Rare Philips CDi 350 & 370 Handheld Review - Gamester81

[@q13e5]

0:08:15 I thought that was only an KZbin animation going viral... I would-of never thought it was to a real actual game. :P

[@HalfBlindGamer]

Great video man and thank you so much for that shoutout! Really kind of you and much appreciated. I've never gotten my hands on a portable CD-i, but I here they are some of the best units to have. I believe the 370 is one of the few (if not the only) system that has an actually easy to replace timekeeper battery. Thanks for showing these, great overview!

[@scruffziller]

Its amazing at how many different things were on the market way back in the day. Bold, innovative designs but they didnt have the development capital to make a large go of it.

[@infectedflinch]

Amazing! I never even knew these existed! Great video!

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@superlegoman64 CD-i's were made up to 2000 I believe, and were used a good while after that too as a business tool. As a gaming system it died out at around 1998, as a retail device a good while earlier still.

[@ngochienpham8410]

Where can i buy the battery for this? My father lost it 5y ago:) in my country, so difficult to find the accessories because They are not widely used. Can you help me?

[@DeltaLead65]

Once again... you amaze me with your stuff.

[@markvergeer]

The MsPacman game on the CDi is amazing - it only features one moving ghost I believe!

[@MisterRON]

"Zelda's Adventure looks like a pretty good game actually." No.

[@yeahtheman]

Nice review man! I remember when the portable ones were out back in the day, I really wanted one, but I had the CD-i 450 which I liked a lot. I still have a couple of issues of the CD-i magazine and use to bring them to school because hardly any of the other kids had heard of the system. A lot of people on youtube make fun of it now, but every one of my friends enjoyed coming over to play it back then.

[@ScrewAttackEurope]

But that blue lead you got. looks like a Caravan plug. My family has had a few caravans over the years and they looked like that. But they're mostly used for stuff like Car lights for bumpers than anything else.

[@mrnaughtycat]

In 1993 this was 1200 quid

[@HermaphroGynandro]

Magnavox must've looked at Philips's game console and made a "Mag"-nificent face-palm and said, "This isn't how you were suppose to take video gaming to the next level!"

[@SamuraiClinton]

When I played a CD-I device when I was in elementary school, that is when I first head of the company Philips. However, I have heard of Magnavox years before that when I played the NES on an inexpensive Magnavox brand TV. Ya know, I never knew that Philips itself was the originator of the Compact Disc which I never even seen until like maybe early 1994, as well as the compact cassette which I used to use alot. Philips sure was involved in engineering multimedia equipment for me.

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@dungeonblaster It's really on the right. It's not designed with games in mind though, these units were mainly used to augment business presentations. Much like how we use laptops for presentations these days.

[@JohnnyMo0dy]

Very interesting stuff. I never heard of these versions. Keep up the good work.

[@chronosousa]

Thank you for the video gamester81

[@townsjim]

Sony also made a portable CDi. It's really pretty and very modern looking for the time it came out, but its very hard to come by these days. It was insanely expensive and very few units were sold. Great vid :-)

[@preziam]

5:37 is a power inverter, i have been using them for years to hook up things like tv's and vid game systems up in my vehicles. Sweet review btw.

[@Sean3614]

Thanks, for the shout out .

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@RetroGamer3 These units were not intended for games, most people prefer a pointing device (like a mouse) on the right side. For games... it's really awkward though. But as I said, these were not designed for games, but rather for presentations and such. You wouldn't want to hold that like a controller anyway, way to big! They have inputs for a normal (for CD-i...) gamepads too.

[@Emaline90]

@angelpichu1 no as that wasnt a format at the time. CD-i is a format of disc that can play all sorts of media. There were CD-i movies though. I have Ghost and the Hunt for Red October.

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@ProjectFreelancer64 It's more of a portable version and it wasn't intended as a handheld gaming system at all. CD-i was a pretty successful medium as a business tool. This was more aimed towards easier use in that field.

[@nathanallan1]

Super rare and super cool, both of them. I guess I got lucky to have found two of the console models. Nice video!

[@PhatPhunk]

Wow! Never seen or heard about a portable CDi before! Thanks for the info John! Looks awesome.. The case that it came with looks super cool. Great vid!!!!

[@szor1]

I never knew these existed, been gaming since 1976! Thanks for the info.

[@josephlisowski6414]

szor1 0-0 your awsome

[@19pieman]

awesome review john

[@ChristopherSobieniak]

Would be kinda sweet if it also played VCD's as well, but I don't suppose that was ever thought about at the time.

[@jboypacman]

Looking for one of those Paddle Plug N Plays so congrats on get it and on the rest of them and a great video from as always. : )

[@dave4shmups]

@Gamester81, can you switch between PAL and NTSC on the other versions of the CD-i? Because I watched the HalfBlindGamer's review of Zenith, and it looks really cool, but it was only released in Europe AFIK. Great video!!

[@mrnaughtycat]

It’s rare coz it was so expensive at the time way back in 1993

[@nick_whateverTV]

0:02 looks like a burnt in plasma TV

[@gnarlymcgnarlson6952]

I have a Sony CDI brand new in the box going up for auction this evening on eBay.

