My Unhealthy obsession with the Phillips CDI [Archive]

ReaXan

10-29-2003, 02:48 AM

Around the summer of 95 I was a very chubby kid sleeping all day and staying up all night and one night an informercial for the CDI came on,it
looked cool with the FMV capabilitys as well as other things that I thought were like 10 years ahead of their time lol,and I wanted one so badley,but with the price tag of like 300 or 400 dollars{wasnt sure on the exact price but it was high} I knew my dad would never buy it for me.I was disapointed but I hope someday I could get it.fast forward to 1998,I was the new kid in town,I had no friends and I spent my time after school plotting on ways to play the rare video game systems I didnt get to play as a child since my life sucked,well I got my hands on the Jaguar,Sega CD,3D0 but no CDI,and I stayed up one night tihnking how cool it would be to have one{pretty said I know :( } but in 2002 I started looking on for CDI and they were still high as hell IMO,100 dollar and higher,well one aution came along and I almost one it but lost by like 50 cents.after reading reviews online about it,it seems like a glorified Sega CD full of crappy games.I still would like to play it one day but its hard to find,anybody played it and what were your impressions of it?

Anyone else had an unhealthy obession with a gameing system LOL,i had one with the White Japaneese Sega Saturn for a while but not as bad as the CDI LOL

nesuser2

10-29-2003, 04:13 AM

i sold a brand new cdi system with 50+ games to a board member. i never played it but he said something along the lines of the games being so horrible that he couldn't stomach trying them LOL

ventrra

10-29-2003, 12:08 PM

Anyone else had an unhealthy obession with a gameing system LOL,i had one with the White Japaneese Sega Saturn for a while but not as bad as the CDI LOL
I don't know anything about unhealthy obsessions, but I'm often looking for systems and games that other people shun. (Consider some of the "prizes" of my collection: MGA Game Wizards, Data Age's Sssnake, several NES games by Sachen, a Game.com with lmost all of the game s made for it, a Microvision, etc.) Systems like the CD-I and it's games would fit perfectly into my collection (and get played, too!).

ReaXan

10-29-2003, 01:12 PM

i sold a brand new cdi system with 50+ games to a board member. i never played it but he said something along the lines of the games being so horrible that he couldn't stomach trying them LOL

How much did you sell it for and what model of the CDI was it,i like the 450 the best

Dr. Morbis

10-29-2003, 04:14 PM

I have a (some would say 'unhealthy') obsession with all 8-bit video game systems. ;)

digitalpress

10-30-2003, 10:27 AM

I don't think I've ever done this before... I'm going to move this topic from "Collecting" to the main gaming forum.

My quick take on the system. It blows chunks. I own one (and have owned a few different models over the years). The games are by and large simply awful. When I first started getting into collecting for this system I was pleasantly surprised to find games like Micro Machines and Zelda titles and other familiar friends like Tetris and Pac-Attack here. This was, of course, followed by the bitter disappointment of finding how poorly the games were actually executed on the CD-i. It's as if someone said "sure, you can develop our game on the system, no one else will"... and that license was promptly given the worst possible treatment.

Even games that you'd think would be OK, like the game show titles (how could they mess up Name That Tune or Joker's Wild?) or FMV games like Voyeur and Space Ace are botched by clunky control schemes and especially cheesy production values. There are some titles on the CD-i that appear to be Powerpoint presentations turned into games. I'm really not kidding. I'm telling you this so you're prepared.

I've played about a hundred titles and so far the only game I can recommend is Hotel Mario. That's not a bad game at all, and it IS exclusive to CD-i. Everything else I could live happily without ever thinking about ever again.

If you like that era of games I'd recommend a 3DO or Sega CD. At least those systems have a stack of really excellent games, and even those that are terribly dated are at least produced well and show signs of age, not ineptitude.

Let us know how the obsession works out for you. I'm curious.

Ed Oscuro

10-30-2003, 02:03 PM

Motel Hario....ehh. It's not BAD, but it's certainly not a classic Mario game. It's really more of an homage to Donkey Kong but feels like it really belongs in the arcades of yesteryear (like, try the very early 1980s). It's certainly playable, but there's a bit too much stuff bouncing around. Quite confusing at times.

