It's the early 90's, and Console gaming was going through a change. A change that would shape the videogaming medium forever. The Advent of 3D gaming, and the evolution of disc based media. The Mega CD Add-on for the Mega Drive (or Genesis if you are American) paved the way for this evolution to start. With FMV video making vast storylines possible, soundtrack styled music that was never before heard of since then, and a opportunity for bigger, and better games. This caused excitement in the industry, and everyone believed that the medium was coming of age. Among the hustle and bustle of the 16-bit war between Nintendo, and Sega in the early 90's. Other companies would rise to take this new technology to a whole new realm of evolution. Enter the 3DO company with the 32-Bit 3DO, and Atari with their ill-fated 64-bit Jaguar system.
Now, these consoles were the first of the 3d evolution, before the Playstation was a pipe dream, and a glint in Sony's eye. These consoles were doing above, and beyond what the SNES, and Mega Drive was capable of. The Next generation was here, but people struggled to embrace it. Why was this, and what caused these consoles to gain a infamy status among gamers. As I own both of these consoles, I will be able to give my impressions on these innovative, yet forgotten systems.
Panasonic 3DO
The Panasonic 3DO had a lot going for it, a decent library, innovative graphics that pushed the hardware, and well designed hardware with different kinds of variations. So why did it fail?
The 3DO was created by Trip Hawkings, the founder of Electronic Arts (EA for Short). He had bright ideas for the next generation of consoles. So he created the 3DO Company, and created one of the first 32-bit console capable of 3D graphics. Now the 3DO got a lot of hype in magazines before it was released, as people in industry were harking it as the next best thing. However they didn't realise that the console would later be released at a huge astronomical price tag, which kept it away from even the most hardcore of gamers. On launch it cost £400, with a package game Total Eclipse, which was one of the main reasons why it wasn't well received.
This caused to 3DO company to released different versions of the 3DO such as the 3DO goldstar which took it's cost down, but gamers weren't biting, the damage was done and the PS1 was just around the corner, which had better graphics than the 3DO at a cheaper price. Then after the cancellation of the 3DO add-on the M2 in 1996, the console was doomed to the history books as a failure. However it's not all doom and gloom for the 3DO as it had a decent library for the time, and it was possibly one of the most innovative of the failed consoles.
Now, I Personally love the 3DO, down to it's sleek design, it's region free, and copy free gaming, and the fact the graphics look fantastic for it's time.
Among the Game library, you have Star Control 2: the Al Quan Masters, Gex, Lucieen's Quest (which is a great little RPG), Road Rash, Alone in the Dark, Killing Time, Wing Commander 3: Heart of the Tiger, A great port of Street Fighter 2, Return Fire, Syndicate, Crash N Burn, Need for Speed, Space Hulk and Starfighter.
While some of these are now not exclusives, there are still great games, and most more than other are far better ports than what's on other consoles such as space hulk and star fighter. It's also copy free, so you could experience it's whole library (including imports like Doctor Hauzer), if you feel so inclined.
the 3DO also has it's fair share of bad games, strangely enough it also has a few porn games, and terrible homebrew FMV games like Plumbers don't wear ties, due to the open licensing that the 3DO had. These should be avoided at all cost, unless you enjoy the cheese fest's that comes with these kind of games.
Nowadays, a 3DO doesn't cost half as much, and you can pick up one for less than a hundred pounds with a few games. Is it worth it? Depends if you want something with a bit of novelty, that has a better library than people give it credit for. It's very much worth it if you don't have the games on other systems as well, as well as any of the PC exclusives that are on the system.
Personally I would go for the Panasonic 3DO FZ-10 system, as the Goldstar has a few compatibility issues.
Atari Jaguar
The Atari Jaguar is a bit of a oddball in a way that it was classed as a 64-bit system in a generation where 32-bit was cutting edge. Was it marketing tripe, or was there any truth behind it. Technically their was a bit of both. It had two processors, the Tom and jerry chip which made it 64-bit, but the graphics itself were obviously not up to par even compared to the 32-Bit 3DO. So what was reason? Most developers said it was Difficult to develop for due to the complex architecture of the Jaguar, which would make sense considering the console had two processors.
