Can Infinium Compete In The Game Console Market? 249
Joe Barr writes "IT Manager's Journal is running a story this morning by Robin Miller and Matt Moen on Infinium Labs, the controversial game console maker. The long promised console finally appears to be a reality, but there are serious questions about Infinium's longterm viability in the game console market. ITMJ, like Slashdot, is part of OSTG."
Competition == good (Score:2, Interesting)
Whoohoo! (Score:3, Funny)
Whoooo! Yeah! Go capitalism! With all the Microsoft and VHS goodness! Whoohoo!
Re:Whoohoo! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Whoohoo! (Score:5, Insightful)
Sez you.
I say human nature is cooperation. And, hey, look, I presnted just as much evidence as you did.
Re:Whoohoo! (Score:2)
You also have to add something like "without cooperation, we'd still be living in caves!" Then you'll have an argument as well-reasoned and supported as the parent.
Re:Whoohoo! (Score:5, Informative)
I say human nature is cooperation. And, hey, look, I presnted just as much evidence as you did."
Capitalism is as much about cooperation as competition. Just look at how many people must cooperate to produce a computer chip. You have everything from companies that make fab machines, fabs themselves, chip designers, packaging, etc. Capitalism forces cooperation since it's the only way to effectively compete,
Cooperation (Score:2, Interesting)
Right, those people are cooperating -- but because it's in their nature? It's in their nature to want to make money, and they are being paid. It's cooperation, yes, but not selfless cooperation. Someone with a higher goal is employing those chip designers and packagers in order to make money. The expectation of selfless cooperation from everyone is socialism's single flaw.
Re:Whoohoo! (Score:3, Insightful)
Socialism is pain for the producers (Score:2, Insightful)
One Word: (Score:2)
Re:Competition == good (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Competition == good (Score:2)
that's exactly how competition works, if the product sucks they'll sink.
If Only It Where "Competition" (Score:4, Informative)
Re:If Only It Where "Competition" (Score:2)
Re:If Only It Where "Competition" (Score:2)
the X box has specialized chips for video and game processing. The Phantom is just a suped up PC. Nothing to see,please move along.
Woohoo! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Woohoo! (Score:2)
Re:Woohoo! (Score:2)
Hard|OCP (Score:5, Informative)
Pictures are up at qconpics.org [qconpics.org] in the Saturday [qconpics.org] gallery. The pictures of the smashing start here [qconpics.org]. It was pretty cool to see, and Kyle promised the crowd that next week they are going to have a story up all about the internals of what the Phantom REALLY has.
Re:Hard|OCP (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean, the article is already ridiculous:
"The box, while cute, is essentially a mid-range PC without a CD drive " --- stupid comment. It doesn't have a scanner either. Nor a printer.
Then, there is the controller, which is:
"perfect for computing (or gaming) with your feet up or lounging on a sofa instead of sitting rigidly in front of a desk"
--- so yes, the phantom is not a PC, it is a console.
"If Infinium fails to sell many subscriptions, it will go out of business. If it sells a whole bunch, it will be heavily in debt. This is the problem faced by any company that needs to put out substantial amounts of money in front in order to generate long-term income. "
--- sure. Same for TiVO. That's the point with subscription based services bunling hardware.
"Also note that $50 million is enough to get about 138,000 subscribers going, assuming no investors who have already put money into Infinium demand a piece of this pie, and that the Operations Cash Fairy suddenly comes down from fairyland to pay all the company's operating expenses during its first year or two of full business activity. But eventually investors will want their money, the Operations Cash Fairy will run off with the Easter Bunny to Never-Never Land, and "up to $50 million" may turn out to be $42 million or $3 million or some other number between $0 million and $50 million, with the exact amount depending on the whims of the investing public and the country's general economic condition at the moment the shares are offered"
--- okay. This is stupid on so many level, that it is hard to start. First, this is not journalist. It is a rant. Second, investro can't "demand a piece of the pie" to a company that is not public and is heavily in debt. Third, if Infinium is too successfull and heavily in debt, it will have zero problem raising money.