[@dave4shmups]

Gamester81, these are both really cool cdi models! Does either one come with the digital video cartridge that some games need?

[@CarfDarko]

Doesn't look like it, don't see any room for that beast of an expansion pack in this cute and tiny piece of failed entertainment hardware.

[@TekMoliGy]

I recently got this and it came with some Quiznos employee training discs. i can't get them to work though but im keeping them since im guessing they have to be ultra rare. the player itself works great though.

[@edherdman9973]

Upload 'em somewhere!

[@BuckoBean29]

Did you ever get those discs archived?

[@TekMoliGy]

@@BuckoBean29 nah. idk they're pretty scratched up. i think they're too messed up to read but i'll keep them and eventually get rid of them to someone that has more time to mess with them

[@BuckoBean29]

@@TekMoliGy well if you ever want to get rid of them please let me know. I own a professional disc resurfacer and can make these discs look like new. I would love the chance to archive these discs for the world to see. Thanks.

[@johnDingoFoxVelocity]

Yea the blue button odd I have never seen that before????? But interesting and weird though wouldnt the portable lock out games like maddog mcgree and drug wars and police force because the light gun was kinda needed for those titles I could see why these failed not because of screen size but elemination of the gun would be a downer

[@iaincowell9747]

Well as said this version was never designed to be a games console. It's main purpose was as a video player for professional market. For company reps to show customers product videos.

[@SPac316]

Weird that the d-pac is on the right hand side rather then the left like we're used to. Oh, and I watch HBG's videos all the time. Great stuff he does! ;)

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@TheBloodyKnife1 CD-i has no copy protection and pretty much all of the games are made to work on both PAL and NTSC systems. So it's really easy to play burned games on it indeed, back then most consumers did not have burners yet.

[@jackbrokeheart]

Sweet review, also, will you be reviewing that plug n' play stuff?

[@cincinatus90]

Thank you for explaining that. These people wont stop bothering me!!!

[@SamuraiClinton]

The watch you are wearing at 4:27 looks alot like a C-Watch, of which is a retro 90s piece. One day, I'd like to see an MP3 player watch be distributed in a similar look.

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@markvergeer Haha, it does have three :P But you can move faster then the screen can scroll, so it's no great port by any means.

[@Naedlus]

Huh, it has an additional input on the side... if you wanted, you could play one of the most compact versions of Mad Dog McCree with the zapper, that is, if the 350 came with the equivilant FMV card built in. If nothing else, you could still use the zapper to play games, which, is far better than the default remote style controller that came with the CD-i 220 (the model I own,) or the 350's default controls on the face of the system.

[@TheSegaStoner]

I was unaware that there were cd-I handhelds... If there are so many different models how come it's hard to find one? Also what kind of watch were u wearing?

[@SSlovebird]

I kind of want this just so I can take it on the plane and see what people's reactions to it are like.

[@maddog66]

I'm assuming that you can't move the system to dramatically while playing otherwise it would scratch the cds. Am I correct on that?

[@bitpixpr]

Amazing systems never seen them but they look really awesome thanks a lot for this review.

[@jlong908]

@angelpichu1 no dvds came out at around 1996

[@hristaki99]

I've watched the custscenes like a million times but this is my first time seeing the actual game.

[@douro20]

It will play on the 370, but not on the 350 because of the lack of the MPEG decoder.

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@tsukasa2k6 350... I don't think, but the 370 does for sure.

[@byteusa]

When was it released, how many were sold

[@Artificialpotatosack]

The intention was aimed at the KZbin poops that used the CD-I games as source material. AVGN did a review of the games and system.

[@GPeter7]

Hi, Gamester81 do you know by chance how much was cost Philips CD-i 370 back in 1995/1996? I heard that was $1900.00 but I’m not sure if that is true.

[@crinsom022]

omg was that dark castle in the CD-I?

[@SylvaTheMoth]

MAH BOI, THIS IS WHAT ALL TRUE WARRIORS STRIVE FOR!

[@SuikaIbuki]

does the portable version have the digital video cartrige in it ? sorry for bad spelling -_-;

[@mrfuzzer1]

I would be abit scared about putting in a valuable game in a portable cd player though specially when the dpad and stuff is right on top of the disk. Is it stable?

[@thetylife]

Wow....Was the CDi doing that well that they were compelled to make a portable version of it...Good portable CD player back in the day I guess.

[@Term271]

Make an updated video about thsi

[@WanderingKit]

How is the first handheld portable if it needs to be plugged in?

[@Patrick19833]

I had no idea that they made a portable version of CDI.

[@OscarM12345]

Does your camera make everything looked reversed, or is the d-pad on the right hand side of the console, if so wow that must be hard to get used to.

[@karenelizabeth1590]

THe CD-i sucked, but truthfully I'd be stoked to own one in the 90s and even now.

[@FlintG]

Yeah if I could afford to pick up this portable cdi I would pick it up and play some shitty zelda games my friends be like wtf is that? And I be like you don't even want to know. lol.

[@ThunderDragonRandy]

I feel the same. As horrible as the CD-i is (as far as I heard), I would sort of be interested in having one of these, for curiousness and stuff.

