10 Amazing 3DO Interactive Multiplayer Facts

This video looks at 10 amazing facts and tantalising tidbits of trivia surrounding the 32-bit 3DO console.
Video Links:
The 3DO Archive - archive3do.com/
3DO Game Compilation - • Over 50 3DO Games In U...
The 3DO in Korea - • The Strange Regional S...
Konami M2 Arcade - www.system16.c...
Amazing Facts Playlist - • 10 Amazing Philips Vid...
#RetroGaming #3DO #Panasonic

[@archive3do769]

Laird, you are probably the first KZbin channel to not sensationalize misinformation about the system and actually get all your information pretty accurate. However id like to point out that the 20 million dollar deal with Samsung was to sell the original 3do hardware. Samsung then revived the 3do in the Korean market for what we believe to be another two entire years, bumping the discontinuation date up to 1998 or 1999 ( the only documented system serial code has the year 1998 on it). Despite source claims, goldstar was still manufacturing 3do hardware until late 1996, not mid 1996. Also, thanks for using my website as intended! A much bigger unnamed channel has taken from my site before and given me no credit, then refused to fact check using my website or email me. So kudos to you sir!

[@TheLairdsLair]

I'm glad you liked the video and I found your site extremely useful and informative, I will always give credit where needed. I have actually made a video that talks about the 3DO in Korea, it's linked in the comments if you are interested. It doesn't surprise me to learn people have used your content without asking, I've actually had much bigger channels copy whole videos I've made, almost verbatim sometimes!

[@archive3do769]

@@TheLairdsLair funny enough (after watching your Korea 3do clip) the hardware seemed to sell best in Japan with 850,000 units and the largest library of all regions. However, due to trade bans with the japanese, goldstar managed to capture the Korean market better than Samsung did with their Sega Saturn license. Goldstar even had "3DO Cafe" 's much like internet cafes. You could go in and play at one of at least a dozen kiosks. Goldstar really put effort into their marketing up until the very end of 3DO's ownership of the hardware, before it was sold off to Samsung.

[@TheLairdsLair]

That's really interesting, thanks for the extra info!

[@archive3do769]

@@TheLairdsLair there's a lot more information that hasn't been documented simply because it's a bit murky and physical evidence isn't so abundant. Hopefully one day I can officially publish some of this newer information that needs more attention.

[@FatNorthernBigot]

In 1996, I saw an original Panasonic 3DO gathering dust at the back of an electronics shop in Manchester. They were trying to sell it for the RRP. One hundred pounds more than a PS1. That was the epitome of baseless optimism.

[@christopherkelly577]

FZ-1 is still one of the coolest looking and best made machines. Panasonic did give us a cool looking piece of hardware and in honesty I enjoyed a lot of stuff on it. Return fire and the port of Wolfenstein, Gex and Captain Quazar...Steet Fighter was also superb on it. Road Rash...I even played through doom on it, probably the best version of the OG soundtrack. I used to enjoy some mah jong games on it too with the mouse. Had the memory unit for it too.

[@brendanroberts1310]

You were screwed with sf2 unless you had the 6 button pad or arcade stick.

[@BlownMacTruck]

FZ-1 looked silly with the rounded corners and the controllers coming standard with three buttons was ridiculous for the time.

[@SnarkyRC]

​@@BlownMacTruck Actually, it had shoulder buttons so they were a 5 button controller.

[@SnarkyRC]

​@@brendanroberts1310 Not really. It had enough buttons because of the shoulder buttons.

[@ukkev7290]

In September 1995, just before the US launch of the PlayStation, the 3DO was in the lead regarding next gen sales. This is when they decided to announce that the 3DO M2 would be launching towards the end of 1996 at a price of $400. They also announced that because the M2 needed a 4x speed CD ROM drive, the original 3DO would no longer be able to upgrade to the M2. No one was going to pay $300 for a 3DO console that was going to be replaced the following year. And so sales dropped off dramatically.

[@TheLairdsLair]

Yeah, that did seem a bit of an own goal.

[@TheMamaluigi300]

⁠@@TheLairdsLair Can I just say, they *really* jumped the gun on a successor. I think they’d be better off waiting till the end of 1996 to see how the 3DO actually holds up against the Playstation and Saturn before they actually put the legwork into their M2 plans. Otherwise, it’d be like if Sega announced a brand-new next-gen system right after the SNES launched, when their US Genesis was just 2 years old

[@Larry]

Good video, wasn't the 3DO also used in some arcade machines? I know the M2 certainly was.