"If Infinium delivered streaming games without the Phantom box and charged $14.95 per month for a base subscription, its only upfront cost per subscriber would be sales commissions and distribution costs for whatever piece of custom software it used to run its games on clients' computers."
--- This, coming from a slasdot founder is really funny. Rob don't understand anything about making money. Selling games subscription to PC will ensure 1/ support nightmares, 2/ direct competition with game publishers, 3/ extremely low barrier of entry for competitors, 4/ not beeing an entertainment company, 5/ service beeing hacked under a week. It would be something TOTALLY different from what they try to do. This is akin to 'Apple must port OS X to windows to make money'. Geezus.
I could go like that throught the whole article. There is that 'hard core gamer' friend of rob (hence definitely not in the target demographic), that believes phantoms sucks, but don't whant his name published because he really really want to stay on the beta program. It is so ironic...
It looks like rob hate infinium because of their product positioning ("on-demand game provider for the whole familiy"). It recalls me the Apple's iPod announcment on slasdot. "Lame", was the word used, because the hard drive was too small and it was not USB, and it was Mac only, while apple was selling a non-painfull music listening experience.
Anyway, the Phantom will most probably tank, but the idea is worthwhile anyway. Getting a game-on-demand console to the family (/not/ the hard-core gamer). Such a box could easily extend to video-on-demand (DiVX), and could be a fabulous hit.
Of course, beeing the first-mover here is really a disdvantage. And infiniumlabs have quite a bad track record.
Mod up please (Score:2)
Re:Hard|OCP (Score:3, Insightful)
Selling games subscription to PC will ensure support nightmares
The major problem with supporting PC games is that the platform is continually advancing, and there are a massive number of variables to be dealt with--CPU type, graphics card core and manufacturer, amount of RAM, type of sound card, etc, to the point where there are literally tens of thousands of unique system configurations. Given that Infinium would be dealing
Re:Hard|OCP (Score:2)
Re:Hard|OCP (Score:3, Insightful)
KFG
Re:Hard|OCP (Score:2)
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Cross platform...promise? (Score:2)
seriously, nes?
what i'd be worried would be that they've locked it down so that you can't install nes emulators and stuff like that..
Re:Cross platform...promise? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Cross platform...promise? (Score:5, Funny)
Photoshop.
to compete.. (Score:2)
or are they planning on publishing it with DNF?
or maybe integrate steam into it.. and hl2.
I doubt it. (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I doubt it. (Score:5, Funny)
yes, as we all know pc games biz died in the '84 due to rampant copying.
Re:I doubt it. (Score:2)
Not For Me... (Score:3, Insightful)
Not to mention the fact that the Phantom rivals Valve for the honor of having the shadiest recent video-game related development cycle.
Re:Not For Me... (Score:2)
No sense tossing out an avenue of music just becasue some companies won't give you a way to burn the CD.
Competition? (Score:3, Interesting)
Does anyone here truly believe that the Phantom is going to be in anyway competitive with the other consoles in the market? It seems to be trying to straddle to gap in between console and pc gaming, and I don't think it will succeed because a better gaming experience can be found on either side, but the middle will simply be a tepid experience at best.
And up until now... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:And up until now... (Score:2)
i thought it was Daikatana.
(although Duke Nukem Forever is certainly giving it a run for it's money)
Didn't sega do this? (Score:5, Informative)
That seemed possible back then (with games being ~1 meg) but now you need to download a 5 meg executable, then like 100 megs of textures and sound files for a map. And then there's models too, I don't see how this will work unless the games are really bad. Would work much better if the 29.95 included a 100mbit connection.
