Java games on the Phantom console

[augusto]

I'm surprised nobody seems to have mentioned this on the site, the big gaming announcement today at JavaOne was that they showed the Phantom console and it will support Java games.

I met Chris yesterday, and he hinted there was going to be some exciting development when I asked him about consoles. Congrats to Chris and the team for finally getting Java on a console.

Having said that, I won't lie and say I'd have hoped the console was PS3, or PSP or even XBox. For a second there I tought it was going to be the XBox. The Phantom console, I have mixed feelings here. Until not to long ago, I tought this console was total vaporware, and there's been a lot of articles about it.

They showed the console, but nothing was running on it, so I'm kinda worried here. Anyways, I don't want to be pessimistic, I hope this works. I hope to hear more details about this soon ...

And now, Chris, what's up with Sony? There's no dialog between you guys and them? At the very least we should get Java Games on the PSP!

[shawnkendall]

There will be no Java (J2SE) on the PSP. (Never say never)
It would be a technilogoical maricle - or read another way, technilogical impossibility. (nothings impossible)
J2ME perhaps...

[Markus_Persson]

I thought the phantom was a verified hoax?

Perhaps it's the new industry in-joke.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[ribot]

yes, just going by the name of it:

Phantom:

1) Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality; a ghost or an apparition.

2) Something elusive or delusive.

3) An image that appears only in the mind; an illusion.

4) Something dreaded or despised.

..but we'll just have to wait and see.

[augusto]

I thought the phantom was a verified hoax?

Perhaps it's the new industry in-joke.

I tought it was a hoax too, I'm still not convinced it's a real thing to be quite honest.

To be fair, they did show a box (ugly btw), and I think it had a keyboard. What  caught my attention was that they didn't show anything running on it, so as far as I know, it could be filled with sewage water instead of circuits.

I heard on the floor, they demod something on E3? Can anybody confirm this?

[swpalmer]

After checking out the Phantom website http://www.phantom.net/index.php  It seems simple enough to be real.  It's essentially a PC with an nVidia card running embedded win XP..  It has a hard drive and a broadband connection.   Seems perfect for Java games actually.  Assume Sun gets them to include JRE 5.0 and they have something along the lines of WebStart to deliver Java games.

[ChrisM]

Key points:

1) The Phantom was not displaying anything due to time constraints in the keynote
2) It has already demonstrated Java being run on the platform (it ran Law and Order: DOTM)
3) I played it at E3 and I will tell you, it is real and it kicks ass

In fact, CliffyB from Epic recently stated on the G4 tv network how excited he was to see it and how cool it actually is.

Stay tuned...

-Chris

P.S.  BTW, once you use their keyboard and mouse combo, you will WISH you had one for your PC.

[darkprophet]

That lap keyboard and mouse is soooo cool!

Im gonna buy the phantom, make a little socket change thingamabob, and use the mouse and keyboard in my PC.

DP  

[kul_th_las]

From GamaSutra, with some emphasis added by me:

June 29, 2004

Phantom To Support Java Based Games
Speaking at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco, Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy, joined by Infinium Labs president Kevin Bachus, has announced during his keynote speech that the two companies will be starting a partnership to offer Java technology based games as part of the Phantom gaming service.

The Phantom game receiver will now ship with the full Java 2 Standard Edition Runtime Environment and supporting game APIs. This should ensure that all Java technology based games will be able to run on the Phantom out of the box.

The Phantom Gaming Service is slated to go live in the US on Thursday, 18th November, 2004.

Source: Infinium Labs
-David Jenkins

Time to get that killer Java app up and running folks! And here's your target platform, from the Infinium Labs website:

Phantom(tm) Game Receiver

   * AMD® Athlon(tn) XP 2500+ central processing unit (CPU)
   * NVIDIA® GeForce(tm) FX 5700 Ultra graphics processing unit (GPU)
   * NVIDIA nForce(tm)2 Ultra 400 platform processor
   * 256 MB RAM
   * 40 GB local content cache
   * Microsoft Windows XP® Embedded Operating System
   * Dynamic, personalized user interfaces customizable for age, gender or technical expertise
   * Lapboard, mouse and game pad included

   * HDTV and Dolby® Digital 5.1 compatible
   * Works with any consumer-standard broadband Internet Service Provider (ISP): DSL or faster

The "lapboard" is basically a keyboard, from what I can tell from the pictures. The power of a PC, and a familiar platform, with the standard hardware of a console. Hell, you can probably test your software on the machine without buying a Phantom development kit (I don't think there will be such a thing, as a matter of fact)! And here's why I think so, note the bold text (also from the Infinium Labs site):

