The $73 million dollar Phantom disaster
by Kevin Kelly 
{ Jun 7th 2007 at 5:30PM }
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.
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?
James @ Jun 8th 2007 4:31PM
The OLED keyboard was actually a good idea though and it was more of a science experiment. The Phantom is just that. A made up company to write off their taxes and fancy cars. Much like Gizmondo.
PhrawzT @ Jun 11th 2007 8:33AM
I have been waiting for years to play Duke Nukem Forever on my Phantom console.
James @ Jun 16th 2007 11:43AM
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/03
I wish that strip were attached to every single Phantom reference on the internet.