Eventually you get to an ice area (though it's really only the second castle, or hotel, if I recall) and the play mechanics go straight to hell. I played around with that a bit but dropped it quite fast after that. The cutscenes are nice, though.

The other games...Zelda games...I own the first two and oh my, they're just awful. It would've been a bit better if I actually had a gamepad instead of the handheld CD-i's stupid d-pad and two buttons, but the graphics still would've been pretty bad. Actually, I do like the jungle-place where Zelda starts off (in her game, Wand of Gamelon) but everything else is pretty awful.

Somebody said the background art for these games seems drawn by "retarded" people "locked in a room." The harshness of this statement belies the fact that yes, there's actually something to that observation. Some places have high and low paths, and it seems there was a bit of miscommunication between artist and programmer about how the higher path would be selected. Though the perspective might appear isometric as though viewed from a distance, with different paths visible from the camera's viewpoint, navigation is often done as if you're in a flat 2D world. I forget exactly how you started traveling up a higher path, but I think it was by use of up on the d-pad, which makes some sense. Further complicating the problem is that some backgrounds indeed are completely 2D and you must go to higher areas by jumping; while I forget the specifics this means that either the controls aren't consistent, or different instances require you to press "up" on your d-pad or jump which leads to inconsistent level design.

As a final insult to people who like to be able to navigate their games, all this must be done while usually on the run from a relentless onslaught of fast (and unremarkable) enemy projectiles that are often difficult to see, even on the LCD screen of the portable CD-i.

The different rooms you often enter usually aren't too terribly drawn; for example, the shop from Link's Adventure. Most monsters are simply hideous, though.

The good part about these games? Certainly the overworld map from Link's Adventure, which is pretty nice. The music there didn't hurt my ears, but it certainly wasn't familiar either (which is a mark against the compositions in general: Middling but remarkably un-Zelda-like CD-i MIDI has replaced our familiar compositions entirely). On the whole, I felt like I was playing a game about a young caveman (or couple cavemen, if you mean Zelda and her rather un-Zeldish appearance) whose loser attitude is almost as defeating as the fact that his shield is less protective than before.

christianscott27

10-30-2003, 02:29 PM

yep it is not a hot item, you could now get one for round 50 bucks.

two things that i like about it though, not that i dont have complaints but they've been well covered in this thread by others, somebody has to say a kind word for it!

1) space ace is cool, its just cool ok?
2) you can play VCDs on it (you'll need the video cartridge but you pretty much need that for everythings so..) i like VCDs because all the asian stores around here have VCD kung fu, anime, porn, subtitled US movies for $5 ea.

digitalpress

10-30-2003, 02:40 PM

Everyone told me that the CD-i version of Space Ace is the best one available. If that's true, then there isn't a good version of Space Ace available. Because the CD-i version is TERRIBLE.

For starters - and this is a HUGE problem in my eyes - the moves have been completely changed from the arcade. You can see it almost right away, when Dexter lands the ship for the first time and is traveling through the tunnels. WTF did that have to get tampered with? There are also places where you need to move or press a button when you didn't have to on the arcade game, and vice-versa.

The other problem is the (once again) lack of a "bing" sound. That's right. The arcade machine has an audio sound that lets you know it registered your move. This version does not, often leaving me wondering "did it even accept my move? Was my timing bad? Wrong move entirely?". These are things you don't wonder and shouldn't have to wonder about when playing Space Ace.

Sorry Christian, I just totally disagree with your on this one. You're one of those people who said it was great and as a Space Ace fan I was disappointed when I had to find out for myself these misgivings on the CD-i.

rbudrick

10-30-2003, 02:44 PM

even on the LCD screen of the portable CD-i.

The what? Portable CD-i? Am I missing something here? Do these exist?

-Rob

ddockery

10-30-2003, 02:55 PM

Portable might be a bad choice of words. If I remember, it was one big unit that could fold up into a breifcase, but it still needed to be plugged in. Very similiar to the "portable" C64 units that I used to want SOOOOO badly.

digitalpress

10-30-2003, 03:03 PM

even on the LCD screen of the portable CD-i.