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Didn't sega do this? (Score:2)
I agree with you on the viability then vs. now, too. Just because I can spend a "long" time downloading a couple gigs over my broadband connection doesn't mean I want to. The current disc-based consoles have that instant gratification: buy (or rent, or borrow) the disc, pop it in
Re:Didn't sega do this? (Score:5, Insightful)
As for now, the download would be a bit of a problem. There are some upsides if they partner with cable companies. My cable modem is capable of VERY high bandwidth (I've seen spikes near 1 meg), but I can only achieve it when downloading from MANY sources, or multiple files at once because very few servers on the 'net let you download things that fast (either through capping for traffic). So if Infinium set up distribution nets INSIDE the cable companies (IE it didn't have to go through the internet) then they could offer download speeds that would make things run better. Also, after enough download to start a level, you can continue to download stuff and cache it to the hard drive so in the future it seems like no delay. You can also keep that stuff there so that when you go back to play tomarrow you don't have to suffer through another download. When the HD is full, you just delete each game in the order of how long it's been since it was played and continue that untill you have enough space. Then it wouldn't seem that bad. Also, if it's not through the internet (inside the firewall at the cable company maybe) they could also avoid the cap on bandwith (mine was great untill my little cable company with good service was bought by Comcrud). Because if the quality of your games depends on how much you pay per month with a cable modem, they are in trouble. (Note: Not sure how DSL would figure into all this as I don't have it).
Now after all the goings on, I frankly don't trust the Phantom people, but if the offering ends up good I may jump on. The major crux for me will be how they offer things. Will it be like SegaTV (you pay your $30 a month, play any game on the service any time, no limit of games per month, and we have this huge library), or will it be more like PPV (you pay $30 a month, plus $5 to unlock each game (but it stays unlocked forever)). If there is no limit, then it sounds great (replace BlockBuster or Gamefly). If there is a limit (you can only play 4 game per month without paying extra) or something like that, they won't get my money.
But if they do it right, they have a business model for some real success.
My prediction? They will end up either a joke or just a footnote. Someone (probably someone bigger, like MS or Sony or Nintendo or something) will come along and do a better job (although probably 1+ years later) and THEN it will hit big.
SegaTV was too early for it's time. Most cable companies couldn't offer it (probably because of infrastructure). My cousins also got access to cable modems early. They lived very close to a cable "hub" or whatever so they got great service (as opposed to my Comcrud connection). Phantom is here at about the right time, but the company doesn't inspire trust (with all that's happened).
Whether Phantom or someone else, this kind of idea will succede soon. Instant access on demand games is just the kind of thing most gamers would love if you do it right.
FOUND IT (Score:5, Informative)
Check it out: The Sega Channel [vt.edu].
It ran from '94 to '98.
Re:Used it once (Score:2)
The product was probably doomed to failure from the get-go, though. It depends on your cable TV network having two-way repeaters. This was long before there was a widespread demand for cable services that need two-way repeaters, so they weren't too common at the time.
As a side note, the Sega Chann
very high bandwidth (Score:2)
Re:very high bandwidth (Score:2)
Re:Didn't sega do this? (Score:2, Informative)
They were suppose to get this working by satellite (remember... the large dishes)
1. Information for the games sent via satellite
2. Special adapters with on-board memory connect the Sega Genesis to the cable signal coming in
3. The user selects which game he/she wants to play, via on-screen programming and the D-pad controller
4. The game is then downloaded to the respective Sega Genesis machine. This takes less than a minute.
5. The user can then play the game for as long a
Re:Didn't sega do this? (Score:2)
On a 1.5mbit connection, your example would download in a little under 6 minutes. Most connections now (at least in Ontario.. CDN$34.95 for 3mbit/640kbit DSL, similar price for 3-5mbit cable. Yay!) are at least 3mbit, so cut that in half.
Clever strategies could be employed to reduc
Re:Didn't sega do this? (Score:2)
Re:Didn't sega do this? (Score:2)
Re:Didn't sega do this? (Score:2)
I'll believe it when I see it on the shelf (Score:2, Redundant)
I see no problems at all.. (Score:5, Funny)
Running an operating system owned by the people who brought you the X-Box is a really great idea too, it's not like that's a company that's ever engaged in unfair competition..
They should have game publishers eating out of their hands, what with no one else having good contacts and exclusive deals with them (like say, Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony).
It's a good thing they thought up this subscription/download deal, I've never heard of that before.. Let alone heard of any one failing miserably at it. (Or perhaps I have).
I don't think any other company ever tried entering the console market with basically a stripped-down PC. And if they did, they wouldn't have been forced to sell them at loss, right?
So, it's all good. I'm just wondering whether the console will support Duke Nukem Forever AND Daikatana..
