Envizions Computer Entertainment Corporation recently announced the Evo: Phase One “entertainment console.” ExtremeTech was able to talk with Envizions CEO Derrick Samuels about what differentiates the Evo from Infinium’s vaporous Phantom. Samuels promises that unlike the Phantom, the Evo will actually ship this fall.

The specifications for the machine certainly make this seem doable. Envizions promises a PC running Windows XP Media Center 2005. The CPU will be an AMD Athlon 64 3200, and will contain 512 megabytes of RAM. The GPU will apparently be a Radeon X1600 Pro with HDMI support. In addition, the “console” will contain an 80 gigabyte hard drive, DVD-ROM, and TV Tuner. Pricing is targeted at $679.99. With basically off-the-shelf components, there really shouldn’t be any issues with the hardware. HDMI output on the video card is interesting, but 512 megabytes of RAM is really low for a gaming PC. As it stands, this hardware configuration will probably disappoint compared to its full-blooded console brethren.

The mysterious part of the offering is the supposedly Evo exclusive games. Titles will apparently be available for download from Envizions, but what titles and what kind of DRM protection are unknown at this time. Overall, though, this really looks like a solution without a problem. Without the exclusive game downloads, this “console” really doesn’t do anything to differentiate itself from other Media Center PCs from companies with longer histories and stronger support records.

Customers don’t appear to be lining up to download their games, either. Valve’s Steam service has been moderately successful, and Time Warner’s GameTap service has stuck around probably longer than expected. Why gamers would want to cede control of their gaming experience to an online service from a company that might not be able to guarantee continuing support is an open question. Overall, the Evo appears to be yet another PC-based effort that has little to no understanding of the business model behind the console market.