Why Did The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer FAIL !? - Gaming History Documentary 

The 3DO was considered a poor man’s PC here in the States, because most of its software were PC ports. When they offered a price drop with a handful of free games, is when my father bought one for my younger brother (RIP). My brother wanted a PC at the time, but they were too expensive. He loved the 3DO and played it every day. I remember spending hours playing Way of the Warrior with him. WotW wasn’t a great fighting game, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Having Guile`s SF2 stage low health theme playing during the console war section is perfection.

Sticker shock was a big part. Then, once you got past the fancy graphics and CD sound, you started to notice... it wasnt very fun. Glad I got to try one at the demo kiosks at Brandsmart USA. They also had the Phillips CDI.. and with both of these I was like.. "nah.. I'm good... I'll stick with the SNES... ok, look, Donkey Kong Country".

I was lucky to have one of these as a 9/10 YO in the 90s. It still shocks me how much this retailed for. Probably my favourite console. Many hours spent on need for speed, road rash, return fire , fifa and monster manor 👍🏻

I had one of those. When it was obsolete, it got stuffed under my car seat and we used it as a cd-player for years. Those things were solid! lol

Played one of these yesterday at a games exhibition at the Science Museum. They had every console ever there. I was very impressed with this.

Lady Decade, the Marina Sirtis of the video game RU-vid world.

This is quickly becoming my favorite gaming channel. Lady Decade is gorgeous, articulate, and her research and presentation is second to none. I'm glad I subbed early :)

The only problem was the price, the games themselves were great, many of them were ported or already existed on other platforms, and were very popular there. The 3d0 was a fantastic console, which was ruined by shitty marketing approach

This was the best episode Lady Decade has released it was super informative about the 3DO when I was a kid it was the most expensive console we had ever seen now we know why it's super failed because it wasn't able to keep with the amount of games that Nintendo and PlayStation and Sega had. Thank you Lady Decade for being so informative. Please release a video about Turbo Graphics 16!

I remember seeing a 3DO for sale at the mall when I was a kid. Freaking expensive console. For that price Id much rather have had a neogeo. And unlike 3DO, neogeo has some seriously great games.

Oddly enough, the 3DO along with the Philips CD-i was the reason I wrongly predicted the PlayStation would fail. I was very young and thought, "Oh no not another TV-making company trying to get into video games" without knowing their past history with Nintendo. I just stayed with the N64 in the meantime and, while it wasn't a bad console, I gradually regret missing out on the great PS1 games at the time.

The failure rate was crazy with the 3DO i'm surprised if you could find a working one now . It had an arcade perfect port of street fighter 2 tho so that had peoples interest . The price was another issue , but honestly if you had the cash back then i think the majority of people would have got the Neo Geo tbh .

I was in my late teens when I purchased it. I saved my money to get it. I loved the system. Madden and Theme Park were my favorite games. I remember they were going to make it play movies before dvds came out. I had the Panasonic version and it was one solid piece of equipment. When I picked it up I remembered how solid it felt. It was so state of the art for it's time. I remember the salesperson telling me this was a console of the future. How they were planning all these peripherals so it would last for years to come. That it's worth the price. Hahaha I still played with it after 3DO was done. Some games were cheap to purchase at local used game stores. I still have it packed away somewhere in my home.

Trip was a legend in his own time. Then it went tits up. And that’s the story of 3DO.

