Commodore Amiga CDTV History and Restoration (T2T Pt1)

[@PeTTs0n88]

That interview with Gail Wellington was great - there are so many people behind the scenes who created things that countless people enjoyed (or dreamed about) throughout history, and there are already too many who aren't with us anymore. They deserve the recognition and some time to share their experiences and memories. Heart-warming, inspiring and nostalgic, all at once.

[@maverickblah]

And to see the magic in her eyes when she's telling the story!

[@GadgetUK164]

Very cool! Enjoyed the Gail Wellington interview!

[@MetaVIRTUAL]

Wasn't she amazing

[@GadgetUK164]

@@MetaVIRTUAL Yes =D

[@marcelcevani5688]

Great Interview... what a great person :)

[@dantootill7644]

I was just thinking the same. So good of her to take the time to talk about this stuff, but then again who could say no to Neil?

[@gazzofdoom]

Great insight for the pre release window too

[@MichaelChristoffersen]

Nice to see that Gail Wellington is still around. Our dear Mother of Amiga :)

[@8ightbytes186]

Total respect for Gail Wellington....a Legend and an Iconic woman in the story of the CDTV Such an intimate inside take on the CDTV history...its inception, its launch, the marvel it was and, the ultimate failure it become.. Great Video Neil.

[@bcbock]

The woman shown demoing a “Thinking Game” on the CDTV at CES was Laura Buddine of Tiger Media. Tiger developed two games for the CDTV. The one shown is The Case of the Cautious Condor. The other was Murder Makes Strange Deadfellows. Several years later, Laura became my mentor, employer, friend, and ultimately my business partner. We were in the process of recreating The Case of the Cautious Condor with new, more modern art for modern devices when she sadly passed away. I haven’t had the heart to continue that project. If she hadn’t died, she would have had a LOT of stories to tell you about CDTV and working with them. I’m glad you are documenting these things before everyone who worked on them passes. I’m ashamed to admit that when we cleaned out her house after she died, we threw out an old CDTV dev kit. I didn’t work on it, so I don’t know what was different. I do remember the funky remote control. This was before all the retro mania was obvious to us.

[@maltemundt3468]

Thanks for sharing this insight!

[@nekononiaow]

Thank you for sharing Brian!

[@AcAwesomeAndrew]

I’d like to see that finished remake

[@carledwards9477]

What a truly amazing story, and that you managed to get an interview with a key person: incredible! This is why your channel is well worth subscribing to and watching. So much invaluable information and some truly wonderful people!

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks Carl, more interviews coming up in part 2

[@carledwards9477]

@@RMCRetro I CAN wait, even though I can't! You have sprung so many surprises on us and this was a gem!

[@thedogwooddandy]

@@RMCRetro this comment to the moon and back. your dedication is appreciated and you're a mighty good conduit for good and knowledge. thank you.

[@noodles4773]

gail wellington bless her heart still remembers past events,i just love these developer interviews it sheds light on the item we love created by them.

[@bazza5699]

wow!! gail wellington.. incredible.. bet she had some amazing stories..

[@studiomwg]

These people were/are geniuses. I credit the Amiga with a large part of my childhood education and beyond. Sad to hear and see and her age. Bless her for participating in this series.

[@lawrencemanning]

@@studiomwg its amazing hearing her perspective especially the part about how the Philip's people reacted. It's clear age has taken its toll, but she's as sharp as a nail inside.

[@lawrencemanning]

I've been watching this channel for a few years, but I'm now doing the decent thing and signing up as a paetreon. Thank you Neil for another amazing video.

[@niino4329]

The caps inside the power supply as well as the caps on the CD-drive board do often leak (no bulging). You should take a look at them. Another possible fault might be the disc detection microswitch on the drive board - they can still be bought from mouser, digikey etc, so replacing them is simple. (Model is Panasonic ESE-11SH1C)

[@BertGrink]

Upvoting to improve the chance of Neil seeing the comment.

[@RMCRetro]

Thank you, all tips very much appreciated. I'll be looking at repairs first thing tomorrow

[@hirez1972]

Ah ha! That'll be why I have to give mine a light tap on the top to get the disc spinning.

