CDTV

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.{{r|cgw19900708}} 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. Though the CDTV was based entirely on Amiga hardware, it was marketed strictly as a CDTV, with the Amiga name omitted from product branding.

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.{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1990&pub=2&id=73 | title=The Maturation of Computer Entertainment: Warming The Global Village | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=1990-07-08 | accessdate=16 November 2013 | pages=11}} The product debuted in North America in March 1991 (CES Las Vegas) and in the UK (World of Commodore 1991 at Earls Court, London).{{cite web|title=The Commodore CDTV Information Center - www.cdtv.org.uk|url=http://www.cdtv.org.uk/1254.html|access-date=2010-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412154630/http://www.cdtv.org.uk/1254.html|archive-date=2009-04-12|url-status=dead}} It was advertised at £499 for the CDTV unit, remote control and two software titles.{{cite web |date=1990 |title=CDTV advert: "Better Graphics. Better Sound. Better Software. Better Get One" |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130043431fw_/http://www.amigahistory.plus.com/adverts/cdtvad3.jpg |website=Amiga History Guide}} The device was released in the United States for $999.{{Cite news |date=April 5, 1991 |title=Commodore puts computer into TV |pages=C8 |work=Beaver County Times |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2002&dat=19910405&id=JrgiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KrUFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1310,801379}}

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".{{r|cgw19900708}} 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,{{Cite web|date=1991-05-20|title=Commodore CDTV|url=https://tidbits.com/1991/05/20/commodore-cdtv/|access-date=2021-03-23|website=TidBITS|language=en}} 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 {{US$|long=no|500}}. ... I felt that I could sell a hundred thousand of something that costs {{US$|long=no|800}} 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 {{US$|long=no|800}} you could put in your eye and not draw tears."{{cite journal|title=What the Hell has Nolan Bushnell Started? |journal=Next Generation|issue=4|publisher=Imagine Media|date=April 1995|page=9}}

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.

By 1994 Computer Gaming World described the CDTV as a "fiasco" for Commodore.{{Cite magazine |last1=Miller |first1=Chuck |last2=Dille |first2=H. E. |last3=Wilson |first3=Johnny L. |date=January 1994 |title=Battle Of The New Machines |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=114 |magazine=Computer Gaming World |pages=64–76}} Though the company later developed an improved and cost-reduced CDTV-II, it was never released.{{cite web |date=2008 |title=Commodore CDTV-II |url=http://bboah.amiga-resistance.info/cgi-bin/showhardware_en.cgi?HARDID=34 |website=Big Book of Amiga Hardware|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211908/http://bboah.amiga-resistance.info/cgi-bin/showhardware_en.cgi?HARDID=34 |archive-date=2016-03-03 }} 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.

In December 2021 an unofficial free ROM update was released for CDTV ([https://github.com/C4ptFuture/cdtv-os235patch 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.{{cite web|title=CDTV OS 2.35 - FAQ|website=GitHub |date=2 November 2022 |url=https://github.com/C4ptFuture/cdtv-os235patch/blob/master/README-faq.md#will-you-share-the-source-code}}

The Commodore CDTV is reported to have sold 25,800 units in Germany,{{Cite web |last=Bergseth |first=M. |date=November 25, 2014 |title=AMIGA SOLD IN UNITS BY COMMODORE IN GERMANY REVEALED |url=https://distrita.com/amiga-sold-in-units-by-commodore-in-germany-revealed/ |website=Distrita - Where to Go|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713160208/https://distrita.com/amiga-sold-in-units-by-commodore-in-germany-revealed/ |archive-date=2017-07-13 }} and around 29,000 units in the UK.

Image:Commodore CDTV Setup.jpg

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). 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.

File:Commodore CDTV.jpg

File:CDTV Remote (cropped).jpg]]

; Notes

1. {{note label|spec_na|a|^}}North American model
2. {{note label|spec_uk|b|^}}UK model
3. {{note label|spec_euro|c|^}}European model

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{{cite web |title=Commodore's CDTV External Harddrive |url=https://www.cdtv.org.uk/harddrive.html |website=The Commodore CDTV Information Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317024916/https://www.cdtv.org.uk/harddrive.html |archive-date=2005-03-17 }}
• 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{{cite web |last=Ewaniuk |first=Darren |date=July 5, 1997 |title=CDTV Technical Information by Darren Ewaniuk |url=http://l8r.net/technical/cdtv-technical.html#HARDWARE}}
• Genlocks for NTSC or PAL (CD1300/CD1301) to overlay video signal with a secondary video source{{cite web |date=2008 |title=Commodore CD1300 |url=http://bboah.amiga-resistance.info/cgi-bin/showhardware_en.cgi?HARDID=396 |url-status=dead |website=The Big Book of Amiga Hardware|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721184949/http://bboah.amiga-resistance.info/cgi-bin/showhardware_en.cgi?HARDID=396 |archive-date=2011-07-21 }}

• 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

There are currently {{table row counter|id=gamelist|ignore=1}} games on this list.

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(multi-purpose audio/video systems)

• Philips' CD-i
• Pioneer's LaserActive
• Tandy Video Information System

• NEC PC Engine with Super CD-ROM expansion
• Nintendo's SNES
• Sega Mega Drive with CD-ROM expansion
• The 3DO Company's 3DO Interactive Multiplayer

{{Portal|Amiga}}

• Amiga A570
• Amiga CD32
• Amiga models and variants

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Commodore CDTV}}

{{Amiga hardware}}

{{Fourth generation game consoles}}

{{Home video game consoles}}

{{Commodore International}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Commodore Cdtv}}

Category:1990s toys

Category:68k-based game consoles

Category:Amiga

Category:CBM hardware

Category:CD-ROM-based consoles

Category:Computer-related introductions in 1991

Category:Fourth-generation video game consoles

Category:Home video game consoles

Category:Products introduced in 1991

Category:Discontinued video game consoles