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Phantom Force Chess
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List Price: $255.00
Our Price: $109.99
Your Save: $ 145.01 ( 57% )
Recent Price Activity
Availability: N/A
 *Eligible orders over $25 ship free
Manufacturer: Excalibur Electronic
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Toy
Brand: Excalibur Electronic
EAN: 0755482740400
Feature: 136 Levels, with 120 for Play and 16 for Analysis
Is Autographed: 0
Label: Excalibur Electronic
Manufacturer: Excalibur Electronic
Publisher: Excalibur Electronic
Studio: Excalibur Electronic
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Features
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136 Levels, with 120 for Play and 16 for Analysis
Tournament time control levels and Action Chess time control levels
Rates your chess skill
Ratable Game Indicator
Announces Mate In 5 moves
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Editorial Reviews:
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Want to play chess, but have no one to play with? Phantom Force is at the ready as your competitor. Play against this "smart" computer and watch in disbelief as the chess pieces actually move on their own! Or you can observe a fierce chess match as you watch the computer play against itself. Game has incredible voice vocabulary that makes it easy and fun to play, game-saving memory, magnetic chess pieces that fit inside the built-in storage compartment; plus 136 levels (120 for play and 16 for analysis). Requires 6 "C" batteries, not included.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Comment: Sometimes difficult to remember to lock and unlock device during transport. Pieces moved a bit slow. Great way to play against the computer on a horizontal playing field instead of on a computer screen especially when it's set on the advanced level.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great toy for adults (and kids)
Comment: This is a great toy for adults. I got this chess set for my husband's birthday; it was a hit. He loves to play chess, but unfortunately I am not a chess player so this is a great solution. It has very nice features; it sets the board automatically (if you want it). It makes fun sounds. The only one little minus is the noise it makes when the pieces move. I recommend this for every house hold, even if you are not a player, it's a great entertainment for your guests.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Da bomb! Totally!
Comment: This is a fantastic chess set. It's the closest computer based system you can get to playing chess naturally. Because you simply move your pieces, and the computer moves its own, it's really just like playing a game of chess with another person. Compared to the usual cumbersome system of punching your moves in with a keypad, and then reading a screen and moving the piece for the computer, this allows you to concentrate on the game with your usual focus.
Some reviewers may make an issue of the speed of the transport. In normal game play I don't find the speed annoying at all. There is a slight delay while the transport moves to the desired piece and then moves it. The speed is a major problem, however, when the game has to do a reset of any sort, like put all the pieces in place for a new game or clear the board for piece practice. Wherever the Phantom Force does not allow you to bypass these automatic resets and just do it manually instead the slowness will be a problem. I'm not sure how good it is at allowing you to manually reset. Having the Phantom Force reset the board is fun for showing people how cool it is. Other than that it's too slow and manually resetting the board is needed.
Some reviewers also make an issue of the noise. Yes, it's slightly noisy, but I've not had any family members complain. It sounds like a Dremel grinding tool on low speed. I don't find it annoying.
On the good side....this game is simply waaaaaay cool. There's no other way to get an authentic playing experience. To move, you simply press down the piece you want to move, move the piece to the desired position, and then press down there. The touch sensitive playing surface registers the move with the computer and then "Chessica" (love that) makes her move. You can't get any easier than that. Various games have been made in the past that move the pieces. Some of these have featured an above board robotic arm. They've always been expensive and delicate/trouble prone, so they go out of production and the companies go bankrupt. This game is a recent entry into the market and until now an automatic chess game of this type has been unavailable for many years. Go for it!
The game has many features, including adjustable skill level, practice mode (love it), hints, allow the computer to move for you, force the computer to move before it's finished thinking, talking, battle sound effects, and allow the computer to play both sides. I like the talking and battle sound effects, but they can be muted. The talking uses the same phonetic program used by computers since the IMSAI 8080 days (this talking was featured in the 1983 movie "Wargames"). The program existed in the Commodore 64 and was further made famous in the Commodore Amiga. It's incredible that a piece of software would exist that long. The battle sounds are fun. You get sword clashing, grunting when stabbed, thud when hitting the ground dead, drum cadence when royalty is marching, horse hooves galloping, and more.
If you're worried about reliability...get real. This is a delicate machine. It won't work forever and it won't tolerate any abuse. It's a miracle that they are able to produce a robot at this price point, so don't expect Rolls Royce style robustness. If it works for several years you got your money's worth.
In short, this is a fantastic piece of whiz-bang technology that really allows you practice your chess game and play naturally. It's a good price, so if it appeals to you just buy it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Da bomb! Totally!
Comment:
This is a fantastic chess set. It's the closest computer based system you can get to playing chess naturally. Because you simply move your pieces, and the computer moves its own, it's really just like playing a game of chess with another person. Compared to the usual cumbersome system of punching your moves in with a keypad, and then reading a screen and moving the piece for the computer, this allows you to concentrate on the game with your usual focus.