[@bxlbjorn]

My parents bought it for me when I was a kid. They were not affluent so it's amazing they actually did. Such memories

[@kosmosyche]

Looks so classy! I adore 90's design of electronics.

[@stevenpurvey3775]

Hi Neil, I am one of those strange people that bought one of these back in 1992. I wanted it badly when I first saw it in Dixons coupled to a black keyboard, black mouse, black floppy and black SCSI hard drive (a huge 40Mb as I recall). So I bought the whole lot in one go at an outrageous price (my brain has repressed the memory of the price, but it was under £1000). After over 20 years in a cupboard, I connected it all together last year to see if it still worked and amazingly... ... it did! Even the hard drive burst into life - amazing. Good luck with your latest project; I look forward to part 2. And you are right, the SCSI card goes in the back expansion port. -Steve

[@PATTHECATMCD]

Those black HD boxes are not common. Wise investment, it's amazing what people will pay for original Abs plastic.

[@stevenpurvey3775]

@@PATTHECATMCD It would appear that the black keyboard is now worth a ridiculous amount as well. Very odd.

[@PATTHECATMCD]

@@stevenpurvey3775 Very useful if you want a "stealth black" paint job.

[@memitim171]

@@stevenpurvey3775 Because one thing still holds up about this system today: it looks badass.

[@stevenpurvey3775]

@@memitim171 Hell Yeah!!

[@fsddevelopment4513]

Had one of these. Sold it, never regretted it until I saw current prices.

[@rickylovesyou]

Hahaha! The only reason anyone would hold onto one to be fair!

[@75slaine]

Great to hear directly from Gale, nice work Neil. I remember drooling over these in the high street store as a teenager. Really looking forward to the rest of this one 👍

[@kranibal]

What a great interview segment with Gail!

[@RMCRetro]

Thanks Martin, some more insights coming in part 2

[@AllGamingStarred]

@@RMCRetro may she RIP

[@DeathMetalDerf]

The interview was especially awesome! What an incredible gift to be able to get that level of detail on the CDTV! I can't tell you how excited I am for the next video!

[@thepillock]

Great to hear from Gail and hear her memories from the frontline of the multimedia battles. Can't wait for the next installment! I'm feeling very guilty about my CDTV being on the shelf gathering dust for so long.

[@Waccoon]

I remember seeing demonstrations of the CDTV at a Commodore trade show (I believe this was in NY state). Even as a teenager, I was wondering who the target market was, regardless of price. I saw a few people from the trade show walking out with brand new CDTVs and I just shook my head. The real importance of this machine is the work Commodore did to cost reduce CD drives, which affected the whole industry. People tend to forget just how expensive data CD drives were in those days, especially the SCSI variety, which could fetch up to $1,000 USD.

[@Jaw0lf]

I love my CDTV and it is wonderful to see you looking after one and from a box!!! I am lucky to have CDTV keyboard and mouse with mine. SCSI was a good addition, but the SCSI2SD adapter was strange. I recieved a newer model and this would not boot, however upon trying an older version of the SCSI2SD it did work and now boots happily, giving me a full Amiga experience!! Finally the memory upgrade and extended ROM sets were also added! Loving the video and informationyou have found, especially the Gail Wellington interview.

[@andresbravo2003]

A Mysterious Piece of Treasure... I really liked how Amiga CDTV was going to be a entertainment computer or maybe a game console before Amiga CD32 existed.

[@ttvCarn]

T2T are my favourite videos you produce, really great stuff. Can I also say how much I appreciate that you are sponsored by something relevant to your content instead of shilling a dubious mobile phone game like some channels. Keep it up mate

[@RMCRetro]

Thank you! I get those damn emails every day asking!

[@geekwithsocialskills]

Thank you for the link and video shout out for the Welcome Video Tour. The CDTV is awesome! I've been piecing my unit together since 2011 and in 2020 I finally tracked down the black keyboard for mine. Looking forward to your next videos on the CDTV!

[@chrisransdell8110]

Ooh a cliffhanger. And it was a treat hearing from Gail. I've heard her a few times and she seems like a fascinating person.

