Jaguar 2?

[OB1]

From Gaming-Age:

Well, a new contender has thrown their hat into the gaming console ring. Despite the insurmountable lead that Sony enjoys with the PlayStation 2, and the increasing market penetration and mindshare of Microsoft's Xbox and Nintendo's GameCube, Infinium Labs of Florida has decided to laugh bravely in the face of overwhelming odds and introduce a new broadband console into the marketplace. Here's the press release:

Longboat Key, Florida – January 20, 2003 - A Tampa Bay area technology company, Infinium Labs Corporation, will develop and market a new game console that will outperform the XBOX, Sony Playstation 2, and GameCube.

The company plans to market a high performance gaming console and delivery system to provide consumers with options and capabilities that are not available in today’s marketplace. The console will appeal to the hard-core gamer and the high end consumer electronic purchaser. This next generation game console provides a robust, fault tolerant delivery system that supports games on demand, game rentals, game demos, seamless upgrades and patch management. The game console is an “ALWAYS ON BROADBAND DEVICE.” It is easy enough for children to use independently yet so advanced it exceeds the needs of hard-core gamers.

Infinium Labs was formed by veteran entrepreneurs who have a successful track record in building large scale companies and advanced architectures for supporting massive eCommerce and enterprise applications. Combining skills from Telco, Data Communications, Digital Rights Management, Software Development and Security, the management team brings together a unique array of skills to develop the most robust next generation gaming console and delivery network on the market.

The Infinium Labs game console features a high tech design and offers ease of use for the variety of game players worldwide. The on-demand delivery system will appeal to hard-core gamers as well as casual users. The unique design architecture allows for delivery of a large number of games and the ability to participate in online massive multiplayer gaming. Key features include:

- Fastest console on the market
- Broadest selection of preloaded games
- Cross Platform capabilities
- State of the art design and architecture
- Advanced accessories and wireless capabilities
- Online connectivity for multi player gaming
- Seamless upgrades and patch management
- A multi tiered subscription service that meets the needs of casual, moderate and hard-core game players
- Demo games before purchasing or subscribing
- Games on demand
- Game Rentals

The advanced system provides game developers and publishers a secure and efficient software distribution system. Infinium Labs intends for game developers and publishers to reap greater profits using this new game delivery system.

Infinium Labs has engineered its prototypes and expects to unveil the new gaming console in March of 2003. The company intends to launch the game console to the U.S. consumer market by November 2003.

About Infinium Labs: Infinium Labs Corporation was formed in October 2002 as a global entertainment/gaming company. Infinium Labs’ mission is to market a gaming console and delivery system that will be the performance leader in the game playing entertainment industry. The company will market a robust game console that will appeal to a wide audience with its ease of use, quality assurance and robust delivery system.

The mind boggles.

Honestly folks, the roadway is littered with the husks of companies who have tried to get into this business and failed - Jaguar, Nuon and 3DO stand as shining examples of what not to do in the cutthroat arena of console marketing. Still, competition always makes for lively news, so we welcome their presence with open arms, despite some lingering skepticism. Here's hoping that The Phantom's moniker doesn't actually refer to their chances. Rest assured that Gaming-Age will keep you fully abreast of additional news on this new gaming system.




-- Tim Lewinson

Eh...

[A Black Falcon]

I wonder... will this be an Indrema? I bet so... (you know... it will never actually come out...)

[Dark Jaguar]

Well, for a while the XBox was an Indrema...

Anyway, it sounds intriguing, though to be honest their claims of unique abilities that current consoles don't offer is a bit much. I mean, it seems to me that many of their online abilities could easily be done on the XBox or a properly fitted PS2 (GCN seems to have given up on releasing their HD add-on, so they happen to be out). Fact is though, every generation needs one system that doesn't stand a chance at all and is forgotten about a week after it's mentioned. This fellow is that system. The DC was more like the last Atari system, in that it enjoyed brief success before dying when the new system is introduced.

[A Black Falcon]

How about the aall-conquering NUON? :)

Oh, and Dreamcast was this generation's console that didn't stand a chance, I'd say.

[OB1]

The X-Box was never doomed for failure, not with Microsofts' billions of dollars backing it. This is a huge difference.

And the DC was not the last Atari. The Dreamcast was home to dozens of fantastic games, but the lack of good marketing and third-party support led to its demise. Kinda sounds like Nintendo's situation... almost.