The what? Portable CD-i? Am I missing something here? Do these exist?

-Rob

Yeah, like ddockery said - in fact, our member mmpoole sold one to someone on these forums about 2 months ago. It's a pretty cool piece of hardware but again, consider the system you're playing. I'd MUCH rather have an SX-64.

chadtower

10-30-2003, 03:14 PM

There is a mcdonald's near my house that has a CDI cabinet. You heard me... they have a cabinet with a CDI in it in the playland. The cabinet is clearly custom built (there's actually two but one never works), and they have a CDI running some game on it that my son loves. The controller is a touchscreen mouse. I wish I knew the name of that game... it's kind of like berenstain bears or the richard scarrey stuff but different characters I don't know. I didn't know what was running in the cab until last week my son was playing it and it rebooted showing the CDI bootup screen.

sisko

10-30-2003, 03:15 PM

I've got the 910.

I paid 45 and it came with about a dozen "games"

Since then, I have aquired 2 of the [supposedly] utterly crappy zelda games. And a NIB DV cart for $8 (beat that!) I've since parted wiht all the other games, and am only seeking Hotel Mario and Zelda's Adventure. Once I get those, there will be no more CDi titles (unless theyre free!)

The unit is huge, and an inferior cd player. The ony redeeming quality it has is the VCD player, but I have a DVD player and a LaserActive that can do that too.

Ed Oscuro

10-30-2003, 03:21 PM

Yeah, like ddockery said - in fact, our member mmpoole sold one to someone on these forums about 2 months ago. It's a pretty cool piece of hardware but again, consider the system you're playing. I'd MUCH rather have an SX-64.

I forget how much I bought it for, but I think it was $50 (the thing comes with DV built in, beat THAT sisko ;D). It's about the same size as a Saturn, and the batteries (plug onto the back) just add more weight. Anyhow, it's a nice unit but the CD-ROM is going bad...levels of Hotel Mario and other games sometimes have sound, and sometimes they don't.

Lemmings is a nice title for it, especially since it's the only version I have so far (ditto for The 7th Guest, though mine unfortunately reboots every time I get to a certain spot). I never imagined the CD-i would have so many things (even if they're quite small) running around at one time. The CD-based intro is silly, but not completely awful.

Rev. Link

10-30-2003, 03:53 PM

I definitely want to pick up a CD-I some day, but only because of my unhealthy obsession with Zelda. :D

christianscott27

10-31-2003, 10:20 AM

Sorry Christian, I just totally disagree with your on this one. You're one of those people who said it was great and as a Space Ace fan I was disappointed when I had to find out for myself these misgivings on the CD-i.

boulderdash!!

i only joined the CD-i owners club a month ago and just found space ace last weekend, for surely i could not have led thee down the path prior.

nonwithstanding its faults it will be hooked up to a COM monitor sunday with space ace on the spinner for attendees to try out. my cool take is that it just looks, sounds and plays very close to the arcade. truth be told i never cared much for it, dragons lair or any other cartoon game back in the day, i prefer real gaming to FMV stuff. its more of a nostalgia thing, like watching starcade.

as for the console itself it has yet to get "hookup" status. i'm at the limit of my RCA A/V selectors with consoles already, if i add another box to the daisy chain i can hook up 3 more. currently awaiting hook up are the atari jaguar, the 3-DO and now the CDi, i'm in no rush on any of them. just me being an omnivore collector and trying to have everything!

digitalpress

10-31-2003, 10:34 AM

Jive3D

10-31-2003, 11:17 AM

I was lucky enough (well lucky is very relative here) to get a CD-i from my dad for my 14th birthday. I was easily the only kid for miles who had one of these things, and an accurate wireless controller didnt hurt (even though it was not a game controller shape, I had no problem with that).

I had the system in its prime and my ONLY gripe about it is that I paid the top dollar for all that stuff when it first came out (or maybe my dad did for most of it). The Digital video cartridge for the Original Philips model which I have originally costed somewhere along the lines of $300! that was way back when most people thought that video compression as good as we have it today would not come for at least another 2 decades.

