Sounds like a personal problem, which itself is also why history can be boring; it is too often condensed to the deeds of great men, when social movements and how we got to when we are are infinitely more interesting (and you don't get stuck up on dates...)
LMAO if only. Remember the Dutch East India company? Yea an extremely evil entity. Also the colonisation of South Africa. That is just a drop in the bucket.
One of the reasons CD-i is fairly easy to find in europe is because many if not all driver's eds had one. The concept of interactive pics, video, along with voiceovers was just a perfect fit.
The story of, essentially the birth of the PlayStation never gets old. I always want to find out more about what happened, although I think this time you pretty much covered all the aspects of it.
I just recently discovered your RUclips page and have been going through your console history videos. I must say that you are very, very concise and easy to follow. Thank you for all the information and presenting it in a fun and entertaining way
+Adam Koralik the Halcyon was the very first disc based console ever made, which was released in 1985. It used to cost around $2500 at the time, and that console was miles ahead of its time.
15:35 That's actually identical to a Gravis PC controller. For all but the DIN style cable output. Gravis was hired by Philips to make them with the CD-i branding. There was another controller released after this one as well.
Hi Adam, the reason Magnavox made one is rather simple: Magnavox is Philips: "In 1974, the Magnavox Company was acquired by Philips, and all Philips consumer electronics in the US under the Norelco name began rebranding them under the Magnavox name; Philips acquired the similar-sounding company Philco in 1981, and Philips was able to freely use the Philips name, alternating with the Magnavox name for some electronics, with the personal care business continuing to use the Norelco name."
videogameobsession Whaaaa I never knew that! How did that come about? They were direct competitors. Perhaps it was because of their cooperation regarding CD-formats?
ApemanMonkey Philips hoped to have CD-i become the next big format, such as was true with VHS and Compact Disc at the time, so they would license it out to any willing companies at in a similar fashion. There were also some TV's built by RCA I believe, though they might not have made it out to the public, which had built-in CD-i player tech. I remember seeing them while I worked at Philips. I wanted one for myself. :P These were often used as kiosks for various businesses. Also, something else some people don't realize, the CD-i (White Book) format, and even the system were actually finalized in late 1987. That was a big mistake since it would be 3+ years before it hit the market. Way too long for technology to sit around! Had it been developed after the Sega Genesis was released they surely would have added more video RAM.
There was a great platformer on CD-i called The Apprentice that I used to play all the time check it out it looked amazing almost like Rayman before Rayman was a game, super colorful. Also Burn cycle was one of the best sci fi mystery games with very good fmv and music
Hi adam im glad you fleshed out more details ahout the phillips, sony and nintendo debacle. I never knew that the 3 companies made a meeting at one point. Thanks for sharing with all of us adam! Can't wait for your next video!!!
Wow I always assumed Nintendo was the bad guy in that Story because I only heard the last part of it. I had heard Sony and Nintendo made an agreement and Nintendo randomly backed out. I didn't know that Sony would have gotten all the money.
JacobRockz100 Well it was Nintendo's own fault when they closed the deal. And very low of them to go to the competition. Sony also worked with Sega, to get back at Nintendo, and they say the Playstation has actually Sega / Nintendo software combined.
They were a component in the death of Sega as console makers but many great have came from Sony. I sure with the Dreamcast survived and that there was a Dreamcast 2. I'm pretty sure most of the people that watch Adam feel the same way though.
I like your version of the story about Nintendo, Sony, and Philips in regards to the making of the Super NES PlayStation add-on than most of the other people as yours makes more sense.
Playstation and Xbox, I'm Philips cd-I and I am your father. This thing was ahead of its time. Stop the hate people and love it for its technological break through. Greetings from Namibia.
My brother in law has one. Best memories: Seeing digital photography software for the first time Playing Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit with the whole family Watching my nephew play Sesame Street games with a giant kid controller Playing 7th Guest, INCA, Lil Devil, World Class Soccer, Dragon's Lair, Escape from Cyber City and more... Worst memory? Renting Wand of Gamelon. Honestly, it was a pretty cool piece of hardware, managed like poop.
I have the model 350 portable CD-i with the digital video dock . Its a beast and makes the sega nomad look like a game boy micro. Its pretty bad ass. It has a ntsc/pal switch, composite vidoe in/out and rgb out port. There were 4 different cdi portables. the 330(no screen and a 3.5 inch floppy). the 350(with a flip up 5.5 inch screen) the 360( same as 350 with a higher quality screen) and the 370 with a rechargeable battery and built in digital video cartridge. The previous models required a digital video dock to play the games that required it.
Am I the only person who believes that the Zelda Cdi games don't deserve so much hate? I will admit, the cutscenes were a little goofy, but they were impressive for their time, remember this was 1993-94. Seeing animated cutscenes at that time would be mind blowing. The music was awesome and upbeat, and the graphics are full of color.
I have an uncle who had bought it 20+ years ago. In Europe it was never advertised or promoted as a video game console. It was mostly promoted as an "interactive multimedia" TV experience. It wasn't cheap either.
@0:19 was lucky to own most of those consoles with both sides of my families, was a fun year to be a kid imo, sure love those memories picking up some games for those consoles
My uncle bought one of these for his daughter back in the day. He actually bought it s from a door-to-door salesman. It had all the accessories to do all kinds of things, including this weird controller that kinda looked like an arcade type of gaming pad but with a roller ball for bowling and golfing games.
Thanks for bringing back the memories of this console. The only game I remember playing and loving for my CD-I was a game called burn cycle. If you can find it I think you would enjoy it very much.
