Many people, ourselves included, have published articles calling into question announcements from Infinium Labs regarding their Phantom console. The previous business dealings of CEO, Tim Roberts, and the name of the console itself both seemed to conspire to call Infinium’s credibility into question. But when Kevin Bachus joined the company recently, directly from Microsoft Xbox division, even we had to consider that the company might be serious. This E3, Infinium proved that it is deadly serious by unveiling one of the most gorgeous pieces of hardware the console world has ever seen.
The Phantom console on show in Los Angeles this week looks nothing like the hideous clunky render that was being hawked around the industry some months ago. In its place is a sleek white console with the kind of design and construction that we might have expected from Apple if they had decided to launch an iPlay Console. The hardware is complemented by a keyboard and mouse-pad combination that is so elegant in design that this peripheral itself could justify the company’s existence. The keyboard hinges upwards from its base to create an area for the mouse to be used on, and the keyboard itself rotates within its bezel so that you can arrange it in the perfect ergonomic position for you. This solves the age-old problem of how to play mouse-control games in a recumbent or seated position.
The innovative hardware is backed by an audacious business plan that, if it succeeds, could revolutionise the games industry. Infinium plans to give away the hardware in the same way Sky gives away its set-top box. In order to qualify for a console, users must sign up to an on-demand gaming delivery service. While firm details were not revealed to us when we spoke to Infinium today, the company’s representatives spoke of a combination of subscription, pay-per-play and purchase-and-download models.
The potential success of this business model must strike fear into several sectors of the traditional games industry. Apart from retail, for whom this represents a similar threat to that posed by music downloads, publishers without IP – specifically PC budget publishers will be amongst the hardest hit. Not only will the download model rid them of their source of product – it will also enable games to be priced reactively across their lifespan – removing the traditional full-price/budget re-issue cycle. But ultimately, the download model could herald a reduction of the power of the big studios. Reducing the cost of marketing, production and distribution it is conceivable that development studios could self publish once again, should they choose to do so. At an E3 awash with indistinguishable hack and magic games, anything that stirs things up can only be a good thing.
The Phantom console on show in Los Angeles this week looks nothing like the hideous clunky render that was being hawked around the industry some months ago. In its place is a sleek white console with the kind of design and construction that we might have expected from Apple if they had decided to launch an iPlay Console. The hardware is complemented by a keyboard and mouse-pad combination that is so elegant in design that this peripheral itself could justify the company’s existence. The keyboard hinges upwards from its base to create an area for the mouse to be used on, and the keyboard itself rotates within its bezel so that you can arrange it in the perfect ergonomic position for you. This solves the age-old problem of how to play mouse-control games in a recumbent or seated position.
The innovative hardware is backed by an audacious business plan that, if it succeeds, could revolutionise the games industry. Infinium plans to give away the hardware in the same way Sky gives away its set-top box. In order to qualify for a console, users must sign up to an on-demand gaming delivery service. While firm details were not revealed to us when we spoke to Infinium today, the company’s representatives spoke of a combination of subscription, pay-per-play and purchase-and-download models.
The potential success of this business model must strike fear into several sectors of the traditional games industry. Apart from retail, for whom this represents a similar threat to that posed by music downloads, publishers without IP – specifically PC budget publishers will be amongst the hardest hit. Not only will the download model rid them of their source of product – it will also enable games to be priced reactively across their lifespan – removing the traditional full-price/budget re-issue cycle. But ultimately, the download model could herald a reduction of the power of the big studios. Reducing the cost of marketing, production and distribution it is conceivable that development studios could self publish once again, should they choose to do so. At an E3 awash with indistinguishable hack and magic games, anything that stirs things up can only be a good thing.
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Comments
schnide 13 May 2004 08:14
1/11
An iPlay console eh? Hmm..
Hey Apple wait, I got an idea for you! Come back!!
Hey Apple wait, I got an idea for you! Come back!!
smagic 13 May 2004 15:41
2/11
Oh boy.It's sounds like a nice idea but it's probably going to end up lame unless they release games on a buyable media rather than just downloading everything. With Top games now way in at 4Gb and they'll most probably yet bigger as time goes on. What worries me is:
A) You going to have to fork out for broadband if you haven't already got it.
B)Even on broadband games are going to take an age to download so people have got to wait a day and a night to get the dam thing.
