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
#2
05/12/2004 (9:36 am)
From everything I have read about that company pushing this "pc console" I would not want to be associated with it in any capacity!
#3
Even though the Phantom might have a questionable reputation, none of that is founded yet.. I know TT was made with alot of love and hard work by a FEW very dedicated people a i had the pleasure of helping them out. I feel proud of our little group being mentioned in the same list as some big ass tittles as a launche title. I don't care what the console is about but we are used as a marketing point and are being in mentioned in a list with multi million dollar games. Not to bad for a few Indies on a low buget, we must have done something right.
The Indie movement is REALY moving, on a good or bad console who cares, I'm part of it and proud as hell.
05/12/2004 (10:25 am)
Well as part of the dev team of TT i must say i feel pretty proud...Even though the Phantom might have a questionable reputation, none of that is founded yet.. I know TT was made with alot of love and hard work by a FEW very dedicated people a i had the pleasure of helping them out. I feel proud of our little group being mentioned in the same list as some big ass tittles as a launche title. I don't care what the console is about but we are used as a marketing point and are being in mentioned in a list with multi million dollar games. Not to bad for a few Indies on a low buget, we must have done something right.
The Indie movement is REALY moving, on a good or bad console who cares, I'm part of it and proud as hell.
#4
05/12/2004 (12:25 pm)
I love Pascal's attitude!
#5
05/12/2004 (3:59 pm)
Yeah way to go dev team! Of course now I can see the orders coming in now. "I saw this thing on E3 called Think Tanks and want to get it. I heard it's just like UT2004" 
#7
:/
05/12/2004 (4:28 pm)
Quote:Personally, we think this is a prime case of "Buyer Beware". We also encourage people to do their own homework and investigations on companies that step into the public spotlight looking for investors.
:/
#8
05/13/2004 (2:53 pm)
Am I to understand, the phantom is not even getting permission first to use games for their console?
#9
No one from Infinium has contacted us (BraveTree) about getting ThinkTanks on the console or about using ThinkTanks on the demo machine they had at e3.
05/13/2004 (3:18 pm)
I chalk it up to marketing.. I don't think they intend to steal anyones games, I just think they grabbed a few titles to show what it 'could' be.No one from Infinium has contacted us (BraveTree) about getting ThinkTanks on the console or about using ThinkTanks on the demo machine they had at e3.
#10
05/13/2004 (3:27 pm)
Is there a paypal link where we can buy phantom shares? 
#11
I am very glad we did it. Phantom is a cool unit with an interesting business model. They have an aggressive schedule for launch, but I think they are really onto something. I look forward to working with them to explorer a new and exciting distirbution model that will be especially attrative for indies.
-Jeff Tunnell GG
05/14/2004 (7:00 pm)
Infinium Labs had a great roll out of Phantom. GG gave IL the right to use the games for the launch. IL had some problems when they first started, but the addition of Robbie Bach as CEO and then Wallace Poulter from Apple (that was our developer relations person at Apple), gave us enough confidence to give them a conditional OK to use GG products for E3.I am very glad we did it. Phantom is a cool unit with an interesting business model. They have an aggressive schedule for launch, but I think they are really onto something. I look forward to working with them to explorer a new and exciting distirbution model that will be especially attrative for indies.
-Jeff Tunnell GG
#12
05/15/2004 (9:03 am)
OK, I'll admit I was being sarcastic in my previous post but you do have to like the idea of a console which supports indie development. Thanks GG for looking out for us again. (<- not sarcastic)
#13
05/15/2004 (1:29 pm)
I'd just like to say that Infinium was showing Lore also (we'll have pics up of it, and I even took a 10 second video of it being played on Lore) and as far as the "Free" goes, it was setup for the e3 network, and so they basically pre-purchased those games. I know they bought a few copies of Lore and I would assume they did the very same thing for ThinkTanks and OrbZ. So ThinkTanks is not free for it (yet, maybe, or never. Whatever BraveTree decides is up to them), it was just set to free at E3 so they could demo the buying system. 
#14
As for the Phantom, I did get a chance to personally try it out during the demo time and I have to say that it is pretty dammed cool. It's a speedy little machine that delivers some great performance. Their peripherals are very cool and have a great design (all they need is for it to be wireless) and their game selection kicks ass now that they have GG products on there :)
Logan
PS: We got free T-shirts from them too.
05/16/2004 (8:11 am)
I have a few extra pictures of the Infinium Labs stuff showing off some games such as Think Tanks, DH Lore and Orbz. I will try to post these a bit later on once I get settled (it was a long trip and E3 was an exhausting exercise of meetings and booze).As for the Phantom, I did get a chance to personally try it out during the demo time and I have to say that it is pretty dammed cool. It's a speedy little machine that delivers some great performance. Their peripherals are very cool and have a great design (all they need is for it to be wireless) and their game selection kicks ass now that they have GG products on there :)
Logan
PS: We got free T-shirts from them too.
#15
You'll notice I refrained from any negative comments about the Phantom or Infinium Labs. Mainly because I thought the Phantom was a great idea when I first heard of it, and after seeing the specs, I still do. However, they now have an uphill battle if they want to be taken seriously by the gamer community, which while I'm sure is not their target market, they are also the same people who are early adopters. I think the appointment of Bachus was a great step in that direction, hopefully he can rebuild the broken bridges that were destroyed by such things as the HardOCP legal stuff and the all-round amateur-looking operation before he arrived.
Anyway, I'd just like to say that indie developers are certainly in no position to be shooting down a potential distribution option before it even takes off.