I live in a town that had a Magnavox store and saw THOUSANDS of these things locally with walls of "games". had all the consoles, addons, controllers, and EVERY disc. sold the entire collection for 300 bucks thinking it wasn't that big of a deal considering I had less in it all due to discounts from having family as a plant manager for Phillips/Magnavox. Have regretted selling it for years.
Hey! I noticed that game pad looked exactly like my first game pad for PC (but in white). So I looked it up and found the company that made that controller (Gravis) also made the controller for the CD-i! Very interesting! 🤓
My dentist's office in Reidsville NC had one of these as recently as 2013. They used it with one of their little mini-cameras as a way of looking deep into the patient's mouth and had it hooked up to a monitor and had some kind of software that would take stills from the camera which would display on the monitor. Yet another example of a game console being usd for dentistry.
I actually found one complete in box today while searching for stuff in a second hand store during my lunch break. It only cost around 100 euros, so I had to buy it. When I came home later today, I opened it up, and to my surprise, everything was as good as new. It was a CD-i 450 btw.
Nice job! I've really enjoyed your retrospective series, I hope you keep going! It would be cool to see some in-game footage of the rarer games every once in a while too.
The digital Video Cartridge didn't come out until a couple of years after the launch of the CD-i. I used to review and beta test new hardware and CD-i titles for PIMA and have 2 beta units as well as a few final DVCs. Video CD was a neat format, but the 74 minute video limit hurt it, as well as the MPEG-1 codec, which yielded video quality which at it's best was close to LaserDisc, and at it's worst was below VHS, with it's blocky video, usually during fast action scene which requires higher bit rates. Had they been able to get the video length up to 100 minutes, to fit most movies or the time, it may have been a huge success. People didn't like the idea of changing discs mid movie. It was the same with LD. SVCD actually looked incredible for the time. It had double the resolution, but at half the play time (35 minutes). It looked like DVD quality (480p). I ended up buying a Pioneer Elite 5 disc carousel so I could load 3 disc SVCD movies. LOTR took 5.
I just want to add that I love these generation retrospective videos and would definitely love to see it continue with the third generation. I grew up originally on the NES but I don't know much about the Sega Master System or anything else that may have been out at the time.
The CDi as a CD player is probably one of the best purchases you could make back in the day. One thing you didn’t mention is that the CDi did things that other CD players didn’t do. For example some cd albums had a track that was essentially a music video that would play in the CDi.
I remember playing CD-i at Service Merchandise. I think all Service Merchandise stores had CD-i kiosks when I was little. Still have yet to play Neo Geo, Jaguar, or 3D0 but I played CD-i a bunch when I was little.
I actually got mine in 1990. :) I bought the store kiosk from a local Lechmere store in December 1990. The person ringing it up thought it was just a CD player and sold it as "used stereo equipment". I ended up buying a $799.99 CD-i 910 machine for $399.
Adam, I have that same gamepad-style controller for my early 486 PC, but it was cream color with different color buttons and released as the Gravis Gamepad.
I remember having a controller exactly like the "SNES" controller you showed. I never had a CI-i, but the controller was for a PC. It was the same exact shape, but it had colours similar to the Super Famicom controller if my memory is correct. The d-pad had a slot to screw in a mini-joystick.
I bought the CD-I back in late 1990. As long as you weren't expecting a video game console (Philips never originally marketed it as such) then you were probably happy with it. It's basically what you would buy if you wanted a PC CD-Rom and content on your living room TV. I paid over $800 for it and got my money's worth out of it, as well as a job with PIMA (Philips Media). ;) I had all of our photos developed on Kodak Photo-CD and it was great to see them displayed on a TV screen. The 910 is my favorite model and its built like a tank. Escape from Cyber-City is based on a Laser Disc game called Freedom Fighers, which in turn is based on Galaxy 999 anime. Some of the better games would be The Apprentice (this game actually looks and sounds better than most SNES games). Burn Cycle, The 7th Guest, Dragon's Lair 1 & 2 (best ports until the DVD-Video releases by Digital Leisure. There are many more, but I'm betting most people couldn't care less. :P
Great video! I got stuck with a CDI 450 Christmas 1994 and at the time (aged 10) thought it was amazing! I had Micro Machines, two Zelda games (not the rare one), Hotel Mario, Little Divil and The Apprentice (Which was my favourite).
AdamKoralik Yeah me and my sister played it to death! Two players could simultaneously use the gamepad to steer, one using the d-pad and the other using the buttons. It featured 3D intros and CD music but the frame rate was terrible! I had lemmings too which from what I remember had quite a good soundtrack that I think was unique to the CDI version.
I remember seeing the adverts then seeing it in the shops at the age of about 9. All that sticks in my mind was the price was some astronomical figure my young mind couldn't process.
Always thought it was part of the 5th Gen, as like most 5th Gen consoles it was able to run the point and click game Myst which was quite impressive for the time. Great video 👍👍
Funny that gamepad is rare since it's just a Gravis gamepad which themselves are common as dirt, must be a way to change the plugs around and just paint them dark grey so all CD-i owners could have one. Tough system to love, I'm thinking about collecting the software first and then getting a machine after. Bit like Wii game collecting in that I don't even want the shovelware cluttering my shelves no matter how cheap they are since I'm not going to play them.
I owned the Philips CD-i 205 model back in the day, it was an primarily an entertainment system for the family living room and the earlier versions were definitely not marketed as a console. I quite enjoyed playing it and at the time the graphics were far ahead of the popular machines at the time. A handful of games were good but it suffered from poor marketing and the trap a lot of CD games fell into on various systems then of long FMV sequences with usually ( but not always) poor game behind them. The price point of the early models was far to high to market it for games only, the later console style version was far to little to late. I knew a few people who owned one in the UK but you got the games in your local Philips dealer or electrical store, I never saw them in games stores. Worth noting that the hand control you have came with a small joystick that screwed into the middle of the pad if you wanted to.
