Gibby Media Group, a Spokane multimedia production company, says it this week is releasing an interactive digital disc that highlights the Spokane region with staff-produced videos and hundreds of links to Internet sites.

Titled "Spokane/Coeur d'Alene the Regional Destiny" and priced at $9.95, the disc is an update of one the company released in 2003. That one was produced as a CD-ROM, and could be played only on computers, but the latest version is on Gibby Media's proprietary Green ThinDisc, which is playable also on a DVD player, though with fewer interactive features.

The disc has been endorsed by Spokane-area economic-development and civic groups as a promotional tool, but also is intended to be a profit-making venture for Gibby Media, says Lon Gibby, the company's president.

"It's a content-driven product. The content is why people are excited about it," Gibby says.

The disc includes about 40 videos spotlighting the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area that range in length from one to six minutes and include depictions of its recreational attributes, cultural facilities and activities, educational institutions, medical services, and business and government infrastructure, he says.

It uses proprietary software that enables it to be played on Windows-based or Apple computers, and that recognizes whether it is being played on computers or DVD players, Gibby says. No other software is needed to run the disc on a computer, and nothing is installed on the user's hard drive, he says. The disc loads quickly, plays high-quality, full-screen video, and, in all, contains about 60 minutes of video, he says.

It will be available initially at Rosauers supermarkets and Auntie's Bookstore downtown, and Gibby says the company is seeking to make it available at other retail outlets here as well. It also will be available through some civic organizations, he says.

Gibby Media plans to begin updating the disc four times a year, and early next year will launch a Web site with content mirroring what's on the disc, he says.

Founded here in 1983, Gibby Media Group says it has produced more than 3,000 videos, ranging from instructional videos and infomercials to corporate demos and documentaries.