The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, or just 3DO for short, was a 32-bit console released by the now-defunct 3DO Company in 1993. The console was developed by several engineers who had previously worked on the Amiga and the Atari Lynx and was the brainchild of Trip Hawkins, the founder of Electronic Arts, who left EA in order to create the system.

As history has not been entirely kind to the 3DO, it's easy to overlook how it was legitimately primed to take the world by storm. The console was fairly beefy for its time period, heavily outstripping both the Super NES and Sega Genesis in processing power at the height of their console war. The 3DO was also one of the first consoles capable of rendering textured 3D graphics natively, giving it an edge as the industry-wide 3D transition approached. The Super NES and Genesis could only render rudimentary 3D graphics, and at very low framerate without the assistance of enhancement chips in their cartridges. Even with the use of chips, such as the Argonaut-developed Super FX for the Super NES or Sega's SVP, rendering 3D was still taxing on their respective hardware. The 3DO also received a lot of media coverage and pledged support from third-party developers thanks to light licensing costs, which were far less than what Nintendo and Sega were asking for. There was a lot of excitement for the device as a new competitor into the video game industry, especially as a console being made by Americans in a market where all the hardware was being made by Japanese companies.

However, it never took off. You thought that the PlayStation 3's $599 US dollars in 2006 was ridiculous? The 3DO launched with a price of $699 in 1993: that's about $975 in 2006, and equivalent to a little over $1,500 in 2024, which would be enough to buy the most premium editions of the three major consoles of the ninth generation, with enough money leftover to buy games for each. There was a good reason for this, though. One of the most unique things about the 3DO is that it wasn't manufactured by its parent company. Instead, the 3DO Company licensed the blueprints of the console to various manufacturers, who would each make their own versions, in the same manner that multiple companies could all make VCR players; in fact, the hope was that the 3DO would manage to standardize the video game console format in the same manner, putting an end to every console manufacturing having its own unique, bespoke hardware to program for. Panasonic was the first licensee with the 3DO REAL, with GoldStar (LG) and Sanyo providing their own versions later, 3DO ALIVE and 3DO TRY — the latter only releasing in Japan — and Creative Labs releasing the 3DO Blaster, an expansion card for PCs which has the actual 3DO hardware on it and only required a CD-ROM Drive and a Sound Blaster 16 or equivalent card, not relying on the PC's processor and graphics card at all. Now the problem with all of this is that, unlike the competition, they couldn't utilize a "razor-and-blades" business model".^ExplanationIn that business model, a company makes one product (such as a razor) at a low profit margin, or even a loss if such is needed to hit an optimal price point, and makes up for it by also selling a necessary complimentary product at a high profit margin (the blades that need to be replaced regularly). In this case, the console is the razor, and video games are the blades. Since the makers of 3DO consoles aren't the ones also making or licensing the games, they would never see a dime from game sales, and so had to sell the hardware at a profit. And while some models were much cheaper, it's hard to notice when the most visible one has the biggest price tag. Some stores would sell the system for a bit under MSRP, and later models ended up as cheap as $199, but its launch price is still one of the most expensive of all time for consoles.

While the launch wasn't great — it had a very anemic lineup of games in its infancy, launching with a single title and not receiving any notable games for several months afterward — the overall third-party support ended up being solid. As the 3DO Company was expecting their profits to come from console sales, their licensing fee was an extremely paltry $3 per game sold^note a common joke at 3DO's office is that the name of the company actually stood for "Three dollars only", which proved really attractive to developers. Crystal Dynamics, 3DO themselves, and Electronic Arts released some well-regarded titles for the console, and it even saw the debut of the Gex and Need for Speed series. However, this didn't save it from the hype for the superior Sega Saturn and PlayStation systems just around the corner, nor did it solve the issues the manufacturing partners faced in profiting of their licenses. The 3DO format died a quick death after a much-hyped 64-bit add-on/successor console called the "M2" ended up being unceremoniously cancelled by Panasonic, though the technology behind the system was used in various business hardware, and Konami did acquire the rights to use the hardware in several arcade titles.

The 3DO Company tried to rebrand itself as a third-party developer (much like the Sega of today) after their console failed, but a lack of quality control due to a failed game development strategy led to them going bankrupt in 2003.

Videos of various games with commentary by former 3DO Company employees "Ewhac" and "GammaDev" can be found here.

