292: My Favorite Mistake
- Thread starter Susan Arendt
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Very cool to see you hereewhac said:
Sanyo and Creative released hardware to retail as well, and I remember seeing prototypes from AT&T and Samsung.ewhac said:
Anyway, great article! I love my 3DO... And my Jaguar, 32X, Lynx, 7800 (Ninja Golf!!!), Vectrex... But most of all of my failed systems, I love my Virtual Boy; Wario Land is reason enough to track one down, and the rest of the library is pretty solid!
Back to 3DO: There are still some awesome exclusives for the system that are worth checking-out today, and people here have already mentioned the fantastic arcade ports, but what really makes the 3DO important is that it provides a great history lesson with regard to many of today's favourite franchises and developers!
Naughty Dog (Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, Uncharted) got their start with Way Of The Warrior on 3DO; D, Gex, Need For Speed, and Return Fire were first developed for 3DO; it has some of the best versions of Flashback, Out Of This World, Road Rash, Star Control II, Wing Commander, and Wolfenstein 3D; and let's not forget the system's crowning jewel, Dennis Miller: That's News To Me
I just about remember this Console! Brings back memories of my elder brother wanting one, but I don't remember then being seen much over here in the UK
Those were the good old days of gaming though, with Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) and the Nintendo Super NES!
Brings back memories of my elder brother wanting one, but I don't remember then being seen much over here in the UK Those were the good old days of gaming though, with Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) and the Nintendo Super NES!
I was too young but I really did want a turbo grafx 16 when it came out. And the turbo express.
Gotta love Keith Courage in Alpha Zones.
Gotta love Keith Courage in Alpha Zones.
Ack! You're right; I totally forgot about Sanyo, and that [em]thing[/em] Creative made for PCs.twicesliced said:
Now that I think about it, Samsung [em]might[/em] have shipped a few boxes. I know AT&T showed a mockup/prototype at CES, but never produced it.
I remember those guys as being fantastic. As I recall, it was just a couple of guys in someone's garage putting together Way of The Warrior, a monumentally ambitious work for the platform which received uneven reviews. But I remember them asking a lot of incisive questions, and it was clear they were pouring their hearts into the game.
I believe that last one was actually shot at Studio 3DO; I saw some of the footage and the "game" in development. I really didn't see the point.D, Gex, Need For Speed, and Return Fire were first developed for 3DO; it has some of the best versions of Flashback, Out Of This World, Road Rash, Star Control II, Wing Commander, and Wolfenstein 3D; and let's not forget the system's crowning jewel, Dennis Miller: That's News To Me
Return Fire was developed by another former employer, Prolific Publishing [http://www.prolific.com/] (nee Silent Software).
Road Rash got a lot of play in our building's lobby, where we had a 3DO and large TV set up.
Also, Crystal Dynamics was founded writing 3DO titles. Before New Technologies Group was acquired and relocated to 3DO's campus, they worked just a couple doors down from us.
Interesting, and honestly I'll say that this whole brief era of gaming is what I think of every time someone decides to tout "interactive movies" like "Heavy Rain" as something new and exciting, since during this era they were extremely common. Honestly a lot of those same 3DO games were also on the PC, or made their way there. I played a lot of the games mentioned here via computer, since I was never all that impressed with the 3DO itself.
Truthfully the one "failed" console I wound up trading in and never forgave myself for was the Dreamcast. I've been looking forward to the relaunch of some of those titles, but really it doesn't seem to be happening despite the claims/hints. Sort of like how Xenogears and Vagrant Story seem to be doomed to never actually make it to the US PSN.
Truthfully the one "failed" console I wound up trading in and never forgave myself for was the Dreamcast. I've been looking forward to the relaunch of some of those titles, but really it doesn't seem to be happening despite the claims/hints. Sort of like how Xenogears and Vagrant Story seem to be doomed to never actually make it to the US PSN.
I remember first playing the 3DO at a local neighborhood computer store that dealt in Commodore machines. I remember staring at loading screens more than actual gameplay, Road Rash was especially guilty of this. I saw little to no appeal in this system, I was never a fan of full-motion video-based games since 99% of them were done so horribly. The price point of the system didn't help much either. $699.99? Were they serious? Not mistaking it for insanity, yes, they were.