C)You might not be laughing but i still am it's gonna take alot of hard work to get mainstream gamers to buy it.
3DO syndrome !!!!!
A) You going to have to fork out for broadband if you haven't already got it.
B)Even on broadband games are going to take an age to download so people have got to wait a day and a night to get the dam thing.
C)You might not be laughing but i still am it's gonna take alot of hard work to get mainstream gamers to buy it.
3DO syndrome !!!!!
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warrp3d 13 May 2004 17:39
3/11
smagic wrote:
A) You going to have to fork out for broadband if you haven't already got it.
it worked for xbox live...
B)Even on broadband games are going to take an age to download so people have got to wait a day and a night to get the dam thing.
these games stream, you dont have to dl the whole thing to start playing
C)You might not be laughing but i still am it's gonna take alot of hard work to get mainstream gamers to buy it.
i actually agree on this one, why do i need another system that plays everything that my other systems do?
3DO syndrome!!!!!
A) You going to have to fork out for broadband if you haven't already got it.
it worked for xbox live...
B)Even on broadband games are going to take an age to download so people have got to wait a day and a night to get the dam thing.
these games stream, you dont have to dl the whole thing to start playing
C)You might not be laughing but i still am it's gonna take alot of hard work to get mainstream gamers to buy it.
i actually agree on this one, why do i need another system that plays everything that my other systems do?
3DO syndrome!!!!!
DoctorDee 13 May 2004 18:05
4/11
smagic wrote:
>downloading everything. With Top games now way in
>at 4Gb and they'll most probably yet bigger as
S**t, you hit something I meant to include in my report (it was written pretty late last night E3 time - sorry!). The games will be re-engineered to be playable after the initial "footprint" is downloaded, so yesterday, for instance, Unreal Tournament 2004 began playing after about 400Mb was downloaded (about 15 minutes on broadband - about 30 seconds at the show).
>A) You going to have to fork out for broadband if
>you haven't already got it.
If you haven't already got it, get it. I mean really, get broadband NOW! It is worth EVERY penny. Why live in the 20th century when the future has begun?
>B)Even on broadband games are going to take an
>age to download so people have got to wait a day
>and a night to get the dam thing.
See above
>C)You might not be laughing but i still am it's
>gonna take alot of hard work to get mainstream
>gamers to buy it.
I'm sensing some resistance to change here. Are you a naturally cautious person? Feel the fear and do it anyway...
Marcus
>downloading everything. With Top games now way in
>at 4Gb and they'll most probably yet bigger as
S**t, you hit something I meant to include in my report (it was written pretty late last night E3 time - sorry!). The games will be re-engineered to be playable after the initial "footprint" is downloaded, so yesterday, for instance, Unreal Tournament 2004 began playing after about 400Mb was downloaded (about 15 minutes on broadband - about 30 seconds at the show).
>A) You going to have to fork out for broadband if
>you haven't already got it.
If you haven't already got it, get it. I mean really, get broadband NOW! It is worth EVERY penny. Why live in the 20th century when the future has begun?
>B)Even on broadband games are going to take an
>age to download so people have got to wait a day
>and a night to get the dam thing.
See above
>C)You might not be laughing but i still am it's
>gonna take alot of hard work to get mainstream
>gamers to buy it.
I'm sensing some resistance to change here. Are you a naturally cautious person? Feel the fear and do it anyway...
Marcus
Warzone 13 May 2004 18:49
5/11
>If you haven't already got it, get it. I mean
>really, get broadband NOW! It is worth EVERY
>penny. Why live in the 20th century when the
>future has begun?
Uh, because where you live isn't served by broadband, i.e. 97% of the civilized world? Wake up guys, broadband is little more than a WET DREAM outside large cities and South Korea. I got 1.5Mbit ADSL because some bigass company with the right ties moved into town, otherwise Xbox 2 would have gotten old by the time I'd get 640Kbit ADSL.
>I'm sensing some resistance to change here. Are
>you a naturally cautious person? Feel the fear
>and do it anyway...
I'm sensing unmotivated and reckless need to get whatever new trinket comes to the market, and coming to someone who tends to do just that it's far from a compliment. Are you an unnaturally careless and easily impressed by public relation fanfare person? Feel the lighter wallet when all this blows up.