[@mattb154]

The Atari ST totally asserting dominance during the plug-in test.

[@sunspot42]

Bizarrely, Atari had beaten almost everybody to the punch in releasing a CD drive for the ST very early on, I think around the time the 1040ST came out, but then did virtually nothing with it. About the only software released for it was a parts catalog for the Boeing 747 and I think some encyclopedia. The Tramiels never could get software right.

[@jasonk9779]

@@sunspot42 It always amazed me that the Atari got so much attention with it's built in MIDI ports when I had a MIDI interface for my Amiga that connected to the serial port and worked fine. Commodore really dropped the ball on that and should have mentioned how easy it was to add MIDI.

[@danielofmanytrades]

Also looking at software that supports MIDI I do think that Atari ST will win... Anyone knows which software that supports the CDTV MIDI ports? I am trying to find out to include in my series about how i transform my CDTV to be better than a A500 :)

[@mattb154]

@@jasonk9779 I don't think it was just the interfaces being built in. The ST had a high-res mode that made a dense user interface like the one in Cubase possible. And not only possible, but "professional" in the same way that a Macintosh was more professional than an Amiga.

[@TheBasementChannel]

Rewatching this video as I’ve just picked up my own CDTV, it’s such a great resource, thanks Neil.

[@enzito_sdf6978]

commodore dynamic total vision is the best thing i've ever heard lmao

[@tomlee80]

That Trinitron you used was my parent's first second TV. My dad got it back in 1989 from John Lewis and I remember us setting it up for my mum as her birthday present. What was great about it was that in 1993 when I got a USA import SNES it handled 60hz RGB SCART signals. Wonderful set :)

[@Brian-vs9sd]

I had one of these. I remember being so impressed with Groliers encyclopaedia. No one else could see my fascination. Thanks Gail for producing this wonderful product. It was a product both before it's time and past its time.

[@a120068020]

Gail is amazing still today. On the extra video she wouldn't have a bad word said about Irving Gould, which is a testament to her loyalty when you think in 1990 he took more salary than the company made in that year. Probably whilst she was able to interact with him directly.

[@ScrapKing73]

I bought a CDTV back when it first came out. Since it was also my first CD player, the cost was much easier for me to justify.

[@itsanarse]

That trackball remote is very cool, love how packed the machine is inside. That is a COOL find with the 'flash' board. Great to get some insight from someone who worked on it originally, as you usually do :)

[@JayVBear45]

And the Buzz-phrase of the decade SET-TOP-BOXES!!! Remember set top boxes?

[@X22GJP]

Graham here, a pleasure hooking you up mate, fantastic video and so pleased it has found a good home 😊

[@skilgannon1971]

Great video Neil. I have a CDTV because it's beautiful but only - like you, only managed to get one in recent years (price being the main blocker in the past). I had the A570 back in the day for my A500 and it was awesome! I remember sitting in my bedroom with my mum and amazing her with the ability of Hutchinson's Encyclopaedia etc. Also - how awesome is Gail Wellington!

[@MrStephen182]

Beautiful looking machine. Now people use their games consoles or home theater PC's under their TV's connected to their AV receivers to watch films and TV programs, listen to music and play computer games but in the early 90's this was far to ahead of it's time.

[@leelangley3705]

I remember getting my first amiga as a child.....and then being in absolute awe when, after school, going to my friend's house and seeing the "Black Beauty", I gasped as it ran EXACTLY the same games I was playing on my own Amiga, I didnt care though because it was black....not white but black.

[@chumpyman]

My dad had a A570 for the A500 plus. All i had was PD cd that wrote games to floppy to play on the s00 plus. Miss those lawnmower man style cd caddys

[@colinsmith6480]

I totally understand your opening statements, I have an Amiga 500, but wanted the CDTV, it looked and sounded so cool. But never could afford it when it was relevant !

[@infango]

i have been driving in a bus to nearest big city to see this best on store shelf .. my C64 was so old this machine was glorious !

[@zdebel]

Your videos are a true gem, they should be preserved for ages the same way you preserve these beautiful stories.

[@puddinhead99]

My first game console was a CDTV in the mid 90s. My dad was a distributor for Amiga.