The 3DO. Looked promising early on but ended up a cautionary tale in the long run. It had a number of things going against it beyond what was mentioned in this video. 1. CD-ROM technology in games, while repeatedly billed as a "revolution" for gaming, had yet to really prove that beyond being able to provide mostly grainy FMV or have some CD quality music play during most of the game when the 3DO was released. The sad fact was from the TG-16 & MegaCD/Sega CD through the early Playstation & Saturn games, the amount of actual game data on the CD was usually a relatively small % of the disc and everything else was plain CD audio unless the game had a lot of FMV. The reason? Most game developers didn't have computers with hard drives or other storage media large enough to store even 1 full CD (650 MB) worth of data. It wasn't until late 94 or early 1995 that computer hard drives large enough to store more than a full CD became feasible to buy for many developers. This also caused delays in CD game development. 2. The main CPU of the 3DO was underpowered compared to any of it's 32/64bit competition. It had a 32bit ARM60 running at 12.5 Mhz which was chosen largely because it was inexpensive and power efficient, not for high performance. In contrast the primary CPUs of the Saturn, PS1 & N64 were vastly more powerful. 3. The 3DO graphics co-processors were capable of 16.7 million colors which blew away 16bit consoles but were optimized for 2D with limited support for polygons. By the time the 3DO was released the future of gaming in the arcades and the home was all about polygons! 4. The M2 could have had a chance if it had been released in 1996 at a reasonable price. I'm sure once Panasonic figured out what it would have had to sell the console for in order to not sell it at a great loss it scrapped the M2 largely because of that. Also Konami released 5 arcade games using the M2 in 97 & 98 so the hardware was complete. The 3DO was built to be a "16bit killer" which in theory it was on paper. However, the super high console price, rough software development and delays on both the hardware and software practically gave it 2 out of 3 strikes at launch. Plus the 16 bit era really hit its peak, especially on the SNES, in 93 & 94 so the 3DO had PLENTY of well established and much less costly competition! In all, a great video LD! I really enjoyed it.

The $800 USD price tag (in 1993) sure didnt help lol

I remember the 3DO and all the excitement around it. I wanted one but was put off by the price at the time and by the time I could afford one the PlayStation had appeared and was the cool console for people to own. I used to read edge magazine and I think I remember the M2 being codenamed the bulldog (but I’m happy to be corrected as it was a long time ago).

I think the M2 could have been succesful if it was launched, mainly due the DVD drive, it could probably have beaten the N64

I bought a 3DO early on for $700, solely on seeing Road Rash, a game series I loved on my Genesis. Spent many hours with Road Rash, PGA Golf, Street Fighter, Star Control & Return Fire. Once the Playstation came out though, I sold the 3DO one day picked up a Playstation the next.

The 3DO was literally the guitar solo scene in Back to the Future when Marty plays Johnny B Goode..... "you guys aren't ready for that yet.... but your kids are gonna love it"

I always wondered how my best friend always had the newest system being so expensive at the time, but probably better not to question him... that being said. had a hell of a time playing samurai showdown, way of the warrior, Hell, and i...think... a street fighter 2 ( SSFII Turbo?) game on the 3DO sure the 3do was a bit of a mess (daisy-chained controllers and 3 buttons? ) but it was a sign of things to come.

Just found your channel, I love your style and delivery, time to binge watch! Top score!

This and the NeoGeo were the ones I never saw…I didn’t know anyone who had these but they looked awesome

Keep up the good work lass and, as always, stay safe. Feels like you’re covering absolutely everything.

I was a 90s kid when i saw this system at war with the Phillips CD-I. I got the CD-I cuz it was pushed promotionally with long infomercials which i never saw for ANY thing game related back then. Figured it HAD to b a big deal. 500 BUCKS, my mom paid n i have NO regrets.

Growing up there were a few consoles I thought looked amazing but could never afford- the Neo Geo was one, and then this thing. I actually remember at one point wondering if the next console battle was going to be the 3DO vs the CD-I lol

I don't understand why no1 at the time realized that hardware alone means jack if there's no good software to back it up. Ppl r buying an entertainment system, not a piece of brick for decorating their living room...

22:37 wth this run animation is incredibly ahead of it's time. :O That's so awesome.

I remember reading about the 3do, but it was just a blip small article of systems being developed, but never saw it in the wild nor knew what happened to it.

Spectacularly informative video, as always. As such, Lady Decade is truly a necessity of gracious living.

