Header text
Established 1997
Mortal Kombat 3 appeared on the cover the UK’s 3DO
Magazine. Mortal Kombat 3 was never released on 3DO
Total Eclipse on the 3DO was the launch
day game for the UK.
This is my launch day copy.
It’s probably not the ‘killer app’ Trip
Hawkins was looking for,
but it’s a solid game all the same.
3DO featured some amazing implementations
of popular 2D fighting games. Left to right.
Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Eye of Typhoon,
Samurai Shodown.
We own a rare copy of Edge 0.
That featured a lot of
articles on 3DO.
D’s Diner is a 3DO Cult Classic
A rare 3DO Blaster by Creative, it can’t be
considered plug ‘n play,
but after blood sweat and tears, it works.
Korean 2D Fighting Game Eye of Typoon for
3DO (and PC) was recently re-released.
We snagged a copy
I’m willing to accept the possibility that my 3DO game
collection is bordering on out-of-control.
3D-Oh-Really?
The most under appreciated games console on
earth, ever.
Judging by the size of this page, it’s easy
to figure out, that the 3DO is my all time
favourite console. Plus, and despite the
fact that I don’t work in the games
industry, 3DO changed my life.
After leaving University, I was out
looking for work. I applied for a job that
was essentially a role at a PR company. I
literally had no idea what PR was, but I
applied anyway, dropping in my love of
the 3DO into the application letter, and it
was enough to get me the interview. But
not the job.
Sometime in the late ‘00s, I became
aware that my lack of a GCSE in English
was not holding me back, my career was
going fine, but it bugged me.
So, rather than taking a home course, I
set out to start a blog reviewing every
3DO game. The blog was surprisingly
popular, and I made a lot of friends that
remain with me today. Anyway, one
thing lead to another, and was
eventually invited to write an article for
Retro Gamer magazine. And I had a 10
page article published. Not a GCSE, but
in my book good enough. I got to speak
to Trip Hawkins, chatted with RJ Mical
on Facebook and the whole experience
had a very positive effect on me.
The second interview, where 3DO moved
the needle a little for me, was when one
of the interviewers asked me if I read
the ‘3DOKid’ blog. I said I was author.
The guy seemed star struck, I doubt it
had any impact on the interview (I work
in I.T. Security) but it certainly didn’t
hinder things. I eventually worked for
that company, and received a life
changing amount of money from it,
which essentially funds my collection on
this page.
The final element of 3DO was in my
personal life. My Sister and I had been at
logger heads for years, then during 1994,
a peace treaty was signed and we spent
the summer hanging out. Shopping,
cinema, hairdressers (don’t ask)
She lent me £200 towards buying the
3DO on launch day. Sadly, in 2007 she
passed away but whenever I play Total
Eclipse or Shockwave, I find myself
thinking of her.
These are games I never really played back in the day, but I’m confident
enough to say they are at the least interesting
Cyberdillo. If you do remember my
blog, I didn’t have many positive
things to say about this. But some
people like it. (Contact me if you
remember my blog!)
Foes of Ali. Barely remembered at the
time and hardly remembered at all
today, this is an extremely interesting
boxing game.
Casper: It came out really late on the
3DO. It seems good, it’s also available
for the PS1 and Saturn
Way of the Warrior. The game
Naughty Dog seems to want to forget.
It’s basically a take on the Mortal
Kombat theme.
Rise of the Robots. Possibly the most
over hyped game in history. Sold,
based on the graphics. Hated because
of the game play.
The unfortunately named, NOB: Neo
Organic Bioform. I have no idea
what’s going on, if you do, please
contact me.
KillingTime. 3DO developed this
inhouse in response to the crushing
demand for Doom. It’s pretty and
plays well.
Iron Angel of the Apocalypse. I go out
on a limb for this game. It’s not bad.
Crash ‘n Burn. The jaw dropping title
for the US launch. It’s actually really
rather good.
Megarace. Iconic for the era but not
much else.
Power Wars / Guardian Kingdom. A
very basic RPG with interesting
(genuinely) graphics.
Rebel Assault. A star wars game. It
looked and felt dated on its release on
3DO.
Interesting Games
3DO Blaster
Back in the Day
Launch Day
The 1st issue of Edge Magazine
seemed very enamoured with
3DO.
3 Copies of Novastorm? Yes. Absolutely essential, and
we’ll have no other comments on the matter
An ode to O.D.E.
(Optical Disc Emulator)
There are, as of the time of writing, two types of ODE for the 3DO. The first one literally replaces the
existing CDROM, you plug in your USB keyfob or MicroSD card loaded with ISO’s and you get to play
them.
The other is the ODESonic that plugs into the 3DO’s expansion slot. The nice thing about this one, is the
3DO retains it’s CD Drive, leaving it free to play 3DO Games, Music CD’s, Kodac Image CD’s and if you
have the VCD adapter, video CDs.
Launch day 3DO games I bought were Shock Wave
(Bottom Left) Total Eclipse (Top Left) and Super
Wing Commander (Above)
Back in the day, Trip Hawkins was particularly keen
on telling people that 3DO had won Time Magazines
product of the year award.
Samurai Shodown on 3DO is not quite as good as
the Neo Geo original, but it’s not far off.
Lost Eden is basically Dune, which was made for
the Amiga with a different skin. It is however, quite
good fun once you get into it.
I walked 5 miles through West Midland
(Wolverhampton) snow to get a copy of Novastorm
imported from America.
Return Fire is an excellent game. And extremely
good at starting arguments when played in 2 Player
mode.
The 3DO was extremely good at 2D. It had a
palette of 24Million colours and capable of
displaying 32,000 colours on screen. Gex, at the
time, was amazing beautiful.
Street Fighter II Turbo still gives me chills when it
starts, while not quite arcade perfect, it’s as close
as could be gotten at the time.
I spoke to Trip Hawkins, and he told me he played
this game obsessively. It’s an extremely good game.
On release, Need for Speed was a jaw dropping
game. At University, my house mates and I spent
hours playing this classic. The Saturn and PS1
versions are not as good as the 3DO Original.
Wing Commander III is one of the many AAA titles
available for the 3DO. It’s actually awesome.
Escape from Monster Manor is a 3DO cult classic.
It started life as demo for a tradeshow, and
eventually morphed in a fully fledged game.
On you tube one of the original developers, EWAC,
talk through the game and it’s development.
Dr Hauzer is another pre-Resident Evil 3D survival
horror game, like Alone in the Dark. It’s a Japanese
;anguage game, but there are translations available
for none-Japanese readers.
The 3DO Blaster is a sizeable ISA Card