[@travistaylor3186]

What a cool machine. I had heard of these before but not much else, hopefully one day I find one. Excellent job on the interview as well

[@tomduncan3547]

We purchased one in Australia at a university to use it in teaching. We had to develop the software to create the material. Over a year we had a working version ready with one small problem. No-one in Australia could burn a disk for us. Do our 5 1/4" drive was packed up and sent to the UK to make two copies. These cost $100 each I think. It was then used to show the benifits of computer based learning. Soon after the Amiga was dead and the project scrapped. Sad ending to a top set of Machines. RIP

[@vic20kid8]

Fantastic, I bought Amiga CDTV with matching commodore keyboard having the exact same fault as this one from Ebay couple of years ago , it was listed as faulty, I too get the splash screen but CD drive is dead as it is with yours, so I packed it away in storage waiting for some one to upload a fix video on youtube with same issues and here it is, so eager for part 2

[@natswii]

Great version of Defender of the Crown for CDTV

[@daishi5571]

Defender of the Crown II for the CDTV was the completed DotC as the original Amiga version had been rushed out incomplete. I believe every version after the original Amiga version had more content, even if they didn't look or sound as good.

[@chrisharris6384]

Love these T2T videos. I think the cave needs a retro lounge with a big hifi stack.

[@wimwiddershins]

Sticker shock killed this thing. I remember seeing it displayed in pride of place in shops for a while. A few months later the "shop soiled" display unit was on the discount bench and boxed stock nowhere to be seen.

[@stephanszarafinski9001]

Oh man, thanks for this video. I had a cdtv, complete setup, black mouse, keyboard, black diskdrive and all. But it was stolen from my storage... so sad...

[@RMCRetro]

Oh that is really sad!

[@edwinsmith-jones6205]

I wish I'd of kept the CDTV t-shirt which came, as a free gift, with my Amiga 500.

[@philipcorner574]

I got a CDTV t-shirt with my A500, and still have it! I had a brief conversation with Neil on Facebook who was fairly certain it was only included with the CDTV, but there must have been a limited number of them included with A500s

[@RMCRetro]

You may not be able to see it but Gail is wearing her original CDTV t-shirt in the video

[@edwinsmith-jones6205]

@@philipcorner574 yeah, I definitely got the t shirt with my A500.. along with a faux brass sticker/badge saying, I can't remember the exact wording, about the Amiga being voted or winner of the computer of the year award (?)

[@philipcorner574]

@@edwinsmith-jones6205 Was the t-shirt included in the box, or was it given away by the retailer? I wondered if it was a fairly limited giveaway. The quality of the shirt was terrible; I'm sure I only wore it a couple of times, but it's about 6 atoms thick and has a hole in it!

[@edwinsmith-jones6205]

Sorry @@philipcorner574 I can't %100 remember if it was in the box or not... vague feeling it was. I know for sure it was the Screen Gems pack.

[@Ingens_Scherz]

A friend of mine at university in 1991 bought one of these. Much as I loved Amigas and had an A500 system myself, followed by the fantastic (and cheap!) A1200 in 1993, I just didn't understand this repackaged A500 then and still don't really. Fabulous video. So interesting and with superb original content, and so well-produced. Great.

[@RMCRetro]

Did you have a CDTV back in the day? Did you buy one at full price or pick one up in the bargain bins? Maybe you got an A570 for your Amiga 500 like I did? I'd love to hear your CDTV stories! Neil - RMC

[@derekboothseo]

I sold my A500 for a CD32 and regretted it immediately. I never actually had a CDTV but I don't think anything was ever as good as my A500

[@Thiesi]

Didn't have a CDTV but a CDTV keyboard for my CD32. Does that count?

[@geekwithsocialskills]

The CDTV is awesome! I've been piecing my unit together since 2011 and in 2020 I finally tracked down the black keyboard for mine. Looking forward to your next videos on the CDTV! P.S. Thank you for the link and video shout out for the Welcome Video Tour.