Specifications:

Processors

• CPU: 32-bit ARM60, 12.5 Mhz, with math coprocessor.
• GPU: Two custom video coprocessors. Like the Saturn after it, polygons were rendered in quads. This was the only other major console to do so.
• Sound: Custom DSP.

Memory

• 2MB main memory.
• 1MB video memory.
• 32K battery-backed saved game memory.
• 32K disc cache
• Games came on 540MB CD-ROMs read by a 2x speed CD drive at 320KB/s. Supported the following formats:
  • 3DO Format CD-ROM
  • CD-DA
  • CD+G
  • Photo CD
  • Video CD (Requires the Video CD Adapter)

Display

• 640*480 interlaced or 320*240 progressive resolution.
  • Unusually for a console of its vintage, the 3DO outputs all games into 480i resolution, upscaling the console's internal rendering resolution which is similar, but not quite the 240p signal that was standard at the time. Japanese Panasonic FZ-1 models had a switch that allowed users to display in the internal rendering resolution and the feature can be reintroduced in most models through modding, though playing in "240p" causes rendering and gameplay issues in some games.
• 24-bit color.
• RF, Composite, or S-video support.

Sound

• 16-bit stereo or Dolby surround sound.

Accessories

• While all models of the 3DO were designed with only one controller port, the controllers are designed to work around this by having second controller ports built into each one, allowing up to eight controllers to be daisy-chained together.
• Panasonic FZ-1 3DO controllers also came with a built in headphone jack and volume control.
• The standard game pad has three action buttons (ABC), two shoulder buttons (L and R) and two menu buttons (X and P)^note The Panasonic and Goldstar models came with different controllers (that are cross-compatible) with slight differences to the same basic design. It's debatable which one is better but neither one is particularly good, fortunately adaptors can be found on eBay that will let you use a controller that doesn't suck. Unfortunately despite looking like it uses the same 9 pin connector from the Genesis, Atari 2600/7800, Amiga, etc... those controllers will not work without an adaptor. A six button controller (the REAL Pad Soldier) was also made for Super Street Fighter II Turbo, but it didn't actually add any new buttons - instead, it simply had the LXR buttons arranged atop the ABC buttons in order to mimic the standard Street Fighter button setup.
• One Light Gun was released for the console, the Game Gun, which worked with 10 games. Certain models of it also allowed to two player support by daisy chaining the guns together.
• The CH Flightstick Pro, a consolized variant of CH's long-running PC joystick. Was supported by most of the flight combat games for the system and as an alternate source of analog controls for FPS and racing titles.
• The 3DO mouse, co-released by Panasonic and Logitech. Fewer than 20 games support its use.
• Home Arcade Systems steering wheel, designed for several racing games on the console, including The Need for Speed.
• Memory Expansion Unit: A Japan-only upgrade that plugs into the Expansion Bay in the console's back. It also came with a Storage Manager start-up disc that is needed to use it.
• Panasonic 3DO Karaoke Mixer: A peripheral that allows 3DO owners to play a standard music CD, turn the vocals down, plug in one or two microphones and sing over the music.
• Video CD Adapter: An adapter that lets your console play Video CDs. Like the Saturn, games rendered FMV in software, though unlike the Saturn no 3DO games utilized the Video CD Adapter for enhanced FMV playback. There are several models of the Video CD Adapter corresponding to every major model of the 3DO console, though some required an external power supply to work.

Games:

• Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S (A Fighting Game based on that season of Sailor Moon)
• Blade Force
• Burning Soldier
• Crash 'n' Burn
• Demolition Man
• Doctor Hauzer
• Dragon Tycoon Edge (a Japanese-only RPG)
• Guardian War/Powers Kingdom
• Immercenary
• Jurassic Park: Interactive
• Phoenix 3
• Royal Pro Wrestling
• Seal of the Pharaoh
• Shadow: War of Succession
• Sid Meiers CPU Bach
• Slayer
• Twisted: The Game Show
• Way of the Warrior
• Yu Yu Hakusho (a Fighting Game based on YuYu Hakusho)

Multi-Platform games that started on the 3DO:

• Battlesport
• Captain Quazar
• D
• Gex^note The best selling game on the 3DO with around a million copies. Considering there were only around 2 million 3DOs to begin with that's actually a really impressive accomplishment, very few games that aren't pack-ins come anywhere close to a 50% attachment ratio.
• Killing Time
• The Horde (1994)
• The Need for Speed
• Off-World Interceptor
• PO'ed
• Return Fire
• Road Rash ^note Despite the identical title, this is a Reformulated Game from the Mega Drive version.
• Shockwave:
  • Shockwave: Invasion Earth 2019
  • Shockwave: Operation Jumpgate
  • Shockwave 2: Beyond the Gate
• Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels
• Total Eclipse

