Background/History:
The VIS was a CD-ROM based system launched in November 1992, and initially only sold at Radio Shack stores.
In the early 1990s, there was a "multimedia" craze going on. Multimedia consoles could play their own libraries of video games, but also had educational software and reference software (e.g. encyclopedias) available as well. These systems, a sort of "hybrid" between PCs and video game systems, were intended to be more advanced and serve a wider array of functions than the popular video game systems of the time, such as the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. These systems didn't come cheap, often costing 3-10 times as much as a typical new video game system.
What makes it obscure?
The VIS was intended to compete with the Philips CD-i, the first "multimedia" system on the market, which had gone on sale about a year before the VIS. The CD-i was a failure itself, selling only a million units in its 7 years on the market. (For comparison, the Sega Genesis, a successful console of the same era, sold 40 million units in 8 years on the market). At launch, the VIS was $699
The VIS sold only 11,000 units, and was withdrawn from the market two months after it was introduced. Unsold warehouse stock was acquired by a company called Tiger, and by late 1994, the system was being sold - with 30 titles - for $99. Only about 50 titles were released for the system. Most were educational in nature, with few true "video games."
Other Aspects of the System
The VIS uses a special version of Windows 3.1, called "Modular Windows". Modular Windows was intended to be an embedded version of Windows for use on devices that connect to televisions; the VIS ended up being the only product to ever use it. The system also used the Intel 286 CPU, which was a very common CPU in PCs made in the mid 1980s to early 1990s.
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