Breaking into the market (Score:5, Insightful)
Look at how the big three got these: they either built their following decades ago and are still trading on the licenses (Nintendo), sunk vast amounts of money to ensure their break-in (Microsoft) or capitalised on a huge brand-name in consumer electronics and a truly inspired range of 3rd party developers (Sony). Infinium don't have any of these and I don't think they have it in their power to obtain any of them either. Nor do they have any kind of equivalent draw. Gamers are already wary of the online-content thing, after the well-publicised cock-ups surrounding steam and I can't actually name a single Phantom exclusive game, if indeed such a thing exists. If there's a future for the Phantom, it's as an extension of the kind of mini-games I can currently play through my Sky Television digibox, rather than as a dedicated games console.
Re:Breaking into the market (Score:2, Insightful)
I doubt anyone could name any game for Phantom, let alone a Phantom-exclusive, as they haven't even named developers who are working on games for it. I haven't even seen a photograph of the console, let alone screenshots of the games it can run.
I have very strong doubts that the Phantom console will even appear on the market at all, let alone sell more than a few thousand units (mostly to curious people with money to b
Business plan summary (Score:5, Funny)
*Subscription: $30/month for crap games, anything worth paying will be extra.
*Console cost: Free with 2 year sub, $??? with a 1 year sub.
Somehow I can't see this working. With your PC or conventional console, $30/month will get you a new game, or a couple of used/budget titles, which you get to keep for ever if you like, or you can trade them in/sell them. Plus you can rent a good few games for that money, without a monthly commitment.
If the $30/month actually gets you access to a constantly expanding list of decent games, or the premium games have a suitably small one-off fee (rather than pay per play, or limited time payment) then they might just pull it off. I'm not holding my breath though, I guess we'll see when they eventually list some publishers.
Re:Business plan summary (Score:3, Insightful)
Look at it this way. Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are wrapping their consoles in hundred dollar bills and firing them into the street to get consumers to scoop them up. They have all the plug and play you need, current games that look good and just work. Add onto that a Gamefly (http://www.gamefly.com/) account with a similar monthly fee, and you get all the games you want, couriered to your door, included in the content fee.
I think companies like Speakeasy have free Xboxes when you subscribe
That's not the real business plan. (Score:2)
The real business plan is:
#1. Find people with lots of money who want to make more money but don't understand technology/games and are unwilling to do the basic research.
#2. Sell these people a line of crap.
#3. Live large on the "investments" these people are making in your company.
#4. Try for an IPO and cash out "Dot.Com"-style.
Really, anyone who would put any money into another gaming console right now needs his/her head examined.
Obligatory Penny Arcade (Score:3, Funny)
Dude, Whoa [penny-arcade.com]
Stop Pretending You're A Real Company [penny-arcade.com]
Same Dumb Idea, Over And Over Again (Score:2, Insightful)
It just amazing how the same dumb idea JUST WON'T DIE.
"Hey, let's take a stripped down commodity x86 machine, put it in a big ugly consolish box and add ports for controllers and television! And all the little game playing kiddies can play Quake/Starcraft/... in their living rooms! We're gonna be rich!"
Bzzzt!!!
Maybe I've been in the console biz for too long, but it just doesn't seem possible that people/companies can be so braindead to keep trying this over and over.
The peecee g
Re:Same Dumb Idea, Over And Over Again (Score:2)
I talked to them at E3 (Score:5, Interesting)
My short take is a low-end PC with a pay-per play rental model for old games. Yee-friggin haw, sign me up. There was nothing there that I couln't do myself with only spending a little money on a plastics prototype shop and a flash interface for the UI. Oh yeah, an auto body shop for a spiffy paint job also.
Then there is the more troubling aspect. They sued Kyle/HOCP for a negative report. From my perspective, it looks like they picked a fight for no reason. The story on HOCP was 6 months old and pretty much forgotten. If they had come up with a prototype and sent it to Kyle and said 'see, we are real, print a retraction please', I would bet good money that Kyle would have done so.
No, these morons, and I use the term with no disrepect meant toward anyone who is a clinical moron, sued HOCP. There is nothing in my mind that cemented the fact that they are indeed a scam with a lot to cover up than this fact.
