Alan_CDIZone – The World of CD-i

Some titles require you to set the CD-i clock!!

Sadly, many of our CD-i players no longer have a working timekeeper. Some people have managed to fix this issue with skill and ingenuity (here, here and here), but for those people who are happy to keep their player as it is, without being able to save high scores, please note that certain titles that I’ve identified recently require you to set the time 🙂

I usually play Earth Command at Christmas! 2022 was the first year that my 740 player no longer had a working battery. For some reason, Earth Command wouldn’t play – I just had a blank screen. I realised that the game monitors how long you’re in post as Commander, and displays the date at the top of the screen – and this relates to the timekeeper! So you must set the time before loading the CD-i!!

But without a doubt, the most bizarre aspect relating to the timekeeper is that of trying to play Interactive Video Charts 1995. I first discovered these titles back in the early/mid 2000’s but for some strange reason, no 1995 discs would play on any of my machines – apart from the FW380i. Why? 1994, 1996 and 1997 discs all played fine! In the last month or so, I realised that, to play these 1995 titles, the clock must be set to the year 1995 🙂 So, if the timekeeper is still working, the CD-is won’t play! And if the time is not set, or is set to 2023, they also won’t work. Go back in time to 1995 though and, hey presto, you’ll be able to enjoy fantastic music videos from the ‘club classics’ era 😉

If there are any other CD-i titles that you know of that require setting the clock, please do let us know!

Happy New… Philips CD-i Game :-)

Remember the good old days, when we would read a preview of a new CD-i game in our favourite gaming magazine? Well, we at The World of CD-i are very pleased to reveal, on this New Year’s Eve 2022 that a new title will be coming – in February 2023 😀
The game was first previewed in Philips Media CD-i Software catalogue 1995:
Treasures of Oz is similar to Merlin’s Apprentice and Labyrinth of Crete, but aimed at a younger audience. Featuring multiple puzzles, 3 levels of difficulty, and some games 🙂 It will be released by World of Games Publishing, who recently brought you the superb Felix the Cat. Have you bought your copy yet? If not, you can still snap it up at www.worldofgamespublishing.com.

Do get in touch with us at The World of CD-i to let us know what your CD-i highlights of 2022 have been, the year that CD-i celebrated its 30th anniversary since release in Europe.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year and thank-you for supporting us throughout 2022 🙂

All I want for Christmas is….. Philips CD-i !!

Christmas is almost upon us, and a time to not only celebrate with family & friends, eat lots of great food, watch feel-good Christmas movies but to also enjoy playing loads of Philips CD-i titles 🙂 Christmas can also be a difficult time for us; for me Philips CD-i has been part of my Festive season since 1994, when my parents bought me The Apprentice, Mutant Rampage and Hotel Mario. Here are some must play CD-i titles over Christmas, and a couple of surprises… Christmas Crisis is a traditional platform game but with a superb 3D sleigh ride bonus screen, if you can negotiate the first 6 levels. Graphics here are incredible and it really does feel like you are flying 🙂 What I also love about this game is the ability to gain a special code to return to a particular level – ONLY if you collect enough points and decorations.
The other great challenge in this game is to find the 8 hidden reindeer. Each one you find opens a new bonus stage, where you can collect more decorations and 1Ups. I have found 4 of them – how many have you found?
I have completed this game, but many years ago. I play it every Christmas to see how far I can get from scratch. Note that if you use your code to return to a level late in the game, should you find a reindeer you’ll play the same bonus screen as the first reindeer you find.

Christmas Country is an award-winning platform game from Creative Media. Curiously, it has no in-game music but superb sound effects and an overall Christmassy feel 🙂
Did you know that there is a secret place to find, where you can access a level-select? Have you found it?
There are 16 levels to Christmas Country, spanning 4 Worlds. You must collect presents during your travels, which will be used in the bonus stage to deliver to homes – and collect 1UPs (if you can hit them!). You can also collect letters to spell out ‘SPECIAL’ – and earn a random bonus.
The game has bosses at the end of each World, and these are a good challenge. I love everything about this game – a classic platformer – and even gives a nod to Sonic in how you can run (by keeping your finger on button 1) and break through walls. My Christmas wish/dream is that Creative Media release Taco’s Toyroom Troopers and Tank Doodle, which are previewed in the instruction manual to Christmas Country.

BUT one lovely bonus that DIMA gave us was to release 2 levels of the sublime Joe Guard platformer. And what a pure joy it is to play these levels.
The game has a very Christmassy feel, which can be seen in the screenshots. As is with Christmas Country, there is no in-game music but again this is more than made up for by the brilliant SFX. When you reach an owl, you can return to the same spot (should you lose a life) and collect stars to boost your score.
I was overjoyed this morning when taking screenshots for this article, to discover a hidden area in level 1 featuring this fab snowman – can you find it? 🙂 Should you progress through level 1, and it is quite a big level, you are treated to a toy shop in level 2. What a game this is – if only a full version could have been completed….

A CD-i that is a must at Christmas, is A Christmas Songbook. Beautiful traditional Christmas songs come to life through wonderful festive scenes.
For the brave amongst you, you can sing along karaoke style 😉 (that certainly wont be me!). This for me is what makes Philips CD-i so special – as well as the fantastic games, there are beautiful discs like this to enjoy.