The Atari Jaguar was championed as a American Machine, but it was actually mostly developed in the United Kingdom. With the ex-employees of Konix, which developed the Konix Multi system (which never saw the light of day). Which were employed by Atari to make a next generation which was originally the 32-Bit Panther, but was remade in to the 64-bit Atari Jaguar. After the inital launch day hype, the system was crushed by the hype of the other next generation machines the Playstation, and Saturn. Which made it's lifespan incredibly short, with only a little over 60 commercial games available (compared to over 200 for the 3DO) for the system. Most of which commands high prices today from Jaguar Collectors.
The library consists of a few great exclusive games, and some of the most awful game to have ever existed. a few of these great games include, Tempest 2000, Rayman, Aliens vs Predator, Cybermorph, A good port of Doom, Power drive rally, Iron solider, and a few Jaguar CD titles such as Battlemorph (the sequel to cybermorph), Iron solider 2, and Myst.
Some of the worst game included on the system include the polygon mess that was Club Drive, and Fight for Life, which was a terrible 3d fighter with terrible gameplay and graphics.
The controller for the system also get's derided a lot, but I personally don't have a problem with it. It holds well in the hands, and the overlays for a few games make the numeric pad very useful.
Quite possibly one of the best thing's about the Jaguar, has to be it's homebrew scene, which is very active even to this day, and has created a few of the games that has really pushed the Jaguar hardware to heights that even the original developers couldn't grasp. These games include Battlesphere, and Skyhammer, which are highly sought after due to their limited pressing. So you could say that the Jaguar came to life after it's death, which could be said for other consoles like the Dreamcast and Neo-Geo AES.
There is also a convention that comes around every so year called Jagfest, dedicated to the Jaguar, and it's fans. Which is an opportunity to share new homebrews, and unofficial accesories, which has been made possible due to hasbro making the Jaguar open to all in terms of licensing.
The question is, Is the console worth it? It depends really. Jaguar games are getting increasingly hard to find with some being more than the console itself. The base unit itself is not much, and most of the time comes with cybermorph as standard. Also, with it's lack of games makes it a questionable investment to the least hardcore retro collector. However, If you want something of a curio, that won't break the bank get a Jaguar, and amaze your friends of a console that they never even knew existed. The Jaguar CD isn't worth it though, as it cost far too much, and it is prone to breaking, not to mention the lack of games.
The 3DO, and Atari Jaguar, two forgotten, two failures, but two very interesting consoles with two very interesting concept's.
Have I interested you in these two consoles if you have never heard of them before. Also, Have you ever play them before, if so what games, and what do you think of these ill-fated consoles.
Now, these consoles were the first of the 3d evolution, before the Playstation was a pipe dream, and a glint in Sony's eye. These consoles were doing above, and beyond what the SNES, and Mega Drive was capable of. The Next generation was here, but people struggled to embrace it. Why was this, and what caused these consoles to gain a infamy status among gamers. As I own both of these consoles, I will be able to give my impressions on these innovative, yet forgotten systems.
Panasonic 3DO
The Panasonic 3DO had a lot going for it, a decent library, innovative graphics that pushed the hardware, and well designed hardware with different kinds of variations. So why did it fail?
The 3DO was created by Trip Hawkings, the founder of Electronic Arts (EA for Short). He had bright ideas for the next generation of consoles. So he created the 3DO Company, and created one of the first 32-bit console capable of 3D graphics. Now the 3DO got a lot of hype in magazines before it was released, as people in industry were harking it as the next best thing. However they didn't realise that the console would later be released at a huge astronomical price tag, which kept it away from even the most hardcore of gamers. On launch it cost £400, with a package game Total Eclipse, which was one of the main reasons why it wasn't well received.
This caused to 3DO company to released different versions of the 3DO such as the 3DO goldstar which took it's cost down, but gamers weren't biting, the damage was done and the PS1 was just around the corner, which had better graphics than the 3DO at a cheaper price. Then after the cancellation of the 3DO add-on the M2 in 1996, the console was doomed to the history books as a failure. However it's not all doom and gloom for the 3DO as it had a decent library for the time, and it was possibly one of the most innovative of the failed consoles.
Now, I Personally love the 3DO, down to it's sleek design, it's region free, and copy free gaming, and the fact the graphics look fantastic for it's time.