Some reviewers may make an issue of the speed of the transport. In normal game play I don't find the speed annoying at all. There is a slight delay while the transport moves to the desired piece and then moves it. The speed is a major problem, however, when the game has to do a reset of any sort, like put all the pieces in place for a new game or clear the board for piece practice. Wherever the Phantom Force does not allow you to bypass these automatic resets and just do it manually instead the slowness will be a problem. I'm not sure how good it is at allowing you to manually reset. Having the Phantom Force reset the board is fun for showing people how cool it is. Other than that it's too slow and manually reseting the board is needed.
Some reviewers also make an issue of the noise. Yes, it's slightly noisy, but I've not had any family members complain. It sounds like a dremel grinding tool on low speed. I don't find it annoying.
On the good side....this game is simply waaaaaay cool. There's no other way to get an authentic playing experience. To move, you simply press down the piece you want to move, move the piece to the desired position, and then press down there. The touch sensitive playing surface registers the move with the computer and then "Chessica" (love that) makes her move. You can't get any easier than that. Various games have been made in the past that move the pieces. Some of these have featured an above board robotic arm. They've always been expensive and delicate/trouble prone, so they go out of production and the companies go bankrupt. This game is a recent entry into the market and until now an automatic chess game of this type has been unavailable for many years. Go for it!
The game has many features, including adjustable skill level, practice mode (love it), hints, allow the computer to move for you, force the computer to move before it's finished thinking, talking, battle sound effects, and allow the computer to play both sides. I like the talking and battle sound effects, but they can be muted. The talking uses the same phonetic program used by computers since the IMSAI 8080 days (this talking was featured in the 1983 movie "Wargames"). The program existed in the Commodore 64 and was further made famous in the Commodore Amiga. It's incredible that a piece of software would exist that long. The battle sounds are fun. You get sword clashing, grunting when stabbed, thud when hitting the ground dead, drum cadence when royalty is marching, horse hooves galloping, and more.
If you're worried about reliability...get real. This is a delicate machine. It won't work forever and it won't tolerate any abuse. It's a miracle that they are able to produce a robot at this price point, so don't expect Rolls Royce style robustness. If it works for several years you got your money's worth.
In short, this is a fantastic piece of whiz-bang technology that really allows you practice your chess game and play naturally. It's a good price, so if it appeals to you just buy it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Da bomb! Totally!
Comment:
This is a fantastic chess set. It's the closest computer based system you can get to playing chess naturally. Because you simply move your pieces, and the computer moves its own, it's really just like playing a game of chess with another person. Compared to the usual cumbersome system of punching your moves in with a keypad, and then reading a screen and moving the piece for the computer, this allows you to concentrate on the game with your usual focus.
Some reviewers may make an issue of the speed of the transport. In normal game play I don't find the speed annoying at all. There is a slight delay while the transport moves to the desired piece and then moves it. The speed is a major problem, however, when the game has to do a reset of any sort, like put all the pieces in place for a new game or clear the board for piece practice. Wherever the Phantom Force does not allow you to bypass these automatic resets and just do it manually instead the slowness will be a problem. I'm not sure how good it is at allowing you to manually reset. Having the Phantom Force reset the board is fun for showing people how cool it is. Other than that it's too slow and manually reseting the board is needed.
Some reviewers also make an issue of the noise. Yes, it's slightly noisy, but I've not had any family members complain. It sounds like a dremel grinding tool on low speed. I don't find it annoying.
On the good side....this game is simply waaaaaay cool. There's no other way to get an authentic playing experience. To move, you simply press down the piece you want to move, move the piece to the desired position, and then press down there. The touch sensitive playing surface registers the move with the computer and then "Chessica" (love that) makes her move. You can't get any easier than that. Various games have been made in the past that move the pieces. Some of these have featured an above board robotic arm. They've always been expensive and delicate/trouble prone, so they go out of production and the companies go bankrupt. This game is a recent entry into the market and until now an automatic chess game of this type has been unavailable for many years. Go for it!
The game has many features, including adjustable skill level, practice mode (love it), hints, allow the computer to move for you, force the computer to move before it's finished thinking, talking, battle sound effects, and allow the computer to play both sides. I like the talking and battle sound effects, but they can be muted. The talking uses the same phonetic program used by computers since the IMSAI 8080 days (this talking was featured in the 1983 movie "Wargames"). The program existed in the Commodore 64 and was further made famous in the Commodore Amiga. It's incredible that a piece of software would exist that long. The battle sounds are fun. You get sword clashing, grunting when stabbed, thud when hitting the ground dead, drum cadence when royalty is marching, horse hooves galloping, and more.
If you're worried about reliability...get real. This is a delicate machine. It won't work forever and it won't tolerate any abuse. It's a miracle that they are able to produce a robot at this price point, so don't expect Rolls Royce style robustness. If it works for several years you got your money's worth.
In short, this is a fantastic piece of whiz-bang technology that really allows you practice your chess game and play naturally. It's a good price, so if it appeals to you just buy it.
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