And finally, with thanks to our very own member Blazers, is this wonderful CD-i which comes with a snowflake Christmas card ”Seasons Greetings from Philips Media”. The disc contains a festive music video.
All that’s left to say is a very Merry Christmas to you all, from The World of CD-i team 🙂

Interview with member CaptainJ plus big news!

We at The World of CD-i are very proud to bring you some big news in the CD-i community – as I discovered when I caught up recently with our member CaptainJ! Please read on….

Alan: What first got you interested in CD-i and for how long have you collected?

CaptainJ: I can tell you the exact date I was interested in the CD-i! One night in September of 1993, I couldn’t sleep and decided to watch TV. In the middle of the night an infomercial (remember those!?) came on about this new machine that could play games, movies, music, and more. That was of course the Philips CD-i! It was called the “Meaning Of Life” Infomercial and as I watched it I become obsessed with this machine and everything it could do! I am a huge FMV fan, and seeing games, movies and more come out of this with the visuals that it had, while my SNES and Genesis could not do anything close to that, made me want it even more!
The problem of course was the price at launch, and being 15 years old at the time, this wasn’t going to happen! Fast forward to Christmas of 1995, the CD-i at my local store had dropped to $299 (for the 450 model), and I finally got it with copies of Link: Faces Of Evil, Tetris, and Hanna Barbara Cartoon Carnival. From that moment on I have been a collector and have never looked back! I was even featured in a 2007 issue of Tips and Tricks magazine for my CD-i collection at the time!
Funny ending to the infomercial story, because this was the early 90’s, and because I would not have known to record it on my VCR, I never got to see it repeated again. I looked for it for years and in the early 2000’s I started an extensive search. Since YouTube and other video sites weren’t there yet to help me find the video, I put out a $200 reward to many video game websites to help me find it. Finally, a few years later, a TV station from Philadelphia called me and told me they had the original master tapes in their archives and sold it to me! I took that one, and the “Serviceman” Infomercial that I purchased from them as well, digitized them and got them out to the internet! Make sure you check it out on YouTube 😉

Alan: You used to run a store which stocked an extensive range of CD-i software and hardware. Please tell us more about it…

CaptainJ: I have been in the video game industry since 1996, but in 2003 I opened a chain of stores in northeastern Ohio called World Of Games. At the time I was working with what was left of the CD-i, PmPro, to not only fill my own collection, but to buy in bulk for my stores as well. They sold me leftover games in bulk, as well as CD-i 470 models with DVCs included. I was getting titles like Burn: Cycle, Tell Me Why, Muzzy, Pecos Bill, and the Sesame Street titles for as little as $1.50 a copy if you can believe that!

CD-i had recently closed shop in the few years preceding that and it was great to not only cater to the existing fans that were still there and looking for products, but to educate a whole other generation of CD-i fans as well! I sold that company in 2006 and turned World Of Games into a consultant company for people that wanted to own their own video game store, but were not sure how to accomplish this. I would help them with locations, design, materials, distributing, and training and it was a great feeling to help other people realize a dream that I had myself many years prior.

After many years, World Of Games changed one last time to the publishing company we are today! You can visit us at World Of Games (worldofgamespublishing.com)

Alan: Why do you think that CD-i was not as popular in the US than in Europe?

CaptainJ: As with most of the systems at that time, and there are many, nothing could stop the juggernaut that was Nintendo and Sega’s marketing and anything that tried to compete with the two in the States generally failed. This trend continued until the Playstation was released, which, if you know your lore, has to do with how the Nintendo games got on the CD-i (look it up!)
I think the European and Japanese markets were more open minded about new products and because of that they got to enjoy some great systems and titles that the US overlooked. In terms of the CD-i, because of this appreciation, the European market had a much better install base, and in turn more titles to be had.

Alan: You are about to launch an exciting new CD-i project. Please tell us about it and how our members can purchase it..

CaptainJ: I am proud to announce today that World Of Games will be releasing its first title for the CD-i, Felix The Cat’s Giant Electronic Comic Book on 11/11/22! Many people have got to play the near completed versions that are available out there, but we purchased the complete version (known as 1.03) from a private collector and have published it in original CD-i packaging. I think everyone will be very happy with how it turned out and it looks identical to an official CD-i release from back in the day! You can pre-order starting today at worldofgamespublishing.com or, to honor all the collectors out there, philipscd-i.com!. We ship worldwide and we hope you enjoy our first title!

Alan: Why do you think CD-I remains so popular today, and can you foresee releasing more CD-i titles in the future?

CaptainJ: I think CD-i remains popular because people hold a special place in their hearts for it. Whether it is someone that was able to purchase it in the very beginning and experience a whole new world of entertainment that had not been seen up to that point, to someone like me that had to wait in anticipation for the price to drop to happen to afford it, to someone that discovered the system long after it discontinued, everyone has their own special CD-i story.
And I want that story to continue – which is why World Of Games is going to be working on more titles to publish for the CD-i right away! One of those titles I will be announcing within a month or so and it is another completed original unreleased title that I bought from another private collector… so let the anticipation begin! 😀 As far as beyond that, World Of Games is looking to hire a part time designer for someone with CD-i developing experience to work on some original titles! This is a paid position – so if you have interest, please contact us through the website.

