Philips CD-i 1984 and it was first publicly announced in 1986. The first Philips CD-i player, released in 1991 and initially priced around US$1,000, was capable of playing interactive CD-i discs, Audio CDs, CD+G (CD+Graphics), Karaoke CDs, Photo CDs and Video CDs (VCDs), though the latter required an optional "Digital Video Card" to provide MPEG-1 decoding. Philips also licensed the CD-i format to other manufacturers for use, and there were also CD-i players by Sony under the "Intelligent Discman" brand. Philips marketed the CD-i as a "home entertainment system" in Europe, but more as a games and educational machine in the U.S.
Philips CD-i Console lineup. Games that were most heavily criticized include "Hotel Mario", "", "", and "Zelda's Adventure". EGM's Seanbaby rated "The Wand of Gamelon" as one of the worst video games of all time. However, "" was positively received by critics, and has often been held up as the standout title for the CD-i. In October 1994 Philips claimed an installed base of 1 million units for the CD-i. In 1996, the Wall Street Journal reported that total US sales amounted to 400,000 units. Philips CD-i The Philips CD-i (an abbreviation of Compact Disc Interactive) is an interactive multimedia CD player