Also, the CDi does have a platformer, and actually a very good one at that, i have it. It's called The Apprentice, and it's an exclusive. I'd say in fact that it's probably the best game on the console.
Remember that comment I made about the 3DO being so expensive that you couldn’t afford it if you had enough money? Well this one is most definitely is expensive as I made the 3DO out to be and then some
Dude nice job! Cant wait to see the last part of the series! And idk why but for some reason the CDI reminds me of the PS3 and xbone being an all purpose console o.o
While I'm enjoying your retro series it would be nice to know the specs of the system and how it stood up to the other systems of it's day. Whether the machine boasted any advantages over their competition.
MarsGundam That's something to be saved for hardware reviews. These are really more of a discussion about the history of the consoles and what my experience with them was.
The game pad you "Say" looks like a SNES controller is actually "identical" to a Gravis PC game pad I bought in very early 90's that came bundled with Commander Keen!!!
In some SE Asian regions VCDs took off because the climate was too humid for tape to be a viable medium to keep around. Hence the VCD was a massive benefit to Asian markets and so it's doubly bizarre why the CDi wasn't sold there.
Philips is Dutch and I remember well the CD-i was heavily promoted here. As a kid I had my serious doubts as you couldn't do much with it as it didn't have storage so everything you make with it is lost once you turn it off. If they would have added a floppy drive in it as standard, the formula might have worked. Even moreso, if they had expension options for gaming, it really might have been something. We could have had so much nice things, pity there are only people at the top who don't want nice things.
About 2 weeks ago me and a friend walked into a goodwill. Browsing the CD section and what do I see a CDi game!? I was literally in shock, you don't see that everyday. So I'm like shit I gotta keep looking. Another, and another, and another. Found 10 CDi games. Nothing special, but I'm amazed I even found them. Haven't found a single TG16 game, yet I find 10 CDi games. Game collecting is a mysterious mistress.
Great video Adam! The history behind the CD-i is really interesting. Honestly, I think the worst thing about it is the size, and how much they cost on Ebay (which is pretty much the only place where I can find one). Apparently they're easier to find and cheaper in Europe, because Philips is a Dutch company. There were even models made for presentations, and one has zip disk drive!
Another partial reason N64 went with cartridges was to prevent piracy. They experienced these issues with the Famicon Disk System and didn't want to go through a similar thing again. Plus CDs didn't prove themselves at the time
Sjono Funny enough, the big problem of the PSP was the UMD (mini cd). It made it more expensive and thus harder to compete with the DS, which used basically cartridges. Another advantage was and still is of course is that carts are essentially SSD, meaning no moving parts. It loads almost instantly and is harder to break, where as a CD nowadays (and UMD) suffers from skipping, freezing, long loading times, breaks easily. The only advantage the CD had back in the day was storage, but carts have great storage now too, so yeah, in the end, cartridges won?
***** I take it you took good care of them. I worked for a gamestore and people who sold them to us (PSP games) we usually had to test them out when we saw scratches. You wouldn't believe how many we had to turn away. UMD = bad idea, and Sony knew that, hence the PSPgo.
***** Uhm, I think you forget that Sony positioned the PSP as a multimedia platform, capable of playing movies. Thus they went with UMD's for storage space. PSP games aren't that big themselves, except for maybe games later on. Sure they are bigger than DS games, even though DS games became heavier later like Golden Sun etc, but they could have gone with carts and reduce cost on putting a CD drive thing into the PSP, making it more competitive commercially with the DS.
*****“"Even if it wasnt aimed has a multi media , the games were pretty big , i know that because i used to rip my own games to the Memory stick card in order to reduce loading times.” Like I said, they could have made the device itself cheaper by opting for a cart format, they could have easily made a proprietary cart format that could hold more storage. “Yes they could had made the games shorter ,but the type of games on the psp were most of the time downgrade versions of PS2 and PS3 games , they did their best , but there is limits , you cant cut too much and make the customer unsastified.” This is true, most game on the PSP were bitesize console versions. There were however lots of puzzle games and attempts to get the DS audience. “The Nintendo DS had made games made from ground up to be very simple , even Nintendo 1st party games had that very clear from the beginning.” Nintendo DS games were as complicated as N64 games and sligthy above that. China Town wars for example is pretty big, so that proves that it could do big games too. “What Sony should had done was a very simple handheld with basic fun games made from the ground up ,not trying to replicate the home console experience on a hand held.” This is also true, the DS had much more games and variety of games. Reason is, is that DS games were cheaper to make, while PSP games were harder and more expensive to make. “This was a sony that was very powerful at the time with the massive success or ps1 and PS2 , they were on the top of the world.” Of course, they thought they could take on Nintendo, who owns the handheld market. It was a big mistake, because the PSVita has all of PSP’s problems, plus mobile taking away customers. Sony should leave the handheld business. “For the purpose and time the PSP was created , there was not other alternative other than a disc System , and the UMD was pretty much the best choice. Again , even without a disc system , the type of consumer targeted was different , kids wanted nintendos and older kids 10yrs+ wanted psp. They competed in diffent sections almost.” Like I said, they could have done a proprietary cart format like their memory cards, but they didn’t want to do it for two reasons: Multimedia (movies) and second, arrogance. Like you said, Sony was on top of the world and they thought they could take on Nintendo in the handheld market. The UMD format was their way of setting a standard, something they thought would beat the DS. The truth is, they could never take on the DS, because the DS didn’t just have kids, they had the adult audience too. What you said about the DS’s audience isn’t entirely true, the DS was marketed towards all audiences, you had brain training for example that was very popular among adults. Pokemon games also have a pretty old audience that ranges average of 18-25 years. Second, the DS not only had a big library, it had well known franchises that Nintendo already had from their previous handhelds. Combine that with a pretty low price and yeah, that’s why the DS sold that much.
