The format continued to be supported for licensees for a few more years after. ==Specifications== Development of the "Compact Disc-Interactive" format began in 1984 (two years after the launch of Compact Disc) and it was first publicly announced by Philips and Sony – two of the largest electronics companies of the time – at Microsoft's CD-ROM Conference in Seattle in March 1986.
The format continued to be supported for licensees for a few more years after. ==Specifications== Development of the "Compact Disc-Interactive" format began in 1984 (two years after the launch of Compact Disc) and it was first publicly announced by Philips and Sony – two of the largest electronics companies of the time – at Microsoft's CD-ROM Conference in Seattle in March 1986.
Much of the CD-i software were promoted and/or published by American Interactive Media (AIM), a joint venture between Philips and its subsidiary PolyGram formed in Los Angeles in 1986, before its public debut, to publish CD-i based consumer software.
Sony introduced its three portable CD-i players in June 1990, pitching them as "picture books with sound". The ambitious CD-i format had initially created much interest after its 1986 announcement, both in the west and in Japan, buoyed by the success of the CD.
However, after repeated delays (hardware were first intended to be ready and shipped by Christmas 1987) interest was slowly lost.
The delay also gave more attention to the hyped Digital Video Interactive (DVI) in 1987, which demonstrated full screen, full motion video (FMV) using a compression chip on an IBM PC/AT computer.
Meanwhile, the Microsoft-backed CD-ROM standard was improving and solved certain video playback issues that were present on the CD-i – CD-ROM format products were already on the market by 1987.
The first CD-i system was produced by Philips in collaboration with Kyocera in 1988 – the Philips 180/181/182 modular system.
Philips marketed several CD-i player models as shown below. The CD-i player 100 series, which consisted of the three-unit 180/181/182 professional system, first demonstrated at the CD-ROM Conference in March 1988. The CD-i player 200 series, which includes the 205, 210, and 220 models.
In 1990, Peugeot used CD-i for its point of sale application promoting its then-new 605 automobile, and it was also at the time used by fellow car manufacturer Renault for staff training programmes, and in Japan by the Ministry of Trade and Industry for an exhibition there.
A Philips executive, Gaston Bastiaens, quoted in 1990 "CD-I will be 'the medium' for entertainment, education and information in the 90's.".
Sony introduced its three portable CD-i players in June 1990, pitching them as "picture books with sound". The ambitious CD-i format had initially created much interest after its 1986 announcement, both in the west and in Japan, buoyed by the success of the CD.
Initially branded "CD-I", the name was changed in 1991 to "CD-i" with a lowercase i. The CD-i Ready format is a type of bridge format, also designed by Philips, that defines discs compatible with CD Digital audio players and CD-i players.
The Philips CDI 910 is the American version of the CDI 205, the most basic model in the series and the first Philips CD-i model, released in December 1991.
At the end, CD-ROM standard benefited from the CD-i and DVI mishaps, and by the time CD-i players for consumers were released in 1991, CD-ROM had already become known and established.
A CD-ROM add-on for the Super NES, which was announced for development with Nintendo in 1991, was never made.
While Philips and Nintendo never released such a CD-ROM add-on, Philips was still contractually allowed to continue using Nintendo characters. As announced at CES 1992, large number of full motion video titles such as Dragon's Lair and Mad Dog McCree appeared on the system.
This format puts CD-i software and data into the pregap of Track 1. The CD-i Bridge format, defined in Philips' White Book, is a transitional format allowing bridge discs to be played both on CD-ROM drives and on CD-i players. The CD-i Digital Video format was launched in 1993 containing movies that could be played on CD-i players with a Digital Video Cartridge add-on.
By 1993 Philips encouraged MS-DOS and console developers to create games, introduced a $250 peripheral with more memory and support for full-motion video, and added to new consoles a second controller port for multiplayer games. The attempts to develop a foothold in the games market were unsuccessful, as the system was designed strictly as a multimedia player and thus was under-powered compared to other gaming platforms on the market in most respects.
The Netherlands also released its version of Lingo on the CD-i in 1994. In 1993, American musician Todd Rundgren created the first music-only fully interactive CD, No World Order, for the CD-i.
However, the 1994 version of the standard was eventually made available free by Philips. CD-i discs conform to the Red Book specification of audio CDs (CD-DA).
Only about 20 movies were released on the format and it was stopped in 1994 in favor of VCD. ==Commercial software== Applications were developed using authoring software produced by OptImage.
The Netherlands also released its version of Lingo on the CD-i in 1994. In 1993, American musician Todd Rundgren created the first music-only fully interactive CD, No World Order, for the CD-i.
Dutch eurodance duo 2 Unlimited released a CD-i compilation album in 1994 called "Beyond Limits" which contains standard CD tracks as well as CD-i-exclusive media on the disc. CD-i has a series of learning games ("edutainment") targeted at children from infancy to adolescence.
