I believe I will now have to eat my hat. Phantom, the aptly-named gaming console which has been vaporware for going on six years now, has actually launched a game store kind of like what they said they were planning so very long ago.
Although it’s not as slick as Steam or as friendly as Good Old Games, it does appear to have quite a large selection of games to choose from (looks like about 2400), including brand new ones like GTA4 and Fallout 3, and prices seem similar.
Not only this, but they’re also announcing that they’ll have a new version of their lapboard coming out some time soon. Did someone give these people money or something? The fools!
[via Kotaku]
But, have you actually successfully downloaded a game, so far ?
Why not ask these guys?
pheadbaq Says:
December 15, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I was able to download several demos and they all went fine. I use avast! antivirus, no problems with the downloader app being detected as a virus. I also did a full purchase on one of the cheapy games (3.99 Grimm title), and that went perfectly fine as well
Bob Says:
December 15, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I downloaded a Ghosts n’ Goblins demo and had no difficulties; I’m running ZoneAlarm. Anybody tried running a bigger game like Gears of War yet?
pheadbaq Says:
December 15, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Or this?
http://pheiblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/fellow-phantom-patrons-gamestore-is-live/#comments
Why not ask these guy?
pheadbaq Says:
December 15, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I was able to download several demos and they all went fine. I use avast! antivirus, no problems with the downloader app being detected as a virus. I also did a full purchase on one of the cheapy games (3.99 Grimm title), and that went perfectly fine as well
Bob Says:
December 15, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I downloaded a Ghosts n’ Goblins demo and had no difficulties; I’m running ZoneAlarm. Anybody tried running a bigger game like Gears of War yet?
pheadbaq Says:
December 15, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Or this?
http://pheiblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/15/fellow-phantom-patrons-gamestore-is-live/#comments
What about DRM ? Are the games copy-protected, or not ?
Yes, but I’m not clear on the details exactly. I think it’s up to the game publishers as to which flavor of DRM they want out of the different options Phantom offers, not sure though. Regardless, once you make a purchase, you can download it from the game store as many times as you want, and they keep track of what you bought along with the activation codes. Also, I believe the streaming features coming in 2009 are their own form of DRM as well.
That’s something that would certainly be useful information for them to have in their FAQ.
So, Pheabaq, you are the one who actually bought and downloaded Grimm, but you do not know if it is copy-protected or not ?
Was there an EULA when you ran the game the first time ???
Nope, didn’t see anything resembling DRM. It could be the publisher specified not to have DRM on that title as well. On the demos though, that’s how the time trial is managed. You get a screen at launch that tells you how long your trial is.
I read this comment of yours, PheadUp, posted on the PHEI blog in October:
“Sounds like Phantom’s DRM is the perfect solution. So far, every DRM solution out there has been absolutely hated, even if it was a workable DRM that did prevent piracy (…). But if Phantom can make their DRM rock solid and hassle-free, you’d have a lot more PC-oriented interest headed Phantom’s way. ”
You were already a true believer then, and still are.
Tell me how the “time trial” demo is programmed, then, on the game you managed to download before the website shut down. Does the game plays for one hour, and then freezes ?
Pheadbaq,
We will be uploading the FAQ soon. We’ve been slammed as we worked out a few small kinks on the first day. I assure you the large games work as well as the “cheapy” $3.99 games:)
-Nathan Lands
:) I didn’t mean any kind of insult when I said cheapy. I just meant inexpensive. I wanted to try a full download to see how it worked.
You may be the only one to have succesfully downloaded something from that ghostly Games Store, it is down for “mantenance” after such a “successful launch” ?
Have they billed your credit card ?
I understand the skepticism. No CC bill yet.
Lol, dude, chill. I’ve liked Phantom’s ideas since ‘04. The time trial popped up on demos, one in particular was a game called Fishdom. It gave me around an hour to play. If you’re playing the game when the trial runs out, it boots you out of the game and goes back to the screen where it told you how much time you had and prompts you to purchase the full game. The Grimm title I got didn’t have any such trial constraints. It installed like a normal game.