Why did the 3DO fail? Repairs, Upgrades and History | Trash to Treasure
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- Опубліковано 27 чер 2024
- Check out Monster Joysticks at monsterjoysticks.com/RMC
The 3DO was a fifth generation games console with big ideas, and a big price tag to go with it. Today we explore where it all went wrong while creating our ultimate 3DO.
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Full interview with Trip Hawkins: • The Story behind EA wi...
●Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:56 MonsterJoysticks.com
02:18 Previews of the 3DO
09:41 Diagnosing problems with the 3DO
16:20 The launch of the 3DO
23:57 Repairing and upgrading the 3DO
27:11 The fall of the 3DO
38:15 Testing the 3DO out
46:14 Final thoughts on the 3DO
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Little update, the Dragons Lair speed issue wasn't down to regions, if you flick it back to 480i it runs at the correct speed so that's a bit of an anomaly but at least I can play it now. Neil
I think you got the 240p vs 480p thing reversed, hehe. Your PVM is just not very high res or good quality to show it. It was designed more as an external viewfinder for big studio cameras than anything else.. What I can recommend is Po'ed. A very nice shooter for the system.
It's because the 3DO's CPU is used to handle the conversion from 240p to 480i, so by turning the conversion off it results in extra CPU power for games to work with. This can result in some games playing at slightly higher frame rate at 240p, but some games tie their game speed to the frame rate, like Dragon's Lair does. It's also been known to affect Escape From Monster Manor & Another World, too.
@@Obscusion2 I don't think that's the issue; I remember thinking "That's awfully fast for NTSC vs. Pal" the same would go for CPU power, especially considering its just video it's playing with Dragon's Lair. It seems to be running straight up at double the speed; and then Trapexit's explanation down below fits what is going on much better.
PS: I kept seeing a whole lot of rust-colored gunk at the base of the large capacitor you didn't replace; and at 15:23 when you replaced the tray you can still see it there; I don't know if you got the tray back out and cleaned it to, or you just missed it, but I figured I'd give you a heads up.
@@3dmaster205 Glue
@@Obscusion2 This is entirely false.
The CPU has nothing at all to do with the output resolution. The CLIO and DAC are responsible for the speedup on account of poorly written code.
The exactly details on how it works can be found on the 3dodev site.
slight correction. the M2 DID see the light of day... just not in console form. M2 hardware made its way into arcade boards from Konami as well as kiosk units.
I love this format with telling some history as well as doing a repair.
That makes the whole story so much more interesting to watch! :)
Thank you, it's a really interesting way for me to do things to as I get to learn so much along the way
Been glued in my seat, great video. Had a very spoiled friend growing up had his old cloths dresser to hold just games not all them fit in it, hell he even got the failed virtual boy lol. Even with like 4 systems in his room the 3do was in the living room smart move by his parents lol he was a little wild and would rage from time to time. He had this sweet tv built for retro game rager lol had a gap and what seemed to be bullet poof glass over it can still remember 1st time i saw him whip a controller at it was crazy
@@RMCRetro you pronounce Matsushita wrong, listen to how Trip says it in the interview, it’s not phonetic. Its something I saw Techmoan look into ages ago and correct himself on.
agreed it´s agreat format. but maybe not the best title fot the breadth of the video. as it could mean the history of this one 3do unit and why it failed. it´s a bit like gamesack where they show the hardware inside and outside, only at rmc you get a much more thorough in depth look inside but also a mini documentary.
Yeah the Amiga 1000 one was great
Star Control II was one of the gems of the 3DO system. They improved the graphics, animations, and music/sound over the PC version of the game. It really was a great game.
I just want to say that your channel is fantastic. It’s free from shoutings, clickbaits and all the crap you find in other YT gaming channels.
It’s just plain in depth serious adult talk about consoles and gaming. Keep up the brilliant work!
100%
Oh yes, the shouting That UA-camrs nowadays always do is so annoying.
Why the hell can’t they talk normal?
