Seemingly out of nowhere, the Envizions Computer Entertainment Corporation this week announced details on its upcoming EVO: Phase One media entertainment console. The device, which appears to be essentially a standardized PC platform, will go on sale October 20, 2006 for $679.95. According to the company's press release, it "combines computer, media center, and PC gaming into one unit." (Some have proposed that PC gaming is already fairly closely related to computers.) The EVO: Phase One plays DVDs, PC games, and "customized" games. The system's wireless controller looks essentially like a PS2 controller.

The system will also boast amazing graphics supported by the Sapphire RADEON HDMI X1600 Pro graphic card. The Sapphire RADEON X1600 Pro has 12 pixel pipelines that provides the highest graphics performance in its class even for shader intensive gaming; equipped with 128MB of DDR3 memory and this model features clock speeds of 500MHz (core) and 800MHz (memory). Other key features include customized liquid cooling system, built-in biometric fingerprint reader and digital video recording features.
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EVO will give customers the option to upgrade certain aspects of the system. The EVO: Phase One will offer one package option, with the suggested retail price of $679.99. The package will carry one wireless PC game controller and an EVO: Direct discount card. Other accessories will sell separately. In addition, customers can order customize EVO paint applications upon request.

EVO: Phase One will no doubt remind many readers of the beleaguered Phantom console from Infinium Labs, which planned to offer similar PC-games-on-a-console functionality but which has yet to materialize after years of delays.