Interactive CD threatens reign of 16-bit - compact disc, video game systems - Consumer Products Retailing Supplement

Discount Store News, Jan 3, 1994

As quickly as Nintendo, and then Sega put a leg lock on the televisions of America with their 8-bit, then 16-bit video game systems, the interactive CD may produce a level playing field in which any of dozens of competitors may become the "new Nintendo."

Formats already on the market include Turbo-Graphx-16, the original, which doubles as a portable game machine and, with a $100 PC Link, a CD-ROM player; Sega CD, which in a single year has become a major force with core teenage game players; and CD-I from Philips, the most advanced platform in terms of software variety and quantity (more than 100 titles vs. less than 20 so far for Sega CD). All cost under $500 with the former two under $300.

The first trickle of 3DO multiplayers hit the market this fall, and two other advanced CD-based systems will debut at CES: the Jaguar from Atari and Commodore's CD-32. Nintendo has a CD system in the works, but it may be as much as a year away from introduction.

And, of course, the nation's computer owners have the option of CD-ROM for PCs or Macintosh.

Up to 15 million of these units are expected to invade American homes over the coming year, as computer manufacturers include CD drives as a matter of course.

Commodore, which bombed a few years ago with its CDTV, an expensive system that required an Amiga computer for play, debuted CD-32 in England this fall, and it quickly rose to the top in player preference. The unit, which will sell for under $400 (and soon under $300), can be expanded to become a full Amiga computer, or can, through an add-on board, be linked to a PC or Macintosh. It can also play music CDs, Photo CDs, CD-G, and with another attachment, CD movies on the MPEG standard. And should the information highway ever come by your house, the CD-32 can act as an interactive control box.

At introduction this spring, CD-32 will have over a hundred supporting software titles, most selling at about $30, although prices have not been finalized. Its double-speed drive will access scenes more quickly than some competing systems, which utilize slower drives, and it offers 32 bits of power, versus 16 in many competing systems.