MANY of the games were complete crap though. I had a Genesis at the same time and I much prefered to play Road Rash II (genesis) over Video Speedway (Cd-i), which played almost like Pole Postion on Atari, it was that bad. I remember only getting a trophy ONCE, but the music was the high part of that game at least.

I did however have a great time with a lot of these games. I have both common Zelda games (I'd love to get my hands on a 'copy' of Zelda's adventure though). The Zelda games are VERY CHEASY, but I Loved them at the time, they were good fun and provided a signifigan challenge, albeit mostly action and hard control challenge rather than puzzles.

My all time favorite CD-i game (though it was eventually ported to PC) is BURN: CYCLE. This game was the answer to all my prayers, great story and techno/ rave style soundtrack. Very Japanese and Very BladeRunner influenced. Actually, its VERY similar to SNATCHER in many design aspects.

But MANY of the games were poorly executed like the gameshow games, but that was all erased from my Mind when I could watch BOND movie video CDs and play my other favorite game for CDi: VOYEUR. C'mon, I was 14 when that game came out and the adult themes were very interesting. I beat the hell out of that one.

I almost picked up a 3D0 OR a Turbo Duo at the time, but I ende3d up with a CDi, yeah dad made a big mistake in getting that for me, I dont even want to type what I think it costed when it first came out, and thats when I got the thing.

I love my CD-i, I would only part with it if I could get one of the portable units only b/c the thing takes up so much dam space! There really are only a few gems on the system, but they are gems none the less.

Where can I get a new version of the CD-i BIOS? I'd love to install some new neato software on the Player.

oh and that Game Littil Divil SUCKED!

digitalpress

10-31-2003, 11:53 AM

Ed Oscuro

10-31-2003, 12:04 PM

My all time favorite CD-i game (though it was eventually ported to PC) is BURN: CYCLE. This game was the answer to all my prayers, great story and techno/ rave style soundtrack. Very Japanese and Very BladeRunner influenced. Actually, its VERY similar to SNATCHER in many design aspects.

I can count on maybe two hands the number of Japanese words I can correctly pronounce (and I found recently I've been wrong about many for quite a while) but calling Burn: Cycle "Japanese influenced" is rather like calling Monty Python and the Holy Grail "Christian influenced." The difference here is that the people behind Burn Cycle thought annoying sound clips and short vid clips of an asian woman at the beginning would make it feel like the product of '90s Japan, they really only achieved a parody (if they realized that's what it was) of that whole society. I find it a bit offensive, actually. Blade Runner influenced? Maybe the out-of-place Russian bomb you plant at the beginning of the game...looks like a throwback to the U.S.-Russian war in the history of William Gibson's Neuromancer.

The game isn't quite the worst thing on the system, but the terrible cheesiness of it turns me off. Still, if you can stomach that (and the ridiculously complex hovercar booting sequence, which I never did figure out) it looks like it should be a bit of fun.

Space Ace didn't hold a lot of play time for me, but the smoothness of the FMV is pretty impressive, and it looks very nice on the portable's screen. It was rather difficult to control with the unit's onboard controls, but part of that was the fact that I'm a newbie to the game. I didn't have too much problem replicating sequences of key presses, and when I was pressing the fire button early on, the quick reload to the beginning of the sequence helped keep me in the game and to figure out what the game was about.

Overall, I think that the CD-i Space Ace isn't terribly playable, but it might be better recieved if you play it first...or it might just turn you off to the Dragon's Lair type game altogether.

I agree with Jive3D's take on the Zelda games most--tough play control, but good fun otherwise. That said, I'd rather be playing Mischief Makers on the N64.

The Unknown Gamer

10-31-2003, 12:18 PM

Maybe that is why there is only 1 CD-I emulator out there and it only plays one game and that is Rise of the robots

ventrra

10-31-2003, 12:32 PM

The game isn't quite the worst thing on the system, but the terrible cheesiness of it turns me off. Still, if you can stomach that <SNIP>
Oooohhhh!! CHEESEY GAMES!!! I love cheesey games! Does the CD-I have a lot of other games that fit that discription?

