Phantom appears in Europe

The console that stubbornly refuses to see release or be canceled has resurfaced again, this time at the Third Annual Develop Industry Excellence Awards in London on Wednesday night.

Freshly minted Infinium Labs CEO Kevin Bachus, a sponsor of the event, took the opportunity to introduce the company's games-on-demand console to a new continent.

"Europe and the UK have a pivotal role in content development," Bachus said. "At this stage of our development this was the perfect platform to engage the industry and the response we got last night was fantastic. There is huge support for an effective on-line channel that takes gaming direct to consumers."

Originally announced in January of 2003, the Phantom is a PC-based console intended to introduce direct digital distribution of games to the living room. The game delivery model for the service sees games streamed on demand to a Phantom receiver over a broadband Internet connection. Since the official announcement, Infinium Labs has undergone several changes at the executive level, suffered delays, sued a Web site for defamation, and has been the butt of more than a few Internet message board jokes.

According to the system's official Web site, the Phantom is still scheduled to launch this year.