Countless hours spent playing The Need for Speed and Road Rash on this back in the day... great memories
The 3do I got from a car boot sale 10 years ago was a great deal, a Panasonic 3do, 2 controllers and 40 odd games.
All for.
£15.
You simply do not get car boot sales like that any more.
What a steal!
Wow! I had a guy who I worked with maybe 10 years ago give me his (he was going to throw it out if I didn't take it) complete in box with maybe 12 complete in box games for free.
Needless to say I immediately accepted his generous offer before he changed his mind. Still have it.
15 pounds for what you got is a killer deal!
@@FWDSUXARSE I remember the seller was getting rid of their entire collection of machines and I could have filled my boot up with various bits for pennies, but at the time space was at a premium, and it was my wife to be who looked at me and wisely told me 'Tye, we do not have the space'.
So it was just the 3DO I picked up.
@@RMCRetro THE best car boot deal I ever had was picking up a Sega multi mega which was in a brown envelope, for £2.50.
The seller also had another brown envelope which had the controller, power pack, manual and the TV cable which I picked up for another £2.50.
Still to this day the best £5 I have ever spent at a car boot sale.
I took this along to the Digitiser live 2019 show, and it was taken up on stage and talked about by Octav1us and Larry Bundy during the show and tell segment.
I believe the M2 hardware actually did see the light of day in arcades, Konami put out a handful of games using it circa 1997-98.
Five very average titles...with loading times every time you start up the boards...AND loading times during gameplay. 😑
I heard about it being used in various auto companies etc using it on kiosks.
@@joshfacio9379 yeah i think that was mentioned in the video. i just wanted to mention that it was indeed used for its original purpose of games, at least in some small capacity, since it sounded like Neil wasn't aware of that part. :)
Just how RMC isn’t well past 1M subs on UA-cam is beyond me. You guys are great!
Thanks!!!!
Agreed!
The "240p" mode really isn't a typical one. You can check the hardware section of 3dodev to find the technical details for those interested. It also cause issues with some games due to it only reporting odd frames back to the CLIO hardware which in turn causes a vsync counter to be double pumped. Games that used that specific counter therefore think the console is really displaying twice as fast and since the game logic is based on that frequency it runs upwards of twice as fast.
I was just going to reply that the switch did not feel right. Normally 480i should give a way better picture, but as with a lot of the consoles of the time , they were battling through a difficult transition to 3D as the technology was coming to the fore. The PS1 got it mostly right, but really it was with the 6th gen consoles that the video felt stable, clean and usable.
@@slowlymakingsmoke Not really sure what you mean. The image quality of the graphics hardware vs the DAC are different things entirely. The 3DO, PSX, Saturn, PS2, etc. output 480i. If not exclusively then in large part.
@@spawnlink That's true in the sense that they're using analog signals designed for 480i, but the 5th gen and earlier consoles mostly just display the same 240 lines repeatedly, making it effectively 240p. 3DO is obviously an exception, as are various N64 titles.
This is the most insanely British videogame channel I've ever seen. It's great. Like a PBS special for old games.
I remember the first time I walked into a game rental store and saw a 3DO my jaw hit the floor. The owner of the store called my friend and I over and showed us some sort of baseball game if I'm remembering correctly and the pair of us couldn't believe how great the game looked. It really was impressive at the time.
I had a similar experience, but with Panzer Dragoon.
@@Pepe-dq2ib The first time you see something like that, it just knocks you out. It's a memory that never fades in intensity.
Brings back very fond memories of selling these back in the day! I think part of the problem in the UK is that they were sold in AV dealers (mainly Panasonic Technics Centres) rather than gaming stores. It was great for us in the shops, but I am not sure we got much work done as we were always playing golf on them!! There was of course the follow up console, the FZ-10 as well as the Goldstar version
Yup, got my fz-1 from an AV shop then discovered not a single high street retailer stocked the console, peripherals or any games. Had to use mail order for games as even the AV store didnt sell them, only the console. It was insanely expensive, £600+ iirc, in fact it cost more than my neo-geo aes. No wonder it flopped. Mine is still going, pulling duties as a cd player, its built like a tank. Even my save game files from the mid 90s are still intact in its battery backed up memory, thats seriously impressive tbh.
