Since the early 1980s, The Residents have experimented with interactive media, trying to find more immersive ways of creating a world with sound and visuals which an audience can interact with.
Following early attempts to break into the fledgling home video gaming industry, The Residents would become pioneers in the medium of CD-ROM in the 1990s, winning much attention and acclaim for their game Bad Day On The Midway in 1995. They also explored the capabilities of home video, creating semi-interactive laserdiscs and DVDs.
As recently as 2021, The Residents have continued to expand their interest in multimedia to include the field of virtual and augmented reality.
Laserdisc
- Twenty Twisted Questions (1992) (semi-interactive)
CD-ROM
- Apple Computer Quicktime CD-ROMs (1993)
- Alpha release: "Freak Show"
- Beta release: "Freak Show" / "One Minute Movies"
- Version 1.0: "Freak Show" / "One Minute Movies" / "Ty's Freak Show"
- Version 1.5: "The 13th Anniversary Show"
- Freak Show (1994)
- Gingerbread Man enhanced CD (1994)
- Bad Day On The Midway (1995)
Euro Ralph interactive books (CD with floppy disks)
- The Third Reich 'n Roll (1994)
- George & James (1994)
DVD
- Commercial DVD (2004) (semi-interactive)
Virtual and augmented reality
- Inside a Circle of Dreams (2021)
Unfinished projects
- Mark of the Mole for Atari 2600 (1983)
- I Murdered Mommy! CD-ROM (1997)