Ports

• Alone in the Dark:
  • Alone in the Dark (1992)
  • Alone in the Dark 2
• Another World
• Ballz: The Director's Cut
• Battle Chess
• Brain Dead 13
• Cannon Fodder (1993)
• Corpse Killer
• Creature Shock
• Crime Patrol
• Cyberia
• Dragon's Lair
• Doom (1993)
• Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise and Fatty Bear's Fun Pack
• Flashback: The Quest For Identity
• Hell: A Cyberpunk Thriller
• The Horde
• The Incredible Machine
• John Madden Football
• Kingdom: The Far Reaches
• Lemmings
• Lost Eden
• Mad Dog McCree
• Myst (1993)
• Night Trap
• Novastorm
  • Microcosm
• Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors ^note  Meant to be released in the third quarter of 1995 alongside the PC version, following the Sega CD version in April of that year
• Plumbers Don't Wear Ties ^note  Was originally thought to be exclusive but after years of searching, it turns out there was originally a PC version that had gotten an extremely limited release that only resurfaced around 2017
• Policenauts^note Although originally a PC-9821 game, the 3DO version was developed in tandem and was the first version to feature animated FMV and celluloid artworks in place of pixel art.
• Primal Rage
• Princess Maker 2
• Putt-Putt
  • Putt-Putt Joins the Parade
  • Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
• Puzzle Bobble
• Quarantine
• Rise of the Robots
• Robinson's Requiem
• Samurai Shodown
• Sewer Shark
• SimTower
• Soccer Kid
• Space Ace
• Starblade
• Star Control 2
• Star Fighter
• Star Wars: Rebel Assault
• Super Real Mahjong:
  • Super Real Mahjong PIV
  • Super Real Mahjong PV
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo
• Syndicate
• Theme Park
• Virtuoso
• Wing Commander: The Kilrathi Saga:
  • Super Wing Commander
  • Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger
• Wolfenstein 3-D

Tropes:

• Awesome, but Impractical: The 3DO Blaster by Creative Labs is a thorough encapsulation of this. The concept is definitely worth a look on its premise alone, being that it's an entire game console contained on a computer expansion card that even allowed for a resizable window on your desktop of the game back when this was unheard of. Unfortunately, a concept this nifty came at a huge cost — the card retailed for $400, only worked with a specific set of CD-ROM drive models which locked anyone without them out of the card or be forced to pay another $100, and this was on top of the already high cost of a computer to begin with so most users weren't about to fork out another big sum of money for either the console or card ^note In general, a computer user would be more willing to prioritize being able to play computer games anyway, which was a better and cheaper investment to make over the expansion card.
• Competing Product Potshot:
  • One ad for the console took snipes at the Super NES and Sega Genesis, dismissing them as children's toys.
    If you're not playing on a 3DO System, what are you playing with?
    It's time to put away your toys!
  • Another series of ads divided up gamers into passive (Super NES), aggressive (Genesis), and 3DO players. One of those ads featured a boss walking into several employees' offices, arrogantly saying "You're working late tonight!", and spitting in their faces.
    Passive employee: (silently wipes the spit off his face)
    Aggressive employee: I can't! I've got therapy!
    3DO-playing employee: Can we try that with a knock?
• Dawn of an Era: The first console to be released in the 5th generation.
• Irony: A variant of the aforementioned "kids toys" ad briefly shows Putt-Putt (a blatantly kid-friendly game) at the end.
• Meaningful Name: It was the first game console built around polygons, the next step for the progress of interactive media. That is to say: audio, video, and three-deo.
• Product Facelift: Because the 3DO was conceived as a standard for a console, 3DO licensed out the specs for other companies to produce rather than producing the hardware themselves. The original 3DO models were made by Panasonic, but the following year newer models were released by Sanyo and GoldStar,^note Who would later merge with fellow Korean electronics company Lucky to become LG as well as an add-on by Creative Labs that added 3DO compatibility to a PC. Samsung released another version exclusive to the Korean market in 1997, and AT&T of all companies nearly entered the console business with their own model but cancelled it late in development when it became clear that the 3DO was a bust.