The Zelda games are VERY CHEASY
Besides that one? If many of them are, I may have to look more seriously into getting a CD-I system.

Jive3D

10-31-2003, 02:01 PM

Wow you guys are really on a bashing streek here.

yes it is more of a japanese mockery, but more of just a wanna be. the style of the skylines and the (flying car) scenes were very Bladerunner and wanna-be anime. the advertisements on the skyline that are slightly japanese with that girl taking the Pill and saying "Pee-Poe!" was what I was refering to.

I HAVE played the game recently, and I still dig it. It's not a fun game to play unless you get into the story.

It really does suck that the system had so many truly horribile games. But I still had a lot of fun with it, like i did with Burn:Cycle.

Ed Oscuro

10-31-2003, 03:05 PM

yes it is more of a japanese mockery, but more of just a wanna be. the style of the skylines and the (flying car) scenes were very Bladerunner and wanna-be anime. the advertisements on the skyline that are slightly japanese with that girl taking the Pill and saying "Pee-Poe!" was what I was refering to.

Yeah, same thing. I still don't like it, it seems to be saying that Japanese is just gibberish.

While I'm on this particular rant, I'm obliged to mention the game isn't nearly as bad as Tetsuo Gaiden, which falls directly into the Japanese-shooter wannabe category and in fact misses a couple rungs on the way down and drowns in the sewage. OK, maybe not, but if you're going to have voice-overs, try to pronounce things right and come up with a title that actually makes sense. Duke Nukem's "case of larengitis" sounds perfectly normal in comparison with this voice actor's horribly drawn out consonants and faked deep voice. That said, the lousy production values seem to have had a big hand in this. Such a shame, really, seeing how the CD-i could've done a pretty nice shooter even with FMV in the background--to say nothing of what it would've been without that FMV and used the digital video pack as extra RAM..!

Jive3D

10-31-2003, 03:32 PM

Can you bash Zelda's Adventure so the price might start going down on eBay and I can buy a copy?

^_^

Ed Oscuro

10-31-2003, 04:03 PM

Arr yes. Thar she blows, Zelda's Adventure. Horribly, and I dinna joke 'un bit when I say such, Horribly done! Graphics are rather nice for they have that special FMV quality, and them sprites are orientated such that they're always looking top down yer from the crow's nest. Still looks like a murky mess! Haven't played this one but I think I've got the hang of it from screenshots. Lots o' FMV, did I mention that? I do like the cover on 'er one bit, like a nice figurehead on a garbage scow.

Burn yer copies folks! Throw 'em to the CD-ROM shredders!

Oh wait, that's not what you wanted one bit, was it?

:D I do think it's wildly overpriced, but who knows...could be another Dracula X Rondo of Blood hidden underneath all those poorly chosen colors, somewhere, deep inside the game.

Keir

11-03-2003, 10:22 AM

Oh poor, misguided Christian.

Looks like. Sounds like. But most certainly does NOT play like.

I predict that your attendees will enjoy CD-i Space Ace for an average of 3.5 minutes. You can save yourself a lot of hooking up and unhooking up by putting something more entertaining to a group of people on the set. Just my two cents.
I tried it out yesterday. I think I played less than 3.5 minutes. It looks great, but I couldn't get past the second jump. Then again, I never really liked those kinds of games anyway.

Ed Oscuro

11-03-2003, 10:25 AM

That's not much worse than what I did--I think I got about five to ten moves in and then called it quits. Yes, the 3-5 minutes prediction is pretty good, actually. I put maybe 15-30 in.

punkoffgirl

11-03-2003, 10:41 AM

chadtower

11-03-2003, 10:42 AM

Yep, I tallied a high score of ten points before I gave up on it and went for more beer.

christianscott27

11-03-2003, 10:50 AM

:D but it looked cool!

Jive3D

11-03-2003, 11:04 AM

Space ace was always a novelty. I think that Philips gave me the game for free, they were giving away free software for a while at one point.