When I was at Uni in the mid 90s a friend lent me his 3DO for about a year. The best games I had were Wing Commander 3 (ahead of its time), Need for Speed (glad you covered this one) and Return Fire (3D top down shooter, reminiscent of Desert Strike).
Bought a 3DO FZ1 at release. 400 pounds! Road Rash, Samurai Showdown, Return Fire, and SF2 Turbo were excellent. Was great until PlayStation blew it out of the water in terms of actual polygons, developer support, and software QC.
Yeah, I feel like the 3DO could have been a decent option compared to the Saturn (especially outside of Japan), but the PlayStation was just so much better at doing what the 3DO wanted to do.
It was a bit more expensive to license software, but still cheap enough for experimental development and it managed to attract a lot of ex microcomputer dev houses in a way that the 3DO didn't manage (could be the better 3D rendering, though it's worth noting that a bunch of PlayStation's most iconic games started out on 3DO before swapping to PS1 due to the install base. Without the 3DO you wouldn't have Legacy of Kain and Naughty Dog would never have made Crash Bandicoot if the 3DO wasn't available for them to make Way of the Warrior first)
This is the best video I've seen on the 3DO. Brilliant channel.
Thanks!
i loved my 3do, would pop down to my local gamestation in york(where it all began with steve & julian in 1993) almost everyday to see what trade-ins they had. back in the early days of gamestation if you didnt like the game you could swap it same day for another title!
I was a trainee at Panasonic UK offices when the 3do came out spent every lunchtime on the 3do
Space Hulk was proper scary and Wing Commander 3 with Malcolm McDowell and Mark Hamill really impressed people coming around - not to mention actually being a good game!
at last, someone mentions it! Wing Commander was the only reason I kept my 3DO around as long as I did. I adored that game. It was so much more of a game than anything I'd played before. Space Hulk really was quite special too, very frustrating though. It seems to have been a niche game with you being the only comment that remembers it. I was waiting for them to cover it in this video as for me it shows the best abilities of the platform off more than any other game.
@@ClayMannloved Wing Commander 3, but I was completely unable to get anywhere in Space Hulk because I was a small child and couldn't understand what I needed to do.
The idea of it being a tactical strategy game with FPS elements was totally alien, so I was trying to play it like an action game and would get overwhelmed and die immediately.
I remember always seeing these either mentioned or advertised in EGM; I knew I was never going to have one, and it disappointed me.
That disappointment dissipated a few years later when I got a PlayStation.
It's also kind of poetic when it comes to controller designs, right? The 3DO based its controller on the Sega Mega Drive, and the PlayStation based its controller design on the SNES. There's definitely a metaphor there...
After playing Road Rash on my friends 3DO i just had to have one! I sold my Amiga 1200 (which in hindsight I regret) towards the price. Jumping from floppy disc to CD was a big eye opener! Although there was way too many FMV games, there was some great games on the system. My friend had loads of games for it so I got to play lots ot titles, I owned it for just over a year. I sold it to upgrade to a PS1 ;)
Nice story nice exchange!
really love this format, combining the press releases with the repairs - it really brings it to life. more please :D would love an 800xl version too
Ironically ARM who designed "the very British piece of heritage inside this Japanese 3DO" is now owned by a Japanese company.
Either myself or my brother assembled the Sonic Christmas decoration - attached to the cover of the bright yellow Sonic the Comic shown behind Neil - and put it up on the tree that year :)
This was a fantastic video; brilliantly done, and a great follow-up to the interview video with Trip Hawkins. I remember seeing a 3DO hooked up at a Burdines store in the electronics department in the early 90s and I was able to play the game Crash N' Burn...and while it was a good pack-in game which demonstrated what the 3DO was capable of (I remember being blown away by the graphics and sound), it just didn't have the sense of speed one would expect from a racing game.
