phillips cdi?

[uk-guy]

so who had one of these machines? anyone here think that it really lay the way
for blu ray. yes it was over priced but it really looked the business the future of optical media seemed so good

[fronn]

I remember watching the infomercials for them late at night when I was younger.

I wouldn't say CDi paved the way for anything, really. 3D0 probably had more of an impact! (I think it sold a lot better, probably not much though -- I had one!). It was largely ignored and their marketing was terrible(informercials aren't the way to reach a large audience).

CD and then DVD just in general paved the way. Not any particular device, the format themselves did -- they got consumers used to an optical disc format for content (music, movies, games, software, etc.). Blu-ray is just the next step in that.

[brett_day]

haha i remember my cdi! i bought one when i was still living in england! i remember the adapter i had to buy so i could play my cd-i video cd's! funny as i was loking through my movie catalog the other day nd i found my copy of sliver with sharron stone for phillps cd-i

i would not say it paved the way for blu ray....the biggest breakthrough was laser disc, which led to dvd and then on to blu, however cd-i was a breakthrough in terms of gaming systems! full fmv, a remote cntrol that looked like a dvd player remote that you also used as your primary gaming controller (yes it was wireless) ah the cd-i! just a shame it was so darn expensive

[Giyomu]

a friend had one,
I remember playing roland garros, lethal enforcers or voyeur

[WriteSimply]

The main selling point of CDi was that it had movies using optical media IE CDs. However the quality was BAD (MPEG-1 which was essentially Video CD quality) even compared to VHS. Most enthusiasts at the time were collecting Laserdiscs. CDi's Video CD also splits the movie into two CDs since one CD can't fit 'em all, which is still true for VCDs.

Its legacy is VCD, which is still being used in these part of the world. Urgh.


fuad

[atomik kinder]

I had one(actually have one. It is locked away in my attic with a few terrible games)! At the time, I thought it was great, but looking back, it was way overpriced and the games were really short and pretty much sucked (Burn Cycle). I never purchased any movies for it, but I did buy a few import video cds. I always thought of it more as a gaming system.

An interesting thing though, toward the end, they started pushing the cd-I as a training machine for businesses. We even got one where I worked. You could sit the trainee infront of the machine with the remote, have them take tests on it, watch training videos etc.

But to answer the question, I don't think this laid the groundwork for anything since most people never heard of it. I think CDs were far more influential in getting DVDs going than anything a cd-i would have done.

[richieb1971]

It sucked balls.

The story of the CDi is quite funny. Basically, around 1990 the Playstation was an unreleased Sony product for the SNES (CDrom). At around E3 (or whatever it was called back then) Nintendo told Sony to bugger off because Sony wanted royalties on any game that was made for the CDrom add on. So Nintendo went with Phillips instead. No product eventually made it to market, but Phillips went alone and the CDi was born. Phillips decided since no Nintendo/Phillips partnership product was born out of it that they lost quite alot of R+D money. So Nintendo offered Phillips the Legend of Zelda franchise. I think 3 Zelda games were made for the CDi and they had no Nintendo input whatsoever. In the end, Phillips lost out too. The Zelda games all bombed terribly because they were crap.

1994, Sony released the actual Sony Playstation.

Here is a youtube of Zelda -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaHlUlWHNTo

[ausamerika]

Originally Posted by uk-guy

so who had one of these machines? anyone here think that it really lay the way
for blu ray. yes it was over priced but it really looked the business the future of optical media seemed so good

I was working in a video game store when this doo-hickey hit the market (anyone remember Incredible Universe?).

I do recall that it hit around the same time as Virtual Boy, N64, Jaguar, PS1, 3DO, the Sega-system-of-the-month, and a myriad of other bygone gaming systems... even a LaserDisc-based one, though I can't remember the name.

Poor CDi didn't stand a chance. Do I think it led the way for Blu-Ray? Probably not.

[JadedRaverLA]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

I remember seeing Top Gun the movie demoed on a CD-i and thinking: If they think they will sell something that looks worse than VHS (compression artifacts were very viisble, it was very badly done Mpg1), they are crazy.

Marketing to consumers was a bad idea (the system had no power for videogaming), though it had its day in the sun in the corporate world.

I remember my first job was as a home audio/video and office equipment salesperson at Sears. I had to watch a ton of material before I "officially" started, and they had mastered everything to CDi. VHS didn't allow for even basic interactivity, and LaserDisc was too expensive for small-run corporate training pursposes. Sears even sold the machines and software for awhile, though mostly for business use. When we were especially slow, I had a copy of 'The Seventh Guest' (one of the greatest games of the time that was released on CDi) into the back room and play that.

As for setting the stage for Blu-ray... not really (too long ago). Nor did it do anything as a gaming platform. But it definitely had an influence on the DVD-video specs for interactivity. The menu-system for DVD (and ability to run VERY basic games/programming) owes a ton to CDi.

Originally Posted by ausamerika

I was working in a video game store when this doo-hickey hit the market (anyone remember Incredible Universe?).

I do recall that it hit around the same time as Virtual Boy, N64, Jaguar, PS1, 3DO, the Sega-system-of-the-month, and a myriad of other bygone gaming systems... even a LaserDisc-based one, though I can't remember the name.

The LaserDisc one was LaserActive from Pioneer -- also a terrible idea. They didn't even develop an actual system around it. They used Mega (Sega Genesis) and PC Engine (TurboGrafix-16) "systems" on a cartridge that did all the processing for the system. There was CD-ROM-style data on the inside rings of the LD which were used for game data, and then the rest of the LD was used for video or background video throughout the game. The system had to have genlock in order to use the LD backgrounds with the game system foregrounds, so it cost a fortune. I've "played" one, and it was definitely a poor experience overall... no better than the standard Sega-CD or TurboGrafix-CD at 10 times the cost and with few games actually released on LD. Also, it was a terrible LaserDisc player... single side only (you had to flip the discs, and only composite video output). For the $1,000 the LD player cost (the Mega and PC Engine game modules cost another $300 each), you could buy a fairly high-end LD player that was infinitely better for movies. Interesting idea... but terrible implementation.

[lch]

your title got spelling error :P
Philips not Phillips.

[uk-guy]

Originally Posted by lch

your title got spelling error :P
Philips not Phillips.

thank you its now corrected.

[quexos]

My best friend used to have a CD-I. I remember how he had Forrest Gump on two CD-I's and back then VHS being king, I was amazed to see this future laser small disc with a whole movie there ...

How things can change with time

[Stephan.klose]

Originally Posted by uk-guy

so who had one of these machines? anyone here think that it really lay the way
for blu ray. yes it was over priced but it really looked the business the future of optical media seemed so good

CDi had a terrible picture Quality. Even though most major store carried those, because they came from Philips (here in Europe). They were still more Laserdisc Players sold.

[Stephan.klose]

Originally Posted by uk-guy

so who had one of these machines? anyone here think that it really lay the way
for blu ray. yes it was over priced but it really looked the business the future of optical media seemed so good

But the format was very popular for internet pirates a few years back. Before DIVX came along. So actually it outlasted laserdisc

[WickyWoo]

VCD was hugely popular in Asia, because cassette tapes tended to rot quickly in the humidity.

VCD is still made there to this day

http://www.dddhouse.com/v3/product_d...5&LanguageID=0

There's Forbidden Kingdom, the new Jet Li/Jackie Chan movie

[alan2308]

I picked up one used of a friend real cheap just for the sake of adding another device to my home theater setup. The movies were god awful, the games weren't any better and the CD playback was worse than a cheap portable. Everyone responsible for this disaster should have lost their job over it.