Phantom Entertainment, Inc. (known as Infinium Labs, Inc. until 2006) was a company founded in 2002 by Tim Roberts which made computer keyboards. However, Phantom was best known for the Phantom, a video game console advertised for Internet gaming on demand in 2004; it was never marketed, leading to suggestions that it was vaporware. The company's website was last updated in late 2011, and Phantom's ownership of the domain has since expired.
History Infinium Labs was founded by Tim Roberts in 2002 as a private company. In January 2003 it issued a press release saying that it would soon release a "revolutionary new gaming platform" with an on-demand video-game service, delivering games through an online subscription. The press release had no specific information, but included a computer-generated prototype design. Due to the use of buzzwords and the lack of details, the product was derided nearly from the beginning by news sites such as IGN and Slashdot and in the Penny Arcade webcomic. The hardware and gaming site HardOCP researched and wrote an extensive article on the company and its operation, and was sued in turn. The Phantom placed first in Wired News's "Vaporware 2004". In 2004, Infinium Labs went public. Roberts left the company in summer 2005 (with millions of shares of stock) before any products had been delivered. He later rejoined as chairman of the board, but in a July 2007 press release he again resigned from the company. Subsequent CEOs included Kevin Bachus (who took the post in August 2005), Greg Koler (in January 2006) and John Landino, who was appointed CEO and interim chief financial officer in July 2008. In September 2006 the company (which had changed its name from Infinium Labs) promised to introduce its Phantom Lapboard product in November 2006, with a gaming service to follow in March 2007. In June 2008, the company released the Lapboard. In August 2007, Phantom Entertainment signed an agreement with ProGames Network to provide Lapboards and "game-service content" in hotels worldwide.
The Phantom
The Phantom is a cancelled home video game console whose development was supposedly begun by Phantom Entertainment–then known as Infinium Labs–in 2003. The device was said to be capable of playing current and future PC games, giving the system a large initial game library and making it easier for developers to produce games for the system. The system was said to feature a direct-download content delivery service, instead of the discs and cartridges used by most game consoles at the time. Press releases said in 2003 that the console would be released that year, and the digital rights management software would be provided by DiStream. A prototype Phantom was first seen at the May 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), although it was rumored to be fake. Robrady Design was hired to develop the first Phantom prototype, and Synopse ID was later retained to develop second- and third-generation prototypes. Two units of the first-generation prototype were known to exist, one publicly destroyed by HardOCP at QuakeCon 2004 as a result of their legal battles with the company (see below), the other was spotted by a computer repair shop in Venice, Florida in 2015 and reported by Ars Technica. In October 2021, a first-generation prototype unit was listed for auction, presumably the same unit that was previously reported by Ars Technica due to its listed repair history. A second-generation prototype unit shown at E3 2004 surfaced a year later after the discovery of the surviving 2003 prototype.
Release The Phantom had an online release on August 17, 2003, with basic hardware specifications and a price of "below $399". Options included customized hardware and the PhantomNet (a gaming-content service), priced at $9.95 a month. A sale date for the first quarter of 2004 was set. It was missed; the company later claimed it would go on sale in November for the holiday season, although it had not developed online-delivery software, licensed games or found any retailers. The second deadline was missed, with Infinium sending thousands of faxes claiming that the system would be released in January 2005. When that deadline passed, Infinium predicted the system's release for around March 2005. That date also passed, and Infinium Labs was absent from the 2005 E3. Kevin Bachus (former Infinium CEO) hinted that the Phantom would be released around the same time as the Xbox 360 in fall 2005, but that date was also missed. By August 2006, the Phantom Console was removed from the products page of the Phantom Entertainment website.
Financial problems The company was unable to raise its projected $30 million to complete the Phantom and announced it would downsize and focus on the Phantom Lapboard, a wireless keyboard for home use. On May 16, 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Phantom Entertainment founder and former CEO Timothy Roberts of running a "pump and dump" scheme in promoting the Phantom console in 2004. The Phantom lost credibility in the gaming and business worlds because its release date was continually pushed back, and because of financial scandals involving Phantom Entertainment (which lost more than $62.7 million since its creation).
Lapboard
The Phantom Lapboard is a wireless keyboard made by the company. It was released on June 23, 2008, two years after its originally planned release date. Designed as a component of the Phantom game console, it was ultimately sold for use with Internet TV and PC video games since the Phantom console was cancelled, and never made it to market. In 2010, a new model of the Lapboard was released to work with Internet TV, gaming and media centers.
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