I have a cdi with a game called flashback that i really like. They remade it on ps4 aswell, but i always had to play it with that remote controller which was very hard to do , i have more games too but its all in a box on the attic..
i actually used the 220 type model as a cd player on my hifi separates, back in 88 i bought a first gen ferguson cd player, it was very expensive did nothing but play cd's but sounded fantastic(never found another that sounded as good), anyway in 2001 i had been ill and was broke and of course the cd player died, so i dusted off the cdi out of the loft and set it up, i used that as a cd until two years ago when i bought a new old stock denon cd player, the local game shop swapped the cdi and its stuff for an xbox one controller.
The second model (the one that actually looks like a game console), is capable of playing Little Devil and all the other games that require that cartridge. When you open the CD top loader, to the left, that piece of plastic should come off, reveling the cartridge. All the renditions of the CD-i of proprietary cartridges to each specific model.
Hotsex spy Mine's never had any problems, and I couldn't find anything regarding that. But who knows, this is the only CD-i I have and I have like, three games for it (one of which is Hotel Mario).
That controller is built exactly like the Gravis Gamepad I had when I had my Macintosh Performa 6200CD way back when. The button and dpad layout, shape, opposing contours, even the toggle switch by the cable are the same. I think I can see a screw hole in the dpad of the CD-I controller to add a little thumbstick. The only difference is the Gravis Gamepad was white with a blue dpad and each face button were each a different color.
![Twenty One Pilots - The Line (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Audio]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XCz7WUotXs8/mqdefault.jpg)
You're like a history teacher that teaches history that I actually care about.
I love your avatar pic
Sounds like a personal problem, which itself is also why history can be boring; it is too often condensed to the deeds of great men, when social movements and how we got to when we are are infinitely more interesting (and you don't get stuck up on dates...)
Dave Graham Thanks!
Dave Graham so Mario takes America is basically the new super Mario space odessy
Adam Koralik Adam.... C'mon man, what are you doing with this video dude?! You made my erection vomit WILDLY man!!
On behalf of everybody in the Netherlands, we are sorry for the Philips CD I. Every nation has his dark history, this is ours.
LMAO if only. Remember the Dutch East India company? Yea an extremely evil entity. Also the colonisation of South Africa. That is just a drop in the bucket.
Nederlands, love that place! I'd move to Almere in a heartbeat if I could... probably will if we have kiddos!
@@WayneStark626 cry baby, continue to cry like a little bitch
could have been worse. Could have made the Atari Jaguar.
@@GiordanDiodato CD-i is worse, the games are just wretched. Jaguar, more like 'not quite great enough' but CDi games are painful.
One of the reasons CD-i is fairly easy to find in europe is because many if not all driver's eds had one. The concept of interactive pics, video, along with voiceovers was just a perfect fit.
The CD-I is worth it just for The Flowers of Robert Mapplethorpe.
How good is that ?
Is this even a game?
@@Anonymous-oh4xw it was just a picture showcase, literally just a sideshow of the pictures of flowers by Robert Mapplethorpe
@@LegitMan335It’s the beat game that there ever was.
The story of, essentially the birth of the PlayStation never gets old. I always want to find out more about what happened, although I think this time you pretty much covered all the aspects of it.
llpalm08 Nah, there's definitely people who have done better justice to it. I'm just operating off of memory.
Thanks Ronald! From 2022 and friends!!
I just recently discovered your RUclips page and have been going through your console history videos. I must say that you are very, very concise and easy to follow. Thank you for all the information and presenting it in a fun and entertaining way
Thanks for watching!
+Adam Koralik the Halcyon was the very first disc based console ever made, which was released in 1985. It used to cost around $2500 at the time, and that console was miles ahead of its time.
"They intended for it to be an all in one living room device" so what you're saying is it was the Xbox One of 91?
zachmanrulez In a sense, yeah.
AdamKoralik Or an early stab at what we call smart TVs today.
kind of except the xbox one isn't a piece of garbage
More like the Playstation 3 of video game consoles in 1991
So basically the CDI was just another VCR/ DVD player.
Knowing that the CD-I was an all in one media platform, it can kinda be seen as a precursor to the 7th and 8th gen consoles.
15:35 That's actually identical to a Gravis PC controller. For all but the DIN style cable output. Gravis was hired by Philips to make them with the CD-i branding. There was another controller released after this one as well.
Hi Adam, the reason Magnavox made one is rather simple: Magnavox is Philips:
"In 1974, the Magnavox Company was acquired by Philips, and all Philips consumer electronics in the US under the Norelco name began rebranding them under the Magnavox name; Philips acquired the similar-sounding company Philco in 1981, and Philips was able to freely use the Philips name, alternating with the Magnavox name for some electronics, with the personal care business continuing to use the Norelco name."
ApemanMonkey Sony also made CD-i systems as well. One, my favorite, is a portable with LCD screen on a fliptop.
videogameobsession Whaaaa I never knew that! How did that come about? They were direct competitors. Perhaps it was because of their cooperation regarding CD-formats?
ApemanMonkey Philips hoped to have CD-i become the next big format, such as was true with VHS and Compact Disc at the time, so they would license it out to any willing companies at in a similar fashion.
There were also some TV's built by RCA I believe, though they might not have made it out to the public, which had built-in CD-i player tech. I remember seeing them while I worked at Philips. I wanted one for myself. :P These were often used as kiosks for various businesses.