[@ZmeyKolbasnik]

I would have a CDi for Hotel Mario.

[@RyanChristianson]

I have those tetris plug-n-plays, they work really well

[@KevinJones-bt7ib]

was there a Panasonic one to, that sacked the fat one

[@Bloxxer42]

The side-scrolling Link game is pretty good, but it would be good if they actually cut out the cut scenes.

[@shroyerdave]

Great video. I actually prefer handhelds to home consoles so it's cool to see another handheld that actually plays home console games. Now they just need to work on the Nintendo 64 handheld, and maybe a better handheld SNES than the FC 16 Go.

[@DanielBMS]

Could these systems be hooked up to a TV?

[@vainxler]

I have seen this watch before.. (at a long time) What is it?

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@HalfBlindGamer By the way John, the 370 was made by GoldStar ;)

[@TheProductreviewsinc]

Well, that was the first standalone CD-based console, called the CD-I.

[@brunobliss]

having the controller upon the cd player? hmmm getting nervous would be a problem no?

[@jose5080007]

great vid 5 star ill show you guys my philips cdi soon.

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@youtubasoarus I agree, if it wasn't for pioneering technology like this, there wouldn't be DVD or PlayStation discs. Heck, even Blu-Ray still used conventions invented with the CD-i format. The music in the two Zelda platformers is also really good indeed. It's a real shame Philips didn't care at all for the gaming market (we don't toys...), if they would have focused on that in the design they could have scored a real hit I think.

[@johnnyonthespot6396]

I can't believe you own allll those systems and that's the first time you've seen a power inverter got one in my car can bring a small led tv and a game system on roadtrips

[@Gorlokk666]

could i ask where you got one of them or both?

[@Gorlokk666]

@CaptainAwesomeness34 well it goes for no less then $100 so yeah. but not unless you want one. But you couldve also sell it on ebay for like $80 if it was just the system or over $100 if it came with like the controllers and cords.

[@TravelJoe2010]

Those CD-i handhelds are monsters fighting with the Sega Game Gear in Tokyo for dominance over who is the largest, less conveniently sized handheld.

[@thetravelinghermit]

DUDE you have the old H-handle star wars game?!?!?!? I'm gonna cry now...

[@browsertab]

Is that Link game the only Zelda game that's named after Link?

[@mrtootybutbut]

hey! i know this is a longshot, but do you still need that thing? this is going to sound so goofy, but i've been meaning to just get one to play! im not a collecter, i just want hotel mario on the go! im also not very wealthy but if youll sell it ill see what i can scrape up! thanks!

[@HalfBlindGamer]

@dave4shmups Almost all of the CD-i games are coded to run perfectly in both regions. So Zenith should run just fine on any NTSC system, at least I never heard any complaints on that game. The only game I know that has region issues is Family Games 2. Most normal players don't have a region switch (there are a ton, so there are probably some that do). The portable ones do though. If you can find it, the 370 is probably the best CD-i to get these days.

[@Antnie]

Nice watch : )

[@noideac]

i got that same Atari plug and play joystick. I believe it has 10 games on it (adventure, pong, vollyball, asteroids) just to name a few

[@Suiax]

I'm sitting here, watching this, while playing my 3ds, and thinking, "Wow, it's amazing how technology has progressed in the last 20 years"

[@shleeve]

thanks so much for watching guys, i really appreciate it. until next time, happy gaming! take care. *walks off stage*

[@moonfestmadness]

i remember playing burn cycle on my cdi ltd edition music cd included i still have that cd lol

[@laprasking]

Wow, never realized there were so many CDi models. lol.

[@angelpichu1]

so is the phillips cdi a 16 bit game system? or is it a made up number of bits all it's own?

[@angelpichu1]

can the cdi play dvd's?

[@dungeonsdragons1900]

Maybe you can help me! I bought a Philips cdi 370 console off eBay and the seller showed it working but the ac adapter was not included. But I can't find the power supply anywhere very disappointing the console looks new nuts

[@nutz4gunz457]

I went through the same problem. You can make your own and its not too hard.All you need is a universal laptop charger that has a usb and a 5 pin mini DIN connector. both can be found on eBay. Here is a link to the instructions. www.retrovideogames.de/mods-adaptors/philips-cd-i-370-power-supply-pinout/

[@dungeonsdragons1900]

Do you know anyone that makes them?

[@dungeonsdragons1900]

thank you for responding to my question

[@MokokerMovies]

wow it works!

[@KevinArcade]

What watch are you wearing dude?

[@TheProductreviewsinc]

The Philips CDi was the first console to use a cd drive.

[@RUB1XCUBES]

where u buy it?

[@CherryPixelBun]

I wouldn't mind the 7th Guest on a plane trip, I'll probably only solve 2 puzzles though.

[@zeldajunkielol2]

I JUST WONDER WHAT GAMSTER81'S UP TO!

[@GuldurKhand]

Zelda adventure... I lent that game from a friend couple of years ago, it is a pretty hard game, for a kid of 8 years old.

[@tenjhotenge]

@moviemovies1 I just wonder what Gannon's up to.