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The Video Game Console Library - RDI Halcyon

RDI Halcyon logo RDI Halcyon RDI Halcyon logo

  HANDS ON REVIEW by 98Pacecar              DW FACTS by Dark Watcher
Page content, development and design by Marriott_Guy
Developer Manufacturer Release Date Country(s) Initial Price Model Number Game Releases Overall Rating
RDI Systems, Inc. RDI Systems, Inc. 1985 USA $2500 USD Unknown 2 8.0
Ratings Reviews Pictures\Video Specs Games\Emulation Models Clones Links
RDI Halcyon
Ratings
Consoles are rated based upon the available technology at the time of its release.  Ratings based upon a 10 point scale (10 being excellent\very rare).
Console Design (appearance, functionality) 06
Console Durability (sturdy or frail and fragile) 04
Controllers (design, response, feel, use) 02
Graphics (graphical capability and presentation) 04
Audio (sound, music, speech, effects) 04
Media (game media format, design, durability) 04
Packaging (appeal, durability of packaging) 03
Game Library (quality, quantity of game library) 01
Innovations (technological industrial strides) 09
Gamer Value (good investment for the gamer?) 01
Collector Value (good collector investment?) 10
Games Rarity (general availability of games) 08
Console Rarity (general availability of a system) 10
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Reviews


RDI Halcyon

DW FACTS
 - by Dark Watcher

In the 1980's arcades where booming with a new form of gaming. Interactive games that streamed data off of Laserdiscs (The precursor to the DVD) were growing quite popular.

RDI Systems Inc. was a manufacturer of Laserdisc  games. In 1984, they decided to take a crack at the home console market. The result was the first home Laserdisc  video game system. The Halcyon was named after the "Hal" computer from the movie "2001: Space Odyssey". It was a standard Laserdisc player similar to the Pioneer LaserActive. The player could read double-sided discs that allowed a whole lot more footage than its coin-op arcade counterparts. This may have been the first instance of a home game being of better quality than the coin-op. It also came with a keyboard, 2 games (Thayer's Quest and NFL Football), and a unique voice headset which allowed the player to use voice commands instead of keystrokes. The system is capable of recognizing 1000 words, and can also be programmed with more.

RDI Halcyon - NFL Football: Chargers vs. Raiders

So what happened? Well for starters this remarkable machine retailed for $2000+ USD. Consumers were simply unwilling to pay that much money for a simple home experience. Also by the late 80's the popularity of laser interactive gaming began to dwindle. The rise and fall of the videogame market was quite painful to retailers. RDI Systems soon filed for bankruptcy like so many other companies at this time.


  HANDS ON REVIEW
  - by 98Pacecar (18-Mar-08)

The RDI Halcyon was truly a console ahead of its time. Created by Rick Dyer, one of the people behind the hit game Dragon's Lair, it was poised to push gaming technology into uncharted territory. In terms of 1985 technology, it would have been more advanced than even the home computers of the time.

Named in part after the computer featured in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, the Halcyon was intended to seem like a living, thinking member of your family. Featuring voice recognition, speech synthesis, and a small amount of non-volatile memory, the Halcyon was able to interact with the user on a personal level. When someone first powered the system up, it would greet them with a welcome message followed by asking their name. Once entered, the Halcyon would call the user by name, adding a level of personal interaction. The Halcyon would also periodically ask more personal questions if the user didn't make a selection within a certain amount of time. While this would be nothing to note in today's technology, in 1985 this was the stuff of Wargames.

The console itself consists of two major components. The first part is the Halcyon computer. The Halcyon is powered by a Z80 and features a whopping 64k of combined RAM and ROM along with a Votrax speech synthesis system. The cartridge, keyboard, and headset connections were all provided by the computer component along with a serial connection to the laserdisc player to control the selection and playback of the appropriate scenes. The other part of the system is a re-branded Pioneer LD-700 laserdisc player. Other than the custom faceplate, the unit is 100% the same as the Pioneer you could buy off of the shelf. There was supposed to be an option to buy just the computer portion of the Halcyon for use with a Pioneer VP1000/PR8210, Magnavox VC8040 or Sylvania VP7200 laserdisc player. Any of these would be controlled via an infrared emitter that the user would attach to the remote control lens of the laserdisc player as opposed to the serial connection provided with the LD-700.