Every other company BUT Nintendo and SEGA failed to understand what really makes a console great and worth buying: The software! Even with the Sega CD and 32X flopping and only having a minute amount of really memorable games, there were still top-notch games being developed for the Genesis itself. Same with the SNES. Both were playing home platform to the groundbreaking iconic traditional games of the day while the FMV stuff passed through the public consciousness as kind of an experiment. That is why they stood out above the rest, they delivered what the gamers wanted in an ever improving form.
FMV games were a niche genre. Not everyone wants to play Dragon's Lair-style games with low-budget movie live-action movie scenes as the sole game visuals, they have no control over that. FMV was cool at that time in the sense of just being a novelty, it wasn't practical enough for actual engaging gameplay. Believe me, I played Supreme Warrior and that pile of shit doesn't work well AT ALL.
So what do I have from the 3DO? I have an advertisement booklet pinned up on my wall full of all their rhetoric about how groundbreaking it was. The only feature of the system I will give them props for is the theoretical option to connect an infinite amount of controllers since they could all be daisy-chained together without end.
Every other company BUT Nintendo and SEGA failed to understand what really makes a console great and worth buying: The software! Even with the Sega CD and 32X flopping and only having a minute amount of really memorable games, there were still top-notch games being developed for the Genesis itself. Same with the SNES. Both were playing home platform to the groundbreaking iconic traditional games of the day while the FMV stuff passed through the public consciousness as kind of an experiment. That is why they stood out above the rest, they delivered what the gamers wanted in an ever improving form.
FMV games were a niche genre. Not everyone wants to play Dragon's Lair-style games with low-budget movie live-action movie scenes as the sole game visuals, they have no control over that. FMV was cool at that time in the sense of just being a novelty, it wasn't practical enough for actual engaging gameplay. Believe me, I played Supreme Warrior and that pile of shit doesn't work well AT ALL.
So what do I have from the 3DO? I have an advertisement booklet pinned up on my wall full of all their rhetoric about how groundbreaking it was. The only feature of the system I will give them props for is the theoretical option to connect an infinite amount of controllers since they could all be daisy-chained together without end.
It was a design philosophy that originated with the late Gunpei Yokoi at Nintendo: "Lateral Thinking with Withered Technology". Withered technology refers to technology that is cheap and well understood. Lateral thinking refers to new and radical ways of using this withered technology. Yokoi believed that a video game didn't require cutting edge technology; novelty and fun game play were enough.Garak73 said:
The Game Boy always beat out the competition because it was accessible with a long library of fun games and it had a healthy battery life when compared to the Lynx or Game Gear. All of the color graphics and licensed IPs in the world won't push the sales of a system if it takes 6 AA batteries to power it for 3-4 hours. The Game Gear itself was a modified Master System so even though SEGA also employed a Lateral Thinking method to their old technology, it still was too much for it's new intent.
It still holds true today as Miyamoto headed the design of the Wii and it's motion controls. The hardware itself is a Gamecube with a little more RAM and slightly faster CPU.
I remember drooling at the graphics of 3DO.
Anyway: "The game's plot, which took place in a dystopian future (what else?) where the United States was under a religious dictatorship that could actually send people to Hell..."
Whoa, now that's a religious dictatorship with loads of spunk if I ever saw one!
Anyway: "The game's plot, which took place in a dystopian future (what else?) where the United States was under a religious dictatorship that could actually send people to Hell..."
Whoa, now that's a religious dictatorship with loads of spunk if I ever saw one!
LoL...I remember browsing through magazines with the Jaguar and the 3DO, with the same reverence as I would have given an issue of playboy. Luckily, they were both discontinued by the time I had saved enough money to buy either one...and all the money went to playing the first Quake on PC.
I still remember some of the articles and adverts extolling the virtues of the 3DO. Never got one, I always wanted the Dreamcast. Had to settle for a Playstation instead.