Among the Game library, you have Star Control 2: the Al Quan Masters, Gex, Lucieen's Quest (which is a great little RPG), Road Rash, Alone in the Dark, Killing Time, Wing Commander 3: Heart of the Tiger, A great port of Street Fighter 2, Return Fire, Syndicate, Crash N Burn, Need for Speed, Space Hulk and Starfighter.
While some of these are now not exclusives, there are still great games, and most more than other are far better ports than what's on other consoles such as space hulk and star fighter. It's also copy free, so you could experience it's whole library (including imports like Doctor Hauzer), if you feel so inclined.
the 3DO also has it's fair share of bad games, strangely enough it also has a few porn games, and terrible homebrew FMV games like Plumbers don't wear ties, due to the open licensing that the 3DO had. These should be avoided at all cost, unless you enjoy the cheese fest's that comes with these kind of games.
Nowadays, a 3DO doesn't cost half as much, and you can pick up one for less than a hundred pounds with a few games. Is it worth it? Depends if you want something with a bit of novelty, that has a better library than people give it credit for. It's very much worth it if you don't have the games on other systems as well, as well as any of the PC exclusives that are on the system.
Personally I would go for the Panasonic 3DO FZ-10 system, as the Goldstar has a few compatibility issues.
Atari Jaguar
The Atari Jaguar is a bit of a oddball in a way that it was classed as a 64-bit system in a generation where 32-bit was cutting edge. Was it marketing tripe, or was there any truth behind it. Technically their was a bit of both. It had two processors, the Tom and jerry chip which made it 64-bit, but the graphics itself were obviously not up to par even compared to the 32-Bit 3DO. So what was reason? Most developers said it was Difficult to develop for due to the complex architecture of the Jaguar, which would make sense considering the console had two processors.
The Atari Jaguar was championed as a American Machine, but it was actually mostly developed in the United Kingdom. With the ex-employees of Konix, which developed the Konix Multi system (which never saw the light of day). Which were employed by Atari to make a next generation which was originally the 32-Bit Panther, but was remade in to the 64-bit Atari Jaguar. After the inital launch day hype, the system was crushed by the hype of the other next generation machines the Playstation, and Saturn. Which made it's lifespan incredibly short, with only a little over 60 commercial games available (compared to over 200 for the 3DO) for the system. Most of which commands high prices today from Jaguar Collectors.
The library consists of a few great exclusive games, and some of the most awful game to have ever existed. a few of these great games include, Tempest 2000, Rayman, Aliens vs Predator, Cybermorph, A good port of Doom, Power drive rally, Iron solider, and a few Jaguar CD titles such as Battlemorph (the sequel to cybermorph), Iron solider 2, and Myst.
Some of the worst game included on the system include the polygon mess that was Club Drive, and Fight for Life, which was a terrible 3d fighter with terrible gameplay and graphics.
The controller for the system also get's derided a lot, but I personally don't have a problem with it. It holds well in the hands, and the overlays for a few games make the numeric pad very useful.
Quite possibly one of the best thing's about the Jaguar, has to be it's homebrew scene, which is very active even to this day, and has created a few of the games that has really pushed the Jaguar hardware to heights that even the original developers couldn't grasp. These games include Battlesphere, and Skyhammer, which are highly sought after due to their limited pressing. So you could say that the Jaguar came to life after it's death, which could be said for other consoles like the Dreamcast and Neo-Geo AES.
There is also a convention that comes around every so year called Jagfest, dedicated to the Jaguar, and it's fans. Which is an opportunity to share new homebrews, and unofficial accesories, which has been made possible due to hasbro making the Jaguar open to all in terms of licensing.
The question is, Is the console worth it? It depends really. Jaguar games are getting increasingly hard to find with some being more than the console itself. The base unit itself is not much, and most of the time comes with cybermorph as standard. Also, with it's lack of games makes it a questionable investment to the least hardcore retro collector. However, If you want something of a curio, that won't break the bank get a Jaguar, and amaze your friends of a console that they never even knew existed. The Jaguar CD isn't worth it though, as it cost far too much, and it is prone to breaking, not to mention the lack of games.
The 3DO, and Atari Jaguar, two forgotten, two failures, but two very interesting consoles with two very interesting concept's.
Have I interested you in these two consoles if you have never heard of them before. Also, Have you ever play them before, if so what games, and what do you think of these ill-fated consoles.
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