3DO Interactive Multiplayer
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| 3DO Interactive Multiplayer | |
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| Manufacturer | Panasonic, Sanyo and Goldstar |
| Type | Video game console |
| Generation | Fifth generation (32-bit/64-bit era) |
| First available |   May 18, 1993 |
| CPU | ARM60 |
| Media | CD-ROM |
| Units sold | 6 million |
3DO Interactive Multiplayer (most commonly referred to as the 3DO) is a line of video game consoles which were released in 1993 and 1994 by Panasonic, Sanyo and Goldstar, among other companies. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by Dave Needle and RJ Mical of New Technology Group. The system was conceived by entrepreneur and EA Games founder Trip Hawkins.
Despite a highly-promoted launch and a host of cutting-edge technologies, the system's high price ($699.95 USD at release) and an over-saturated console market prevented the 3DO from ever achieving any real market penetration.
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[edit] Features and catalogue
The consoles had very advanced hardware features at the time: an ARM60 32-bit RISC CPU, two custom video co-processors, a custom 16-bit DSP and a custom math coprocessor. They also featured 2 megabytes of DRAM, 1 megabyte of VRAM, and a double speed CD-ROM drive for main CD+G, view Photo CDs, and Video CDs with an add-on MPEG video card. The 3DO also included the first music visualizer in a console system, converting CD music to a mesmerizing color pattern.
A notable feature of the console is that it is one of few CD-based consoles that feature neither regional lockout nor copy protection, scoring it points amongst import gamers and software pirates alike, though reports have suggested that the Goldstar model isn't particularly durable when used for either of those purposes. Although there is no regional lockout present in any 3DO machine, a few Japanese games cannot be played on non-Japanese 3DO consoles due to a special kanji font. At the request of the 3DO company, most third-party developers included this font directly on the game CDs so that they could be played on any 3DO console; however, a few did not, including Sword and Sorcery (which was released in English under the title Lucienne's Quest) and a demo version of Alone in the Dark.
It is often said that the 3DO software library exhibited many of the worst aspects of home video gaming at the time. This was the dawn of CD-ROM gaming, so cutscenes of pixelated video footage dominated many titles at the expense of good gameplay. The most well-received titles were commonly ports of games from other systems, such as Alone in the Dark, Myst, Out of This World, Return to Zork, and Star Control II. Other notable titles include Need for Speed, Road Rash, Jurassic Park Interactive, Crash N' Burn, Gex, Slayer, Killing Time, and the first console port of Super Street Fighter II Turbo, which exceeded the original with its CD-quality audio. Game series that started on 3DO by Electronic Arts, Studio 3DO and Crystal Dynamics established themselves on other 32-bit consoles. One major hit for the 3DO, Return Fire, an advanced tank battle game, was ported from the 3DO to the Sony PlayStation, and Microsoft Windows, but met with limited success. However, few titles utilized the console's full potential.
In addition to the consoles, a 3DO Blaster ISA peripheral card for PCs which offered all the features of the home console was manufactured by Creative Technology.
The 3DO Company also designed a next-generation console called the M2, which was to use a PowerPC 602 processor, but the company abandoned the console business and sold the technology to Matsushita, who rebranded the hardware and sold it in the kiosk market competing with the CD-i system.
Konami later made an M2-based arcade board. [1] As games ran straight from the CD-ROM drive, it suffered from long load times and a high failure rate, so very few games were developed for it.
[edit] Specs
- Double-speed (depending on manufacturer) 300 kbytes/s data transfer CD-ROM drive with 32 kilobyte RAM buffer
- Multitasking 32-bit operating system
[edit] Processor
- 32-bit 12.5 MHz RISC CPU (ARM60) made by Advanced RISC Machines (roughly equivalent to 25 MHz 68030)
- Math co-processor
- 32kb SRAM
[edit] Display
- Interpolated 640x480 resolution output to screen, upsampled from 320x240 or 320x480 internal resolution with either 16 bit palettized color (from 24 bits) or 24 bit truecolor. [2]
- Two accelerated video co-processors capable of producing 9-16 million pixels per second (36-64 megapix/s interpolated), distorted, scaled, rotated and texture mapped
[edit] System board
[edit] Sound
- 16-bit stereo sound
- 44.1 kHz sound sampling rate
- Supports Dolby Surround Sound
- Custom 16-bit Digital Signal Processor (DSP)
[edit] Models
- 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 $699.99 in the U.S. The price was later reduced to $499 in the fall of 1994.
- Panasonic FZ-10 R.E.A.L. 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (Japan, North America and Europe) - Less expensive than the FZ-1, the FZ-10 is smaller compared to the FZ-1. The primary selling point of this unit (at least in the U.S. market) was the top-loading design, which addressed the main failure point in FZ-1 of the CD tray.
- Goldstar 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (South Korea, North America and Europe) - Early models of the Goldstar systems cause some games not to work.[citation needed]
- Goldstar 3DO ALIVE II (South Korea only)
- Sanyo TRY 3DO Interactive Multiplayer (Japan only)
- Creative 3DO BLASTER - PC card (ISA slot) with a 2X CD-ROM drive and one controller that enables a PC to play 3DO games.
[edit] Demise
By the early 1990s, the video game market had become overcrowded. Sega, Nintendo, Commodore, SNK, and Atari each had a video game system on the market. When viewed internationally, the chief competition for the 3DO during its peak had been Nintendo's SNES, the Sega Mega Drive and NEC's PC Engine platforms. The success and quality of subsequent next generation systems which began coming onto the market in the mid-90s, the limited library of titles, the lack of third-party support, and a refusal to reduce pricing until almost the end of the products life were among the many issues that led to the platform's demise.
For a significant period of the products life cycle, 3DO's official stance on pricing was that the 3DO was not a video game console, it was a high-end audio-visual system and was priced accordingly, so no price adjustment was needed. Price drops announced in February of 1996 were perceived in the industry to be an effort to improve market penetration before the release of the promised M2, heavy promotional efforts on the YTV variety show It's Alive and a stream of hinted product expandability items supported that idea.
The 3DO system was eventually discontinued at the end of 1996 with a complete shutdown of all internal hardware development and divestment of the M2 technology. 3DO restructured themselves around this same time, repositioning their internal software development house (Studio3DO) as a multi-platform software company supporting the Sony PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and PC gaming platforms with a re-launch of Star Fighter as well as the PC Launch of the first commercial, 3-D MMORPG, Meridian 59. The businesses' most successful post 3DO software release is considered to be the Army Men franchise which was their featured product line up until the company filed for bankruptcy and liquidated its assets in 2003. Take 2 Interactive acquired the rights to the Army Men series.
[edit] See also
[edit] Primary Market Competitors in the high-end A/V space
(multi-purpose audio/video systems)
[edit] External links
- Project FreeDo - the 3DO console emulator
- 3DO Today - Large 3DO resource site
This article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, which is licensed under the GFDL.