[@blasphemer71]

I bought one from Dixon's or Currys, one of them. I got the full Amiga CDTV kit with black keyboard, mouse, and floppy drive. It cost way too much and I had it on finance. There were bits and bobs of decent software, but it was very rare. I used it mainly as a basic Amiga. But I gave it away to be sold on a car boot sale. I wish I'd just put it in a box somewhere now I see how rare they are, but it was still very expensive and disappointing.

[@voidmansions]

I got one of these in the 90's when a shop in Leeds were selling one (new) for £200. It was in a massive cube box compared to the one in this video. I already had an A1200 and wanted a CD drive for it. I made up a ParNet cable to network the two machines together so I could browse all the AmiNet CDs on the A1200. Happy days. I still have it and all the accessories. I wouldn't even contemplate getting rid of it.

[@salvatorevetro1743]

This was so much ahead of its times.

[@AdiSneakerFreak]

Ahhh the back of Dixon’s with the CDTV and CDi sitting on their own in the hifi section... used to go in and have a play with them as a kid... memories... looking forward to the rest of the series Neil!

[@kaitlyn__L]

RIP Dixons (even if they did just get a change in name, it’s never felt the same)

[@MorganJustGames]

I gotta be honest, ive never actually seen an original CDTV with my own 2 eyes, but i have played some Games on other systems. Looks like a really nice system. Typical Neil taking things apart, and wow, so much going on inside it. Pretty much every nook and cranny is filled up. Sorry to hear the discs wouldn't load, but of course this series, we will surely see this firing up. Be interesting to see what else its got in store. I literally just looked on Ebay, and did not find one, only software and various spare parts. Intersting it has no signs of an Amiga logo anywhere, but again I'm seeing alot here for the first time. The design of the cardboard box was simular to the design of box i received my first CD32 in. Great Video Neil, great to see your doing so well in the new cave. I will join your Patreon in the future, great work Neil

[@valley_robot]

loved my CDTV , AMIGA forever

[@chrispybee]

Great start to the CDTV series. I used to own the Amiga A500 add-on and was great for getting public domain demos, music and all host of games. I think I had a PGA Golf CDTV game but that was it. I also had the HDD expansion but alas my parents had thrown both of them out a few years ago - was very upset for a while.

[@ryanyoder7573]

The 90s were the height of electronic aesthetic design. Love the look.

[@rodeliodejesus4283]

i worked at Commodore Philippines and won a cdtv in a chrismass party raffle with 2 educational cd's and an external amiga fdd with a lot of diskettes games including where in the world is carmen san diego,,i really love my cdtv,,thanks for this video😊😊

[@jiddro33]

Neil, you should definitely get one of those RGB-HDMI-thingys for your Amiga 500. It's a project that is perfect for showing how to do in a video.

[@RMCRetro]

Great idea! That's the pi zero based one right?

[@jiddro33]

@@RMCRetro Yes, right up your alley, I think!

[@sinephase]

That Fujitsu FM Towns is a gorgeous computer! Imagine being a designer and seeing that but saying "nah I like beige better".

[@KH-ye6qg]

The original idea behind a caddy was that people bought a whole load of them to put every CD in them they had.

[@craftsman123456]

The CDTV really was ahead of its time. The set-top box of its day.

[@paulboardman01]

always wanted one of them, had the chance and missed out when every one was getting rid

[@karehaqt]

Your not missing anything special.

[@rickylovesyou]

So not "always" then ? If everyone was getting rid of them you wouldn't have missed out if it was "always". 🤷‍♂️

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

I also remember wanting one of these, but at the time they were fricking expensive. Eventually I got an Amiga CD32 and had some fun with that. While it was nowhere near as polished as the CDTV it was very much cheaper and I think the chips were slightly upgraded to the same as those used in the Amiga 1200, but basically it was a games console that ran Amiga games from CD. Controllers were not the best though. Played so much Lemmings, Cannon fodder and Pirates on that, but that was about it. Still got it in the shelf collecting dust, though I have no idea if it still works.

[@giuseppelavecchia775]

Hai un CDTV in condizioni perfette,il CDTV e un bellissimo AMIGA e mi e sempre piaciuto,sono contento che piace anche a te.complimenti.

