... or was it? The Web-I disc is one of the CD-i mysteries! There is nothing to see on the internet about it, for a stranger it feels legit to think this disc never existed! As PIMA stopped their business in 1995, how real was it that they actually released this in 1996? What modem did they use in USA? I dare to say this whole Web-I was announced but never released! Who can show me otherwise?
In 1996, CD-Online released the european version of the CD-i Internet Kit, a package that connected your CD-i player to the internet so you could browse web pages and play titles with internet connectivity (Like Ram Raid). This package was also announced in USA, but not as CD-Online, but as Web-i. The system ran until 1998 in Europe, but even now any material of the CD-i Internet kit is rare (but you can find some nice articles here on Interactive Dreams). However, the USA version is absolutely non-existent. So the question is: Was it actually released?
This catalogue is the only reference right now that mentions the Web-I internet kit. And according to the advertisement, you could even order it. Which seems strange as nowadays there is absolutely no real reference to it. Of course that can happen if the quantities that were made were really low, but it is hard to imagine that Philips Interactive Media of America released the Internet kit in 1996. After all, they stopped publishing in 1995.
What adds to this belief is that there are no people who can share their experience with this disc, or was it ever sold online as far as I know. Again, I could be wrong: That's why this article might be useful to trigger anyone who has this Web-I package to show up.
The CD-i internet kit was eventually released in 1996 by CD-Online in UK and Europe. CD-i publishing went a bit further compared to USA, in Europe we even had three CD-Online discs with improved browser experiences. On the second and third disc, as well as the rereleased enhanced version of the first disc, they delivered the great Ram Raid, the first online first person shooter on CD-i. As Ram Raid was not available on the first CD-Online disc, it's believable that it was never available in USA and on the Web-I disc.
Even in the catalogue of The World of CD-i, there is no information about the catalogue number or any picture, so we can speculate if this entry is added pure by speculation or somebody actually has proof that this disc does exist? I'd like to find out.
Also interesting is that the catalogue mentions the Web-I keyboard (which seems the same as the European CD-i KeyControl) and a specific Web-I Digital Video Cartridge, although I think a regular DVC will also work, just as the European version :)
Main question: Does the USA CD-i Internet Package (codename WEB-I) actually exist?