Alan: Ultimately, if Philips had focused more on the games market from the start, do you think it could have been more popular worldwide, and a contender to PSOne, N64 for market share?

CaptainJ: I think it not only needed to focus on more games but ones that were easier to play when it came to the action, which was a big thing then. Those of you that have tried to play any Zelda CD-i title with the one-handed controller will know what I am talking about!
Not to say it didn’t need to have movies, edutainment, children’s etc, because that’s what made the system so special, but CD-i was so ahead of its time that people didn’t yet understand what they had before them. If you think about the PS5 and XBSX today, it can play games, it can play movies, it can go on the internet, all the things CD-i was doing 25+ years ago – but again no one related the true potential of this great piece of hardware.
It was all about getting the system into peoples’ hands, and while they still would have faced the challenges with the other systems as I mentioned above, I think there would have been a little more market share for Philips to pocket at that time. More games like Nobelia at or near the launch date could really have turned things around.

Alan: What did you think of TwBurn’s Nobelia game?

CaptainJ: I think it’s a true statement of what could have been on the system. Nobelia shows that CD-i was capable of doing things that it should have been doing more of, and why companies at that time didn’t pursue more of that we will never know. When the first original title from World Of Games comes out, I hope it’s half as good as this masterpiece! Thank you again TwBurn for all of your work! 😀

Alan: Finally, if you were forced to choose 1 CD-i title, 1 CD-i gadget/controller and 1 CD-i console to keep, which would they be and why?

CaptainJ: The system and controller are easy, and that’s the original CD-i 220 and its thumbstick controller (22ER9051) from the very beginning! The awesome casing and futuristic drawer with the opening door is what got me hooked first up.
As far as the titles that’s a tough one but if I could only pick one it might have to be Tetris! I competed in the Nintendo World Championship in 1990 and that was one of the games we played in the tournament, so it has been a lifelong favorite. Combine that with the incredible backgrounds and soothing music on the CD-i and this makes it a version of Tetris everyone should try out!

Huge thanks to CaptainJ for talking to me, and I wish him all the very best with Felix the Cat and future releases 😀

CD-i magazines from around the world

Philips CD-i is as we all know very much a worldwide phenomenon!! There were many publications produced to celebrate our favourite system. I wanted to showcase them here, on our favourite CD-i website 🙂

Germany: Featuring news, music, culture, children’s titles, games

Italy: New Age magazine, to compliment the New Age Interactive series which ran on CD-i for 8 issues. A 9th was made, but sadly was only CD-ROM compatible. The content went into great detail about the items featured on the CD-i discs. I particularly love the DV sequences focused on a particular country, accompanied by beautiful music.

Italy: Huge thanks to Marco for sending in details of this Italian CD-i magazine 🙂

USA: As far as I’m aware, there was only one of the CD-i World magazines produced, but there were a few of the ‘newspaper-style’ publications. A couple of CD-i World discs were produced too, which were ground-breaking at the time – one of them featuring an interactive conference.

Netherlands: The CD-i Gold Club was THE place to be for the latest releases and news back in the day. I remember Big Bang Show being available to buy there, but not available in the other go-to place – McNo in the UK.

Netherlands: The Dutch CD-i magazine was published throughout the 1990s -at the very beginning and the very end of the CD-I’s life. It featured many interviews, including here with Anita and Ray from 2Unlimited, to celebrate their hit ”Beyond Limits” interactive music CD-i.

France: Excellent Generation CD-i magazines, jam packed with detail and loads of French exclusive CD-i games. Fort Boyard was previewed in here, but sadly not released.

France: Small booklets which are more like catalogues, but have very detailed information about games, educational titles, culture titles, music and more.

Sweden: Quite rare these ones, and if I’m honest are thinner on content, but lovely finds nonetheless. Recommend trying to find the excellent Swedish games Foqus and Alfapet (Scrabble).

UK: This again is rare, there were only one of these produced to my knowledge. This particular copy I bought from an old boss for £5 in about 1994 – the magazine itself was published in 1992. It features many newspaper articles previewing the CD-i as it was just being released in the UK.

UK: I couldn’t wait to go out and buy these bi-monthly publications, usually from WHSmith. The first few editions featured guest reviews (of Tennis, 7th Guest and Litil Divil) from the legend Dominik Diamond, who I once contacted on Twitter many years ago – asking him if he remembered the CD-i. His response was ”I do – it looked amazing back in the day”. What a great endorsement!! These UK magazines ran until October 1996 and famously featured a review of Discworld… but NOT the CD-i version (which sadly has never surfaced at the time of writing 🙁 ).

USA: Based very much on the UK CD-i magazine content, I believe this ran for 5 issues.

Do you have any magazines from a country that I’ve not featured here? If so, please do get in touch and we’ll publish for you 🙂 I’m certain that the awesome Nobelia would have scored a very high review in ALL of the above!!