Then it gets better. Read the letters that their lawyers sent Kyle, they are laughable. They are typo ridden, somewhat contradictory, and leave you with the distinct impression that the Infinium legal squad is a bunch of chucklefscks. Go read Kyles account of it, and the legalish stuff he was sent. Then go check out www.whereisphantom.com for a more up to date list.
I think the lawsuit will obliterate them, not that they were real to begin with, they are acting WAY to much like they have a mass grave full of skeletons, and the Iraqi WMDs to hide.
So, moving right along, back to E3. I write for The Inquirer, and I went to the Infinium booth at E3. I told them my concerns, and as a writer I told them I would never write something objective about them, IE no coverage for anything but news about the lawsuit, until they dropped the lawsuit AND apologized to Kyle.
Why? Simple, they sued Kyle for in my opinion, a well researched, fair article about their state of being. Imagine you get a review copy, could you be honest under those circumstances? If they sue for negative reviews, how can you be sure any review is even close to honest? Think about that as a chilling effect.
No, the short answer is Infinium by its actions and inactions appears to be a scam. I said roughly the same thing about CDs when the RIAA launched the Napster suit, no purchases until it is resolved. If it is resolved in the favor of Napster, I would buy again. If it isn't, no more music sales. I have not missed the music I no longer buy. The other analogy is SCO, would you buy a copy of Openserver knowing they sue their clients? Same with Infinium. Drop the suit guys, and backpedal hard, or you get no lovin from me.
Sadly, I don't think you will live long enough to ever make a purchasable product, the HOCP article says most of what I need to know, and your confirmation of it's accuracy with your actions tells the rest. Stick a fork in Infinium, they are done.
-Charlie
Re:I talked to them at E3 (Score:3, Interesting)
Given that it is mostly just a PC, why has it taken two years to develop? Commodity parts exist for easy prototyping and development. Why did they not have working units at past E3s and other conventions? Sure, there was a small press and investor party afterwards, but I had seen no actual articles about it, and had seen pictures that for all I know, could have been staged. Infinium gets a few small articles for being at trade shows, but so far,
Re:I talked to them at E3 (Score:2)
A. Very old games you'd find on an abandonware site (the launch title list they "released" for about an hour earlier this year)
B. An upcomming title that a quick email to the developer of reveals is NOT being developed for the Phantom (Starcraft Ghost i
Re:I talked to them at E3 (Score:2)
Re:I talked to them at E3 (Score:3, Informative)
It's hard to see how you build a defensible business with almost no R&D! Not impossible: I think if one can develop a brand name or community that can provide an advantage, but I don't see either of these from Phantom.
Crippleware (Score:2, Insightful)
At least with X-Box the CD's would continue to work even if Microsoft decided to pull the plug on their X-Box division.
I'll pass.
Re:Crippleware (Score:2)
Anyone remember DIVX [fightdivx.com]? (Not to be confused with DivX.) Kind of the same thing, except targeting the DVD market. Supposedly "better" than DVD. Thankfully, it failed the miserable death it deserved, but not before parting idiots with their money.
Infinium's True Business Plan (Score:5, Insightful)
And if you look at these protoypes, it's obvious that they were put together by people who have no clue how computer's actually work. For example, in addition to a standard Ethernet connector, there's a coax connector labelled "Cable Modem" and an RJ45 connector labelled "DSL". WTF?
Infinium's *TRUE* business plan is to try for one these scenarios:
1. Attract investors.
Find suckers who will pump millions into the company. The Phantom console goes into production and a year later the company folds because it's a stupid unworkable idea. The company's top executives walk away with lots of money, having paid themsleves huge slaries during the company's short lifetime.
2. Get bought by someone else.
Create enough buzz and hype that some other company buys them. This is the more attractive option since Infinium's top executives get to walk away with a butt-load of cash without having to actually do anything.
Re:Infinium's True Business Plan (Score:2)
I'm guesing that it will be able to talk through your netword, as well as directly to your DSL or Cable company. Maybe the ethernet is the 'out' and the modem is built in?
