Philips CD-i
Philips tried to find favor with so many technological products but will still be best known for a cross-headed screwdriver. Rather fitting that their name is synonymous with a tool because whichever bright spark over there decided that the CD-i would have made a good addition to the console market should’ve been locked in a tool-shed. One of the first home gaming systems to incorporate a CD-ROM into its design, the Philips CD-i made so many mistakes that it’s a surprise this console wasn’t burned from human memory to stop us devolving into riots.
Right out of the door, it was priced at between $700 and $1,200 depending on the source you believe which even then was a little high for a piece of technology. This price might not have been so bad if the Philips CD-i brought incredibly advanced games for the time into the world. Of course, it didn’t.
It’s hardware was almost exclusively used to bring gamers FMV games and games from other genres that varied between half-decent to downright awful. Perhaps the most infamous of these were the Zelda games which appeared on the CD-i due to a deal made with Philips after Nintendo attempted CD-ROM technology and FMV ’em up Dragon’s Lair which is currently available on a bunch of platforms you should not purchase it on. These FMV games didn’t even look good. The image above should say plenty but if it doesn’t then think of watching a VHS tape you’ve left next to a magnet for a few years and you’ll be close.
Why should we be glad this is one of the happily failed consoles? Well because if it had seen more success, it would have lead to more FMV games than you could shake a flimsy-ass controller at.