Also, something else some people don't realize, the CD-i (White Book) format, and even the system were actually finalized in late 1987. That was a big mistake since it would be 3+ years before it hit the market. Way too long for technology to sit around! Had it been developed after the Sega Genesis was released they surely would have added more video RAM.
ApemanMonkey so that means that the magnavox odyssey 2 was released by philips?
In case you are still wondering after two years: yes it was. It is called the Philips G7000. I still own one.
There’s another CD-i controller which is similar to a Genesis 3-Button Controllers
There was a great platformer on CD-i called The Apprentice that I used to play all the time check it out it looked amazing almost like Rayman before Rayman was a game, super colorful. Also Burn cycle was one of the best sci fi mystery games with very good fmv and music
Hi adam im glad you fleshed out more details ahout the phillips, sony and nintendo debacle. I never knew that the 3 companies made a meeting at one point. Thanks for sharing with all of us adam! Can't wait for your next video!!!
in16293 Thanks for watching!
Wow I always assumed Nintendo was the bad guy in that Story because I only heard the last part of it. I had heard Sony and Nintendo made an agreement and Nintendo randomly backed out. I didn't know that Sony would have gotten all the money.
JacobRockz100 Well it was Nintendo's own fault when they closed the deal. And very low of them to go to the competition. Sony also worked with Sega, to get back at Nintendo, and they say the Playstation has actually Sega / Nintendo software combined.
SuperHns
Yeah both companies did some bad things but it is all part of the business. I'm still glad that Sony made their own consoles.
JacobRockz100 Yes and no I love the PS1 and PS2, but I think they kind of "ruined" the pure GAMING console market?
They were a component in the death of Sega as console makers but many great have came from Sony. I sure with the Dreamcast survived and that there was a Dreamcast 2. I'm pretty sure most of the people that watch Adam feel the same way though.
Well basically you could argue, that the first Xbox took over from the DreamCast.
I like your version of the story about Nintendo, Sony, and Philips in regards to the making of the Super NES PlayStation add-on than most of the other people as yours makes more sense.
The story about a 3rd game being located in my home city of Ottawa, canada intrigues me!!
Great video! Even without the RGB mod, another advantage the bigger CD-I model has is outputting S-Video natively which the smaller one doesn't.
Playstation and Xbox, I'm Philips cd-I and I am your father. This thing was ahead of its time. Stop the hate people and love it for its technological break through. Greetings from Namibia.
My brother in law has one.
Best memories:
Seeing digital photography software for the first time
Playing Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit with the whole family
Watching my nephew play Sesame Street games with a giant kid controller
Playing 7th Guest, INCA, Lil Devil, World Class Soccer, Dragon's Lair, Escape from Cyber City and more...
Worst memory? Renting Wand of Gamelon.
Honestly, it was a pretty cool piece of hardware, managed like poop.
Great video. The Magnavox also has a digital video cartridge input slot; making it my favorite model for its compact design and easy to repair.
Thanks Ronald! And thanks Adam for the great videos. Always fascinating.
poopiedeloopie
I have the model 350 portable CD-i with the digital video dock . Its a beast and makes the sega nomad look like a game boy micro. Its pretty bad ass. It has a ntsc/pal switch, composite vidoe in/out and rgb out port. There were 4 different cdi portables. the 330(no screen and a 3.5 inch floppy). the 350(with a flip up 5.5 inch screen) the 360( same as 350 with a higher quality screen) and the 370 with a rechargeable battery and built in digital video cartridge. The previous models required a digital video dock to play the games that required it.
Am I the only person who believes that the Zelda Cdi games don't deserve so much hate? I will admit, the cutscenes were a little goofy, but they were impressive for their time, remember this was 1993-94. Seeing animated cutscenes at that time would be mind blowing. The music was awesome and upbeat, and the graphics are full of color.
Oh my god don't. Those games were godawful. Have you actually played them?
Yes you are.
I have an uncle who had bought it 20+ years ago. In Europe it was never advertised or promoted as a video game console. It was mostly promoted as an "interactive multimedia" TV experience. It wasn't cheap either.
Wasn't expecting to hear Robert Mapplethorpe mentioned in a video on a Philips CD-i LOL
@0:19 was lucky to own most of those consoles with both sides of my families, was a fun year to be a kid imo, sure love those memories picking up some games for those consoles
just stumbled on your videos because of the Neo Geo... videos are awesome
+John Matrix Thanks!
Adam Koralik me too
My uncle bought one of these for his daughter back in the day. He actually bought it s from a door-to-door salesman. It had all the accessories to do all kinds of things, including this weird controller that kinda looked like an arcade type of gaming pad but with a roller ball for bowling and golfing games.
Thanks for bringing back the memories of this console. The only game I remember playing and loving for my CD-I was a game called burn cycle. If you can find it I think you would enjoy it very much.
Managed to grab one with the digital video cartdrige and the regular gamepad. I've been having more fun with it than i expected!
Not a better feeling than seeing a new Adam retrospect!
caloricfoil98 Thanks.
I live in a town that had a Magnavox store and saw THOUSANDS of these things locally with walls of "games". had all the consoles, addons, controllers, and EVERY disc. sold the entire collection for 300 bucks thinking it wasn't that big of a deal considering I had less in it all due to discounts from having family as a plant manager for Phillips/Magnavox. Have regretted selling it for years.
Hey! I noticed that game pad looked exactly like my first game pad for PC (but in white). So I looked it up and found the company that made that controller (Gravis) also made the controller for the CD-i! Very interesting! 🤓
I remember the CD-i infomercials that played all day for over a year.