[@archive3do769]

The original 3DO hardware was used by American Laser Games and Atari even had a prototype arcade board. These are documented on my site in decent detail. Site link is in the description.

[@TheLairdsLair]

You beat me to it! I talked about the Konami M2 games in the video and linked them in the description.

[@SnarkyRC]

I remember seeing a Sanyo 3DO ad in a game magazine back in the 90s. It looked like a cool console variant. The Panasonic M2 would've been a beast if it went into production.

[@SegaTron64]

This is the most entertaining, well edited and informative 3DO video I have ever seen so far! GREAT JOB!

[@3dohd]

Nice work man. You clearly put a lot of time, research, and work into this. Very cool

[@TheLairdsLair]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@shotgunl]

Great video! At some point in the mid-00s, l learned about Dave Needle and RJ Mical being the designers, and I had developed a soft spot for the Lynx by then (and I though the Amiga in the library in grade school was cool, but that was the extent of my real-world Amiga experience), so that's the fact I really liked you covering: that bit of Atari DNA that carried through all of their projects. I really wish the M2 had been released as a home console and wish the MX had came to fruition as well... I played an in-store demo unit of a Goldstar 3DO a few times in early '95? I had seen the Panasonic FZ-1 for sale at Kaybee Toys, but this was the first time I got to actually play one. And, even though I'd already played the PS1 at a friend's who got it for christmas and knew it was definitely more powerful, I still thought the games on the demo disc that that unit was running were cool (I hadn't played the Saturn yet, not until Panzer Dragoon on a kiosk at Sears; wouldn't play a Jaguar until friend got one later in the year; and I bought a 32x but not until the very end of '95). I really liked the quirkiness of Gex, the charm of Return Fire, and the absolute raw fun of Slam 'n Jam '95 (there was a convenience store just down the road from me that had a Konami Run and Gun cabinet, which I absolutely loved...and Slam 'n Jam is a nice, fun rip-off of that game). Even though I think the system was already less expensive than at launch, I couldn't afford the Goldstar unit either 'cause I was still young (12-13). and my parents were not going to buy it for me. By the time I had a summer full-time and school-year part-time jobs, I was set on buying a Saturn first (I did get an N64 for Christmas '97 though), and the 3do was mostly just a memory. I'd think about it every so often, especially when seeing stuff on websites, forums, and newsgroups starting in the late 90s. But, I didn't buy one until after finally hearing the Wolfenstein 3d 3DO CD soundtrack on youtube. I had always planned on getting that port if I got a 3do because I love Wolf 3d, but when I heard that amazing soundtrack, I went straight to ebay and started looking for one. I wanted an FZ-10 because I had loved how it looked in pictures, so that's what I ended up with: a bundle with a US FZ-10 complete in box along with a standard Panasonic 3-button controller, a 6-button "Gamepad 6" from Performance/Interact (not great for SF2 because the center-top button is mapped to the pause button; I just disabled mine, but it'd probably be better to try to re-map it), and 6 (well, 7) games (2 copies of Gex, Trip'd, Myst, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Samurai Shodown, and BladeForce [I had never heard of this, but it was surprisingly fun and looks quite nice for the system]). I've not expanded much beyond those, but I also bought Road Rash, Way of the Warrior (I had always wanted this after seeing the huge review in "VideoGames" magazine here in the states), and, of course, Wolfenstein 3d. Though I'd played tons of booth the shareware and first 3 episodes of Wolf 3d on PC starting on my uncles 286 then our 486...this is absolutely my favorite version of the game. It looks good and runs well, and that soundtrack is just great. I love Bobby Prince's original adlib soundtrack, but the CD soundtrack in the 3do version quickly became my preferred music for the game. It's too bad DooM was so rushed. Even with more time and optimizations (see Optimus6128's great OptiDoom), the performance was never going to be as good as, say, PS1 Doom or the DooM 32X Resurrection homebrew just because the 3DO probably could have used a little more CPU grunt (whether a higher clocked ARM60 or the ARM610 with its L1 cache). I feel, even at the high price point, for 1993, the performance of the 3do compares quite well versus 486 PCs of the time (if you ignore doom, and that didn't really run that great on our 486SX-33 we had). The Saturn and especially PSX just happen to come in faster and cheaper.

[@JD.78]

The main thing that just didn't appeal to consumers was the price of the 3DO, costing £700 with one controler and no game was ludicrous. It's no wonder Sony conquered the 32-Bit generation with a far superior Console at a much more reasonable price, and games that people actually wanted to play. I remember seeing the 3DO on store shelves for £700 and my Dad just flat out said "No chance." So that was that, as i imagine many other Parents said back then too. The greatest thing to come out of the 3DO design (in my opinion) was the high density disc format that the system used for games that would eventually pave the way for the DVD format which became the standard for games and films throughout the 90's into the mid 2000's.