I won't get rid of it just because its a neat piece of gaming history, but its not very fun to play at all, can't say that it sees the light of day too often.

Jive3D

11-03-2003, 12:16 PM

Can anyone let me know if Escape from Cyber City is a good game? I always wanted to pick it up. Some people loved it and others hated it. but that doesn't necessarily hold any weight seeing the silly Burn:Cycle comments above.

Escape from Cyber City at all lately? Anyone?

Jorpho

11-03-2003, 05:23 PM

Maybe that is why there is only 1 CD-I emulator out there and it only plays one game and that is Rise of the robots

I think that emulator was only made because someone got their hands on the CDi ROTR source code. There is another emulator, actually, but it's not quite so functional.

Anyway, I would suspect that the old PC floppy version of Space Ace would be the worst version. Or maybe that SNES game.

Oh, and if you subscribe to IGN, you can get videos and screenshots of all the CDi Zelda games. As it is, the article on Link: The Faces of Evil is available to one and all. Be very afraid. Very, very, afraid:
http://insider.ign.com/articles/316625p1.html

ReaXan

11-04-2003, 03:02 AM

Man what can I say,thanks for the great input from everybody,nice to know people actually care to give you some serious input on subjects such as these,one again thanks

And for the record I think my obsession has died down but I think it would be fun to try it out first hand,judging from the comments I shouldnt invest to heavily into getting it since the games are bad for the most part,I will
still look around ebay and maybe someone will sell their's for 30 bucks with a game someday :D

digitalpress

11-04-2003, 08:25 AM

Oh poor, misguided Christian.

Looks like. Sounds like. But most certainly does NOT play like.

I predict that your attendees will enjoy CD-i Space Ace for an average of 3.5 minutes. You can save yourself a lot of hooking up and unhooking up by putting something more entertaining to a group of people on the set. Just my two cents.

I tried it out yesterday. I think I played less than 3.5 minutes. It looks great, but I couldn't get past the second jump. Then again, I never really liked those kinds of games anyway.

Told ya so. :P

ReaXan

12-01-2003, 02:52 PM

I have been looking on Ebay for CDI's,their still to high

nesuser2

12-01-2003, 10:32 PM

I have a crapload of CDi games........just 2 titles, but if any CDi seekers would like a copy, i can probably ship them to you for $3-$4 total or $5 shipped for both titles. kether and the encyclopedia. of you can buy all 20 of them for really cheap :D what a collector's item!! LOL

Bighab

12-01-2003, 11:26 PM

Have any of you CDi owners ever played the game Axis and Allies for it? Thats the only game I want to play on it. I know it seems silly to own a system for one game but what the hell :D

Duncan

12-18-2003, 12:49 AM

Hey, enough bashing. If people have good memories of their CD-I playtime, then let them be! Just because they didn't have the "hot" system everyone else had at the time doesn't mean they need to be ridiculed for it.

For instance, my first video game experience came from...an RCA Studio II.

Like the Philips CD-I, the Studio II was a video game system from a company that normally dealt in "regular" electronics. All RCA knew is that they wanted to be able to call themselves a tech leader; they didn't care how they got there.

Also like the CD-I, the Studio II was up-to-date and impressive for about three seconds after it was released -- then it immediately retreated to the bargain bins and was quickly forgotten by most people.

But not me.

Set the Way-Back Machine to 1985. Our neighbors had upgraded to an Atari long ago (I forget which, but it was probably a 2600) and were willing to give us their old system -- the Studio II. Being kids, and knowing that video games were damn cool (the other neighbor had an Intellivision), we immediately wanted it. The parents agreed, and we plugged her in.

I have great memories of playing Bowling, Baseball, Speedway and the Doodle program. Yes, they were in black-and-white. Yes, they sucked (in hindsight) when compared to other systems. But when that's all you have, you do your best to make the very most of it.

And I suspect the same is true for the CD-I. So while Joe or others may not be a fan of Space Ace or Burn:Cycle, don't worry if you have a healthy obsession with those titles.