This series was introduced at CES Chicago in June 1994 and the 450 player retailed at ƒ 799 in the Netherlands. The CD-i player 500 series, which includes the 550 model, which was essentially the same as the 450 with an installed digital video cartridge.
It was introduced at CES Chicago in June 1994. The CD-i player 600 series, which includes the 601, 602, 604, 605, 615, 660, and 670 models.
The magazine stated in January 1994 that despite Philips' new emphasis on games "CD-i is still not the answer for hardcore gamers", but the console "may yet surprise us all in the future".
The Electronic Entertainment August 1994 issue noted that the CD-i, along with the Atari Jaguar, neither have an "effective, let alone innovative" game library to compete against the then newly released Sega CD. After being outsold in the market by cheaper multimedia PCs, in 1994 Philips attempted to emphasize CD-i as a game playing machine, but this did not help the situation.
It was reported in October 1996 that Philips was ready to "call it quits" in the American market. ===Sales=== In October 1994, Philips claimed an installed base of one million units for the CD-i worldwide.
In the Netherlands, about 60,000 CD-i players were sold by the end of December 1994. ===Legacy=== 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. Some [(video games)|homebrew] developers have released video games on the CD-i format in later years, such as Frog Feast (2005) and Super Quartet (2018). ==Player models== CD-i compatible models were released (as of April 1995) in the U.S., Canada, Benelux, France, Germany, the UK, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.
In 1996, Philips acquired source code rights from CDMATICS. ==CD-Online== Internet services on the CD-i devices were facilitated by the use of an additional hardware modem and "CD-Online" disc (renamed Web-i in the US), which Philips initially released in Britain in 1995 for $150 US.
Andy Stout, a writer for the official CD-i magazine, explained CD-Online: The CD-Online service went live in the UK on October 25, 1995 and in March 1996 in the Netherlands (for 399 guilders), and also released in Belgium.
An early 1995 review of the system in GamePro stated that "inconsistent game quality puts the CD-i at a disadvantage against other high-powered game producers." A late 1995 review in Next Generation criticized both Philips's approach to marketing the CD-i and the hardware itself ("The unit excels at practically nothing except FMV, and then only with the addition of a $200 digital video cartridge").
The magazine noted that while Philips had not yet officially discontinued the CD-i, it was dead for all intents and purposes, citing as evidence the fact that though Philips had a large booth at the 1995 Electronic Entertainment Expo, there was no CD-i hardware or software on display.
Another trouble for Philips in 1995 was the formation of HDCD, which promised better quality video compared to Video CD's (VCD) MPEG-1 compression method – Philips had heavily promoted the CD-i's VCD playing capabilities.
Initially marketed to consumers as "home entertainment systems", and in later years as a "gaming platform", CD-i did not manage to find enough success in the market, and was mostly abandoned by Philips in 1996.
In 1996, Philips acquired source code rights from CDMATICS. ==CD-Online== Internet services on the CD-i devices were facilitated by the use of an additional hardware modem and "CD-Online" disc (renamed Web-i in the US), which Philips initially released in Britain in 1995 for $150 US.
Andy Stout, a writer for the official CD-i magazine, explained CD-Online: The CD-Online service went live in the UK on October 25, 1995 and in March 1996 in the Netherlands (for 399 guilders), and also released in Belgium.
The system was reportedly scheduled to launch in the US as "Web-i" in August 1996.
Philips Media consolidated its CD-i activities from its Los Angeles office in March 1996.
It was reported in October 1996 that Philips was ready to "call it quits" in the American market. ===Sales=== In October 1994, Philips claimed an installed base of one million units for the CD-i worldwide.
In 1996, The Wall Street Journal reported that total US sales amounted to 400,000 units.
Philips then also sold its French half of the gaming subsidiary, Philips Media BV, to French publisher Infogrames in 1997 along with the entire CD-i library.
By 1994, sales of CD-i systems had begun to slow, and in 1998 the product line was dropped.
The last CD-i game was made by Infogrames, who released Solar Crusade in 1999. After its discontinuation, the CD-i was overwhelmingly panned by critics who blasted its graphics, games, and controls.
The domain cd-online.co.uk, which was used for the British CD-Online service, went offline in 2000. Only one game was released that supported CD-Online, the first-person shooter game RAM Raid.
In 2007, GameTrailers ranked the Philips CD-i as the fourth worst console of all time in its Top 10 Worst Console lineup. In later retrospective years, the CD-i has become (infamously) best known for its video games, particularly those from the Nintendo-licensed The Legend of Zelda series, considered by many to be of poor taste.
In 2008, CNET listed the system on its list of the worst game console(s) ever.
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