>The potential success of this business model must
>strike fear into several sectors of the traditional
>games industry
Yeah. They must be laughing to death by now. Even if ten years from now this distribution model could be the norm, the Phantom will still go the way of the 3DO. Infinium's laughtastic behavior up until now is far more than enough to make this prediction, there's no need to act the sad fact that about nobody has broadband or that actual CDs are FAR easier to sell by simple way of there being something 'physical' at them.
>really, get broadband NOW! It is worth EVERY
>penny. Why live in the 20th century when the
>future has begun?
Uh, because where you live isn't served by broadband, i.e. 97% of the civilized world? Wake up guys, broadband is little more than a WET DREAM outside large cities and South Korea. I got 1.5Mbit ADSL because some bigass company with the right ties moved into town, otherwise Xbox 2 would have gotten old by the time I'd get 640Kbit ADSL.
>I'm sensing some resistance to change here. Are
>you a naturally cautious person? Feel the fear
>and do it anyway...
I'm sensing unmotivated and reckless need to get whatever new trinket comes to the market, and coming to someone who tends to do just that it's far from a compliment. Are you an unnaturally careless and easily impressed by public relation fanfare person? Feel the lighter wallet when all this blows up.
>The potential success of this business model must
>strike fear into several sectors of the traditional
>games industry
Yeah. They must be laughing to death by now. Even if ten years from now this distribution model could be the norm, the Phantom will still go the way of the 3DO. Infinium's laughtastic behavior up until now is far more than enough to make this prediction, there's no need to act the sad fact that about nobody has broadband or that actual CDs are FAR easier to sell by simple way of there being something 'physical' at them.
DoctorDee 13 May 2004 19:41
6/11
Warzone wrote:
>Uh, because where you live isn't served by
>broadband, i.e. 97% of the civilized world?
I'mguessing that youmean the civilised third world. More than 97% f western covilisation already has access to broadband. BT recently promised it to 100% of the UK by end 2005.
> Wake
>up guys, broadband is little more than a WET
>DREAM outside large cities and South Korea.
That will change. Affordable one-way satellite broadband is ready to go live in Europe.
>I'm sensing unmotivated and reckless need to get
>whatever new trinket comes to the market,
You are wrong. I get trinkets that I feel are gonna improvemy life. The rest I leave on the shelf, it's broadband I'm pushing here, not Phantom. Phantom is interesting, but the delivery model needs further investigation before I'd buy one or recommend anyone else do the same.
>Are you an unnaturally
>careless and easily impressed by public relation
>fanfare person?
Dude, youdon't know me. Public relations impress me even less than poorly considered and reactionary forum postings.
>Yeah. They must be laughing to death by now. >Even if ten years from now this distribution model
>could be the norm,
Leaving the "when" aside, Do you REALLY believe that it won't be the norm at some point int he future? Do you REALLY believe that?
>way of the 3DO. Infinium's laughtastic behavior
>up until now is far more than enough to make this
>prediction,
At last some sense. But their behaviour has only been laughtastic becasue their initial PR was so unbelievable, and because they antagonised the press. Otherwise, their behaviour has been pretty typical for an (unknown) new company launching a new product.
>that about nobody has broadband
Where the hell ARE you dude?
>or that actual
>CDs are FAR easier to sell by simple way of there
>being something 'physical' at them.
Oh yeah, that must be why music download is such a bust, and why p2p failed so badly - no physical item means no interest. I stand corrected.
>Uh, because where you live isn't served by
>broadband, i.e. 97% of the civilized world?
I'mguessing that youmean the civilised third world. More than 97% f western covilisation already has access to broadband. BT recently promised it to 100% of the UK by end 2005.
> Wake
>up guys, broadband is little more than a WET
>DREAM outside large cities and South Korea.
That will change. Affordable one-way satellite broadband is ready to go live in Europe.
>I'm sensing unmotivated and reckless need to get
>whatever new trinket comes to the market,
You are wrong. I get trinkets that I feel are gonna improvemy life. The rest I leave on the shelf, it's broadband I'm pushing here, not Phantom. Phantom is interesting, but the delivery model needs further investigation before I'd buy one or recommend anyone else do the same.
>Are you an unnaturally
>careless and easily impressed by public relation
>fanfare person?
Dude, youdon't know me. Public relations impress me even less than poorly considered and reactionary forum postings.
>Yeah. They must be laughing to death by now. >Even if ten years from now this distribution model
>could be the norm,
Leaving the "when" aside, Do you REALLY believe that it won't be the norm at some point int he future? Do you REALLY believe that?