Road Rash on the 3DO is just perfect 👌

Had gotten one of these from a friend of a friend cause I gave him a pair of rollerblades that were too small for me and he gave me an FZ-10, killing time, blade force, immersenary, ballz, pga tour, ended up getting doom, space hulk, need for speed, road rash. Was so disappointed that I traded all of it for a ps1 and dragon ball gt. Trip Hawkins is literally one of the few people who’s direct work brought some of the happiest memories I have of my childhood. Just got a Japanese FZ-10 last year now to find a non glitched version of killing time. Would love to get a way to get or make a dev kit for this.

I don't recall ever seeing a worthwhile 3DO game on display at the Kiosks and No one I knew or knew of had a 3DO. The 3DO was mythical and soon forgotten.

What a great video! Thanks for the content, Lady! =)

Just came across you, I love gaming, and the history of their systems, my son started a channel, then we came across you, can't stop watching, love the content!

The guys that made the lynx and Amiga 1000 made some incredible contributions. The 1000 was so far ahead of its time. 3Do was probably a year or two too late to market tho and obviously that price.

This and the Neo Geo were the consoles that rich kids had

Electronic Arts Deluxe Paint on the Amiga was huge in the mid 80’s to late 80’s!

Enjoyed the video. You seemed to have fun making it.

Love when I hear Lady Decade say the words, "Balls Deep!". Truly can't get any betta' an 'dat!

You always, ALWAYS have to keep price in mind when developing a new console. If you're focused on creating something super powerful, you have to be prepared to sell it at a loss until the cost of the components comes down enough for you to break even and eventually sell at a profit. If you're unwilling or unable to do that, then you have no choice but to sacrifice power in order to keep the consumer price down. That was basically what Nintendo did with the Switch. They created the most powerful console they could without selling it at a loss at $300. The 3DO's price was absolutely insane. I can remember scoffing at it when I was a kid. The console itself looked interesting, but it would've been crazy for me to ask my parents for it. I imagine most other gamer kids were in the same position: Looks great, but there's no way my parents are dropping $700 on it. I didn't even notice when the 3DO dropped in price. I had already moved on.

The 3DO version of Road Rash is STILL the best version of that game... The streets were wider, and due to the speed you were traveling, made it a blast to play. Also, the 3DO version of Madden for its day was easily the best version at that time... Price really hurt this system; I traded an old MAC all in one for a brand new 3DO... I enjoyed that system; lastly, Demolition Man was awesome also...

If you played on 16 bit system and jump to 3D systems the graphics will amazed you. Back at that time.

Pricing was its true problem, the games kinda were there, and sometimes in the best available version... But the price... come on... I live in France, here the 3DO was sold 7990 francs ( = something like 1200€, without counting inflation), 5 times the price of a SNES/Megadrive... and more than that, one year later, you could aquire an imported Playstation or a SEGA Saturn for like 2000 francs ( = 300€), and both were much more powerful than the 3DO... and you could buy both for half the price of a 3DO...

I love my 3DOs, but I miss the ball shaving ad! :)

I just love that almost all background music is from Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo for 3DO, best in the series IMO

All i can say is if you wasnt around back then a lot folks wouldnt know how much of a big deal these CD systems was. I owned the Goldstar 3DO and enjoyed every second of it. Brought a PS1 and N64 back three years later. It was just great times and i miss those days as i get older...... I was looking forward to the M2, and was disappointed it didnt come out.

When I was young my dad and I used to go to this big department store every saturday to see what was in promotion. I think it was probably 1996 because they had a SNES on display with DK2 and there were PC’s where people were playing Duke Nukem 3D. I remember they sold SNES, PS1 and probably Saturn games at that time the N64 wasn’t out yet. But there’s one thing that is burned in my memory is when we were waiting at the checkout there was a man who was buying this game system I had never seen and the thing I remember most fondly that Gex was on the box. Later I learned that it was the 3DO.

A friend of mine had one of these when we were young. Every game he had was some garbage FMV thing, for some reason. "Wanna play corpse killer?" "No thanks.". I realize now that there were some excellent games but my friend just had bad taste.