Adam looking mad good in this on
My dentist's office in Reidsville NC had one of these as recently as 2013. They used it with one of their little mini-cameras as a way of looking deep into the patient's mouth and had it hooked up to a monitor and had some kind of software that would take stills from the camera which would display on the monitor. Yet another example of a game console being usd for dentistry.
I actually found one complete in box today while searching for stuff in a second hand store during my lunch break. It only cost around
100 euros, so I had to buy it. When I came home later today, I opened it up, and to my surprise, everything was as good as new. It was a CD-i 450 btw.
Nice job! I've really enjoyed your retrospective series, I hope you keep going! It would be cool to see some in-game footage of the rarer games every once in a while too.
The digital Video Cartridge didn't come out until a couple of years after the launch of the CD-i. I used to review and beta test new hardware and CD-i titles for PIMA and have 2 beta units as well as a few final DVCs. Video CD was a neat format, but the 74 minute video limit hurt it, as well as the MPEG-1 codec, which yielded video quality which at it's best was close to LaserDisc, and at it's worst was below VHS, with it's blocky video, usually during fast action scene which requires higher bit rates.
Had they been able to get the video length up to 100 minutes, to fit most movies or the time, it may have been a huge success. People didn't like the idea of changing discs mid movie. It was the same with LD.
SVCD actually looked incredible for the time. It had double the resolution, but at half the play time (35 minutes). It looked like DVD quality (480p). I ended up buying a Pioneer Elite 5 disc carousel so I could load 3 disc SVCD movies. LOTR took 5.
Thank you Ronald for sending it thank you for the practical passion you have for gaming Adam
I just want to add that I love these generation retrospective videos and would definitely love to see it continue with the third generation. I grew up originally on the NES but I don't know much about the Sega Master System or anything else that may have been out at the time.
Motorheadache95 Thanks for watching!
The CDi as a CD player is probably one of the best purchases you could make back in the day. One thing you didn’t mention is that the CDi did things that other CD players didn’t do. For example some cd albums had a track that was essentially a music video that would play in the CDi.
Hi Adam, just watched all your 4th Gen videos, really like them all, awesome vids.
Francis Moon Thanks!
I remember playing CD-i at Service Merchandise. I think all Service Merchandise stores had CD-i kiosks when I was little.
Still have yet to play Neo Geo, Jaguar, or 3D0 but I played CD-i a bunch when I was little.
Great Explanation. I like how you explain the market and relate it back to today and explain about the history.
+Jasper Greenhill Thanks for watching!
I recently found your channel and I have watched all your videos and really enjoy them. Lots of info thanks for doing them.
Shane Crider Thanks for watching!
you are welcome sir
I remember seeing the CDi ads on TV when I was younger.
Also, Magnavox is part of Philips.
I just want to say good job on the series I can tell you put a lot of hard work into these videos and keep up the good work man
Andrew Whitaker Thanks!
I actually got mine in 1990. :) I bought the store kiosk from a local Lechmere store in December 1990. The person ringing it up thought it was just a CD player and sold it as "used stereo equipment". I ended up buying a $799.99 CD-i 910 machine for $399.
The CD-i is the second best console with CD in the name, that can be found more easily where you currently are.
Really love these series adam!!
xGeneticzz97 Thanks!
Adam, I have that same gamepad-style controller for my early 486 PC, but it was cream color with different color buttons and released as the Gravis Gamepad.
Hey! Are you going to make a Generation Recap of handheld consoles?
HeroesOfTime Maybe eventually.
AdamKoralik PLEEEEASE that would be amazing.
AdamKoralik It would be pretty cool seeing as how the handhelds have grown over the years.
AdamKoralik if you do can you include the neo geo pocket /pocket color
buen video adam, estoy ansioso por ver el resto de la serie, saludos!
I remember having a controller exactly like the "SNES" controller you showed. I never had a CI-i, but the controller was for a PC. It was the same exact shape, but it had colours similar to the Super Famicom controller if my memory is correct. The d-pad had a slot to screw in a mini-joystick.
The Gravis Gamepad. I had a white one for PC back in the day.
Hey, I heard you say in a comment that not many have asked for a series over the 3rd gen, and I just wanted to say that I personally would love that.
SondoSoft Appreciated.
I bought the CD-I back in late 1990. As long as you weren't expecting a video game console (Philips never originally marketed it as such) then you were probably happy with it. It's basically what you would buy if you wanted a PC CD-Rom and content on your living room TV. I paid over $800 for it and got my money's worth out of it, as well as a job with PIMA (Philips Media). ;)
I had all of our photos developed on Kodak Photo-CD and it was great to see them displayed on a TV screen. The 910 is my favorite model and its built like a tank.
Escape from Cyber-City is based on a Laser Disc game called Freedom Fighers, which in turn is based on Galaxy 999 anime. Some of the better games would be The Apprentice (this game actually looks and sounds better than most SNES games). Burn Cycle, The 7th Guest, Dragon's Lair 1 & 2 (best ports until the DVD-Video releases by Digital Leisure. There are many more, but I'm betting most people couldn't care less. :P
Remember playing with one in a high end electronic store in 92'. Compared to the Megadrive I had at home the CD-i was painful to use.
Great video Adam! I enjoyed hearing about the history of this console, very detailed! Man I wish I can eventually own a copy of Zelda's Adventure.
Thanks for watching!
+AdamKoralik You're welcome :-)
1:52 favorite moment on this entire channel
Wow, now i know more parts of that history... Thanks for the video, very good one!
izumi937 Thanks for watching!
A friend of mine had a CDi branded by Goldstar. Same thing happened with the Panasonic 3DO console.