>way of the 3DO. Infinium's laughtastic behavior
>up until now is far more than enough to make this
>prediction,
At last some sense. But their behaviour has only been laughtastic becasue their initial PR was so unbelievable, and because they antagonised the press. Otherwise, their behaviour has been pretty typical for an (unknown) new company launching a new product.
>that about nobody has broadband
Where the hell ARE you dude?
>or that actual
>CDs are FAR easier to sell by simple way of there
>being something 'physical' at them.
Oh yeah, that must be why music download is such a bust, and why p2p failed so badly - no physical item means no interest. I stand corrected.
config 13 May 2004 20:02
7/11
Warzone wrote:
>>If you haven't already got it, get it. I mean
>>really, get broadband NOW! It is worth EVERY
>>penny. Why live in the 20th century when the
>>future has begun?
>
>Uh, because where you live isn't served by
>broadband, i.e. 97% of the civilized world?
Geographical area or populace? Or did you just make that up? :)
Either way, it's pretty likely that a very high percentage of the Xbox/PS2/GameCube demographic fall within the 3% that can get broadband.
> Wake
>up guys, broadband is little more than a WET
>DREAM outside large cities and South Korea.
Okay. Stats time. Comfortable?
As of Sept 2003 there were 63 million[1] broadband subscribers worldwide. In the US, of all home Internet users, over 45.2%[2] have broadband. Not great, but with 75%[2] of homes Internet-enabled, that's a lot of people. In September 2003 the US stood some way behind Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, Singapore and quite a few other countries in term of broadband penetration.[1]
In the UK, BT have announced they are planning to upgrade its UK network, making broadband available to 99.6%[3] of the population.
97 percent, huh?
>>I'm sensing some resistance to change here. Are
>>you a naturally cautious person? Feel the fear
>>and do it anyway...
>
>I'm sensing unmotivated and reckless need to get
>whatever new trinket comes to the market,
Broadband is hardly a new trinket. I've had it for more than two years and I wasn't an early adopter given that I don't live in a major city.
>>The potential success of this business model
>>must trike fear into several sectors of the
>>traditional games industry
>
>Yeah. They must be laughing to death by now.
Then, come the revolution, they'll be the first up against the wall.
>Even
>if ten years from now this distribution model
>could be the norm, the Phantom will still go the
>way of the 3DO.
So you're suggesting that there's no room in the current market, so there's no point in trying? Now there's a defeatist attitude!
>Infinium's laughtastic behavior
>up until now is far more than enough to make this
>prediction,
Infinium have been outrageously stupid in their approach to the launch of Phantom.
> there's no need to act the sad fact
>that about nobody has broadband
Wrong. See above, and perhaps you should ask all those XbLive! and PS2 BB gamers how they manage to enjoy online gaming without broadband.
>or that actual
>CDs are FAR easier to sell by simple way of there
>being something 'physical' at them.
Well, that's goes back to DoctorDee's comment on "resistance to change".
G.
[1] URLWire Sept 2002 Bandwith Report http://www.urlwire.com/news/092303.html
[2] URLWire April 2004 Bandwith Report http://www.urlwire.com/news/042604.html
[3] BT Broadband update, 27 April 2004 http://62.172.198.79/broadband1/update/index.asp
>>If you haven't already got it, get it. I mean
>>really, get broadband NOW! It is worth EVERY
>>penny. Why live in the 20th century when the
>>future has begun?
>
>Uh, because where you live isn't served by
>broadband, i.e. 97% of the civilized world?
Geographical area or populace? Or did you just make that up? :)
Either way, it's pretty likely that a very high percentage of the Xbox/PS2/GameCube demographic fall within the 3% that can get broadband.
> Wake
>up guys, broadband is little more than a WET
>DREAM outside large cities and South Korea.
Okay. Stats time. Comfortable?
As of Sept 2003 there were 63 million[1] broadband subscribers worldwide. In the US, of all home Internet users, over 45.2%[2] have broadband. Not great, but with 75%[2] of homes Internet-enabled, that's a lot of people. In September 2003 the US stood some way behind Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, Singapore and quite a few other countries in term of broadband penetration.[1]
In the UK, BT have announced they are planning to upgrade its UK network, making broadband available to 99.6%[3] of the population.
97 percent, huh?