I understand fully -- I've still got my Studio II. :)

Ed Oscuro

12-18-2003, 02:34 PM

Yeah, the bashing ended half a month ago, Duncan ;)

But as for "I suspect the same is true for the CD-I" ... perhaps, but Joe is probably the biggest CD-i fan out there (I'd say I'm very close, and I have a healthy respect for the thing as it was capable of much more than was released on it, especially with Super Mario World's CD-i port) and his comments about Space Ace are quite correct. I probably had more fun with that one than should be possible, though :)

Classicgamesdepot

12-18-2003, 05:32 PM

Hehe this is probably a bad time to offer my collection of about 40 cdi titles for sale..?

BTW..pm me if your interested

digitalpress

12-19-2003, 12:45 PM

I don't know if I'd go so far as to call myself a fan of the CD-i, Ed, but like everything else in gaming it has its place. Besides, if I were really BASHING it, would I have just plunked down $169.99 on a boxed portable CD-i?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3066448744&category=187&rd=1

Duncan

12-19-2003, 06:48 PM

Yeah, the bashing ended half a month ago, Duncan ;)

I know I'm late.

And I don't care. :P

Ed Oscuro

12-19-2003, 11:59 PM

Besides, if I were really BASHING it, would I have just plunked down $169.99 on a boxed portable CD-i?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3066448744&category=187&rd=1

What'd I say, biggest fan of the CD-i. Especially considering you had the only bid on that monster (if I'd known about this I would've dropped a bid just for...no, wait, I wouldn't have because that wouldn't be right)! Well, that's a nicer find, I think, than my $300 "luggable" CD-i; I bet that one's a good deal smaller than mine - and I want one of these now! Actually, I think I might see about doing that. :)

digitalpress

12-20-2003, 07:17 AM

Ed Oscuro

12-20-2003, 10:31 PM

Yep there sure was at least one other...I have no extra money though.

Mega D

12-21-2003, 11:17 AM

I remember that old CDI infomercial, with a guy who was looking for the meaning of life. Yeah, you heard me. And I remember trying it out at a local electronics store all the time. I liked it, but I guess it was because I had been used to old Nintendo and Genesis stuff at the time. I remember the games they had there. They Had this golf game the first time I saw it, then an anime game of some kind called "Escape from Cyber City", then a pinball game, then "Burn Cycle", and then some weird maze game that I think was called "Kether".

I wouldn't mind getting my hands on this system. I've played and enjoyed cheesy games before, wouldn't mind playing a few more.

LouLee7th

12-21-2003, 02:16 PM

I've been a member here for a bit and really don't post at all, but I really felt the need to interject. I own all but 15 of the Philips Cd-I titles, I am a huge collector of that system and while yes, the games were really cheesy, there were some games that for their time were REALLY good.

Defender of the Crown: Hands-down the BEST version of the game before the new one was released. Cd-I made this game awesome and it really is a classic game.

Name That Tune: The whole concept of this was way before its time. The FMV with Bob Gowen wasn't anything special, but the actual concept of hearing a melody of a song and having to guess it was really cool. A next generation system NEEDS to make a game like this, which would be awesome for parties.

Pinball: Definitely before its time. The game was really really cool, the graphics were cool, and you could choose 4 different machines, all of which were fairly unique.

Clue: I'm a big board game junkie and I was SO dissapointed with SNES's interpretation of the Clue series. My favorite Clue game was actually Clue: Master Detective for the Apple system. Cd-I did these games very well, adding elements from the board game into the game.

A Great Day at the Races: Before Winning Post came out for the Saturn (which is my all-time favorite game ever) this was the ONLY horse racing game in North America, period. You could bet, watch the races, and Trevor from Hollywood Park called all of the races. It was unique, and no other system had attempted anything like it.

Like I said, I don't post here that often, because I'm really not an expert on a lot of systems and some of the people's collections on here blow me out of the water. But I played this system a ton and really know that there were GOOD games for it. Did the Link and the Zelda games suck? Yeah, I definitely thought they did. And I think this system got a bad reputation BECAUSE of the high expecations that the Zelda franchise upholds. This system DID have good games for it, and I recommend it to anyone that wants to try something completely different. Just my two cents...

Lou