The original design of the Halcyon called for the use of CED disks as opposed to laserdiscs, but that technology was made obsolete before the Halcyon was completed so the switch was made to laserdiscs. Also, there were external modules planned that would allow the Halcyon to control household appliances to further the illusion that the system was thinking.

The games consist of two separate components. The game logic was stored on a 16k cartridge that was unique to each game. This had all of the game's vocabulary, node data for the laserdisc, and any other game logic that was necessary to play. The laserdisc portion of the game contained all of the sounds and video. Since it used pre-rendered data for graphics, it was able to feature high quality full motion video or animations that rivaled the work of the great studios.

Only 2 games were released for the Halcyon. The pack in game was Thayer's Quest and the optional release was NFL Football: Chargers vs. Raiders. Both of these have been made available either through emulation of the arcade versions of via DVD release. Due to being able to flip the disk during the game, both of the Halcyon versions provided expanded game play over their arcade counterparts.

Controlling the games was accomplished by one of two methods; keyboard or voice. The keyboard is a small, membrane style keyboard that had slots for an overlay to fit into for key mapping. The keyboard feels very sturdy, but is not especially suited for gaming. Voice control was accomplished via a headset microphone. The user would have to "train" the Halcyon to know the commands used in the game prior to playing. Due to the limited amount of memory, the command sets had to be kept to a minimum. Additionally, the voice recognition technology used was limited and ended up being more frustration than it's worth.

Overall, the Halcyon is a very interesting system that could have turned gaming on its ear in 1985. Little is known about the true production of the system and it is a non-confirmed rumor that the system was even available at retail. Current information tells us that no more than 10 units were built for the investors of the company, all of them by hand. The price of the system was to be $2500 ($4928.88 in 2007 dollars), so it was not going to be the system in every home.

Sadly, the Halcyon did little (if anything) in the market and is left to little more than a historical footnote and a few systems owned by hardcore collectors. For the console collector, there are very few systems that will match the rarity of the Halcyon and it will be difficult to find one for sale. If you are fortunate enough to locate one, it will be the centerpiece of any collection. The last complete system that sold brought nearly $3500 plus shipping.

RDI Halcyon - Flyer Page 1
Additional notes on the individual ratings
Console Design: 6 Console Durability: 4 Controllers: 2


While being built around the standard 19" equipment width, the overall size of the Halcyon is  somewhere bigger than huge! But it is a very clean design and would look at home sitting next to the high end equipment of the era.


Half of the Halcyon is a Pioneer laserdisc player, which is built like a tank. The other half is housed in a relatively flimsy, plastic case which just feels cheap.

The keyboard controller appears to be a slightly more rugged membrane technology while the headset is just a standard headset like one would use with a desktop phone.  Neither is particularly suited for gaming.
Graphics: 4 Audio: 4 RDI Halcyon - Flyer Page 2

 


 RDI Halcyon - Flyer Page 3


The graphics capabilities are a mixed bag. The actual graphics engine built into the console is little more than a character generator but when coupled with video on the laserdisc, some very beautiful games could be made.
 


Again, the built in capabilities of the Halcyon itself were limited to basic 80's speech synthesis, but the ability to store audio on the laserdisc put it above all other consoles of the era.
Media: 4 Packaging: 3


Unfortunately, many laserdiscs have been lost to bit rot over the years and the Halcyon disks were not immune. However, the cartridge portion of the games feels extremely sturdy.


The system box is nothing more than a normal Pioneer laserdisc box with extra room for the Halcyon components. The game boxes were large gatefold style with limited artwork on them.
Game Library: 1 Innovations: 9


Only 2 games were ever "completed" for the Halcyon and neither is worth spending much time playing.


