Interesting E3 Phantom pic
by Simon Windmill · in General Discussion · 05/12/2004 (8:37 am) · 28 replies
Sorry if this has been posted, but I've been too busy to keep up with the forums around here lately. But I just saw this pic and found it rather interesting..
Look at those game selections
Look at those game selections
#22
Anyway, I thought at the time that it was an interesting proposition, though I also thought at the time I thought I'd be able to stick a CDROM in it. =\
Last time I checked it was all about the "service" - Sega channel anyone?
I wish the IL guys the best, and applaud the use of GG titles (hey, it's free advertising) but have serious doubts as to its viability in the market place. (Sega channel anyone? =P )
05/19/2004 (10:49 am)
I first caught wind of the Phantom last year (just before their big press announcement - y'know, the one Penny Arcade "racked" them over.) Anyway, I thought at the time that it was an interesting proposition, though I also thought at the time I thought I'd be able to stick a CDROM in it. =\
Last time I checked it was all about the "service" - Sega channel anyone?
I wish the IL guys the best, and applaud the use of GG titles (hey, it's free advertising) but have serious doubts as to its viability in the market place. (Sega channel anyone? =P )
#23
So gimme one as a dev kit! :)
05/19/2004 (11:28 am)
Well, no matter if it does well or not, I want one just so I can play my own games on a big TV.So gimme one as a dev kit! :)
#24
Edit: Actually, it could be adjusted like most thing.
05/19/2004 (11:35 am)
Our game would be unplayable on anything but an extremely high definition TV. RPG = text to read.Edit: Actually, it could be adjusted like most thing.
#25
It bears watching. Rant all you want, now that I have seen it, I am interested. And a little excited at the potential.
On a side note, if you want to have a home console you can put a CD in and play PC games, try the ApeXtreme.
www.apextreme.com/
05/19/2004 (11:57 am)
I dunno guys. I saw it, and I talked to them. As for the viability of the business model, Xbox Live anyone? I see similarities. It's what MS promised with with Xbox Live E3 2002, and I am just NOW getting some of that potential. It's also been likened to Tivo in some ways.It bears watching. Rant all you want, now that I have seen it, I am interested. And a little excited at the potential.
On a side note, if you want to have a home console you can put a CD in and play PC games, try the ApeXtreme.
www.apextreme.com/
#26
I think they are in direct competition with Live now that MS has announced their "Joe User" line of parlor games that will be available to Live subscribers. So I definitely think the market is there, and the "sign up for a year and get the hardware free" might be very attractive to some people.
05/19/2004 (12:47 pm)
You guys at E3, and especially you devs in contact with them - are they still calling it a console? I thought they'd switched away from that recently.I think they are in direct competition with Live now that MS has announced their "Joe User" line of parlor games that will be available to Live subscribers. So I definitely think the market is there, and the "sign up for a year and get the hardware free" might be very attractive to some people.
#27
TiVo is about a paradigm shift in television viewing, this Phantom thing is just a box that auto-installs PC games that is knows about that auto install that you can/must buy over a network connection. If it don't know about the title, it won't work!
It is way over priced for a console and way underfeatured/constrained for a PC. It is a solution looking for a problem.
You definately don't need this thing to play a PC game on a TV, you can do that with ANY PC and an adapter.
And as Joshua points out, almost all the games I play, would be unplayable at 640 x 480 ( NTSC is 786 x 482 full overscan )
05/19/2004 (12:52 pm)
If all TiVo did was allow you to watch Pay-Per-View then it might be comparable, but in my book, it has no qualities that make my TiVo a must have. TiVo is about a paradigm shift in television viewing, this Phantom thing is just a box that auto-installs PC games that is knows about that auto install that you can/must buy over a network connection. If it don't know about the title, it won't work!
It is way over priced for a console and way underfeatured/constrained for a PC. It is a solution looking for a problem.
You definately don't need this thing to play a PC game on a TV, you can do that with ANY PC and an adapter.
And as Joshua points out, almost all the games I play, would be unplayable at 640 x 480 ( NTSC is 786 x 482 full overscan )
#28
And "Joe User" wants a box that they hook up without special knowledge to the PC. Gateway makes multimedia devices that do this, that are just PC's, so this is not unprecedented. To expect everyone to be saavy enough to build a Shuttle box just isn't realistic. My mom wants something that just plugs in, no hassles.
And yeah, the MS Live angle implies at least one other company sees a market for it.
I think that condemning it without seeing it in action is a dangerous tack to take. It played UT2004 pretty well, it played the GG titles reasonably well. Granted, this was all in a LAN on hi-def plasma screens, so it's not a true test by any means, but it was impressive enough for me not to dismiss it out of hand.
As for whether it "knows about the title" that's kinda the point. It's a distribution service, so, it has to "know about it" in the same way Real or Shockwave need to know about the title (that may be a bit of an oversimplification). Also, the streaming tech they uses means there is some prep that IL does to the title to make it work on the service with their streaming tech.
Will all games work? Probbaly not. Some of that will be up to the publisher of the title whether to pursue the Phantom as a distribution channel. If you publisher DOES, then, maybe you get to tweak your title if there really is compatibility issue.
And I will reiterate, I am excited at the potential. I am not urgining everyone to go out and buy one, but having seen it, well...
It bears watching.
:)
05/20/2004 (8:15 am)
They are calling it a service, the focus is not on'the hardware. I believe that the service contract has some provisions for free upgrades, as well. So, your not buying the hardware, your buying the service. It's kinda like a cell phone, that way.And "Joe User" wants a box that they hook up without special knowledge to the PC. Gateway makes multimedia devices that do this, that are just PC's, so this is not unprecedented. To expect everyone to be saavy enough to build a Shuttle box just isn't realistic. My mom wants something that just plugs in, no hassles.
And yeah, the MS Live angle implies at least one other company sees a market for it.
I think that condemning it without seeing it in action is a dangerous tack to take. It played UT2004 pretty well, it played the GG titles reasonably well. Granted, this was all in a LAN on hi-def plasma screens, so it's not a true test by any means, but it was impressive enough for me not to dismiss it out of hand.
As for whether it "knows about the title" that's kinda the point. It's a distribution service, so, it has to "know about it" in the same way Real or Shockwave need to know about the title (that may be a bit of an oversimplification). Also, the streaming tech they uses means there is some prep that IL does to the title to make it work on the service with their streaming tech.
Will all games work? Probbaly not. Some of that will be up to the publisher of the title whether to pursue the Phantom as a distribution channel. If you publisher DOES, then, maybe you get to tweak your title if there really is compatibility issue.
And I will reiterate, I am excited at the potential. I am not urgining everyone to go out and buy one, but having seen it, well...
It bears watching.
:)
Torque Owner Jarrod Roberson
Say what you want about this non-exist ( as of now anway ) "family" target audience.
"Mainstream PC Gamers" HAVE PC's, that are UPGRADEABLE hardware that they are in control of.
"Casual Gamers" play casual games on a mid-range PC they already have that they use for other purposes, they don't need or want yet another mid-range PC that ONLY plays games.
Nintendo is already the DEFACTO "FAMILY" console, the market does not need another one!