The Apprentice is a really good platform game and Christmas crisis
Great video! I got stuck with a CDI 450 Christmas 1994 and at the time (aged 10) thought it was amazing! I had Micro Machines, two Zelda games (not the rare one), Hotel Mario, Little Divil and The Apprentice (Which was my favourite).
John Downie There was a Micro Machines game?
AdamKoralik Yeah me and my sister played it to death! Two players could simultaneously use the gamepad to steer, one using the d-pad and the other using the buttons. It featured 3D intros and CD music but the frame rate was terrible! I had lemmings too which from what I remember had quite a good soundtrack that I think was unique to the CDI version.
I remember seeing the adverts then seeing it in the shops at the age of about 9. All that sticks in my mind was the price was some astronomical figure my young mind couldn't process.
I actually got one for Christmas of '93. Mad Dog McRee and The 7th Guest were pretty good.
Always thought it was part of the 5th Gen, as like most 5th Gen consoles it was able to run the point and click game Myst which was quite impressive for the time.
Great video 👍👍
Funny that gamepad is rare since it's just a Gravis gamepad which themselves are common as dirt, must be a way to change the plugs around and just paint them dark grey so all CD-i owners could have one.
Tough system to love, I'm thinking about collecting the software first and then getting a machine after. Bit like Wii game collecting in that I don't even want the shovelware cluttering my shelves no matter how cheap they are since I'm not going to play them.
I owned the Philips CD-i 205 model back in the day, it was an primarily an entertainment system for the family living room and the earlier versions were definitely not marketed as a console. I quite enjoyed playing it and at the time the graphics were far ahead of the popular machines at the time. A handful of games were good but it suffered from poor marketing and the trap a lot of CD games fell into on various systems then of long FMV sequences with usually ( but not always) poor game behind them. The price point of the early models was far to high to market it for games only, the later console style version was far to little to late. I knew a few people who owned one in the UK but you got the games in your local Philips dealer or electrical store, I never saw them in games stores.
Worth noting that the hand control you have came with a small joystick that screwed into the middle of the pad if you wanted to.
The Cd-i was filling a niche with not having very many plat formers.
Also, the CDi does have a platformer, and actually a very good one at that, i have it. It's called The Apprentice, and it's an exclusive. I'd say in fact that it's probably the best game on the console.
I remember back in 1994 when I first saw this console. This friend of mine had one.
That traditional controller for the CDi is a copy of the Gravis Gamepad. Just the shape and everything.
Remember that comment I made about the 3DO being so expensive that you couldn’t afford it if you had enough money? Well this one is most definitely is expensive as I made the 3DO out to be and then some
Dude nice job! Cant wait to see the last part of the series! And idk why but for some reason the CDI reminds me of the PS3 and xbone being an all purpose console o.o
Riiku139 Thanks!
While I'm enjoying your retro series it would be nice to know the specs of the system and how it stood up to the other systems of it's day. Whether the machine boasted any advantages over their competition.
MarsGundam That's something to be saved for hardware reviews. These are really more of a discussion about the history of the consoles and what my experience with them was.
AdamKoralik
Oh okay cool.
this was a interesting video to watch. great upload!
+HIP HOP Thanks for watching!
Excited for this!
The game pad you "Say" looks like a SNES controller is actually "identical" to a Gravis PC game pad I bought in very early 90's that came bundled with Commander Keen!!!
In some SE Asian regions VCDs took off because the climate was too humid for tape to be a viable medium to keep around. Hence the VCD was a massive benefit to Asian markets and so it's doubly bizarre why the CDi wasn't sold there.
Dude, i always learn from your videos! Thanks for passing the knowledge and insight.
T Mirksy Thanks for watching!
Philips is Dutch and I remember well the CD-i was heavily promoted here. As a kid I had my serious doubts as you couldn't do much with it as it didn't have storage so everything you make with it is lost once you turn it off. If they would have added a floppy drive in it as standard, the formula might have worked.
Even moreso, if they had expension options for gaming, it really might have been something.
We could have had so much nice things, pity there are only people at the top who don't want nice things.
About 2 weeks ago me and a friend walked into a goodwill. Browsing the CD section and what do I see a CDi game!? I was literally in shock, you don't see that everyday. So I'm like shit I gotta keep looking. Another, and another, and another. Found 10 CDi games. Nothing special, but I'm amazed I even found them. Haven't found a single TG16 game, yet I find 10 CDi games. Game collecting is a mysterious mistress.
FanezeBrezey Yeah, I don't get that phenomenon either. I see CDi games in the wild from time to time...but never the console.
FanezeBrezey Yeah, I don't get that phenomenon either. I see CDi games in the wild from time to time...but never the console.
These recaps made me subscribe your channel, just awesome!
Adrian Moj Thanks!
The CD-I has a few platform games. Hotel Mario, The Apprentice, Dimo's Quest, Flashback etc.
Inca is a point and click adventure game. I had both of them for PC back in the day.
Great video Adam! The history behind the CD-i is really interesting. Honestly, I think the worst thing about it is the size, and how much they cost on Ebay (which is pretty much the only place where I can find one). Apparently they're easier to find and cheaper in Europe, because Philips is a Dutch company. There were even models made for presentations, and one has zip disk drive!
David Halligan Thanks for watching!
Another partial reason N64 went with cartridges was to prevent piracy. They experienced these issues with the Famicon Disk System and didn't want to go through a similar thing again. Plus CDs didn't prove themselves at the time
Idk but PSP sold boatloads because of how easy it was to pirat on there
Sjono Funny enough, the big problem of the PSP was the UMD (mini cd). It made it more expensive and thus harder to compete with the DS, which used basically cartridges. Another advantage was and still is of course is that carts are essentially SSD, meaning no moving parts. It loads almost instantly and is harder to break, where as a CD nowadays (and UMD) suffers from skipping, freezing, long loading times, breaks easily. The only advantage the CD had back in the day was storage, but carts have great storage now too, so yeah, in the end, cartridges won?