[@urinater]

Fred Harris - LEGEND

[@El_Guapo74]

Amazing they went from that nice looking box to the Amiga32 cheap everything. Combine the two and they may have had something

[@bmh67wa]

I bought a new Raspberry Pi 4 8GB and installed RetroPie on it and I feel like a kid again playing some of these old games from my childhood. Mom isn't yelling at me to go outside and play or clean my room either which is definitely a plus. 🤣 I've never heard of Amiga CDTV. It's an interesting device but I can see why it never took off. Thanks for sharing with us.

[@nathan_tasker]

Your videos are always a joy to watch. Your passion for old technology is a breath of fresh air. It brings me a healthy dose of nostalgia revisiting things that I grew up seeing, but could never afford. Going over the history is exciting too. Thank you for continuing to share your content with us all.

[@lemagreengreen]

I had no idea the CDTV looked that good, I never saw one in the flesh and always just heard how awful it was. It's got that high end 90s HiFi separate look down perfectly.

[@radekc5325]

"Composite" is called as such because it's a combination of luma and chroma. If it was like an A500's luma port, it wouldn't be called composite :) As an A500 owner of the era, I remember the frustration of CDTV being released. We desperately needed an A500 replacement that could match VGA graphics, have a high density floppy and maybe even a hard drive. Instead, we got this not-even-a-computer thing with games you couldn't even copy from your friends.

[@RetrogradeScene]

Fantastic episode! So interesting listening to Gail. I can't wait for part 2.

[@mtnygard]

Really looking forward to this series. It’s just astonishing how many opportunities Commodore had, and didn’t execute on.

[@Lucasrainford]

I was in the same boat as you Neil, back then I had a A500 but when I saw the CDTV in a mag I just had to have one! I loved the all-black setup, it just looked so damn cool! Alas £600 back then was a lot of money so it slipped me by. I remember in Dixons this was in the Hi-Fi section, which I thought was strange. Anyway, you finally got yours! all good things....nice one, great vid :)

[@Wallygjs]

Neil, great history on the CDTV, I really didn't know much about them as like you they were just too expensive at the time, I could only afford an ST. It was great hearing from Gail Wellington again. I wonder if in the future you could get an interview with Carl Sassenrath as I would love to hear from him about his time at Commodore and the work he did on the original Amiga OS and making it multi-tasking.

[@amigacoverdisk]

Great video, thanks. Very cool looking machine, especially with the black keyboard and monitor to match! Looking forward to the rest of this series!

[@consty715]

Don’t worry. I also have problems finding the slot when I try to put it in from behind

[@brucemccready682]

I think you might need to find a girlfriend instead.

[@sunspot42]

I’m sure it’s hard to get something so thin to stay in the slot.

[@ogabrielcasanova]

That's what she said

[@dvuemedia]

I still have on CDTV with original mouse and remote control, no keyboard. I got it about 15 years ago. I have upgraded to 3.1 roms with new boot roms, SCSI adapter, and standard joystick ports. My second favorite Amiga, the first one is A1200. I hope you get it working.

[@PATTHECATMCD]

New boot Roms are absolutely vital for upgrading it to later than Kickstart 1.3. V2.30 I presume? They might not have a label.

[@dvuemedia]

@@PATTHECATMCD You need them if you want to autoboot CDTV disks.

[@IraQNid]

New tech to me. I never heard of this thing. I used to sell computer gear in the 1990s and early 2000s.

[@Jonoth]

My dad had a cdtv with the black keyboard and black floppy drive! Used to play multiplayer armegeddon with his A500!

[@lordterra1377]

I love the way these look. I wish there was a PC around this vintage with a similarly style.

[@RobA500]

The start of another fantastic series, can’t wait for the next episode. It is quite a smart looking machine and could have been big if only Commodore got it right.

[@alphaLONE]

already can't wait for the 2nd episode!

[@slpkenney]

Can't wait for the rest of the series, I've always wanted a CDTV

[@cubby170279]

This brings back some memories of being in Dixon’s back in the early 90s. Can’t wait to see episode 2.