>>I'm sensing some resistance to change here. Are
>>you a naturally cautious person? Feel the fear
>>and do it anyway...
>
>I'm sensing unmotivated and reckless need to get
>whatever new trinket comes to the market,
Broadband is hardly a new trinket. I've had it for more than two years and I wasn't an early adopter given that I don't live in a major city.
>>The potential success of this business model
>>must trike fear into several sectors of the
>>traditional games industry
>
>Yeah. They must be laughing to death by now.
Then, come the revolution, they'll be the first up against the wall.
>Even
>if ten years from now this distribution model
>could be the norm, the Phantom will still go the
>way of the 3DO.
So you're suggesting that there's no room in the current market, so there's no point in trying? Now there's a defeatist attitude!
>Infinium's laughtastic behavior
>up until now is far more than enough to make this
>prediction,
Infinium have been outrageously stupid in their approach to the launch of Phantom.
> there's no need to act the sad fact
>that about nobody has broadband
Wrong. See above, and perhaps you should ask all those XbLive! and PS2 BB gamers how they manage to enjoy online gaming without broadband.
>or that actual
>CDs are FAR easier to sell by simple way of there
>being something 'physical' at them.
Well, that's goes back to DoctorDee's comment on "resistance to change".
G.
[1] URLWire Sept 2002 Bandwith Report http://www.urlwire.com/news/092303.html
[2] URLWire April 2004 Bandwith Report http://www.urlwire.com/news/042604.html
[3] BT Broadband update, 27 April 2004 http://62.172.198.79/broadband1/update/index.asp
wastedhours 14 May 2004 06:45
8/11
i mean i have 150K bb, but it should work, right?...
smagic 14 May 2004 10:28
9/11
DoctorDee Wrote:
>I'm sensing some resistance to change
>here. Are you a naturally cautious person? Feel
>the fear and do it anyway...
I'm sensing b*l*oks
I've got all three consoles as well as a few classic ones and a pc.
I'm always up for new things but we all have to stop somewhere. The market's not ready for it even though broadband has been out a few years it's still an infant and some people will take along time to adapt.
DoctorDee wrote:
S**t, you hit something
>I meant to include in my report (it was written
>pretty late last night E3 time - sorry!). The
>games will be re-engineered to be playable after
>the initial "footprint" is downloaded, so
>yesterday, for instance, Unreal Tournament 2004
>began playing after about 400Mb was downloaded
>(about 15 minutes on broadband - about 30 seconds
>at the show).
Ye but imagine mulitplayer games that are streaming as well as sucking all the bandwith for the multiplayer side of things!
>A) You going to have to fork
>out for broadband if
>you haven't already got
>it.
I have got it but i don't want a console that's totally dependant on it. At least xbox has an offline mode.
>I'm sensing some resistance to change
>here. Are you a naturally cautious person? Feel
>the fear and do it anyway...
I'm sensing b*l*oks
I've got all three consoles as well as a few classic ones and a pc.
I'm always up for new things but we all have to stop somewhere. The market's not ready for it even though broadband has been out a few years it's still an infant and some people will take along time to adapt.
DoctorDee wrote:
S**t, you hit something
>I meant to include in my report (it was written
>pretty late last night E3 time - sorry!). The
>games will be re-engineered to be playable after
>the initial "footprint" is downloaded, so
>yesterday, for instance, Unreal Tournament 2004
>began playing after about 400Mb was downloaded
>(about 15 minutes on broadband - about 30 seconds
>at the show).
Ye but imagine mulitplayer games that are streaming as well as sucking all the bandwith for the multiplayer side of things!
>A) You going to have to fork
>out for broadband if
>you haven't already got
>it.
I have got it but i don't want a console that's totally dependant on it. At least xbox has an offline mode.
config 14 May 2004 11:58
10/11
smagic wrote:
>Ye but imagine mulitplayer games that are
>streaming as well as sucking all the bandwith for
>the multiplayer side of things!
Surely the telemetry for network play data should be as sparse of possible; more data = more chance of data loss.
Besides, it's likely that you'd have to download all data required to complete the level before play can commence. Even if it were to stream during network play, they'd be crazy not to throttle the game data stream in order to allocated bandwidth for the telemetry.
>Ye but imagine mulitplayer games that are
>streaming as well as sucking all the bandwith for
>the multiplayer side of things!
Surely the telemetry for network play data should be as sparse of possible; more data = more chance of data loss.
