Philips CDi Hardware There are over fifty different types of CDi Console, more than for any other format. Unfortunately we don't have that many!
Philips CDi Games We have a large selection of games for the CDi console.
Philips CDi Information
The Philips CDi came out in 1991, and was set to change the way people used their TV. The CDi wasn't simply aimed as a games machine, but as an educational tool and interactive knowledge base. In these pre-internet times, the were many who bought into the concept, including Commodore, and their copy-cat CDTV Machine.
Incredibly there were over fifty different models of the CDi produced. Some were made specifically for doctors to use in hospitals, others aimed at bringing interactive database technology to libraries. Many companies licenced the CDi technology to make their own versions of the format, these included Goldstar, Grundig and even Sony. Bang & Olufsen went on to produce a TV with a CDi built into it. Probably the cutest of all the consoles was Philips own CDi-370 (left), which turned the console into a funky flip-top handheld.
The top loading CDi 450 was produced to reduce costs and drop the retail price, but the optional CDi Video Cartridge was an expensive and heavy peripheral, and was required to play the 'stand-out' interactive movie games. The supplied controller is also ill-suited to gaming. In the UK the CDi was unsuccessful, straddling itself between 'edutainment' and leisure, it could neither match the gaming coolness of the Megadrive, nor provide the educational depth of a PC. A shame, because there are some very interesting games for the machine.
