The role of CD-i in the videogaming history of Sony always brings back highly interesting stories. While CD-i was Sony's first CD-based gaming console, their Playstation was actually the first CD-based console to truly break into mainstream video gaming. CD-i member Matthew Henzel: "The CD-i broke a lot of new ground for it's time. It's nothing if not a "multimedia" system. Playing CD audio, CD+G, Kodak Photo-CD, Video CD. It was also the first console to feature a web browser. Sony even made portable CD-i's. I'd also say the PlayStation is the first CD based system to truly break into mainstream video gaming.
Both the CD-i and 3DO were considered commercial failures. The CD-i saw success well into the late 90's, used in various kiosks, popping up in a lot of unconventional places. The CD-i has a handful of impressive titles. It wasn't initially marketed as a game system, and wasn't really built for it. In 1990 the push was for edutainment, FMV, and a encyclopedias on disc. Games like The Apprentice, and Super Mario's Wacky Worlds showed it was capable."
We discussed the position of CD-i as a gaming console before: Would the CD-i been more successful if it had been a dedicated gaming machine like the Playstation from the start? Or it was too early for a cd-based console in 1991? First of all, remember Sony helped Philips during development of CD-i but I think they realised they needed better games capability linked to the great CD benefits and then created PlayStation. CD-i was a joint development of Philips, Sony and Matsushita (Panasonic). The history of CD-i certainly played a role in the development of the Playstation later on.
[Thanks, Matthew Henzel]