3DO is a video gaming hardware format developed by The 3DO Company and conceived by Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins.[9][10][11] The specifications were originally designed by Dave Needle and RJ Mical of New Technology Group, and were licensed by third parties; most hardware were packaged as home video game consoles under the name Interactive Multiplayer, and Panasonic produced the first models in 1993 with further renditions released afterwards by manufacturers GoldStar, Sanyo, Creative Labs, and Samsung Electronics.
Centered around a 32-bit ARM60 processor and a custom graphics chip, the format was initially marketed as a multimedia one but this shifted into purely video games within a year of launching.[11] Despite having a highly promoted launch (including being named Time magazine's "1993 Product of the Year"), the high price relative to other game consoles, an oversaturated console market, and the system's mixed reviews prevented it from achieving success comparable to competing consoles from Sega and Sony, leading to its discontinuation by 1996. In 1997, The 3DO Company sold its "Opera" hardware to Samsung,[12] a year after offloading its M2 successor hardware to Panasonic.
History
Conception
The 3DO format was the brainchild of Electronic Arts (EA) founder Trip Hawkins; while at EA, he found himself frustrated with the limitations of developing software for different platforms that were incompatible with each other. Hawkins was inspired to create his own platform from his repeated recollection of a cartoon he saw on a wall at his previous employer, Apple Computer: it consisted of two vultures on a branch, with one suggesting to the other that they kill something instead of waiting to scavenge.[13] Hawkins formed a unit within EA to work on the platform, but when it was spun off as The 3DO Company on September 12, 1991, he found no one willing to oversee it; he ultimately relinquished his role as chief executive of EA to oversee it himself while remaining at EA as its chairman.[13][14] The 3DO name itself was an abbreviation of "three-dimensional optics", though it was also a play on the words "audio" and "video".
Licensed systems
A number of different manufacturers produced the 3DO system. The Panasonic versions are the best known and most common.
- Panasonic FZ-1 R·E·A·L 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (Japan, Asia, North America and Europe) – The first 3DO system, which was initially priced at US$699.99 1994 in the U.S. and in Japan.[41] The price was reduced to US$399.99 1994 in the fall of 1994.[42]
- Panasonic FZ-10 R·E·A·L 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (Japan, North America and Europe) – Released on November 11, 1994 (a year after the FZ-1), it is a redesigned slimmer and lighter model that replaced the FZ-1 in Panasonic's portfolio. The FZ-10 featured a top loading CD tray and an internal memory manager. The controller is also smaller and lighter than the one included with the FZ-1 as it lacks a headphones connector.
- Panasonic N-1005 3DO CD Changer "ROBO" (Japan only) – An FZ-1 custom console, fitted with a five-disc CD drive.
- GoldStar GDO-101 Alive 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (South Korea) – Released in mid-1994, this model is similar in physical appearance to the Panasonic model.
- GoldStar GDO-101M 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (North America and Europe) – A version of the GDO-101 for foreign markets.
Hardware
The original edition of the console, the FZ-1, was referred to in full as the 3DO REAL Interactive Multiplayer. The console had advanced hardware features at the time: an ARM60 32-bit RISC CPU, a custom graphics processor with a math co-processor, and a custom 16-bit DSP with a 20-bit ALU. It also featured 2 megabytes (MB) of DRAM, 1 MB of VRAM, and a double speed CD-ROM drive for main CD+Gs or Photo CDs (and Video CDs with an add-on MPEG video module).[5] The 3DO included the first light synthesizer in a game console, converting CD music to a mesmerizing color pattern.
The optical disc format for 3DO software uses a proprietary file system named Opera.[46] The 3DO is one of few CD-based units that feature neither regional lockout nor copy protection, making it easy to use illegal copies or homebrew software.[47]
Games
Some of the best-received titles were ports of arcade or PC games that other systems of the time were not capable of playing, such as Alone in the Dark, Myst and Star Control II. Other popular titles included Total Eclipse, Jurassic Park Interactive, Gex, Crash 'N Burn, Slayer, Killing Time, The Need for Speed, Road Rash, and Immercenary. The 3DO version of arcade title Samurai Shodown was the only port with faithful graphics for some time, and the 3DO Super Street Fighter II Turbo was the first port with its CD-quality audio.
Since its release coincided with the arrival of the modern first-person shooter, the 3DO also had some of the earliest members of the genre as exclusives, such as Escape from Monster Manor, the previously mentioned Killing Time, and PO'ed, as well as ports of Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.
However, the 3DO library also exhibited less successful traits of home consoles at the time. The 3DO was one of the first CD-ROM consoles, and some early titles on the 3DO frequently attempted to use interactive movie-style gameplay. Such titles rendered all or nearly all of their graphics in full motion video, which necessitated that any interactive influence from the player be limited to a greater extent than other games of the time. Some games followed a single unfolding of events simply by correctly timed prompts executed by the player.
Reception
Reviewing the 3DO, GamePro gave it a "thumbs sideways". They commented that "The 3DO is the first CD-ROM system to make a real jump forward in graphics, sound, and game design." However, they questioned whether it would soon be rendered obsolete by the upcoming Jaguar CD and "Project Reality" (later released as the Nintendo 64)[53] and felt there were not yet enough games to justify a purchase, recommending that gamers wait several months to see if the system would get a worthwhile library of games.[54] The 3DO was awarded Worst Console Launch of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[55] In a special Game Machine Cross Review in May 1995, Famicom Tsūshin would score the 3DO Real console a 26 out of 40.[56] Next Generation reviewed the 3DO in late 1995. They noted that due chiefly to its early launch, it had a larger installed base and more high quality games than the newly launched Saturn and PlayStation
Legacy
The 3DO Company designed a next-generation console that was never released due to various business and technological issues. The M2 project, which began as an accelerator add-on for the 3DO,[62] was to use dual PowerPC 602 processors in addition to newer 3D and video rendering technologies. Late during development, the company abandoned the console hardware business and sold the M2 technology to Matsushita.
Since 2020, Piko Interactive owns the 3DO logomark and is currently in charge of licensing aftermarket games for the system. This allowed Limited Run Games to re-release The Eye of Typhoon for the 3DO (alongside the MS-DOS version being emulated by DOSBox) in 2022.[63][64]
See also
- 3DO Rating System
- CD-i (CD Interactive): a similar but more open specification that also focused on gaming
- List of commercial failures in video games
- List of 3DO games
External links
References
- 3DO comes to the High Street - in a juggernaut! Wokingham Times, September 2, 1994, retrieved December 14, 2023^
- Matsushita Drops Game-Machine Plan The Nikkei Wiikly, 1997-07-07^
- Blake Snow. The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time GamePro, 2007-07-30, retrieved 2023-07-14^