One of the books that was on my bookshelf when I was a kid was a copy of "De kabouter", a classic by Rien Poortvliet. In english it is called "Gnomes". It appeared that producer Eaglevision produced an interactive version of this book on CD-i in 1995. Eaglevision made more CD-i titles which were published by Philips Media, including Tangram, Origami and the CD-i game 'CD Shoot'. Somehow, this title was not published by Philips Media, but it was published by Quercus in The Netherlands. Or was it? It doesn't appear in the catalogues and on the internet I read stories that this title remained in a prototype status. CD-i member Jaap Jansen is actually the first showing us a regular retail copy of the dutch version. It remains unclear if perhaps other languages, like the english 'Gnomes', remained unreleased. The distribution was a lot smaller as the publshing house was Quercus instead or the large Philips Media, so it's obvious this title now is a lot harder to find.
CD-i member Jak Boumans also comments that discs was not released at all: "As a consultant Content Strategy I was involved in CD-media, including CD-i. I wrote about CD-Iagainst the background of other CD--media and online. In cooperation with a research bureau my private consultancy started a survey among producers about the future of CD-I. I still have two CD-I players and about 50 CD-I titles. I cherish the never published prototype of Kabouters/Gnomes by Rien Poortvliet"
It appears this title was also released in USA and probably UK, as shared on screens by CD-i member Blazers. Blazers: "The CD-i might have more R9 and R10 official releases than any other major system. Gnomes is another full game that most of the online lists leave off because it's just that rare and obscure. Beautiful game, one of the prettiest on the system, and also really unique. There's at least version in a foreign language in addition to the English version. The catalog numbers are also included."
It appears that the english version was not published by Quercus, the company that released the dutch version. This version was released by AAAAAAA Enterprise and distributed by Philips Media Systems in USA. Which is peculiar, as Philips Media Systems was mostly used for professional CD-i titles. We came across more strange CD-i releases by Philips Media Systems, like the CD-i game "Wimbledon Challenge"
Gnomes was produced by Eaglevision. It appeared that producer Eaglevision produced an interactive version of this book on CD-i in 1995. Eaglevision made more CD-i titles which were published by Philips Media, including Tangram, Origami and the CD-i game 'CD Shoot'. Somehow, this title was not published by Philips Media, but it was published by Quercus in The Netherlands. Or was it?
It doesn't appear in the catalogues and on the internet I read stories that this title remained in a prototype status. CD-i member Jaap Jansen is actually the first showing us a regular retail copy of the dutch version. It remains unclear if perhaps other languages, like the english 'Gnomes', remained unreleased. The distribution was a lot smaller as the publshing house was Quercus instead or the large Philips Media, so it's obvious this title now is a lot harder to find.
[Thanks, Blazers & Seventy7]