The Halcyon is a victim of its creator's desire to put as much new technology into the system as possible. It featured voice recognition, speech synthesis, and a simulated AI at a time when all of these technologies were in their infancies.
Gamer Value: 1 Collector Value: 10


Both of the games on the Halcyon made it to other platforms that are much cheaper and more attainable.


If you want a centerpiece to your collection, it's hard to beat this.
Games Rarity: 8 Console Rarity: 10


The laserdiscs are available on a fairly regular basis on eBay, but I have never seen the cartridges available unless sold with the complete system.


These are about as rare as you can get and do not come up for sale often.
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Pictures & Video

Various picture\video media for this console.  Click pictures to enlarge.
RDI Halcyon - Front

 RDI Halcyon - Front
 RDI Halcyon - User Manual

 RDI Halcyon - User Manual
 RDI Halcyon - Back

 RDI Halcyon - Back
RDI Halcyon - Start Up Screen 1

 RDI Halcyon - Start Up Screen
 RDI Halcyon - Keyboard

 RDI Halcyon - Keyboard
 RDI Halcyon - Start Up Screen 2

 RDI Halcyon - Start Up Screen 2
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Specs

For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love.
 Processor Type  Processor Speed  Other Processor Information RAM \ Video RAM
Z80 Microprocessor Unknown Unknown 64K

Screen Resolution

Color Palette

Polygons \ Sprites

 Audio
560 x 480 16.7M colors Unknown Stereo 16 bit 44 kHz sampled
output\ input

Media Format

Media Capacity

Games Released

Other Supported Formats
Laserdisc 540 MB 2 None

Internal Storage

External \ Removable Storage

Game Controllers

Other Game \ Peripheral Devices
None None Keyboard \ Voice None
Controller Ports Network Ports

Other Ports

Audio \ Video
One (1) None None S-Video, RF, Composite

Power Supply

Other Outputs

 Other Details \ Notes
120 V Internal None None
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Games & Emulation

Games screen shots and\or videos released for this system.  Click pictures to enlarge.
Thayer's Quest
Release Date: 1985
Developer: RDI Video Systems

 RDI Halcyon - Thayer's Quest
 Removable ROM Cartridge
(unique to each game)
Contained vocabulary and other game data

 RDI Halcyon - Removable ROM Cartridge
 NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders
Release Date: 1985
Developer: RDI Video Systems

 RDI Halcyon - NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders
Thayer's Quest - Keyboard Overlay

 RDI Halcyon - Thayer's Quest - Keyboard Overlay
 NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Manual Front

 RDI Halcyon - NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Manual Front
 NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Keyboard Overlay

RDI Halcyon - NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Keyboard Overlay
Thayer's Quest - Screen Shot 1

 RDI Halcyon - Thayer's Quest - Screen Shot 1
 NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Manual Back

 RDI Halcyon - NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Manual Back
 NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Screen Shot 1

 RDI Halcyon - NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Screen Shot 1
Thayer's Quest - Screen Shot 2

 RDI Halcyon - Thayer's Quest - Screen Shot 2
 Thayer's Quest - Five Kingdom's Map

 RDI Halcyon - Thayer's Quest - Five Kingdom's Map
 NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Screen Shot 2

 RDI Halcyon - NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Screen Shot 2
Thayer's Quest - Screen Shot 3

 RDI Halcyon - Thayer's Quest - Screen Shot 3
 Thayer's Quest - Five Kingdom's Map Close Up

 RDI Halcyon - Thayer's Quest - Five Kingdom's Map Close Up
 NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Screen Shot 3

 RDI Halcyon - NFL Football: Chargers vs Raiders - Screen Shot 3
Third Party Emulators
Program Website Description

DAPHNE

http://www.daphne-emu.com

 Great Laser Disc emulator that's capable of running most LD games.
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Models

Additional authorized releases for this console.
No additional models were released for this system.
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Clones

Non-licensed releases (clones).
No clones were released for this system.
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Links

Highly recommended additional sites\resources for this system.
Name Website Description
Dragon's Lair Project http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/.../halcyon/ Some more info on this rare system
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