveler status.
PONZI SCHEME, PONZI SCHEME!