[upbeat electronic music]
[can hissing]
"AHH!"
[computer keys clicking]
- History has been very kind to some consoles
and exceptionally harsh on others, sometimes undeservedly.
This really just applies to many of the consoles
other than the main ones that appeared in the early 1990s,
specifically the year in this case is 1993.
The CD and full motion video craze is taking off
and every company is jumping on the bandwagon,
including Sega, Atari, NEC,
Amiga, S&K, Philips, and eventually Sony.
But there was also a newcomer to the game console arena.
3DO.
Released in 1993,
the 3DO was the first dedicated CR-ROM console in America
and is one of the more unique game system ideas.
3DO was conceived by the founder of Electronic Arts,
Trip Hawkins, as a not only next gen game console,
but an entire media experience in one machine,
which explains its full name,
the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer.
The idea was that it would take full advantage
of emerging interactive entertainment mediums,
such as full motion video, video and audio CDs
and 3D applications.
The name 3DO itself is derived from this mantra.
"You have audio, you have video, but now you have 3DO."
[laughs] That is so lame, but it is so rad.
As a result, the machine was hyped to no end before released
and was deemed by many as the next biggest thing
in electronic entertainment.
However, due to a whole list of things,
like licensing options, poor games
and not the least of which, a $699 price tag,
the 3DO only lasted a couple
of years before being overtaken completely
by the Sony PlayStation,
eventually going the way of Atari and Sega,
only making software from that point on.
But that's the end of the story.
Let's go back to the beginning.
One of the most unique aspects
of the 3DO was its licensing system,
for both the hardware and games.
Trip Hawkins had lots of experience with this
and was not satisfied
with how hardware companies charged for licensing.
So 3DO never actually made a console,
but instead sold the rights to produce them for a fee.
They also charged very little to produce games for the 3DO,
in comparison to the high fees
from companies like Nintendo and Sega.
These practices resulted in multiple versions
of the 3DO system,
as well as lots of very cheaply made games.
Let's go to the hardware side of things.
Panasonic made the first 3DO system worldwide, the FZ-1.
It's the model with a front-loading mechanical tray
and is generally considered one
of the better quality systems.
They also made a later cost-reduced version,
the FZ-10, which uses a flip-top CD-ROM.
Otherwise,
the alternative was the cheaper system by GoldStar.
It looks pretty similar to the FZ-1, but is less compatible
with certain games.
Another prominent hardware player was Sanyo,
which made systems in Japan only,
so you probably won't be seeing these in the US.
I got my Panasonic FZ-1 3DO for $70,
with two controllers and all the cables.
Between 50 and $80 seems
to be about the current going rate for an FZ-1,
while the GoldStar
and FZ-10 models usually go for a little bit less,
depending on games and accessories.
I went with this one
because I wanted the maximum compatibility
and build quality, and I just like how it looks.
It's heavy, with a built-in power supply,
and looks like a quality bit of equipment.
And I especially like the top of the system itself.
It can be hard to see,
but there is a nice granite-like texture
with a glassy finish, which really looks spectacular.
Further in line with it's high quality,
is the fact that it uses no proprietary AV ports.
There is no need for any proprietary cabling.
All you need is a standard RF or RCA outputs
with Dolby Surround Sound,
and even S-Video in there, if you want it.
The one thing you may notice is missing
is a memory card port.
Now that's because the 3DO has fixed internal memory.
32 whole kilobytes!
There are a couple of expansion ports
that you'll never use as well,
but here's an odd characteristic.
There's only one controller port.
But you don't need a multi-tap for more controllers.
Unlike one port consoles, like the TurboGrafx-16,
you daisy chain controllers together for multiplayer games.
Thankfully the cords are quite freaking long,
so you don't need to play any dudemanbro
deathmatches together.
The controllers themselves are surprisingly decent,
with three face buttons and two very nice shoulder buttons.
The D-pad is similar
but tighter than the Genesis six-button controller,
but there's only five main buttons,
and the standard set by Nintendo, and later Sega, has six,
so a couple of games can get awkward.
There were other controllers made that added more buttons,
and there was also a flight stick, a light gun,
and even a mouse to use.
You can see what 3DO was trying to do here
with the multimedia aspect, with each button corresponding
to typical VCR-like functions.
The CD player is great,
with the visualizer that was totally unique at the time.
And the flying through space asteroids kind of
screen saver is quite awesome too.
You even get a headphone jack
and volume control knob on the first edition controllers,
which is absurdly cool.
However, when you plug in headphones,
it doesn't mute your TV though,
so take note, if you're playing something like "The Coven"
and think all you've got is the headphone sound going.
Yeah, that can get awkward.
[gentle music]
So the FZ-1 console itself is really well made,
but what about the games?
Each game comes on CD-ROM
and what the heck is this?
This is apparently a 3DO game box.
It is entirely too tall and awkward.
From what I can tell they were made like this
so you could fit multiple CDs in a box, like in "Road Rash",
but come on, there're better solutions for that.
Being so tall, they're hard to fit on any normal type
of shelf without readjusting everything.
And the cheaper game boxes fall apart really easily
as a result.
I mentioned it has 32k of internal memory.
Well, this is all well and good, but 32 kilobytes!
Some games take up multiple 4k slots,
so you'll run out really fast, and get this,
there's no way to even delete and manage your saved data
on the FZ-1.
So you'll need a game with an internal,
built-in memory manager or a disk, like Game Guru,
to manage your saved games.
Also, as mentioned,
there were very low licensing fees for games,
so really almost anybody could slap something together
and call it a game.
It was also a time where full motion video was the future,
and everybody wanted to take advantage
of the CD-ROM format, filling the whole 650 megabytes up,
just because they could.
This, "Just because you could" mentality unfortunately led
to lots of lame games on the system,
and plenty of utter garbage.
What's really sad is that
3DO is actually really sucky at doing 3D.
Maybe the programmers just didn't know what they were doing?
I mean, the "Port of Doom" for instance, runs horribly,
and is barely playable as a result.
But there is a very nice selection of worthwhile games,
if you really take a look.
Here are some of my favorites.
[dramatic music]
[person exclaiming]
[ground rumbling]
[guns firing]
[car engine humming]
[laser guns pinging]
[Eastern chanting]
[electronic music]
[whimsical music]
[upbeat gentle music]
[motorbike engine humming] [tires squealing]
Like I said, there are lots of games, and many hidden gems,
somewhere in that library of 200 and something games.
A great way to check them out is to just download some ISOs
and burn them.
Yeah, the 3DO has absolutely no copy protection.
It also so no region lockouts either,
so you can play games from around the world
on your American system without any kind of modding needed.
The games themselves can be hard to find,
complete in their long box, but loose,
or in a jewel case, they really aren't too hard to find,
and are usually pretty cheap.
So you may be looking at the 3DO and going,
"Hmm, should I really get this or not?
"I mean, is it worth the cost?"
Well, from one point of view,
it is definitely worth the cost.
It looks great.
It is cool to look at and to say, "I have a 3DO".
This thing cost $699 back in the day
and I only paid like 60 for it.
Well, the other point of view is that, yes,
it has quite a few good games,
but almost every single one
of them are on a far superior system for much less money,
like the PlayStation or something.
So, [winces]
I don't know what to say.
I like the 3DO.
I've always wanted a 3DO, so I got a 3DO.
The 3DO is what it is, take it or leave it.
[solemn dramatic music]