[A Black Falcon]

I'll put that very funny IGN article here too so that other post can be closed or something. This is the IGNPC version -- identical to the IGN X-Box one, except it has one additional paragraph at the end.

http://pc.ign.com/articles/383/383280p1.html

Destroy Your Game Systems
Because you won't need them when The Phantom hits by the end of 2003. Astonishingly "in-depth" details inside.
January 21, 2003 - Normally we're a bit skeptical about the announcement of new game systems, especially when they're scheduled to come out in the same year they were announced and all calls to the manufacturer's offices are answered by smooth talking recordings that promise the "PR staff" will get right on our request. But, clearly this is the greatest thing ever.

Sure, we have no idea how fast or cool The Phantom is, what its specs are, who's in line to manufacture it, what partners the mysterious Infinium Labs Corporation has -- even if it is a corporation (which it does not appear to be) -- what platform the system is, how much it'll cost, what exactly it plays, how all this developer support is planned for, or even how they plan on meeting their unveiling and launch schedule with no complete hardware. Hell, we know absolutely nothing of worth, but we're going to go ahead and say it's a scaled down PC, possibly powered by Linux or some kind of wacky Lindows, though likely a stock version of Microsoft's money machine only with a far more simplified UI.

The slow loading official website and accompanying press release are so intentionally vague and devoid of anything worth reporting that many are believing this entire announcement to be an elaborate hoax. With no substantial evidence to either prove or disprove the actual existence of the machine, we're going to go ahead and say nothing at all. We'll let The Phantom In Depth description speak for itself:

"Infinium Labs is the inventor and manufacturer of the first broadband game console. The Phantom game console provides consumers the ultimate game playing experience with potentially thousands of games offered by the December 2003 launch."

Assuming, for the sake of argument, that The Phantom is corporeal, here's what we do know:




# No apparent optical drive
# Broadband enabled and dependent
# Required subscription service
# Will retain the ability to play PC gamers online
# 32,679 titles available (PC games)
# Patches and demos
# All content delivered over Internet
# Some "games" come preloaded
# 2.4GHz wireless controller
# Ability to add peripherals
# Suspiciously vague press release
# Suspiciously vague concept art of the system
# Suspiciously vague everything

We've also been unable to find out whether or not this company is even registered, which leads us to believe it is not. Searches for patents, trademarks, and more all turned up nothing. Who cares, right? If you're actively seeking gainful employment, Infinium Labs Corporation is currently looking for persons with the following backgrounds:

# Engineering
# Marketing
# Sales
# Business Development
# Operations
# Finance
# Information Systems

It may be a hoax, it may be entirely dependent on networking technology that isn't mature and an infrastructure that doesn't exist, and it may just be a cheap PC, but don't let our pessimism get you down, an official unveiling is expected in March of 2003, so we're planning on seeing it at the GDC (an event Infinium claims to be attending, even though Infinium isn't actually on the exhibitors list). Prior to the GDC, the company says it'll be at the DICE summit. After the GDC, it says it'll be at E3. It's not on that exposition's exhibitors list either. Okay.

The official website itself is fully registered, and the press release did in fact appear on http://www.PRnewswire.com, which means that somebody went to the extent to create the website and pay the fee to distribute the press release (which is about $350 per article).

I guess you can expect little to no more information, ever.
-- Ivan Sulic

[OB1]

Hmm, looks like a hoax.

[A Black Falcon]

Definitely.
http://pc.ign.com/articles/383/383616p1.html :D

[Great Rumbler]

heh heh :D

[Sacred Jellybean]

Hahahahaha! :D

[OB1]

tee hee!

[Great Rumbler]

Woozaawoozaawoozaa!!

[OB1]

Wakka wakka!

[Private Hudson]

Woozle....... wazzle?


.....

.... I'm sorry. :(

[OB1]

Again??

In the future, when it doubt, just...

:poop:

[Great Rumbler]

Me: Help! He's trying to eat me!!

OB1: What's up with him?

DJ: Oh he's just...playing Pac-Man. Yeah.

OB1: Waaakka wakka wakka!!

[OB1]

Dude, I was doing Fozzy.

[OB1]

Two-headed Fozzy!!!!

[OB1]

Man... that doesn't even look like the Fozz.

[Great Rumbler]

Dude, I was doing Fozzy.

Yeah, and I was doing Sealab.