[@bitsnpcs4172]

I recall a stand in my local computer dealers, it was way away from any amiga stuff... commodore stupidly didn't want to have any association between the cdtv and the amiga! I did eventually grab an a570 years later but it got sold with my a500 when i decided to rationalize my amiga collection to just one a1200 and a cd32.

[@KJohansson]

Yes, we do remember these.. A shop I used to frequent in the early 90'ths in Umeå/Sweden (Akademibokhandeln) had one on display, and it was as I recall never sold..

[@KevinSaunders]

Very nice quality CDTV, kepted in top condition, Thanks for the review and no retrobrighting required for this one ;)

[@LasseSrnes]

Great video. Looking forward to the next chapter

[@LeftoverBeefcake]

For me, the CDTV was great... after they dropped the price down to $99 to blow them out since they were not a big seller. I didn't have a CD music player at the time, and thanks to ParNET software and a simple DIY parallel cable I could access the Aminet set of 4 CD's chock full of public domain software from my Amiga 500 simply and easily. I still remember standing in my local Amiga dealer and staring slack-jawed at that Psygnosis Planetside demo (the one with the plane flying over the Mars-looking landscape) but sadly the game was never released. Someday I will own a CDTV again... someday...

[@sambagogo777]

If nothing else at least the CDTV gave us Xenon 2 with the extended soundtrack.

[@BASSstarlet]

But is impossible to play it with that dreadful controller!

[@basvanharen2904]

Xenon II is my favorit Amiga game ever, now I must find the CDTV version hahah, didnt know there was an extended version.

[@sambagogo777]

@@BASSstarlet I read that the game can also be played without any problems on the Amiga CD32. You can use third-party gamepads and regular joysticks on that console.

[@sambagogo777]

@@basvanharen2904 Good luck finding it at a sane price on eBay!

[@simonebernacchia]

And the voice of Richard Joseph as Colin

[@kirbyyasha]

Great videos! I look forward to more, I love the window to Commodore Gail gave us.

[@Johanniscool]

Thanks for this Neil, always been fascinated with these things since I saw them new as a kid.

[@spoonwzd]

Wish I'd kept my CDTV. They still look super-slick imo!

[@Cyberpunk001]

I actually own one of these. It was given to me in the mid 90's by way of a swap. A friend wanted my Commodore 64 plus a decent game collection for this with a copy of Lemmings. It was my first audio compact disc player, sitting under my HiFi separates at the time. I loved playing Lemmings on it, with the Amiga version being the best in my opinion. At the time I didn't know it was an Amiga, and I thought it was nearer to the Philips CDi. My unit has been in storage for quite a few years now. I must dig it out and see if it works as they are quite rare now.

[@SmoothEmJay]

I kick myself over this every single time. I had one of these in the 90s, it failed eventually and ended up scrapped somewhere. THESE DAYS I'd have kept and repaired it. :(

[@aeiouxs]

Beautiful machine - and so many outputs that should have made an A500 owner like me cry (specifically the MIDI, but unless it's fully usable I will have to wait for Pt2 to find out....) - excited, thanks Neil!

[@PATTHECATMCD]

Was 100% comptabile with Amiga MIDI ports. At least they got that right.

[@Mike-mu7tk]

I saved an entire year delivering papers and picking berries in the summer to be able to buy this on the release date. I also had an A500. I know *exactly* how you felt. It ended up being primarily just a media player for me, and I have no idea what happened to it. Somehow I still had the remote which I sold about 10 years ago. In a sense, I regret buying it and I also regret not having it now.

[@davidbarlee4722]

This is the only Amiga I ever owned as I couldn't afford the earlier computers because I was still at school. I Bought the CDTV when it was coming towards the end of its life because I wanted to put a drive, keyboard and mouse on it and run Amiga computer software on it. I used one of my first pay packets when I became an apprentice. If I remember right I got it from Dixons in Coventry city center for around £150 + some games too ( I remember having Turican for it). As a machine I liked it, I kind of remember that the RAM was upgradable ( maybe that wasn't an official upgrade)for it but I could be mistaken.

[@Phoenix_1982_MD]

Epic, like everything you did! Keep it coming, greetings from Germany

[@gravious]

beautiful machine, I'd love to get one myself