Super NES CD-ROM

The Super NES CD-ROM, or SNES CD, was a proposed video game platform developed by Nintendo via joint ventures with Sony and Philips that would have added compact disc (CD) support for the cartridge-based Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The two collaborations led to two separate projects that would have used different formats based on CD-ROM; the Sony project was a dedicated all-in-one unit under the name "PlayStation" using the Super Disc format, and the Philips project was an add-on unit for the SNES that used the Nintendo Disc (ND) format. All of these projects were cancelled shortly after Nintendo backed out of both collaborations a few years into development, which consequently made Sony develop its own console using the PlayStation name afterwards, and Philips gaining licenses for some Nintendo properties for its CD-i platform, many of which were unsuccessful and poorly received. Nintendo would not release an optical disc-based console of their own until 2001 with the GameCube. Released in 1990, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) was Nintendo's entry into the fourth generation of video game consoles, also known as the 16-bit era. It became a major success worldwide, outselling its competitors, the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine and the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, becoming the most popular console of that generation. By the early 1990s, compact discs (CDs) had started to gain traction as a storage medium for music and video games. CDs provided an alternative to the traditional cartridge format that was the norm in the video game industry at the time, offering features such as a larger storage capacity, full-motion video (FMV) playback, and the inclusion of high-quality audio (including audio CD playback). NEC was the first to use CD technology with its TurboGrafx-CD/PC Engine CD-ROM² add-on in 1988, followed by Sega with their Sega CD/Mega-CD add-on in 1991. In response, Nintendo sought to create their own take on the concept to combat its competitors, and entered negotiations with Sony, who had previously designed the sound chips for the SNES, to create the project.