The interesting thing is, by the the time the 3DO was released in 1993, I had enough money to get the system and even a few accessories and games. Unfortunately, I had fallen for the marketing hype that Sega had generated for the Genesis and Sega CD and had picked up those instead, along with some games. Although the 3DO proved to be a commercial failure, it is one of the biggest regrets in my own gaming purchase history to this day. Mind you, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy playing the Genesis (ultimately, the Sega CD not so much), but I really wish I had been a more discerning consumer back then, because if I could go back and do it over, I would've picked up a 3DO instead.
What ultimately drew me to the 3DO wasn't necessarily the FMV games (although they looked impressive for the time), but rather, the enhanced PC titles that were ported to the system. Some examples that immediately come to mind are Out of this World (Another World), Battle Chess, Stellar 7: Gir Draxon's Revenge, Star Wars Rebel Assault, Super Wing Commander, Wing Commander III, and even The Incredible Machine, to name just a few. At $700, one would expect this system to blow the 16-bit consoles away, but to get a better experience than what PCs could give at the time for a lower price was definitely an attractive prospect indeed.
If you ever decide to do a deep dive video on the games available for the system, I would love to see the aforementioned games listed above be prominently featured, as I believe that those were not only some of the best games on the 3DO, but the best versions of those respective games as compared to their PC counterparts and other ports. Again, thank you so much for a fantastic video covering what is my opinion an underrated console, and take care. 🙂
Road rash was insanely good and a massive step up from the Megadrive and Amiga versions. Starblade was actually better than the arcade version graphically.
I've been restoring a Japanese 240p model for a friend, same cap had leaked although, still powering up. Worked with audio CD, but failed quickly afterwards, doesnt recognise a disc in the drive. It's going to cost him now!! What was noticeable was the build quality of the thing, really nicely put together and easy to take apart and reassemble.
What a wonderful episode! I really enjoyed jumping between history and restoration. You're such an enjoyable host. I have never even owned a 3DO and found this fascinating. Keep up the great work!
I remember playing this in my local comet shop. Interesting machine but no chance of me getting the parents to pay £700 for it. Especially when I had all the Amiga games I could dream of thanks to x copy 😁
Comet shop?
@@mstcrow5429 Comet was a major electronic goods shop in the UK. I think it is technically still around in some form, but I'm fairly sure the physical stores vanished a decade or more ago.
@@danyoutube7491 For me it was Dixons. They’re not around anymore, are they?
@@CastleKnight7 Sort of. Dixons went from the High Street. The High Street stores were renamed Currys.Digital but closed not long after. PC World and Currys which are part of the same group still have shops, but generally in retail parks, not town centres. Dixons shops still exist in airports, however, so not gone entirely.
@@CastleKnight7 dixons is long gone mate
The problem with 3DO was so many companies had to make profit from it. ARM on the CPU, 3DO on the design, Manufactures on the consoles, and Game developers. 3DO should have sold the Chips allowing different manufactures to make the Chips, then more or less sell those chips at cost to console makers. Royalties on games could have been used to partially subsidies those chips too.
Fantastic job with the upgrades tied in with a fascinating history! 👍
amazing console, I had an FZ-10 back in the day and It was one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had. Revolutionary.
22:00 Nice Megarace tidbit there haha. I thought the very same thing. What a legend Lance Boyle was. Every line was pure genius.
I love these long form videos that switch between history in old magazines and actual repair. You guys are the best!
Thanks for this, always enjoy a little 3DO coverage. Highly recommend you dip into Space Hulk, thats the most 'next-gen' looking game on the console. Also look at the history behind the Japanese version of 'D', how they packaged that game along with the later Director's cut release. Kenji Eno was one clever and eccentric individual (RIP, sir)
Space Hulk on the 3D0 is fantastic, great memories of playing it late at night in my bedroom and scaring the S@£t out of me, it was so atmospheric , alot like Alien and pretty hard to master…
I really enjoyed the writing and structure of this video Neil. I’d love to see more videos like this on other systems. Keep up the great work!
