The $73 million dollar Phantom disaster

by Kevin Kelly { Jun 7th 2007 at 5:30PM }

While this isn't quite as sexy as the whole Gizmondo topple from glory, mostly because there's no spectacular Ferrari crash in Southern California at the heart of it, the simple fact that the Phantom project has hemorrhaged so much cash and still continues to exist just boggles the mind.

There is a great article on the whole situation up at ars technica, and they bring you the entire story of the "now you see it, now you ... never will" Phantom game console in three red-ink filled pages. At this rate it'd be an easy bet to take that Duke Nukem Forever will hit store shelves before the Phantom Game System, or their weird mouse, keyboard, lapboard thingamabob ever does.

By the way, Phantom stock is now trading at .0008 cents, so if you've got some spare bucks lying around, you could pick up a good chunk of the company and secure yourself a place in Suckersville.

Tags: Lapboard, Phantom

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Skippy @ Jun 7th 2007 5:49PM

Microsoft lost 4 billion dollars on the original Xbox. What made these people think they could succeed with (by comparison) pennies is beyond me. It is funny though.

Shadow @ Jun 7th 2007 5:55PM

It really is a shame. The reason why the Phantom ever had any time in the starlight with us gamers is because it was such a great concept. Unfortunetly for us and the Phantom that's all it will ever be. Why do people trying to make a quick buck have to come and tease us about a console with great potential? Seriously, the phantom really is just a (Not so) clever scam. I remember when the owner tried to sue anyone who exposed the truth(Such as the HQ not having anyone, or anything, in it).

Mr Khan @ Jun 7th 2007 6:06PM

(agrees with 1)

but, who exactly funded the Phantom again? I doubt they can stack up against MS, whoever they are

The only problem with the Phantom was the complete lack of physical media (as far as i know), considering the sheer number of people that are still on dial-up (shocked? i am too), the concept was virtually doomed to failure. The unreliable nature of downloadable content also scared most of the major publishers off

Dan @ Jun 7th 2007 6:25PM

So wait, the company is worth $714?

Will @ Jun 7th 2007 6:47PM

Lets say you put $100 into Phantom stock, and lets say they do make the lapboard and their stock goes up to a buck, you just made $125000 dolars.

syco @ Jun 7th 2007 7:02PM

No, the company has a market capitalization of $714. The company is worth negative money.

jaysins @ Jun 7th 2007 8:04PM

Well you could buy five dollars worth of stock and if it then ever makes it to $2 a share you just made $12,495. And it's not like it matters if you lose five bucks.

Kunikos @ Jun 7th 2007 8:25PM

What a coincidence, the Phantom movie was a big disaster too!

Justin @ Jun 7th 2007 9:05PM

wow. last time I read about this system was in Next Generation Magazine.

Ialwayschangemyname @ Jun 7th 2007 9:10PM

If they were smart they would of released the lapboard, with the playstation 3 supporting mouse and keyboard and computers making their way into the living room they could of made quite a bit of money off of it. Then rather then make a system that was solely for videogames they should of marketed their console as a living room pc where you can download games, movies and music using it as a media hub.

unosturgis @ Jun 7th 2007 10:53PM

@ #10 wow...a living room pc..as a media hub? What a fresh, original & new idea!!!

thunderleg @ Jun 7th 2007 11:38PM

I'm almost tempted to drop $5 on stock, but I'd much rather have lunch instead.

slacker164 @ Jun 8th 2007 1:18AM

How the hell is this "company" even still around? o.o
They're as bad as those Optimus OLED keyboard guys. >.

t_m @ Jun 8th 2007 7:02AM

To be fair to them.. the much derided idea of having downloadable games to a terminal console has actually become a reality.. and is now a MAJOR source of income on all 3 next-gen consoles.

Heck, it was kinda like a gametap set-top box.

the idea was nice, but as the gizmondo showed, you just can't compete with companies willing to take massive losses to submarine their competitors.

PS/ Isn't it against the law to unfairly flood the market with underpriced units merely to try and put your competitors out of business?