The Phantom(tm) Gaming Service includes the Phantom Game Receiver, the Phantom Network, and a large library of high quality games:

   * Non-proprietary development platform (Windows XP® Embedded ) - Does not require developers and publishers to incur any additional development costs
   * Powerful digital rights management (DRM) solution that ensures seamless delivery of digital content to consumers while protecting against piracy
   * Try, rent or buy games on demand
   * Broad range of titles appealing to the entire family
   * Personalized user experience: multiple user profiles and parental control features
   * State of the art design and technology
   * Multi-tiered subscription service that meets the needs of casual, moderate and hardcore game players

Now the question is, how do you get your game into their service, and what does it cost?

[tom]

The Phantom game receiver will now ship with the full Java 2 Standard Edition Runtime Environment and supporting game APIs.

Wich means Java3d and possibly jogl, joal and jinput? Someone should lobby to get lwjgl 1.0 on the box. Not that it is a big issue. Lwjgl is smal enough to be bundled with the game.

Now the question is, how do you get your game into their service, and what does it cost?

We asked if they would be interested in Squareheads, refering to the JavaOne keynote. This was the response:

We would be interested in your game.  However, unfortunately we have not
quite worked out the revenue model for Java games on the service.

May I encourage you to check back in with me near the end of August?  I
will have a more definitive partnership model then.

So we will have to wait and see.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[oNyx]

>So we will have to wait and see.

Ye... but since we are all doing java it's more like continuing doing our stuff and eventually there will another opportunity appear

If your hud/gui is designed in a TV friendly way there would be nothing which needs to be changed.

See here:
http://www.gamasutra.com/gdc2004/features/20040326/caminos_01.shtml

[ribot]

..but that is one ugly box!  ohhh.  I wouldn't have that in my sitting room.  Maybe a call for some modding.  hehe.  

[Chman]

Phantom(tm) Game Receiver

   * AMD® Athlon(tn) XP 2500+ central processing unit (CPU)
   * NVIDIA® GeForce(tm) FX 5700 Ultra graphics processing unit (GPU)
   * NVIDIA nForce(tm)2 Ultra 400 platform processor
   * 256 MB RAM
   * 40 GB local content cache
   * Microsoft Windows XP® Embedded Operating System
   * Dynamic, personalized user interfaces customizable for age, gender or technical expertise
   * Lapboard, mouse and game pad included

   * HDTV and Dolby® Digital 5.1 compatible
   * Works with any consumer-standard broadband Internet Service Provider (ISP): DSL or faster

256 Mo Ram Only 256 ? It's the minimum requierement for many games those days, so I think they should put almost 512Mo...

[princec]

Not the sort of games I expect they're going to be delivering. If anything it's probably overspecced.

Cas

[Chman]

Hum, for indy games and small game 256Mo is enough, but for big games like doom 3 or unreal tournament 2004, 512Mo is recommended to play in good conditions. The main advantage of the phantom is that it can play PC games... So I think player will want to play the last game in date, else the console will seems obselete compared to the up comming PS3/XBoxNext/Revolution (which must be released in late 2005)...

[gangrel-br]

256 Mo Ram  Only 256 ?

Yes, but in machine exclusive for games, right?

[Chman]

The phantom can run all Windows games, so the embedded Windows XP version must be almost the same as the Windows XP PC version = many resources consuming.

Maybe I'm simply telling stupid things... The best way to be sure is to wait for the phantom release and see games running on it

[kul_th_las]

I just had a thought. I think the timing of the Phontom release is a really bad idea. November is the same month that Halo 2 is coming out. I'll bet it's on purpose too - nothing could help kill a new console release quite like Halo 2. I'll bet if the Phantom console release were pushed up by 1-2 months, they might just move Halo as well.

Conspiracy theory? Oh, you got that right. More a joke than a serious post, really.

[kul_th_las]

I wonder if the Phantom console will be vulnerable to viruses. I'm sure they've already thought of this, but you never know. Then again, since it's not being released by Microsoft, maybe it's not a major target.

[kul_th_las]

Is it possible to distribute JOGL, JOAL, LWJGL, etc. via a webstart distribution so that they don't have to be preinstalled?

I assume that the Phantom will come with OpenGL drivers?

[oNyx]

Is it possible to distribute JOGL, JOAL, LWJGL, etc. via a webstart distribution so that they don't have to be preinstalled?
[...]

Yes. Quite painless with lwjgl, because it's so small