There was an excellent RBG mod made by Black Dog Tech, They stopped producing it a while back but did open source it. There were a couple of places making and selling it after that but they are both now waiting for the needed chips to become available again before they can make anymore.
Another enjoyable episode. I like the combination of history and repair.
Return Fire was a lot of fun. I know FIFA supports at least 4 players because that's how many pads I had for mine. I also remember that because the pads were daisy chained, less sporting friends near the front of the chain would pull the wire out so you had no control.
Less sporting, playing fifa? What a paradox.
I had the 3DO back in the day, and loved it ... especially playing SF2, and remember the frustration with the pad until I got a 6-button one. Loved this video - thanks!
My first encounter with the FZ-1 3DO was in the summer of 1995. My mom and step-dad had yet to be married, but he was a single man with no kids, so money wasn't a problem *yet*. While my step-dad was at work, I could be found playing Road Rash all day on that 3DO. He passed away from a heart attack 2 days before his 51st birthday 9 years ago. I still have fond memories from that summer centered on that console. There is one game that I didn't see in this video, but I'm unsure if my memory serves me correctly in this regard. That game was some sort of fighting game on that console and it wasn't Street Fighter II. Sorry for not remembering the title of it, but it has been nearly 30 years since then. I mention a 3D fighting game because my step-dad was very good at it until he played against my younger brother. My brother started exclaiming Asian style, Bruce Lee influenced gibberish and that psyched my step-dad out. It was hilarious to watch them play.
Could have been Toshinden?
Way of the Warrior (2 1/2D) or Samurai Showdown (2D)?
Virtua fighter?
@@j.l.m.6862 VF was a Sega exclusive when they still were a console manufacturer.
I think I played VF 2 in the arcade. Could have been the first one, though. Don't remember.
I love this format for these videos - history, tech work, history, tech work...
At the time none of us kids was even interested in upgrading to a new generation of consoles to begin with. We were more like "imagine how many Mega Drive games you could buy with 700 dollars?"
A new console doesn't only compete with future hardware but also with currently existing, established and popular consoles.
I’m new to this channel but loving it so far. Such a likeable presenter / creator and format. The trash to treasure eps are the highlight! 👏👏👏
I think the 3DO gets alot of flak being a business failure. I think you have to show alot of respect for Trip Hawkins and what he tried to accomplish with the 3DO. To be fair he tried something different and managed to get the machine to market with developers onboard! 3DO need for speed is absolutely impressive! Kudos to you trip.
Shit man he paved the way. The idea behind the 3DO was just way far too ahead of its time. The Original Xbox did what 3DO wanted to do I think. An all in one entertainment device with internet, music and movie capabilities. The tech just wasn’t there yet and what it did sport was already expensive enough. The world just wasn’t ready.
3DO were a great console, but the problem were pricing. The console costed 700$ here. 3DO and Neo Geo were the only expensive consoles back then.
Neil, I really don’t know how you find the time to do these, absolutely great video. Please keep them coming!
Love the deep dives! Thanks so much for producing them.
Great episode as always! Its great how you put the machine in the historical context using old magazines and even with your interview. The time when the 3do, ps1 and n64 came out the PC was becoming more more the first choice Gaming platform. Consoles had their exclusives though.
Forgot to leave a comment, but I came back to say this IS REALLY GOOD CONTENT. Using the magazines, your interview with Trip, AND breaking down the hardware, well lit, well edited, and so well presented. Super impressed, thanks folks.
Trip is a legend. Always enjoy watching his interviews.
Great feature packed end to end episode, love the format. Ps Return Fire is worth a look, notably the sound track is great.
Really enjoyied this epiosde. I liked the longer format. Keep up the good work Neil
This was really interesting video of this console. Good job Neil and Mark.
This was really interesting to watch, thanks for that !👍
The best looking cosole of alltime.
A real interesting and well made video. Thank you 😊👍👍
whoa, its hard to believe those cable strain relievers were 3d printed. even for resin printing they look kind of mind blowing especially the flexibility of em.