Do you think companies get bought without the buying company looking at the product?
IF ewither scenerio 1 or 2 works, I'd lkike toi find out where they got investors, cause I got this cut
Re:Infinium's True Business Plan (Score:3, Funny)
Yes.
Several years ago, when DSL and Cable internet access were not yet available, a guy claimed he had created a device that would transfer data at very high speed over ordinary phone lines. Needless to say, people were interested.
He never let anyone examine the device closely and was extremely vague in his descriptions of how it worked. Engineers who listened to his description of how the device worked said h
Re:Infinium's True Business Plan (Score:3, Interesting)
well, to the cable modem labeled you would attach... surprise surprise: the tv cable...
and to the dsl jack.. the dsl (rj45) cable.
so it would have a cable modem and a dsl modem built in, what's so surprising about that? that's the least faulty thing in their business plan.
Re:Infinium's True Business Plan (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Infinium's True Business Plan (Score:2)
Maybe things are different in your neck of the woods, but in my house, DSL is on an RJ11 jack. The DSL modem then connects to my router via ethernet/RJ45.
Ready in MARCH!?!? (Score:3, Funny)
Darnit! I was all set to run out and by DDR today instead of getting a gym membership...now I have to sit on the couch and eat potato chips until March!
F- That (Score:2, Funny)
Just kidding.
LK
What they need to do.... (Score:3, Insightful)
In a word, no. (Score:5, Insightful)
The fact that Infinium is trying to change the business model of consoles a bit is interesting, but that's going to be a liability rather than an asset to them. Their attempt to turn games into a subscription-based model does not seem particularly compelling - anyone can go to a store and get a game, and no one I know is complaining about having to get physical media to play games. Besides, their plan - to sell $500 consoles and have a subsciption plan of $30/month - sounds like it'd work better for obsessive gamers, not "former gameers who have a family" like they say.
If they're going to launch a subscrription games service and they're going to be just making even on the console itself, why not just have a subscription service for regular PCs? That would cut out the cost of the hardware, since the user has already paid for it - why are they so intent on pushing hardware? Is there some special DRM thing in the Phantom?
And another thing - what happends when they go out of business? I can still play my Dreamcast, and even get more used games for it. Will I be able to play the "Phantom" for years afterwards, or will they cut off the supply of games when they go bankrupt or if "Phantom 2" comes out? I don't think many consumers will want to be tied to a company like that - remember the DiVX debacle.
In short, Infinium has a interesting but flawed business model, their hardware business is questionable, and they don't have enough of a good reputation with gamers to be able to pull this off. I think they will be remembered as another 3DO or CD-i, not the PlayStation killer.
In a word, maybe. (Score:2)
I don't know, a casual gamer, with 2 kids who are bamers could save a lot of money.
If they could create a all-in-one device that can play mainstream games, thye could build in a DRM feature that would could be leverage for the game industry. Something that could charge the game companies for.
With that, they would ha
Re:In a word, maybe. (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm an infrequent gamer. More particularly, I am the "former gamer who has a family" which they are supposedly targetting. They have missed me by a country mile.
Subscription models increase in value to the consumer when the consumer uses them more. For a fixed price per month, if I'm gaming a lot, I'm getting more game per dollar. If I only game a little, (and some months not gaming at all) I'm throwing away cash.
From their
Re:In a word, maybe. (Score:2)
I am apparently right in their target market, and here's how the economics work out for me:
I only game a little, which means I don't play games out very quickly, which means that I don't buy them very often. Maybe one every three months. On top of that, since I don't buy often, I have no problem waiting a few months for the good ones to be sold to used game stores by the hardcore gamers for $15-20 a pop rather t
DiVX all over again (Score:3, Informative)
I had forgotten that; thank you. You have it exactly right; this is DiVX all over again. (And not the one that is popular for
It's been said, many times, many ways... (Score:2, Informative)
Tech Specs (Score:2, Informative)
Phantom(TM) Game Receiver
* AMD® Athlon(TM) XP 2500+ central processing unit (CPU)
* NVIDIA® GeForce(TM) FX 5700 Ultra graphics processing unit (GPU)
* NVIDIA nForce(TM)2 Ultra 400 platform processor
* 256 MB RAM
* 40 GB local content cache
* Microsoft Windows XP® Embedded Operating System
* Dynamic, personalized user interfaces customizable for age, gender or technical expertise
* Lapboard, mouse and game pad included
* HDTV an
Casual gamers don't pay a subscription (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's Why Infinium will succeed (Score:5, Interesting)
- Specs of machine inadequate to play DOOM 3 which means it's not even a reasonably high enough grade machine.
