Why do people(and professional gaming media) think the 3DO was an epicfail?

[mbd30]

That's true! Some of them did use FMV only for background elements, or cringe-worthy between-levels harassment like in Road Rash. "Sewer Shark" was a total laughingstock, though.

My next door neighbor had a Sega CD and we had fun playing "Sewer Shark". It might seem incredibly dated today, but at least there was some gameplay involved, and not just watching video clips.

[xDragonWarrior]

The 3DO only sold 2 million units so without a doubt it WAS a failure.Now that being said I don't see why it gets all the hate as I think it's a really good console as it has some great games.Just like the Dreamcast,was it a failed console?,yes,was it a bad console? no

[Lendorien]

Hm. The 3do failed because of the way it was produced. 3do liscenced the technology to manufacturers who made the system. Problem is, unlike modern system makers, the manufacturers couldn't offset the cost of the system from the liscencing fees gained from the games ont he system. They had to recoup the cost of the system from the sale of the system. As a result, it cost 700 dollars upon release in 1992. This was well beyond the cost of comparable systems at the time.

 

Quite simply, it was priced out of the market. By the time the cost had dropped enough, it was already being eclipsed by the Playstation.

 

Is the system craptacular? Hardly. It's a decent system and had a lot of great games that were later ported to the Playstation. It just was built on an idea that was not sustainable.

[+GoldenWheels]

The 3DO only sold 2 million units so without a doubt it WAS a failure.Now that being said I don't see why it gets all the hate as I think it's a really good console as it has some great games.Just like the Dreamcast,was it a failed console?,yes,was it a bad console? no

 

Probably an important distinction there.

[CatPix]

Hm. The 3do failed because of the way it was produced.

And the technological cost.

 

The MSX standard worked in the very exact same way : Microsoft Japan and ASCII defined the MSX standard, then sold the licence to manufacturers; Sony, Philips, Toshiba, Canon, Sanyo... Even Yamaha produced one, with a specific audio chip add-on (I think this model was sold in the USA; but as a synthetiser computer and not as a gaming computer).

It was a very successful line of computer despite, or thanks to that "standard model".

Thing is, the MSX used mostly "off the shelves" components. A good old Zilog Z80, a minimum of 8KO or RAM (up to 128 specified in the MSX standards. In fact, the lowest MSX had 32 Ko and the standard was 64.) The graphic chip is a TMS 9918, like in the Colecovision, Master System and various other systems; and the sound chip is that very classic AY 3 8910. (in fact, minus some difference in sprite gestion and sound chip, the Colecovision is a kind of consolized MSX).

All of this made the MSX having a reasonable price/quality ratio, and it became a huge success in Japan (many NES games first existed on MSX) and a moderately good success in Europe.

 

Would the 3DO being sold at the lauch for 3/4 of the said price, it probably would have caught better. And also, a little care on licensing, like Sony did with the Playstation (game they considered poor were delayed, expecially at the beginning of the console life).

[108 Stars]

Just like the Dreamcast,was it a failed console?,yes,was it a bad console? no

Dreamcast wasn't even a real failure. It actually sold very well. The launch set a sales record, and by normal means sales were pretty good before Sega threw the towel.

The problem was Sega needed it to be an absolute smash hit to keep it in business. The years since the Genesis' success had taken its toll on the company. When it became clear that the PS2 instantly outperformed Dreamcast in sales the window of time for Sega to make it happen had closed.

 

To keep a console in the market until it makes profit requires big ressources. Sega just did not have those amymore. The growth still to be expected from Dreamcast when the PS2 came was just too little for the company to make it work in time. Dreamcast could have been like Xbox or Gamecube saleswise had Sega had the breath for a marathon.

 

 

The 3DO had a much less promising perspective with its games and the sales it had. It was a good console, but truly a commercial failure.

[Lendorien]

And the technological cost.

 

The MSX standard worked in the very exact same way : Microsoft Japan and ASCII defined the MSX standard, then sold the licence to manufacturers; Sony, Philips, Toshiba, Canon, Sanyo... Even Yamaha produced one, with a specific audio chip add-on (I think this model was sold in the USA; but as a synthetiser computer and not as a gaming computer).

It was a very successful line of computer despite, or thanks to that "standard model".

Thing is, the MSX used mostly "off the shelves" components. A good old Zilog Z80, a minimum of 8KO or RAM (up to 128 specified in the MSX standards. In fact, the lowest MSX had 32 Ko and the standard was 64.) The graphic chip is a TMS 9918, like in the Colecovision, Master System and various other systems; and the sound chip is that very classic AY 3 8910. (in fact, minus some difference in sprite gestion and sound chip, the Colecovision is a kind of consolized MSX).

All of this made the MSX having a reasonable price/quality ratio, and it became a huge success in Japan (many NES games first existed on MSX) and a moderately good success in Europe.

I was not aware on the MSX sales model. The 3do had a lot more specialized hardware and really only 3 companies actually made the hardware; Panasonic, Goldstar and Sanyo. So unlike the MSX, the costs made it prohibatively expensive for all but the wealthiest game enthusiasts.

 

I think you're right. If it had retailed at around 450 or 500, it might have gotten more traction. 700 dollars in today's money is well over a grand (1100 to 1700, depending on what criteria you use). Even now, the numbers would be low for people who would buy even the most amazing console or even ANY entertainment appliance for that much.

 

The 3do was a good system. It was a purely cd-rom based platform, one of the first major consoles to do so. It had a pretty decent sound chip it, and could play music cds to boot, giving it extra value. The controllers could have been better, but it had a number of great and memorable games that debuted on the system. It also had some ports which were better on the 3do than on other systems.

 

So the 3do failed, not because it sucked, but because it was priced out of the market. Third party support eventually faltered because the system lacked traction and it snowballed from there.

 

To keep a console in the market until it makes profit requires big ressources. Sega just did not have those amymore. The growth still to be expected from Dreamcast when the PS2 came was just too little for the company to make it work in time. Dreamcast could have been like Xbox or Gamecube saleswise had Sega had the breath for a marathon.

I think that's why people mourn the Dreakcxast. IT truly was a great system. If you compare the graphics between say Soul Calibur on the dreamcast and ont he ps2, the dreamcast wins hands down. It may not have had chops to have the legs that the ps2 eventually had, but it could have lasted far longer if Sega hadn't been forced to throw in the towel because of their own mismanagement.

Edited December 12, 2013 by Lendorien