Well... thank you very much!!!
These were unobtainable when I was young and I don’t remember anyone actually having one. I still drool when I see one. Same with the dx4-100, but that’s another story…
this looks like a great channel. i love retro consoles, history, and electronics repair!
Great interview with Trip and great work on the restoration of the console!
I remember reading about the 3DO console well before it was released and getting really hyped for it since compared to the 16-bit consoles it was a big step forward in specs. The super high price at launch meant that no-one I knew could afford it. Once the cost of the console came down to under $500 the Saturn and PS1 were both available and both of them were more powerful than the 3DO and cost less. So the 3D0 had a window of a little over a year to really establish itself but few could afford to buy into it and the rest is history.
I worked at a Best Buy in the Midwest US during the latter part of the 3DO's time and the media folks that took care of that part of the store loved and hated the 3DO area. They loved it because they didn't have to spend much time on it since few games ever sold but they also hated it because things rarely changed for months at a time and they had to periodically tidy up the same games over and over again since customers messed with stuff buy didn't buy anything there. The SNES and PS1 were the 2 games consoles who's areas had the most attention since those were what sold best until the N64 was released and that caused the SNES area to shrink significantly.
Nice pacing, editing and narration! Well done!
Wow. Great vid. Awesome you got to talk to Trip. We had a 3DO before the PS1 came out. We loved it. Road Rash, Need For Speed, Killing Time and more. You couldn't tell me it wasn't the best thing since sliced bread. Eventually we had to admit it was time to move on the the PS1. But, it was a great time, and Twisted was a fun game with friends and family lol
Killing Time was a great game, but it really hasn't aged well.
I'd love to see it remade, especially if they're able to retain the integration of FMV into the game environment, as that was a really neat way to do it.
If there are full resolution masters of those scenes it would be really cool to see them matted out and re-rendered in higher resolution and a more modern graphics engine that runs better.
One thing worth mentioning is that The 3DO alliance to me was exactly what happened to MSX computer in the 80's. MSX might be the grandfather of 3DO and a lost great grandfather or Xbox.
Thanks for the excellent video.
You compare a late to the game msx to the too early to the game 3do ?
@@ArneChristianRosenfeldt No, actually I meant different software companies developing together to a known hardware, in this case, an almost PC spec.
@@allanalmeidapa so you like open hardware specs for interfaces like SIMM and DIMM and SDRAM and PCI and PCIe and USB. Licenses for 6502 (NEC), 8086 ( AMD ), MIPS, ARM (3do). Yeah, apple can go elsewhere
Super Wing Commander is pretty cool if you're into that series or space combat sims at all. It's a full 3D remake of the original Wing Commander, and for whatever reason it was only ever released on the 3DO and the Mac, despite it normally being a PC focused series.
Dragon's Lair might be one of the games where using the 240p output causes the game to run too fast (it tries to run at double speed). Wolfenstein 3D and Escape from Monster Manor also have this issue. If a game is running too fast, try switching back to the standard (480i) output.
Thank you I'll give this a go!
@@RMCRetro It´s beneficial in Need for speed, which is in dire need for speed and some other 3D titles. FMV benefit most visually from 480i, but not all.
Hello from Brazil!
This is the first video I watch on this channel, great work on the research of the magazines back then and also on the repairs!
One game that I always tell ppl to play (with a partner preferably) is TWISTED. It's about a bunch of really stereotyped characters that compete against each other for a chance to come to the REAL WORLD! They do it via some games, like trivias, jigsaws and such, to get on top of the "stairs" that will lead them to our world. The cheesy presentation of the videos, characters and all that's shown there is so funny, that u guys are probably have a really good laugh playing it.
Anyways, again, nice work... Cya guys around.
Brilliant video. My bro and I were lucky enough to get one on UK launch and we still play today.
Need for speed and Road Rash have aged well. A good time to be alive.
I remember seeing the game screen shots in the mags and really wanting one and then many months later I saw the price tag around the same time I saw Ridge racer screenshots for PS1 in Edge. I think the screenshots of Ridge Racer on the PS1 killed off sales for a lot of consoles of the mid - late 90s.