- No CD or DVD drive means you can't play other games on it and also means its limited to finite capacity (internal disk space) meaning eventually some games you paid for have to be be erased to fit new ones on it. If those become unavailable you're out of luck.
- System design makes it essentially useless for any other purpose except playing games (you can use a Nintendo 64 as an expensive DVD Player out of the box as well as a game machine, and you can with an XBOX if you buy a remote for it).
- Company believes its system is unhackable which means they are in for a shock when people figure a way to hack it.
- System runs off of a modified version of Windows XP, which not only means they're paying a fortune for licensing fees, and their supplier is one of their competitors, it also means it's vulnerable to all of the typical problems of a common PC.
- Service charge is a whopping $29.95 a month, not including premium games, which are an extra charge.
- Can only play games bought for a machine on that machine, you can't take the game someplace else, like you can with a Nintendo or XBox
- If you stop your subscription the games no longer work and all of them that you 'bought' go bye-bye
- If the company goes out of business, all the games you 'bought' will no longer work and all of them go bye-bye
- I think if you don't have an Internet connection you can't use the machine at all.
- (This one is from personal knowledge, not the article) A system like this called 'The Game Channel', which I think was from Sega, tried this a few years ago over Cable, for $9.95 a month. It went bust
- If they get less than 200,000 subscribers they will be losing money and probably go under, fast; if they get more they will be deeply in debt, and based on the numbers, there is exactly $0 available to pay back that debt after deducting costs.
- Competitors not giving away hardware can undercut them on price, operate a system much cheaper and will make a profit.
- System depends upon access to broadband (access via dial-up would be agonizingly slow and probably unusable) which means the customer is going to have problems with others if the other people's uses (net phone, downloading, telecommuting) mean there isn't enough bandwidth available.
In short, there are so many advantages to this system I can't see how it can possibly succeed^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h fail!Re:Here's Why Infinium will succeed (Score:4, Informative)
I am guessing you meant Playstation 2? Just a bit of nitpicking...
Can Infinium Compete In The Game Console Market? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Gaming as a whole... (Score:3)
Re:Gaming as a whole... (Score:2)
But I agree with you that some companies do fair well. How about the games developers? EA, rockstar etc.
And what about the likes of nintendo? Sure, they're not number one but they do pretty well.
Re:Gaming as a whole... (Score:3, Interesting)
Mod parent down (Score:2)
Disclaimers like that are pretty standard in the news industry when reporting on related companies. They can't really refuse to talk about anything relating to themselves, but doing so leaves them open to charges of biased reporting. The best they can do is admit up front that there is a relation so at least any potential bias is in the open rather than subversive.
Given how many trolls complain about Slashdot's affiliation with OST
Re:Mod parent down (Score:2)
Re:Robin Miller of Myst? (Score:2)
Re:IT Manager? (Score:2)
The article itself isn't exactly that kind to the company anyhow, so calling it a hoax or bullshit is stretching things just a bit.
Re:one thing (Score:2, Insightful)
Why? You can buy a cheap 300 dollar PC right now from Wal-Mart that runs windows straight out of the box.
(Next, I suppose someone will say that they can make a beowulf cluster of hacked 300 dollar windows-running consoles. I don't care! Stop it!)
Re:wait a sec (Score:2)
Shityeah! : In -your- world HL2 is allready released ! Wow :D
More to the point.... (Score:2)
I fail it! (Score:2)
Re:What's with the OSTG pimpage? (Score:2)
You are exactly correct. Any professional - or at least semi-professional - journalistic operation gives in their articles a reference to any facts that may give an implication of bias in that story, even if there is no bias. For example, whenever MSNBC does an article o