***** I take it you took good care of them. I worked for a gamestore and people who sold them to us (PSP games) we usually had to test them out when we saw scratches. You wouldn't believe how many we had to turn away. UMD = bad idea, and Sony knew that, hence the PSPgo.
***** Uhm, I think you forget that Sony positioned the PSP as a multimedia platform, capable of playing movies. Thus they went with UMD's for storage space. PSP games aren't that big themselves, except for maybe games later on. Sure they are bigger than DS games, even though DS games became heavier later like Golden Sun etc, but they could have gone with carts and reduce cost on putting a CD drive thing into the PSP, making it more competitive commercially with the DS.
*****“"Even if it wasnt aimed has a multi media , the games were pretty big , i know that because i used to rip my own games to the Memory stick card in order to reduce loading times.”
Like I said, they could have made the device itself cheaper by opting for a cart format, they could have easily made a proprietary cart format that could hold more storage.
“Yes they could had made the games shorter ,but the type of games on the psp were most of the time downgrade versions of PS2 and PS3 games , they did their best , but there is limits , you cant cut too much and make the customer unsastified.”
This is true, most game on the PSP were bitesize console versions. There were however lots of puzzle games and attempts to get the DS audience.
“The Nintendo DS had made games made from ground up to be very simple , even Nintendo 1st party games had that very clear from the beginning.”
Nintendo DS games were as complicated as N64 games and sligthy above that. China Town wars for example is pretty big, so that proves that it could do big games too.
“What Sony should had done was a very simple handheld with basic fun games made from the ground up ,not trying to replicate the home console experience on a hand held.”
This is also true, the DS had much more games and variety of games. Reason is, is that DS games were cheaper to make, while PSP games were harder and more expensive to make.
“This was a sony that was very powerful at the time with the massive success or ps1 and PS2 , they were on the top of the world.”
Of course, they thought they could take on Nintendo, who owns the handheld market. It was a big mistake, because the PSVita has all of PSP’s problems, plus mobile taking away customers. Sony should leave the handheld business.
“For the purpose and time the PSP was created , there was not other alternative other than a disc System , and the UMD was pretty much the best choice.
Again , even without a disc system , the type of consumer targeted was different , kids wanted nintendos and older kids 10yrs+ wanted psp.
They competed in diffent sections almost.”
Like I said, they could have done a proprietary cart format like their memory cards, but they didn’t want to do it for two reasons: Multimedia (movies) and second, arrogance. Like you said, Sony was on top of the world and they thought they could take on Nintendo in the handheld market. The UMD format was their way of setting a standard, something they thought would beat the DS. The truth is, they could never take on the DS, because the DS didn’t just have kids, they had the adult audience too. What you said about the DS’s audience isn’t entirely true, the DS was marketed towards all audiences, you had brain training for example that was very popular among adults. Pokemon games also have a pretty old audience that ranges average of 18-25 years. Second, the DS not only had a big library, it had well known franchises that Nintendo already had from their previous handhelds. Combine that with a pretty low price and yeah, that’s why the DS sold that much.
I have a cdi with a game called flashback that i really like. They remade it on ps4 aswell, but i always had to play it with that remote controller which was very hard to do , i have more games too but its all in a box on the attic..
i actually used the 220 type model as a cd player on my hifi separates, back in 88 i bought a first gen ferguson cd player, it was very expensive did nothing but play cd's but sounded fantastic(never found another that sounded as good), anyway in 2001 i had been ill and was broke and of course the cd player died, so i dusted off the cdi out of the loft and set it up, i used that as a cd until two years ago when i bought a new old stock denon cd player, the local game shop swapped the cdi and its stuff for an xbox one controller.
The second model (the one that actually looks like a game console), is capable of playing Little Devil and all the other games that require that cartridge. When you open the CD top loader, to the left, that piece of plastic should come off, reveling the cartridge. All the renditions of the CD-i of proprietary cartridges to each specific model.
***** I swear that version is more faulty, not too sure, just a hunch.
Hotsex spy Mine's never had any problems, and I couldn't find anything regarding that. But who knows, this is the only CD-i I have and I have like, three games for it (one of which is Hotel Mario).
***** Ah, my bad. Ronalld told me it couldn't use it. I must have misunderstood him.
AdamKoralik It's alright. Without a manual (or in my case, the internet), I wouldn't have figured that out.
you should to a teardown of the big cd-i. i've always wondered what takes up all the space inside it.
I hope one day to get that Mario game as i live in Canada i just need to see how much i can easily upload it if it’s not uploaded
That controller is built exactly like the Gravis Gamepad I had when I had my Macintosh Performa 6200CD way back when. The button and dpad layout, shape, opposing contours, even the toggle switch by the cable are the same. I think I can see a screw hole in the dpad of the CD-I controller to add a little thumbstick. The only difference is the Gravis Gamepad was white with a blue dpad and each face button were each a different color.
+Ben Hughes Yes, you are correct, there is a threaded hole where you can put in a little thumbstick.
I'm curious how that came about. Was it a partnership with Gravis? Possible ripoff? Another manufacturer and Philips had no idea?
My neighbor had one. I played “the wacky world of miniature golf”. Fun game honestly
Adam the small CDI also has the video cartrige slot ( next to the CD drive )
I can't wait for the lazeractive video, always wanted one.
Mark Williams It's....something...that's for sure.
I'm pretty sure my elementary school had a few of these in the library (ca '92-94).