The CDTV (from Commodore Dynamic Total Vision, later treated as a backronym for Compact Disc Television) is a home multimedia entertainment and video game console – convertible into a full-fledged personal computer by the addition of optional peripherals – developed by Commodore International and launched in April 1991.
The CDTV was based on the same technology as earlier Amiga systems, but featured a single-speed CD-ROM drive and no floppy disk drive as standard.
Commodore marketed the machine as an all-in-one multimedia appliance. As such, it targeted the same market as the Philips CD-i. The expected market for multimedia appliances did not materialize, and neither machine met with any real commercial success.
History
Commodore announced the CDTV at the summer 1990 Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, promising to release it before the end of the year with 100 software titles. The product debuted in North America in March 1991 (CES Las Vegas) and in the UK (World of Commodore 1991 at Earls Court, London). It was advertised at £499 for the CDTV unit, remote control and two software titles. The device was released in the United States for $999. Though the CDTV was based entirely on Amiga hardware, it was marketed strictly as a CDTV, with the Amiga name omitted from product branding.
Market competition for high-end A/V (primary market) came from the CD-i, the Pioneer LaserActive and the Tandy Video Information System, while competition in video gaming (secondary market) came from the TurboGrafx-16, SNES and Sega Mega Drive, alongside the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer.
The Commodore CDTV is reported to have sold 25,800 units in Germany, and around 29,000 units in the UK.
In 1990 Computer Gaming World stated that Commodore had a poor reputation among consumers and developers, citing "abysmal record of customer and technical support in the past". The company chose Amiga-enthusiast magazines as its chief advertising channel, but the Amiga community on the whole avoided the CDTV in the expectation of an add-on CD-ROM drive for the Amiga, which eventually came in the form of the A570. This further hurt sales of the CDTV, as an A570-equipped A500 was electronically the same as a CDTV and, consequently, could run CDTV software, so there was very little motivation for an Amiga owner to buy a CDTV. However, Nolan Bushnell, one of the chief endorsers of the CDTV, argued the system's high price alone was enough to explain its market failure: "... it's very difficult to sell significant numbers of anything at more than . ... I felt that I could sell a hundred thousand of something that costs standing on my head. I thought that it would be a no-brainer. And I can tell you that the number of units that we sold in the U.S. at you could put in your eye and not draw tears."
By 1994 Computer Gaming World described the CDTV as a "fiasco" for Commodore. Though the company later developed an improved and cost-reduced CDTV-II, it was never released. Commodore discontinued the CDTV in 1993 with the launch of the Amiga CD32, which again was substantially based on Amiga hardware (in this case the newer Amiga 1200) but explicitly targeted the games market.
Design
The CDTV is essentially a Commodore Amiga 500 home computer with a CD-ROM drive and remote control. With the optional keyboard, mouse, and floppy disk drive, it gained the functionality of the regular Amiga.
The CDTV was supplied with AmigaOS 1.3, rather than the more advanced and user-friendly 2.0 release that was launched at around the same time. Notably, the CDXL motion video format was primarily developed for the CDTV, making it one of the earliest consumer systems to allow video playback directly from CD-ROM.
The CDTV was intended as a media appliance rather than a mainstream personal computer. As such, it came with an infrared remote control, and its housing had dimensions and styling that was comparable to most household stereo system components of the period. For the same reason, it was initially sold without a keyboard or a mouse (which could be added separately, and were later bundled with the machine).
Two versions were released:
CDTV: CDTV unit and remote control/gamepad Pro pack: CDTV unit, remote control/gamepad, keyboard, mouse and floppy disk drive, along with Almathera CDPD Public domain software compilation on CD-ROM
Upgrades
The CDTV is compatible with many Amiga peripherals from the same period. In addition, official CDTV peripherals and upgrades included:
Wireless infrared mouse (CD1252) Wireless trackball Black styled keyboard SCSI controller providing both an internal and external SCSI connector for hard disk drives and other SCSI devices External black styled hard disk drive External black styled floppy disk drive (CD1411, an FB-354C) Proprietary memory cards with a capacity of 64 or 256 KB (CD1401/CD1405) allowing storage of game scores and progress Genlocks for NTSC or PAL (CD1300/CD1301) to overlay video signal with a secondary video source
In December 2021 an unofficial free ROM update was released for CDTV (2.35), which brings compatibility with 68030 accelerator boards and 32-bit Fast RAM, allows non-CDTV titles to boot, fixes bugs and restores several features that were lost in the 2.7 and 2.30 ROMs. Because of copyright reasons the custom ROM is distributed in patch form.
Technical specifications
Attribute SpecificationProcessorMotorola 68000 at 7.16 MHz (NTSC) or 7.09 MHz (PAL)RAMROMChipsetVideoAudioRemovable storageSingle-speed CD-ROM drive (proprietary controller)Input/output portsAudio/Video outputExpansion slotsOperating systemPhysical dimensions430 × 330 × 95 mm (width × depth × height)Other Notes North American model UK model European model
Software
There are currently games on this list.