[@grinbrothers]

I like the individuality of consoles (my favourite is the Wii after all), so I'm glad 3DO's plan of a standardised format. Still, the console has plenty of it's own unique charm via it's daisy-chain controller, openness to developers and has a handful of games that caught my eye. The 5th gen is always exciting to learn about so I look forward to learning new 3DO facts and being reminded of others. 3:29 - I recall the Xbox One being joked about as looking like a VCR but the Samsung 3DO prototype truly looks like a VCR. I'm of the age where I'm nostalgic for such machines so I unironically love this design. 7:04 - An yet despite that significant price difference, to my knowledge, the 3DO outsold the Atari Jaguar and has claim to 4th place in the 5th Gen Console Wars as it were. 9:27 - This whole Boxing Clever segment was entirely new news to me. I didn't even know HD TV's were a thing in the mid-90's. Cool this video shows off yet another 3DO prototype/model. 12:19's Blast Off segment was also something I hadn't heard of before. 14:58 - A truly fascinating "What if" there given how close the M2 was to being made. I'd say this was likely my favourite fact on the basis of seeing just how close the M2 was to being a possibility, or the following one in being reminded that the 3DO company did achieve a bit of success as a software company.

[@TheLairdsLair]

I discovered a lot myself making this!

[@danielespeziari5545]

The 3DO outsold the Jaguar for one reason: Japan. Western consoles have always had a hard time conquering the Japanese market. I don't even know if the Jaguar was ever sold there

[@TheLairdsLair]

Asia in general, because the 3DO sold really well on Korea too.

[@ukkev7290]

@@danielespeziari5545 By September 1995, the Jaguar had sold only around 120,000 in the US. The 3DO had sold 700,000. When they were both were discontinued, they discounted them until the stocks were gone. And so whoever manufactured the most, would have sold the most.

[@grinbrothers]

@@danielespeziari5545 It sold well in Japan? Interesting to hear. I do recall the 3DO does have a single turn based JRPG on it (has a day-night cycle and a werewolf character) but I've otherwise heard little about 3DO and it's sales in Asia. Fascinating.

[@gamernaut8864]

What a unique and unusual console. I miss the experimental days of gaming. This modern era feels safe, predictable, hollow, and questionably entertaining. While playing any new game, I can't remember how many times I've asked myself "Am I having fun? I can't tell for sure." Strange times. I miss the 90s.

[@orderofmagnitude-TPATP]

3do was a neat idea and brave the way it was set up manufacturing profit wise etc. It was just a little too early and not too mention thanx to afformentioned business model - way too pricey

[@InfectiousGroovePodcast]

I had a friend who bought a 3DO as soon as he could get it. I was always happy to see new hardware in person, but this is one that was such a let down. He spent quite a while trying to justify the purchase, but there was never a killer app to help his cause.

[@SamMcDonald83]

One fun fact I've rarely heard mentioned on the 3DO is that it actually used an ARM licensed processor, whose descendents would go on to feature in the Raspberry Pi, iPhone and even the GBA!

[@TheLairdsLair]

I did consider mentioning that in the video but there were other systems with ARM processors before it, so it wasn't all that special in that regard.

[@SamMcDonald83]

@@TheLairdsLair oh yeah good point. Great video btw!

[@joejacobsonwales]

I never new the amiga conection, amazing, now I want one!

[@asa-punkatsouthvinland7145]

I had a friend who owned a 3D0 when they came out. I thought it was amazing at the time & honestly I thought it was a better console than the PS1. Clearly the PS1 won the war; it definitely had better financial & developer support. But I think the 3D0 would have held its own had things gone slightly differently. It was a good idea that just couldn't gain the traction it needed.

[@ridiculous_gaming]

I simply wish that a proper version of Doom was created on this hardware , for it was capable.

[@thunderhammerx2966]

Remember playing one of these at a demo in a Funcoland way back yonder. It was pretty cool and looked good; but it had no standout RPGs, if any at all, and therefore didn't really catch my interest at the time.

[@celynjones4958]

Loved the happy 2 years with my costly FZ-1 before switching to a Pentium PC. Road Rash, Return Fire, Wing Commander, and SF 2 Turbo were my standouts. A factiod missed was the never released add-on MPEG video decoder. Cheers ❤

[@Trampelschrat]

Really nice video on this unfairly labeled "bad" console.