I had the FZ10 and it was awesome. Absolutely great games, great graphics for the time and great fun. Loved Need For Speed, The Horde, Gex, Road Rash, Fifa Soccer, Super Street Fighter II, Samurai Showdown, Return Fire, Theme Park, Wing Commander, etc. Too bad it was short lived, but it was great system while waiting for PlayStation. Such fond memories with my 3DO. 👍

Was too much money for us 8 year old kids in 1993. I was quite happy with NES, SNES and Game Boy

You're bringing back memories! Although they weren't the greatest games I had the most fun with Quarantine, Hell, Demolition Man, Alone in the Dark 1 and 2, Space Hulk, Need for Speed, Road Rash, Braindead 13, Fifa/Madden (they were actually way better than the sega and snes versions, Total Eclipse, Corpse Killer, Samurai Showdown, Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Virtuoso. There were probably a few other games I spent waay too much time playing but I overall loved the 3DO. I always wanted D because of all the hype in the gaming magazines back in the day but I could never find it as a kid...Memories

I remembering going to the grocery store and playing the demo 3DO unit while my mother was shopping. Never knew anyone who had one though.

Haha, I liked all the remarks about Trip Hawkins’ looks. That was funny.

I didnt know it existed til my friend had one in 2003. Goldstar, all we had was Army Men and road rash. The controller thing was dumb as hell

Let me tell you... I owned the 3D0 and absolutely loved it Return Fire which debuted on that system is still one of my all time favorite games.There were other great games on that console and I miss it to this day.

Wow! That's INSANE to hear about the Madden deal! In '97 I got to go to Tiburon and meet John Rotolo and a few of the members whom did programming. Got a free copy of Madden '98. When I asked the guy at Game trader "how much for it?" He laughed and said if I brought it in, I could pick any used game $20 to take for free. Trade in would be alot and I could pick any game free also. Not used. Went in and blew their minds. I got like 160$ the 20$ game and a new game that day! Twisted metal 1 (used) and Fighting force was the new game I picked. I kept the madden for a while but I dont like football. Had it been hockey, that's dif. His wife came to my skool, that's how I'd gotten the hook up. Bad kid skool. She was in a program to help kids n stuff. We were hoodlums. I'd said I'd like programming games and stuff in class. Shes "that's what my husband does!" N told me he just wrapped up madden.

Elephant memory dump. There was a family of the week on The Big Breakfast that bought big time into this system, they used it for everything. One more thing, back in the day at Retro Game off TCR in London they had several bundles for sale, one of which sold while I was getting my pc engine tested (flex).

I purchased a Panasonic 3DO. A very big mistake. Very expensive and not worth it. Loved your video. The best version of Road Rash was on this system.

I think the 3DO FZ-1 model is still the best looking gaming console ever made...

lol at NextGen giving the M2 a 4/5 star rating, despite it having never been released, no titles available, and NextGen never playing it.

I played The Need For Speed on 3DO in 1994. I was 9 years old and was amazed

Once again, you're covering the topic i was just thinking of.

I only ever saw the 3DO out in the wild once. Was when I was in primary school, they had this computing club where parents brought in their computers and let kids play with them for a little bit after school. I remember this one dad had one game (a Wild West shooter thing), which was amazing graphics at the time, but the gameplay was dull as dishwater. I was about 6 or 7 at the time so memory is hazy, and also being young I might not have got it. What I do remember is that we didn't really get enthralled by this game and we soon went back to playing Prince Of Persia and the Lucasarts Indiana Jones game.

I made it 9 minutes into the vid, couldn’t take more ‘Dreamboats’ hitting that double standard.

Some of the developers of the AMIGA computer and the ATARI Lynx also made the 3 DO .When it was developed it was way ahead of the competition . O e reason I think it failed was the different way business was done . Also , like the ATARI Jaguar , by the time it was released it wouldve been outdated soon after the release of both consoles .

My best friend got a 3DO in maybe 1992. Remember going around to his house and just being mind blown at the graphics compared to my maga drive and amiga. 3DO could really have a had a big future, they’d have had to bring out a new machine to compete with the PlayStation and Saturn of course but that licensing agreement with developers ensured the platform would have no exclusives.

well researched video. thanks for this

My dad had a landscaping business and I worked for almost a year when I was 13 to buy one of these... Was such a flex to my friends, then PlayStation came out lol - 10/10 would do again though! Such fun games and memories, with things like Samurai Showdown, Immercenary, Road Rash, Need for Speed, was pretty cool.

