- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, that promise was certainly not kept! The CD-i was released too little, too late; the specs of the player for the format were locked in by 1988, but weren't produced until 1991. In those days, that might as well have been a century. The CD-i players didn't stack up compared to contemporary hardware. Personal computers were on the rise, and while still quite costly and more than a CD-i player, they still offered a better value than what Philips was bringing to the table. Not to mention, the hardware inside was woefully inadequate for anything gaming-related, being outdone by hardware much less expensive than it.
As the multimedia dream began to die, Philips focused on games, which is what it's known for today.
Well, in particular, it's known for...a certain set of games.
I think the story of why Nintendo's franchise characters ended up on CD-i is a story so well-told that recapping it again here would waste everyone's time. I think these games have been discussed to death, and I'm personally just a little tired of seeing the Zelda ones, seeing as how I made fan-made remasters as part of a learning exercise in game making and to fulfill a literal joke.
Nah, I'm not really tired of them, but I do genuinely have some affection for the CD-i beyond the infamous Nintendo games. Sure, that's where my interest started long ago, but I have a real fondness for esoteric game systems and ill-begotten relics from this tumultuous time in the games industry. Let's go over some of the platform, shall we?
HARDWARE
Similar to the 3DO and uh, Steam Machines (among others), the CD-i was a platform with minimum specifications and thus wasn't manufactured by a singular company. Philips was obviously the most prolific maker of the CD-i player (the official name of the "console", though that verbiage was never used explicitly to refer to the system) but other companies threw their hat into the ring as well.
CD-i players varied considerably in quality. The later models have a more reliable disc drive, but other parts might fail. Earlier models have been speculated to have better video signal. The top loading player is the most infamous, as it is the one marketed by Philips to be more of a "game console" - smaller in size to the absolutely massive original players (seriously, these things are ENORMOUS) and bundled with a 3-button game controller that most resembles a Genesis pad.
Since this was envisioned as multimedia device, the standard CD-i controller was more akin to a remote control, or something good for cursor-based interaction. Bad for games, great for pointing and clicking! Like the CD-i hardware itself, there were many controllers throughout the CD-i's lifespan.
One of the more infamous hardware faults the CD-i had was the "Timekeeper problem"; like the eventual Sega CD/Sega Saturn and other platforms that had built-in memory to store saved data, the CD-i relied on battery backup. The problem being, unlike these other platforms, the battery was soldered inside of the backup RAM chip itself. If you want a CD-i with working saves today, you either have to very carefully destroy the top of this chip to get to the battery contact points to solder a new battery/battery holder in...
...or replace the Timekeeper altogether with either a new one (yes, you can still buy them, it was an off-the-shelf part) or a homebrew one with replaceable battery. This is also not for the faint of heart, as you have to desolder the chip from the bottom of the motherboard. Suffice to say, getting a CD-i in perfect working order nowadays is....very difficult.
The CD-i had many FMV (full-motion video) games during its life, many of which required the DVC (Digital Video Cartridge). If you wish to play many of the titles on the system, it's crucial you have this add-on as well. The DVC was a hardware MPEG video decoder (anyone else remember the MPG format?) that enabled the FMV titles to be decompressed from the CD; it also enabled playback of certain movies released for the system as well.
Moving on from the...problematic hardware, we have...
SOFTWARE
Okay, okay, I admit it, the CD-i doesn't have a must-own assortment of titles. But it's better than you were led to believe! Some standout games:
THE APPRENTICE
A fun little platform game where you play as a wizard's apprentice. Probably the standout gem of the console. A fan made port to PC is available, so long as you have a copy of the game lying around.
MERLIN'S APPRENTICE
A puzzle game, best described as a challenging tale of medieval sorcery, in which you aspire to become apprentice to a great wizard. Wait a minute...
(also on PC)
BURN:CYCLE
An FMV game that was meant to be the CD-i's "killer app", with a big budget to boot. It's quite entertaining, and best of all, there was a Windows version made alongside the CD-i port.
LASER LORDS
An incredibly bizarre point-and-click...adventure...thing. This game is hilarious and an actual hidden gem on the system.
MUTANT RAMPAGE: BODYSLAM
The developers of the Faces of Evil/Wand of Gamelon made a beat-em-up game for the CD-i, and it was pretty good! As good as the CD-i allows, anyway.
THE 7TH GUEST
An overall killer app for CD drives to begin with, often considered a classic in the point-and-click adventure genre. Available on PCs, but the CD-i port was popular and known for being of very high quality. A must-play for CD-i owners.
TETRIS (CD-i)
Yes, yes, it's just Tetris, but seriously, that soundtrack is one of the greatest game OSTs of all time. I'm not kidding!
ZELDA: THE WAND OF GAMELON/LINK: THE FACES OF EVIL
Okay yeah I really do like these games. They control pretty rough, they run terribly on the hardware (what can you expect, it's literally not designed for it), they have bullshit enemy hits, the cutscenes...exist....but I think it's a very nicely designed game, with proto Metroidvania elements. If you want to play it yourself, I hear fan made remasters exist that will do you well.
Note: Zelda's Adventure is legitimately one of the worst games I have ever played. Steer clear of that one; it really does live up to its reputation, unlike the other Nintendo CD-i games.
HOTEL MARIO
It's not terrible! Seriously, it's like Mario meets elevator action without the uh, action, but it's still a pretty fun game.
EMULATION
So you want to play the Philips CD-i, eh? Well, you can buy a player off of eBay for a large price (if you live in the United States; it's less expensive overseas), hope it makes it to you in one piece (one of mine I ordered was destroyed in transit, as is common), then pray the hardware lasts long enough for you to enjoy The Joy of Sex.
You can also emulate! Emulation is not as bad as you've heard, it's just not as user friendly or complete as other methods. There are three main emulators:
- CD-i Emu - A closed source paid emulator still in active development, by CD-i Fan. When complete, it will be able to flawlessly emulate everything.
- CeDImu - An open source emulator still in early development by Stovent.
- MAME - There is a great CD-i core developed by many individuals over the years and, as of this post, is probably the best way to play as many CD-i games as possible. Putting it together is pretty difficult, and you have to provide your own CD-i ROM (not technically a BIOS, but same idea), so I won't go over all that here.
RESOURCES
The CD-i fan community is absolutely off the chain. Here are some resources for you to bask in more CD-i information:
The World of CD-i
Interactive Dreams
The New International CD-i Association
Retrostuff's CD-i Section
The CD-i Community Discord (I helped make this one popular!)
So, any fellow CD-i fans out there? Were you ever interested in a player, or owned one/the games? If not, did this thread make you want to check it out? I'm CD-icited to find out.
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