PS - oh yes, the thing looks like a sandwich maker. I like sammiches, so it's all good.
05/18/2004 (6:59 am)
I didn't mean to post this topic and run away, but I've been so busy, blah.You'll notice I refrained from any negative comments about the Phantom or Infinium Labs. Mainly because I thought the Phantom was a great idea when I first heard of it, and after seeing the specs, I still do. However, they now have an uphill battle if they want to be taken seriously by the gamer community, which while I'm sure is not their target market, they are also the same people who are early adopters. I think the appointment of Bachus was a great step in that direction, hopefully he can rebuild the broken bridges that were destroyed by such things as the HardOCP legal stuff and the all-round amateur-looking operation before he arrived.
Anyway, I'd just like to say that indie developers are certainly in no position to be shooting down a potential distribution option before it even takes off.
PS - oh yes, the thing looks like a sandwich maker. I like sammiches, so it's all good.
#16
Product Selection
Think Tanks on Phantom
Logan
05/18/2004 (7:11 am)
Here are some pics of the Phantom from its booth at E3. Pay special attention to the various GarageGames titles that were demoed on it (3 of the 14 available for the E3 demo I believe).Product Selection
Think Tanks on Phantom
Logan
#17
X-Box had an exclusive on Halo... good but not great.
As much as I support my fellow indies, having the console exclusive on ThinkTanks probably ain't gonna cut it. They are really going to need a couple of "killer apps" that fans are already anticipating (so they must be an established brand) that are unique to this system (meaning not available on the PC either).
05/18/2004 (9:44 am)
I really do wish 'em the best, and hope this will give us indies some increased exposure. But in all seriousness, I can't imagine this is going to gain enough traction to really make any serious penetration into households. They need signature, unique titles from killer brands to get started. If you remember back in 1995, Sony scored a serious coup with signing on exclusives with Square and Namco, and a 3-month (I think) exclusive on Mortal Kombat 3.X-Box had an exclusive on Halo... good but not great.
As much as I support my fellow indies, having the console exclusive on ThinkTanks probably ain't gonna cut it. They are really going to need a couple of "killer apps" that fans are already anticipating (so they must be an established brand) that are unique to this system (meaning not available on the PC either).
#18
It has a fairly decent price point and its monthly fees allows the end user to have access to a variety of great games that the family can enjoy for really no extra cost (unless you get an 'premium' game). This in turn will allow Indie developers to get their products out there to a pretty wide audience of end users without needing to do the evil marketing song & dance that is usually required.
All in all the Phantom really does have a chance for success and I think that it will succeed after trying it out and seeing their business plan. The console honestly is a good investment for a family gaming machine that allows you to have a variety of PC games without all the extra costs associated to it.
05/18/2004 (10:03 am)
Jay, I honestly have to say that you need to try out the console before really giving it a 'nay'. It has a fairly decent price point and its monthly fees allows the end user to have access to a variety of great games that the family can enjoy for really no extra cost (unless you get an 'premium' game). This in turn will allow Indie developers to get their products out there to a pretty wide audience of end users without needing to do the evil marketing song & dance that is usually required.
All in all the Phantom really does have a chance for success and I think that it will succeed after trying it out and seeing their business plan. The console honestly is a good investment for a family gaming machine that allows you to have a variety of PC games without all the extra costs associated to it.
#19
-s
05/18/2004 (1:27 pm)
Yes to pascal and to jeff... This is AWESOME for indies. Does anyone know if they are looking for more games?-s
#20
I obviously have a positive opinion about it :)
I REALLY shoulda made that 3 different .plans...
anyway, it was awesome to see GG titles get play at E3, on the show floor. Like I said, and it seemed Jeff and Jay felt the same way, when I found out that Wallace went over there, that was my first personal clue that this was not the hype-vapourware that HardOCP claimed. I had read that original article and at the time, believed Infinium to be a bunch of wave-ware peddlers.
I was wrong.
The Phantom bears watching. These games won't be "free" per se, it really is as Jeff described it, an exciting new, possibly mainstream distribution channel that Indie games can exploit :)
The cool thing? It runs the games without any intervention from the developer. I kept waiting for an email from Wallace telling me about the stuff I'd have to code for it, that mail never came, and I kinda thought maybe they had decided not to include Lore :)
I was wrong again :)
Anyway, keep an eye on it, it's worth watching, whether you believe in the model or not :)
05/19/2004 (7:54 am)
www.garagegames.com/index.php?sec=mg&mod=resource&page=view&qid=5689I obviously have a positive opinion about it :)
I REALLY shoulda made that 3 different .plans...
anyway, it was awesome to see GG titles get play at E3, on the show floor. Like I said, and it seemed Jeff and Jay felt the same way, when I found out that Wallace went over there, that was my first personal clue that this was not the hype-vapourware that HardOCP claimed. I had read that original article and at the time, believed Infinium to be a bunch of wave-ware peddlers.
I was wrong.
The Phantom bears watching. These games won't be "free" per se, it really is as Jeff described it, an exciting new, possibly mainstream distribution channel that Indie games can exploit :)
The cool thing? It runs the games without any intervention from the developer. I kept waiting for an email from Wallace telling me about the stuff I'd have to code for it, that mail never came, and I kinda thought maybe they had decided not to include Lore :)
I was wrong again :)
Anyway, keep an eye on it, it's worth watching, whether you believe in the model or not :)
Torque Owner Bryan Edds
Well, maybe it's just the Think Tanks demo... Who knows...