RETURN FIRE - that's the standout title for me on my FZ-1 ; superb PVP top-down turn-based Combat shenanigans game with Classical Music streaming from the CD you guys will love! Really great in depth video as always guys, thank you!
For plastic repairs, you might want to get a 3D pen. Some can melt ABS filament, and it's basically as robust as the original plastic.
Twisted Gameshow! Bunch of friends on the sofa for an after-club hilarious gaming sesh.
Wow! Was only talking about this console with someone today. The Panasonic FZ-1 model was the nicest loking unit. Way ahead of its time.
My memory of mad dog was on the CDI, I still have it, it worked pretty well with the gun. I had to take mine back to the shop as they had sold me a french version, happy to get the English version eventually.
I bought my CDI used as someone had part exchanged it for a 3DO.
I wish friends that were into stuff like this, It would be so fun to have a pal who wants to open computers, cook the chips and do some real nerdy repair stuff, projects even. Fantastic stuff guys, I love Britishness too!
Great story , Great video!
Awesome video, thank you.
Thank you!
awesome video guys
I love that all of your gaming magazines are in mylar sleeves. I wish most of mine were. I have both of those issues of GamePro from 1993, and they are what hyped me up for the 3DO back in the day. I was 13 and didn't know any better, so I asked my parents to get me it for Christmas. Little did I know it cost 700 dollars American, which, adjusting for inflation (as you said), would be over $1,400 today. They got it for me anyway.
Great stuff !
I love this channel, another great informative video.
I'll take a RMC video as a birthday treat :)
Yippppeeeee it's raining outside and free afternoon gunna watch Neil and Mark my favourite double act.
From a historical standpoint the 3DO is a really interesting concept. It's said a lot with various consoles but in the 3DO's case I really think it was just too far ahead of it's time in terms of concept and a perhaps just not quite enough in terms of hardware specs. It was released in a kind of awkward spot where console hardware was advancing at such a quick rate that it really only had a tiny window before it was leapfrogged by the competition. I mean, by 1995 when you have both the Saturn and PS1 available with much more impressive graphics and games and at a much lower price that it already made the 3DO seem like a generation behind it's really not hard to see why any momentum it might have had was stopped dead in it's tracks (although the price of entry certainly didn't help matters to start with). The whole idea of creating a kind of "video game hardware standard" akin to VHS or CD is an admirable and noble goal, but one that I don't think would ever actually work in practice. Anyway, I'm rambling but the 3DO is a cool machine that is finally getting some more appreciation, which is great.
Nice! Being a Jaguar fan I was always interested in the competition at the time.
I hope Return fire has been mentioned many times, amazing game - my fave 3DO game! I didnt have one on launch but did get one while it was current ish but being heavily discounted and really liked it. Defi another console scratch to itch!
The fact you have INPUT magazine binders just makes me weep with joy.
Great timing!
I had only eve heard of the 3DO in the context of its ultimate market failure, so it will be interesting to see a more complete perspective and maybe give it a fairer judgement.
Ah the nostalgia…I used to read both “Gamepro” and “Electronic Gaming Monthly” here in the states back in the day for my gaming information. My copies of each was destroyed in a recent flood. They were in a large cardboard box in storage at the time. I think I’ll subscribe because I like your format.
Edit: Also had “Tips & Tricks” for the walkthroughs and cheat codes.
I have a 3DO (the same one you show) and I agree it was the best of the 3 varieties they introduced. The game I always played was Shockwave. They also made Shockwave 2, and Shockwave "Operation Jumpgate". As I remember the system was very rugged
Ahh, Thursday. Time to crack a beer and watch some RMC.🍺👍
Back then, I had a friend that got one as a dev platform. He brought it over and we all gathered around the screen to drool over what we saw. But as you said in the video, the price tag was an absolute deal breaker for everyone I knew. We happily played away on our Amigas.
