CD-i

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CD-i

Manufacturer	Royal Philips Electronics N.V.
Type	Video game console Media player
Generation	Fourth generation era
Retail availability	1991 1991[1]
Discontinued	1998
Units sold	570,000[1]
Media	CD-i, Audio CD, CD+G, Karaoke CD, VCD
CPU	Philips 68070

CD-i, or Compact Disc Interactive, is the name of an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V. Though not originally marketed as a game console, it is infamous for being one of the biggest commercial failures in video game history. CD-i also refers to the multimedia Compact Disc standard used by the CD-i console, also known as Green Book, which was co-developed by Philips and Sony in 1986 (not to be confused with MMCD, the pre-DVD format also co-developed by Philips and Sony). The first Philips CD-i player, released in 1991 and initially priced around USD $700^[2], is capable of playing interactive CD-i discs, Audio CDs, CD+G (CD+Graphics), Karaoke CDs, and Video CDs (VCDs), though the last requires an optional "Digital Video Card" to provide MPEG-1 decoding.

Applications

Early software releases in the CD-i format focused heavily on educational, music, and self-improvement titles, with only a handful of video games, many of them adaptations of board games such as "Connect Four". Later attempts to develop a foothold in the games market were rendered irrelevant by the arrival of cheaper and more powerful consoles, such as the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. CD-i is noted for the release of several spinoffs of popular Nintendo video games featuring characters typically seen only on Nintendo consoles, although those games were not developed by Nintendo. Hotel Mario was a puzzle game that featured Super Mario Bros. characters.

CD-i also released several versions of popular TV game shows, including versions of Jeopardy! (hosted by Alex Trebek), Wheel of Fortune (hosted by Pat Sajak & Vanna White), Name That Tune (hosted by Bob Goen), and two versions of The Joker's Wild (One for adults hosted by Wink Martindale and one for kids hosted by Marc Summers.) All CD-i games in North America had Charlie O'Donnell as announcer (with the exception of Name That Tune). The Netherlands also released its version of Lingo on the CD-i in 1994.

CD-i has a series of learning games ('edutainment') targeted at children from infancy to adolescence. Those intended for a younger audience included Busytown, The Berenstain Bears, and various others which usually had vivid cartoon-like settings accompanied by music and logic puzzles. One of the most remarkable games released on this platform is a game combining Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

Although extensively marketed by Philips, notably via infomercial, consumer interest in CD-i titles remained low. By 1994, sales of CD-i systems had begun to slow, and in 1998 the product line was dropped.

With the home market exhausted, Philips tried with some success to position the technology as a solution for kiosk applications and industrial multimedia. The console still maintains a cult following on the Internet. Additionally, a Mario game (titled Hotel Mario), and three Legend of Zelda games were released: Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure. Nintendo and Philips had established an agreement to co-develop a CD-ROM enhancement for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (after Nintendo and Sony scrapped a previous deal on an earlier add-on for the SNES, which would eventually result in the creation of the PlayStation), and Philips was contractually allowed to continue using Nintendo characters after the deal fell through.

Player models

Philips models

In addition to consumer models, professional and development players were sold by Philips Interactive Media Systems and their VARs. Philips marketed several CD-i player models.

• The CD-i player 200 series, which includes the 205, 210, and 220 models. Models in the 200 series are designed for general consumption, and were available at major home electronics outlets around the world. The Philips CD-i 910 is the American version of the CD-i 205, the most basic model in the series.
• The CD-i player 300 series, which includes the 310, 350, 360, and 370 models. The 300 series consists of portable players designed for the professional market and not available to home consumers. A popular use was multimedia sales presentations such as those used by pharmaceutical companies to provide product information to physicians, as the devices could be easily transported by sales representatives.
• The CD-i player 400 series, which includes the 450, 470, 490 models. The 400 models are slimmed-down units aimed at console and educational markets. The CD-i 450 player, for instance, is a budget model designed to compete with game consoles. In this version an infrared remote controller is not standard but optional.
• The CD-i player 600 series, which includes the 601, 602, 604, 605, 615, 660, and 670 models. The 600 series is designed for professional applications and software development. Units in this line generally include support for floppy disk drives, keyboards and other computer peripherals. Some models can also be connected to an emulator and have software testing and debugging features.

There also exist a number of hard-to-categorize models, such as the FW380i, an integrated mini-stereo and CD-i player; the 21TCDi30, a television with a built-in CD-i device; and the CD-i 180/181/182 modular system, the first CD-i system produced.

Other manufacturers

Besides Philips, several other manufacturers produced CD-i players, including Magnavox, GoldStar / LG Electronics, Digital Video Systems, Memorex, Grundig, Sony ('Intelligent Discman', a portable CD-i player), Kyocera, NBS, Highscreen, and Bang & Olufsen, who produced a television with a built-in CD-i device.

TeleCD-i and CD-MATICS

Recognizing the growing need among marketers for networked multimedia, Philips partnered in 1992 with Amsterdam based CDMATICS to develop TeleCD-i (also TeleCD). In this concept the CD-i player is connected to a network (PSTN, Internet or other) enabling data-communication and rich media presentation. Dutch grocery chain Albert Heijn and mail-order giant Neckermann Shopping were early adopters and introduced award-winning TeleCD-i applications for their home-shopping and home-delivery services. CDMATICS also developed the special Philips TeleCD-i Assistant and a set of software tools helping the worldwide multimedia industry to develop and implement TeleCD-i. TeleCD-i was the world's first networked multimedia application at the time of its introduction. In 1996, Philips acquired source code rights from CDMATICS.

Technical specifications

CPU

• 16-bit 68070 CISC Chip (68000 core)^[3]
• Clock Speed of 15.5 MHz^[1]

Display

• Graphics Chip: MCD 212^[3]
• Resolution: 384×280 to 768×560
• Colors: 16.7 million w/ 32,768 on screen
• MPEG 1 Cartridge Plug-In for VideoCD and Digital Video

Audio

• Sound Chip: MCD 221^[3]
• ADPCM eight channel sound
• 16-bit stereo sound

Operating System

• CD-RTOS (based on Microware's OS-9)

Other

• 1 MB of main RAM^[3]
• Single speed CD-ROM drive
• Weight with DV cart 1.460 kg, without DV 1.210 kg

CD-i accessories

• CD-i mouse
• Roller controller
• CD-i trackball
• I/O port splitter
• Touchpad controller
• Gamepad controller (Gravis PC GamePad)
• IR wireless controller
• S-video cable
• RAM expansion and Video-CD (MPEG-1) support with DV Cart

Market competition

Interactive Kiosk (primary market)

• Panasonic M2 ^[4]

High-end A/V (secondary market)

(multi-purpose audio/video systems)

• Commodore CDTV
• Pioneer LaserActive
• 3DO Interactive Multiplayer

Video game (secondary market)

• Sega Genesis with Sega CD CD-ROM expansion
• 3DO Interactive Multiplayer

Reception

The CD-i's controller was ranked the fifth worst video game controller by IGN editor Craig Harris.^[5]

References

External links

• CD-i at the Open Directory Project
• Official Philips CD-I FAQ
• CD-i history
• CD-i hardware
• SNES CD-ROM at Gamers Graveyard