EXTREMELY RARE Halcyon by RDI Video Systems Model 200 LD for Sale

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EXTREMELY RARE Halcyon by RDI Video Systems Model 200 LD For Sale

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EXTREMELY RARE Halcyon by RDI Video Systems Model 200 LD:
$7000.00

This item was found in the Museum\'s archives. Donated over 20 years ago, it was kept with the A/V equipment in storage. We have gone through all unneeded equipment and will be offering more up for sale over the next couple of months. Please check back.

Up for sale is one of the rarest game systems, the Halcyon RDI VideoSystem, Model 200 LD, File No. E70276. It cost $2,500 in 1985 and only released2 games before RDI went bankrupt months after the initial release. This listing is for only one portion of the setup (refer to photos).It is in great physical condition. Powers on but is untested and sold as is. The company made the smash hit arcade game Dragon\'s Lair and tried making a laserdisc-based home console. It never made production with only a few prototypes known to survive.

The original system is comprised of a console unit connected to aLaserdisc player, in which case being a Pioneer LD-700 with a new faceplate tomatch the console. RDI claimed that the system would be voice-activated using anoise-cancelling microphone on a headset, as well as having an artificialintelligence (supposedly comparable to HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey)with an SSI-263 (a rebranded Votrax VC-02) speech synthesizer and thecapability, using an Interstate Electronics ASA 16 16-channel audio spectrumanalyzer, to recognize a vocabulary of 1,000 words and to be trained torecognize additional words and even hold rudimentary conversations with theuser. The Halcyon also has a keyboard which could also be used for playinggames, as well. The Halcyon was also envisioned as the core of a sort of early\"smart home\" concept, where the user could use voice commands to havethe system control electronic devices around the home.

Six games were planned for the Halcyon, but only two werereleased before RDI Video Systems went bankrupt; Thayer\'s Quest and NFLFootball: Chargers VS Raiders. Each game would consist of a Laserdisc for thefull-motion video and sound, a 16K firmware cartridge containing the actualgame data, and an overlay for the keyboard. The console unit was also advertised to be sold separately,for those who already own a Pioneer VP1000/RP8210, Pioneer LD-1100, PioneerLD-700, Magnavox VC8040, or Sylvania VP720 Laserdisc player.

All proceeds of this sale benefit the San Diego Air & Space Museum to carry out its mission and expand its programs and services.