Fascinating insight into the 3DO but I'd expect nothing less from RMC! I'm surprised that given you mentioned the A1000 at the beginning that you didn't highlight that Amiga designers RJ Mical and Dave Needle put together the 3DO hardware for Trip - who was a supporter of the Amiga at EA and likely sought them out because of that history.
I saw both the 3DO and Jaguar being demoed at a trade show showcase here in Sweden around the time when both the SNES had gotten Starfox and the Mega Drive had gotten Virtua Racing released and I was thoroughly underwhelmed by what was on display. When the PS1 released here in Europe like a year after the 3DO it could have cost as much as the 3DO and it still would have beaten poor old 3DO to a pulp but with that price difference the 3DO was bazookad into total oblivion three times over while the Jaguar swiftly ran away and faded from store shelves. It was a massacre!
I know there are people that like these systems, even though it's hard to fathom, but they had no chance against Sony's system. Even SEGA's Saturn struggled outside of Japan and Nintendo stayed in the game mainly through it's brand and 1st party games. I was a Nintendo fanboy at heart during the 8 and 16 bit eras but joined the Playstation hype the instant it was released. I mean Sony's consoles during that time even finally killed off SEGA as a hardware manufacturer while Nintendo had to fight for years until the Wii was released. It's crazy to think that Xbox managed to come out after all this and gain some real ground. Crazy times!
Xbox simply replaced Sega (they may even had a hand in Sega's demise). However, it's deeply unfair to associate the 3DO with the Jaguar. While slightly less powerful, 3DO visuals were absolutely comparable to PlayStation's, cross platform games were basically identical.
If I was a fanboy of something, I was of Capcom and Sega's arcade games (not consoles) and later of NAMCO arcade hits. I too ended up getting a PlayStation but I always had respect for the 3DO, it was the first true next generation system.
I was in the US in the 90's and purchased both the 3DO and the Jaguar. Upon returning to New Zealand, the rumored 'Playstation' was not yet out, and I was able to pleasantly surprise many friends with the 3DO graphics. I had many games for this system, some brought in the US and many imported and purchased at the premium from a local video game store. While I enjoyed a few games on the Jaguar, (AVP was a classic), and eventually found the CD add-on, there was a whole lot of 3DO games I thoroughly enjoyed. I played the hell out of my 3DO, and Need For Speed version on the 3DO remains my favourite, and Road Rash, Wing Commander etc. I neglected to purchase a lightgun, which I had access to, and always wanted the MPEG expansion. I imported some Japanese accessory controllers too, but also had the Flightstick was fantastic for flying games such as Starfighter. There was a dedicated fan magazine from UK I think and it came with fantastic demo discs. Not being into PC's at the time, I declined to purchase the PC 3DO card, for a bargain price from a small retailer, which in hindsight was a shame.
While I eventually, and regretfully sold my entire console collection, I still play on emulator, and to this day praise this system as one of the best I ever owned. Later ports to PS1 of some of these games really disappointed me. Its a gem! (Oh, and I absolutely salivated over the proposed M2 !) Some prototype hardware for M2 exists today and early game examples, that suggest it could have gone head-to-head with PS1.
Turn out the lights, turn up the sound, and play Escape From Monster Manor on the largest crt television you have.
I had a goldstar version of the 3DO and a phillips CDI....these systems were so much fun back in the day
Can’t wait for you Car Marty video!!😊
My grandson (13) and I have have a collection of retro consoles, PC Engine, Saturn, Wii, WiiU, Gamecube, Ps1&2, Dreamcast, Original X-Box, etc etc. The 3DO ( I had one upon release) is the only console we re-acquired and immediately sold on!! It was bloody appalling, crap pictures and those cut scenes (it’s USP when released) drives you bloody mad!! It’s saving grace is ‘Need For Speed’.
Really good vid folks, lots there to cover a range of interests around the console. The controller costs are a big problem. I've invested in an adaptor for snes controllers, but it wasn't a whole lot cheaper. But I guess it's a part of the fun that people can create new products to support us in enjoying these old consoles.