WI: Earliest CD-based Video Gaming?

CD-based console gaming took off with the original Sony Playstation. The PS set a standard, and lead to a universal adoption of the disc format by the next generation. What is the earliest that console gaming could transition to the CD format?
 
CD-based console gaming took off with the original Sony Playstation. The PS set a standard, and lead to a universal adoption of the disc format by the next generation. What is the earliest that console gaming could transition to the CD format?

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Now being more honest and more direct, depend who bite the bullet, NEC bite it but was not popular enough(for me they should overshoot and make the system CD only since begin) thanks to it, let's say NEC do it and released the Turbo Duo in 1989-1990 in both sides of pacific and found sucess unlike sega(in few world they outstage sega) them CD start in system as earliest 1990.

Other the same would be acording otl nintendo-sony contract start strong in 1988 rather 1991 incident, and after playing business football both side decide push SNES with CD for almost otl date(maybe 1992 in USA). so 1992.

Sega.... let's say megadrive bombed in the west(or because issues with EA who happened otl) they jumped to SEGA-CD and we have an standalone sega-cd in 1991-1992.

So 1990 as earliest, 1992 in average, would be 2D nirvana with minor 3d expermients.
 
The PC Engine/TG16 was the first to do CD. Maybe delay it by a year to make it so that all PCE's have the CD drive (a'la the OTL Turbo Duo) and release it in 1988, when the NES/FC is long in the tooth and the FMV of the Turbo Duo would be a major selling point.
 
CD-ROM drives were too expensive to happen much earlier than they did IOTL (Sega tried to use a cheap CD audio one on the Sega CD in fact). To have earlier CD gaming you can either believe Atari PR about ($500 CD player vs $2000 everyone else in 1985 which is actually somewhat plausible) or work on broader faster adoption of CD players, thus lowering the costs as more are produced.

Perhaps CD-ROM is pushed stronger by the computer companies (lots of PODs in the early and mid 1980s to make that happen) and their price drop is somewhat faster, leading to earlier CD using consoles.
 

nbcman

Donor
Dragon's Lair was a laser disk video game in 1983 but that was not a home based console game.
 
CD-ROM drives were too expensive to happen much earlier than they did IOTL (Sega tried to use a cheap CD audio one on the Sega CD in fact). To have earlier CD gaming you can either believe Atari PR about ($500 CD player vs $2000 everyone else in 1985 which is actually somewhat plausible) or work on broader faster adoption of CD players, thus lowering the costs as more are produced.

Perhaps CD-ROM is pushed stronger by the computer companies (lots of PODs in the early and mid 1980s to make that happen) and their price drop is somewhat faster, leading to earlier CD using consoles.

That price is 1985 and forgot account the true key in console system..RAM memory for decoding, otl PC-ENGINE CDROM launched at 400 bucks in 1988 and used an extra card for ram, that is not bad for your figures and cost(true price is 600 with the console, if all bundled in one piece, 500 bucks ,maybe 400 would be the minimum price to avoid loss leading. still cheaper that neogeo and 3 year early:D) so for 1990 would have cost like 400 bucks to avoid loss leading...big and launch one would be a gamble still managable and cheaper than 3DO ;).

So, only big three can pulled it, NEC or Nintendo are they only one to overshoot to bit the bullet on it

i wonder, could LaserDiscs be used to extrapolate something for this?

Laserdiscs would be far worse, bigger, more bulky, more moving part means more cost and more chance to broke down alongside more limited board for games and a long etc, so LD was only experimental in arcades, when arcades being bigger and having better Cost of Operations allowed, in console would be a nightmare.
 
Laserdiscs would be far worse, bigger, more bulky, more moving part means more cost and more chance to broke down alongside more limited board for games and a long etc, so LD was only experimental in arcades, when arcades being bigger and having better Cost of Operations allowed, in console would be a nightmare.

doesn't mean something based on them couldn't be used. think LaserDisc 2.0 or the like.
 
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