[@brendanroberts1310]

Unsuccessful would be a more accurate label.

[@errollleggo447]

Too expensive was what I was thinking back in the day.

[@lurkerrekrul]

I only ever saw a 3DO console once. A local Radio Shack had one set up with the Jurassic Park running. When I saw it, it was on the T-rex chase. I tried to play it, but didn't know what to do. Since then, I've tried a bunch of the games through emulation. To be honest, I'm not that impressed. While the 2D games are fine, a lot of the 3D games are pretty rough and kind of look unfinished.

[@baroncalamityplus]

Had a 3DO. It was a good system. I think I had the Goldstar one but I'm not sure anymore. I played mostly EA titles such as Road Rash, Need For Speed, Fifa, etc. I also played quite a bit of GEX as well.

[@errollleggo447]

I remember it being way too expensive and well, you couldn't pirate games on it.

[@TheLairdsLair]

It can play pirates, it has no copy protection.

[@steve050867]

I owned one bought from a Virgin Megastore think I paid around £450. I still own it. A missed opportunity I think though I did get lots of use from it and after all that's what it's about.

[@sonataonmymind]

Are you planning to make a video about 3DO MX?

[@TheLairdsLair]

Not at the moment, maybe in the future.

[@dreamcaster4754]

I liked the 3DO, better than the CDi and CD32 but not quite as good as the Jag.

[@retrojoe85]

Hoenstly, I can't say I love it even if I tried just for an hour in my entire life. My only experience with a 3DO was at the Christmas Day of 1995, when one of my cousins received the console with "Way of the Warrior" as an extra game. That game was dangerously dreadful at the point that he almost cried and his father felt guilty for such a terrible idea as a gift! And no, the fact that it was the first creation ever done by Naughty Dog team wasn't a good excuse if you allow to publish such cr@p for your gaming console, sorry. I prefer the CD-I 10.000 times more: the Philips' CD-powered counterpart was filled with a certain 90's fashion in my point of view. I don't know how to explain this feeling about it.

[@stevenspx6226]

Almost bought one of these saved my money got ps1

[@mgabrysSF]

Their 3D imp, was barely better than the SNES' scaling. Once the PS1 showed-up - the game was over for a true poly pusher. They knew that in the first year and dumped the lot. I was a 3DO dev (unfortunately),

[@archive3do769]

Maybe you should check out the PS1 and 3DO comparison of starfighter on my channel and see how Polygons suited the 3DO when tailored for it. Maybe you should also take a look at Samurai Showdown comparisons between the NG and 3DO, the 3DO port being fairly faithful with it's scaling effects. "Barely better than the snes scaling" is a bit of a reach.

[@mgabrysSF]

@@archive3do769 So one game got a bad port on the PS1 ... that's not a compelling argument. Even the Saturn got trounced by the PS1 architecture and was squashed within it's first 2 years. The 3DO was a scam at worst and a horrible misadventure at best that sucked a lot of money and bloated the market. The early 90s nearly had as many (if not MORE counting the CD 'multimedia' systems - good lord what a stupid fad) terrible consoles as the early 80s crash. 3DO was one of them.

[@3dohd]

What games did you work on? Kind of a bizarre comment to say it's 3D was barely better than SNES, which is clearly not accurate.

[@archive3do769]

@@mgabrysSF your suggestion was that the hardware was down right bad. That's just not the case. The PlayStations biggest claim to Fame was the ease of squeezing 3D from it, versus Saturn or 3DO. You (if you were a dev, what game was it you worked on?) and many other devs had sworn that 3DO was this or that, and more times than not, there's always a counter to your claim. Even less impressive early 3DO games are more advanced than the most advanced snes games that required extra cart hardware. Total Eclipse/Offworld interceptor versus Starfox. Bladeforce versus literally anything on SNES or Jaguar. The guys at CORE could hardly get BC Racers to play well, scratched tomb raider from 3DO development because it was "wishful thinking", psygnosis said 3DO wasn't really a 3D machine. This past year a guy got tomb raider and wipeout running on the 3DO within 2 weeks worth of development, and within a month at a playable frame rate in alpha demo form. So what does that say about developer claims?

[@ITGuyinaction]

👍 👍 👍 You put a lot of effort in preparing your videos! It's visible!

[@leelangley3705]

The best bit about this video is 3 minutes in, where compare the 32bit generation consoles and include the Atari Jaguar……I like what you did there ;)

[@TheLairdsLair]

Well, the Jaguar is part of that mini-generation, despite being a 64-bit console.