+ Games Title Genre(s) Developer(s) Publisher(s) Release date(s)CDTV version Air Warrior Simulation Kesmai On-Line1992Alistair in Outer Space Makes Learning Fun Mini-games Altered Images Altered Images 1993CDTV exclusive Barney Bear Goes Camping Mini-games Free Spirit Free Spirit 1990 Barney Bear Goes To School Mini-games Free Spirit Free Spirit 1991 Battle Chess Board game Quicksilver Interplay 1992CD Audio; Released for CD32 in 1994 Battlestorm Platform Titus Titus 1992 The Case of the Cautious Condor Adventure Tiger Media Tiger Media 1991CDTV exclusive Casino Games Casino Saen Software Saen Software 1992CDTV exclusive Chaos In Andromeda: Eyes Of The Eagle RPG KirkMoreno On-line 1992CD Audio; FMV Classic Board Games Board game Merit Merit 1991 Cover Girl Strip Poker Cards game Emotional Pictures On-line 1991 Curse Of RA, The Puzzle Cyberstyle Rainbow Arts 1992 Defender of the Crown Strategy Cinemaware CDTV Publishing 1991 E.S.S. Mega Simulation Tomahawk Coktel 1992CDTV exclusive Falcon Simulation Rowan Mirrorsoft 1991 Fantastic Voyage Shooter Centaur Centaur 1992 Fun School 3 (For The 5 To 7 Year Olds) Mini-games Database Educational Software Database Educational Software 1991 Fun School 3 (For The Over 7s) Mini-games Database Educational Software Database Educational Software 1991Extra games Fun School 3 (For The Under 5s) Mini-games Database Educational Software Database Educational Software 1991 Guy Spy and the Crystals of Armageddon Action ReadySoft ReadySoft 1993 Holiday Maker Adventure PM Entertainment Software 2000 1990 The Hound Of The Baskervilles Adventure On-line On-line 1991CDTV exclusive Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure Adventure Lucasfilm Softgold 1992 Lemmings Puzzle DMA Design Psygnosis 1992 Log!cal Puzzle Rainbow Arts Rainbow Arts 1991 Loom Adventure Lucasfilm Softgold 1992 Mind Run Puzzle Créalude Créalude 1991CDTV exclusive Murder Makes Strange Deadfellows Adventure Tiger Media Tiger Media 1991CDTV exclusive North Polar Expedition Adventure Virgin Interactive Virgin Interactive 1992CDTV exclusive Power Pinball Pinball KarmaSoft KarmaSoft 1991Extra levels Prehistorik Platform Titus Titus 1994 Prey: An Alien Encounter RPG KirkMoreno KirkMoreno 1993CDTV exclusive; Later released as an enhanced version for the CD32 Psycho Killer Adventure Delta 4 Interactive On-line 1992CDTV exclusive Raffles Adventure Softek The Edge 1991 Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective Adventure Icom Icom 1991CDTV exclusive Sim City Strategy Maxis Infogrames 1991CDTV enhanced Snoopy In The Case Of The Missing Blanket Adventure Softek The Edge 1991 Space Wars Shooter Odyssey Odyssey 1992CDTV enhanced Spirit Of Excalibur Adventure Synergistic Virgin Mastertronic 1991 Sprachraetsel Englisch 1: Spielend Sprachen lernen! Logic Ingenio Ingenio 1990CDTV exclusive Sprachraetsel Englisch 2: Spielend Sprachen lernen! Logic Ingenio Ingenio 1990CDTV exclusive Sprachraetsel Englisch 3: Spielend Sprachen lernen! Logic Ingenio Ingenio 1990CDTV exclusive Sprachraetsel Franzoesisch 1: Spielend Sprachen lernen! Logic Ingenio Ingenio 1990CDTV exclusive Sprachraetsel Latein 1: Spielend Sprachen lernen! Logic Ingenio Ingenio 1990CDTV exclusive Sprachraetsel Spanisch 1: Spielend Sprachen lernen! Logic Ingenio Ingenio 1990CDTV exclusive Stadt Der Löwen, Die Adventure PM Entertainment Software 2000 1991 Strip Poker Live Cards game Porky's Production Porky's Production 1993CD Audio; FMV Team Yankee Simulation Oxford Digital Enterprises Empire 1992 Tie Break Sports Starbyte Starbyte 1991 Top Banana Platform Hex Hex 1992 The Town With No Name Adventure Delta 4 Interactive On-line 1992CDTV exclusive Trivial Pursuit Quiz Domark Domark 1992CDTV exclusive; Later released as an enhanced version for the CD32; CD Audio Turrican Shooter Factor 5 Rainbow Arts 1992 Turrican II: The Final Fight Shooter Factor 5 Rainbow Arts 1992 Ultimate Basketball Sports Context Systems Context Systems 1991CDTV version of Omni-Play BasketballUltimate Basketball Will Bridge: Competition Cards game Will-Bridge Will-Bridge 1991CDTV exclusive Will Bridge: Haute Competition Cards game Will-Bridge Will-Bridge 1991CDTV exclusive Will Bridge: Initiation Aux EncheresWill Bridge: Introduction To Bidding Cards game Will-Bridge Will-Bridge 1991CDTV exclusive Will Bridge: Standard Cards game Will-Bridge Will-Bridge 1991CDTV exclusive Will Bridge: PerfectionnementWill Bridge: Intermediate Cards game Will-Bridge Will-Bridge 1991CDTV exclusive Winzer Strategy Golden Gate Crew Starbyte 1992 Wrath Of The Demon Action Abstrax ReadySoft 1991 Xenon 2: Megablast Shooter Assembly Line, The Image Works 1992
+ Bundles Title Developer(s) Publisher(s) Release date(s)CDTV version Cubulus & Magic Serpent Software 2000 Software 2000 1991ECS version of Cubulus and Magic Serpent Lettrix & Shiftrix Software 2000 Software 2000 1991ECS version of Lettrix and Shiftrix Super Games Pak Odyssey Odyssey 1991ECS version of Byteman, Deathbots and Jailbreak