Besides, it's likely that you'd have to download all data required to complete the level before play can commence. Even if it were to stream during network play, they'd be crazy not to throttle the game data stream in order to allocated bandwidth for the telemetry.
DoctorDee 14 May 2004 17:02
11/11
smagic wrote:
>I'm sensing b*l*oks
And talking it ;-)
I'm kidding!
>I've got all three consoles as well as a few
>classic ones and a pc.
Yes, but ALL of the current consoles follow exactly the same model laid down over 30 years ago by the Magnavox Oddessy. Piece of hardware you own, pieces of "firmware/software" that you buy. So the fact that you own a long list of consoles does not show that you are open to change, since none of them have made a single step of progress (aside from moving from cart to CD - and that's academic), never mind a paradigm shift.
>I'm always up for new things but we all have to
>stop somewhere.
Do you know the meaning of contradiction?
"Always open to new things" is a direct contradiction of "have to stop somewhere"... the minute you "have to stop", you are no longer "open to new things"... but you said you were ALWAYS open to new things, therefor you CAN NEVER STOP!!!!
>The market's not ready for it
You may be right. But shall we let the market decide? Because if you know what the market wants and doesn't want, you'd be writing this from your diamond palace protected by an army of fembot sex slaves.
>even though broadband has been out a few years
>it's still an infant and some people will take
>along time to adapt.
Can I refer you back to Config's post. There are 64,000,000 with broadband, and that's increasing at an accelerating pace. That's one mature infant!
>Ye but imagine mulitplayer games that are
>streaming as well as sucking all the bandwith for
>the multiplayer side of things!
The games don't stream in a convetional sense, they are downloaded to your hard drive. But once the engine and first level are downloaded, you can begin playing. Then it downloads for a while in the background, then its on your hard disk, and no more downloading.
Not sure how much bandwidth you think multiplayer games require, but it ain't 128k!
>I have got it but i don't want a console that's
>totally dependant on it. At least xbox has an
>offline mode.
That's your choice. But your own personal preferences don't qualify to speak for everyone else. The very fact that I don't agree proves that you can't speak for everyone.
I'm not saying Phantom WILL be a success, what I'm saying is that if it is, it will represent a huge shift for the industry, and it could be a liberating force, giving gamers more choice, and more original games... and that in itself is a reasons that people should at least consider it.
>I'm sensing b*l*oks
And talking it ;-)
I'm kidding!
>I've got all three consoles as well as a few
>classic ones and a pc.
Yes, but ALL of the current consoles follow exactly the same model laid down over 30 years ago by the Magnavox Oddessy. Piece of hardware you own, pieces of "firmware/software" that you buy. So the fact that you own a long list of consoles does not show that you are open to change, since none of them have made a single step of progress (aside from moving from cart to CD - and that's academic), never mind a paradigm shift.
>I'm always up for new things but we all have to
>stop somewhere.
Do you know the meaning of contradiction?
"Always open to new things" is a direct contradiction of "have to stop somewhere"... the minute you "have to stop", you are no longer "open to new things"... but you said you were ALWAYS open to new things, therefor you CAN NEVER STOP!!!!
>The market's not ready for it
You may be right. But shall we let the market decide? Because if you know what the market wants and doesn't want, you'd be writing this from your diamond palace protected by an army of fembot sex slaves.
>even though broadband has been out a few years
>it's still an infant and some people will take
>along time to adapt.
Can I refer you back to Config's post. There are 64,000,000 with broadband, and that's increasing at an accelerating pace. That's one mature infant!
>Ye but imagine mulitplayer games that are
>streaming as well as sucking all the bandwith for
>the multiplayer side of things!
The games don't stream in a convetional sense, they are downloaded to your hard drive. But once the engine and first level are downloaded, you can begin playing. Then it downloads for a while in the background, then its on your hard disk, and no more downloading.
Not sure how much bandwidth you think multiplayer games require, but it ain't 128k!
>I have got it but i don't want a console that's
>totally dependant on it. At least xbox has an
>offline mode.
That's your choice. But your own personal preferences don't qualify to speak for everyone else. The very fact that I don't agree proves that you can't speak for everyone.
I'm not saying Phantom WILL be a success, what I'm saying is that if it is, it will represent a huge shift for the industry, and it could be a liberating force, giving gamers more choice, and more original games... and that in itself is a reasons that people should at least consider it.