All the hype was about 64 this 64 that. But in reality when I saw games on Sony Playstation and the price that was no brainer.

I bought mine several years ago from a car boot sale. It came with 30+ games, dozens of demo disk and magazines. It cost me £10.

I was like 11-12 when the 3DO systems started coming out. For the average kid that wasn't a hard core gamer we didn't really know exactly what it was. 1st it was sooo expensive, "it couldn't be a kids game" 2nd it was weird cause there were multiple versions of it. You never really knew if that they all played the same games. Didn't know if the difference in manufacturers made a difference. It was easier just to get Sega or Nintendo that you knew 100% what it was and what it did for WAYYY cheaper

Please do a video on the neo Geo pocket. It's under appreciated...

I still own an FZ-10. Absolutely love it! Plenty of good games on it. I bought mine from a friend in the late 90s, after he moved onto Playstation.

The 3DO that was expensive was the Panasonic unit type#1. Dunno what was the price of other 3DO units from LG, Sanyo among others; some says it was cheaper than Panasonics.

I'd pay shinty-six pounds for that napkin!

a cousin of mine had it, it was the only console that i didnt feel like playing, on the other hand i got his NES as gift...

Maybe you should look into adult games. Surely you're the best to do this deep dive and reveal!

for me it was the price. i remember having to calculate trading my entire SNES collection from the gamestore ad on the back of EGM just to get one. good thing i never went through with it.

Gotta say I'm digging this channel

I can't think of any failed console that was able to reverse it's fate

But do you feel that Trip Hawkins was attractive?

My assumption; high console prices and a system designed more with FMV in mind than the 3D capabilities per say. Let's see if I'm right... Well the high price was certainly an issue and whilst not FMV/3D specific, the constantly changing specs of the system did hamper development of games. It seems hype for it's competitors leading to less interested 3rd party support might have been the biggest strike against it. Still, in the ever popular 5th generation with so many competitors, the 3DO did achieve 4th place. It was a lovely history lesson on this 5th gen console; always a fascinating period of gaming history to cover. It is funny to see how many of these stories intertwine with one another. It's funny in particularly how often hardware/games/chips was first pitched to Sony or Sega, usually either to be released independently or by Nintendo.

I remember playing a Panasonic 3DO console at Universal City Walk when I went to Universal Studios Hollywood as a kid. It was fine but I never really cared for that console. It was a racing game and that sparked my attention because I liked racing games as a kid. Plus I had a Sega Genesis in those days and that's all that mattered to me at the time. But I remember those games like Plumbers Don't Wear Ties which wasn't really a game. But man. They really bashed Nintendo and Sega a new one with that commercial.

Great EP

Ace Rimmer what a guy

What I don't understand is, why they di not scrap the plans of making the 3DO, when they saw what it would cost...

I remember having sega cd and walking through Montgomery Wards one day and saw 3DO. It was running Pebble Beach golf and I wanted it. But I think it was $700 in 94 I think (?) maybe earlier than that. No way my parents were paying more than double what the sega cd cost.

The game that got me into 3D games was Tenchu Stealth Assassins.

there will never be a better version of Road Rash....

The 3DO stupidly released with only three buttons on the joypads. Big mistake at the height of Street Fighter fame.

The FZ-1 is still to this day THE best aesthetically looking console to date IMO

Too expensive. The ps3 before the ps3. But man it had ssf2t and I wanted one badly

I traded 3 Snes games for my 3do back in the 90s. I loved it!

My uncle had one of these i remember playing it as a kid in the 90s

I got my model one! My uncle gifted it to me why I was younger!

I lucked out and got one at a flea market back then

I remember seeing infomercials about the 3d0 and being disappointed I could never play it haha.

Shout out to the awesome Plok soundtrack