The Genesis of the 3DO

In the early 90's, console gaming was at its 16 bit peak. Both SEGA's Genesis and the Super Nintendo owned the marketplace, while other systems like the Neo-Geo offered alternatives for the hardcore gamer.

But the industry was changing. While these consoles were hugely successful, they still ran on cartridges, and this limited what the consoles could do. CD-Rom was also making inroads, with systems like the CD-i from Philips and Sony showing what could be done with the disc format. I'll never forget playing the Palm Springs Open golf game and thinking, wow, this is the future.

Despite being co-developed with Sony, though, the CD-i never really took off, hampered by a slow processor and an expensive price tag.

With the next generation of consoles from SEGA and Nintendo still a way off, there was a gap for a new machine to go up against the Super Nintendo and Genesis, and lead the charge for the CD revolution. Enter the 3DO.

In the first episode of Memories of 3DO, learn about the gaming legends behind the system, and how a new challenger to SEGA and Nintendo's dominance came from the unlikeliest of sources.

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Episode Transcript

Danny (00:04):
You're listening to Memories of 3DO, a retrospective look at
a video games console classic.
To make sure you get the latest episode,hop on over to 3dopodcast.com/listen and
choose your preferred app to follow on.
And now this week's episode.
In the early 1990s consolegaming was at its 16-bit peak.

(00:24):
Both Sega Genesis and the SuperNintendo owned the marketplace
while other systems like the NEO-GEOoffered alternatives for the hardcore
gamer, but the industry was changing.
While these consoleswere hugely successful,
they still ran on cartridges, and thislimited what the consoles could do.
CD-ROM was also making inroadswith systems like the CD-i from
Phillips and Sony showing whatcould be done with the disc format.

(00:47):
I'll never forget playing thePalm Spings Open golf game and
thinking, wow, this is the future.
Even though I was holding like a weirdTV remote that had a little stick on the
middle of it, made it really hard to play,
it looked amazing, and thiswas what CD-ROM promised.
Despite being co-developed with Sonythough, the CD-i never really took off.
Hampered by a slow processorand an expensive price tag.

(01:09):
With the next generation of consolesfrom Sega and Nintendo still a way off,
there was a gap for a new machine to goup against the Super Nintendo and Genesis
and lead the charge for the CD revolution.
Enter the 3DO.
Looking at the people behind the 3DOand the plans for it, gamers and game
developers alike were genuinely excited.
Designed by video game legends, DaveNeedle and RJ Mical who developed

(01:32):
the Commodore Amiga and Atari Lynx,and with Electronic Arts founder and
visionary Trap Hawkins leading the way,
it was clear that the 3DO had someserious gaming brains behind the concept.
Not only that, but the businessmodel with the 3DO was different too.
The hardware could be licensedby anyone, allowing for multiple
versions to be built and sold.
The system wasn't regional locked,meaning Japanese games could be played

(01:54):
on American and European systems.
This was a huge bonus for hardcore gamerswho were used to SEGA and Nintendo keeping
their systems to their regions, Japanesegames and Japanese systems, American
games, American systems, and so on.
And the royalties that game developershad to pay 3DO were far lower than
those that SEGA and Nintendo demanded.
Because of that, some of the biggestdevelopers in the world signed up

(02:16):
to produce games for the system,with Electronic Arts in particular
ready to show sports fans whattheir favorite games look like on
the next generation 32-bit system.
So everything was set for the3DO to enter the mix and make the
16-bit consoles look like kids toys.
But could this new upstartreally challenge the established
might of SEGA and Nintendo?
Things were about to get interesting....

(02:38):
In the next episode, the challenge ofbringing a new console to market reveals
a stark truth and a pricing dilemma thatcould make or break the console's success.