Timothy Roberts steps down as Chairman, Director of Phantom, which has yet to do something

You can't keep a good snake oil salesman down -- well, until he jumps right the hell overboard from his company. Maybe possibly actually on the eve of -- gasp -- actually shipping something, vaporware stock scamming pump and dump frontrunner Phantom Entertainment (aka Infinium Labs, aka the dudes Gizmondo like sooo looked up to) announced today that its founder, Chairman, and Director Tim Roberts is peaceing out just in time to not screw up their non-sales during this week's E3 conference.

Lovely fluff ensues: "'We are grateful for Tim's vision and his service in helping to guide the Company since its inception' noted Greg Koler, CEO and President of Phantom Entertainment, Inc. 'We will miss Tim's counsel and insightful views on the direction of technology and we wish him well with his new endeavors.'" Vision? In producting what, bupkis? Service? In doing what, leaving the company in 2005 with a booty load of stock making the whole business look like a scam? Man, you can't even make this shlock up.

Read - press release
Read - CNN says dude's a crook (2006)
Bonus: check out dude's LinkedIn profile. He really seems to believe he's a "Proven Leader in Sales." Sales of what, exactly?

[Bachus @ Jul 9th 2007 10:30PM]

these guys are still dicking around out there? hasn't steam, gametap, direct2drive, et al made their entire premise obsolete by now?

[duber @ Jul 9th 2007 10:33PM]

You've gotta love America! :)

[Mike Klein @ Jul 9th 2007 10:34PM]

"Phantom" Entertainment...sounds like he delivered what he promised.

[dglaz @ Jul 9th 2007 11:04PM]

beat me to it... well played

[tchiseen @ Jul 9th 2007 10:54PM]

i shoulda read this article before i dumped my life savings into this company! doh!

[merderjunkie @ Jul 9th 2007 10:59PM]

i remember being submitted to beta test this system 4 yrs ago. never saw or heard a word from them. some revolution system this is.

[victor @ Jul 9th 2007 11:28PM]

Dude, you know EXACTLY what he's been selling. He certainly sold a line to the investors. And I bet good play money that he sold many things as he pretended to mature into the fine adult you see today...

[tom @ Jul 9th 2007 11:39PM]

is the gizmodo slam really necessary?

[Mike Klein @ Jul 9th 2007 11:49PM]

A cheap shot I agree. Engadget shouldn't be throwing stones. I read both regularly (my daily dose of geekness) and each has pros/cons.

[Salsa Shark @ Jul 9th 2007 11:56PM]

Gizmodo != Gizmondo.

Jeezus.

[prosthetichead @ Jul 9th 2007 11:56PM]

The Gizmondo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gizmondo) is a Very different thing from Gizmodo (http://www.gizmodo.com.au/)

[Simon @ Jul 9th 2007 11:57PM]

They're not referring to Gizmodo, but rather Gizmondo, the gaming handheld that failed miserably a year or two ago. (You might recall the stories about the executive smashing the Ferrari Enzo in California.)

[tom @ Jul 9th 2007 11:58PM]

I think its safe to say that the majority of engadget readers visit gizmodo, too. They aren't really competition or anything. Both sites are great, but gizmodo doesnt pretend engadget doesnt exist (hell, they link to them regularly).

Ryan, as a fellow technology writer, I am a huge fan of the site. Let's take the editorial high road here.

[Jean-Michel Decombe @ Jul 10th 2007 12:12AM]

Have you been living under a rock? He's making fun of Gizmondo, not Gizmodo. Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gizmondo

[reticulate @ Jul 10th 2007 4:55AM]

Too eager to see some e-drama, people?

GizMONDo.

As in, the last thing Tiger did before they bit the big one.

Not the bloody gadget blog. Jesus.

[spyboy @ Jul 10th 2007 12:32AM]

I heard he left, because he was offered a job at Steorn.

[dogarms @ Jul 10th 2007 12:41AM]

Nah, he's taking over the marketing campaign for Duke Nukem Forever.

[andrewjthomas @ Jul 10th 2007 1:13AM]

See, I heard he was actually going to start work on Daikatana 2: Teh Pwnd

[MO3iusONE @ Jul 10th 2007 1:29AM]

You know, for a second, I was hoping they were taking a jab at Gizmodo. Don't get me wrong, I semi like Gizmodo but the whole iphone coverage/fanboyism just killed it for me..

[CaptCaveman @ Jul 10th 2007 1:46AM]

I'm pretty sure that the SEC is about to drop the hammer down on this guy. Which means that he cannot head up any companies. May as well quit now before he is forced to quit.
Its amazing how this guy lead so many people on for so long. And the funding that he got, when products that should have seen the light of day, like the Indreama (sp) never got anywhere near the same coverage.

[CaptCaveman @ Jul 10th 2007 1:46AM]

Oh, and here's to hoping that he rots in jail for a long time.

[OMAC @ Jul 10th 2007 2:17AM]

At least Gizmondo actually shipped a product. But then again, nobody at Infinium Labs wrecked a Ferrari Enzo.

[Basman @ Jul 10th 2007 2:25AM]

I hope they still release the lapboard, as it seemed to be a good idea.

[Grant @ Jul 10th 2007 8:12AM]

they didn't actually release the lapboard yet?
i remember reading that it was about to come out ages ago.
oh well,
the lap board was a good idea when they were first advertising it, but now... all those "surf from couch" PC's have really started to go wayside, or changed the OS so you can use a remote.

[James @ Jul 10th 2007 4:11AM]

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/03

Every time somebody brings up Infinium, I have to pull this old strip out of the pile. Pure genius.

[Zorque @ Jul 10th 2007 5:03AM]

Who's willing to bet the name was picked intentionally beforehand?