Phantom to remain hidden until 2005?

Speculation ahoy!

Infinium Labs' promising gaming-on-demand console the Phantom may now not see the light of day until March 2005, if rumours doing the rounds online are to be believed. Admittedly, some of this latest chatter comes from sites which hardly seem free from agenda - but a delay does seem likely, given the lack of publicity or more concrete details emerging from the PLC, whose original November 18th Phantom launch date is now rapidly approaching. Indeed, experts point to the lack of games scheduling, or more news on the system as indication that a slip is very likely - and news a week ago that more funding is required by Infinium can hardly have aided their push to market.

A release for the system in March 2005 now seems more than plausible, though we'd love to be able to give this prospect a go sooner, if only to trial the endless potential offered by broadband gaming and on-demand entertainment in its purest form. What is required now is affirmation of a November launch or confirmation of the system's status from Infinium. The last news we heard on the Phantom was that the company was in need of further investment, and seemed to be running short of cash, which possibly may have been needed to launch the console, though at this stage the situation seems highly vague.

We'll keep our eyes peeled for further news on this for you.

By Luke Guttridge