tenoch Posted November 5, 2006 Share Posted November 5, 2006 I just picked this Panasonic REAL FZ-1 3DO up at the goodwill for 10 bucks, not sure what it is. It had a controller on it so I bought it thinking it was an old system or something. Did I get ripped for 10 or is this an interesting system to have Thanks for any info -t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misspent_youth Posted November 5, 2006 Share Posted November 5, 2006 Real cool system IMHO. The first 32-bit cd-based system, unless you count the CD-i (far from a completely knowledgeable statement). Lots and lots of cool titles to own. ALso, Sharp and Goldsar released 3DO sytems in north america, but the Panasonic system was the only one with an internal cooling fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveW Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 The 3DO started life as a hardware project by some of the designers of the Commodore Amiga and the Atari Lynx (and one also helped design the Atari 2600, if I recall). Trip Hawkins, the guy who started Electronic Arts, left that company to start 3DO. The idea was that they would license out the technology to other companies, so electronics companies (like Panasonic and Goldstar) would deal with the most expensive part of the videogame business, making the console and hardware, and 3DO would make the software to play on them. It was a fairly interesting idea, but they made a few mistakes along the way, and in the end they couldn't compete with all the marketing hype surrounding the Playstation. It was a fairly good console for it's time. There's not a whole lot of really top-notch titles for it. From what I've read, the development cost and publishing license was cheaper for the 3DO than for other consoles of the time, so a lot of crap got put out for it. And since it was one of the earliest CD-based consoles, there were a few FMV games out for it, like Sewer Shark and so on. There were a whole lot of Japanese exclusives for it, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 It's got a small amount of decent titles for it. Mostly got killed due to high price. But you can burn and try most titles before investing in them without even having to modify it. I have one and about 10 or so games, but never really got around to sitting down with it. Pitiful I know... I also have a Saturn that needs some loving as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 It's got a small amount of decent titles for it. Mostly got killed due to high price. But you can burn and try most titles before investing in them without even having to modify it. Yeah, the original price was $600-800 on this thing. I got my first 3do when they went down to $100 at Best Buy around the millenium. The laserdisc games were great for this system (Dragon's lair, and the gun gun games like Mad Dog McCree) I thought. Also, some innovative games I liked such as Twisted-- it was like You Don'T Know Jack, although I'm not sure which came first. I also dug the 4 CD Daedelus Encounter-- basically a puzzle game that was set in a full motion video storyline starring Tia Carrera. At one point I'd bought about 50 different games for it as Best Buy was closing most of them out at $4.99 apiece, but those mentioned are the ones that stick out to me still. Matter of fact, I've still got a few games sitting in my 'to ebay' pile-- Dragon Lore, Foes of Ali, and something else I think, and a couple of controllers. Lemme know if you're interested in any of those. The pasasonic brand controllers were novel too-- they had a headphone jack on the controller, so you could game with the TV sound turned off! $10-- a worthy find if it's a working unit! Now if you can only find the gun at a decent price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Soldier Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 (edited) Still one of my favorite systems. If your in to FMV get Night Trap for it. Its by far the best version of the game. Great shooters like bladeforce, wolfenstein 3d, and killing time are nice to have. Foes of Ali is a good boxing game. Guardian war is a decent rpg with some interesting elements. If your into adult themed entertainment it has that too. The only one I can recall is Plumbers don't wear ties. There is a handfull of really great games for this system some have already been mentioned above. Get the gunslingers collection and try to find a gun. Edited November 6, 2006 by Ghost Soldier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeGuyWithDSL Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 3D0 also got Star Control II, a multimedia-enhanced version of one of the best PC games ever.* *Opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 For the 3DO you should definitely snap up Road Rash and Need for Speed. I more or less bought my 3DO for Need for Speed back in the day. It was impressive even compared to Ridge Racer for the PS1. Unfortunately, it was really the exception for the 3DO rather than the rule. I could never get into Star Control II, but some of my friends loved it, and I have to admit that I found parts of it pretty memorable. The system supposedly has the best version of Samurai Showdown II available for any home system short of the Neo Geo itself. And the Super Street Fighter II port it has is allegedly really good. The problem with both is finding the 6 button pads. Return Fire is another great gem. I never found it for the 3DO, but I do have it for the PS1 and it's a great game. You might want to also check out Space Hulk and Horde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted November 6, 2006 Share Posted November 6, 2006 If the 3D0 had been released at $299, it probably would have done great business. But that $699 sticker shock killed it... BTW, how much is that PS3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Real cool system IMHO. The first 32-bit cd-based system, unless you count the CD-i. Ahem. Anyways, the 3DO is somewhat interesting, although pretty much everything that it did was done on other systems. In my opinion, Star Control II was the best release the system had, although that game has been redone for PC's. The system has some 3D capabilities, but they're generally quite primitive, so most of the games look extremely dated, even compared to Playstation games. There are also a ton of FMV games available, in case you're into that kind of stuff. Still, $10 is a great price for one. Even if you hate it, you should be able to easily make your money back by reselling the system. Check out some of the games available, like Shockwave, Way of the Warrior, Icebreaker, and Need for Speed, and decide for yourself. --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misspent_youth Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Real cool system IMHO. The first 32-bit cd-based system, unless you count the CD-i. Ahem. Wow, good job on sharing the knowledge about Amiga CD32. LIke many, I imagine, I'd not heard of it. According to Wikipedia, it beat the 3DO to market by a month, which does indeed make my claim about the 3DO incorrect. While I'm owning up to errors, I'll also state that I mistakenly credited the CD-i as being 32-bit, when it was only 16-bit. Oh well, it was a long time ago... I still stand by my recommendation of the 3DO. I bought one used for $379 shortly after they came out ( I worked at Microplay at the time), and I enjoyed it immensely. As others have mentioned, Need for Speed was a great title (made better by the fact that you could turn off the super annoying commentator), as were Road Rash, Space Hulk, Wing COmmander III. I even enjoyed some of the sports titles, like FIFA Soccer and, yes, I'll admit it, Slam 'n Jam. Plus, since there's no region code in the system, all the import titles work right out of the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 (edited) Real cool system IMHO. The first 32-bit cd-based system, unless you count the CD-i. Ahem. Wow, good job on sharing the knowledge about Amiga CD32. LIke many, I imagine, I'd not heard of it. According to Wikipedia, it beat the 3DO to market by a month, which does indeed make my claim about the 3DO incorrect. While I'm owning up to errors, I'll also state that I mistakenly credited the CD-i as being 32-bit, when it was only 16-bit. Oh well, it was a long time ago... I still stand by my recommendation of the 3DO. I bought one used for $379 shortly after they came out ( I worked at Microplay at the time), and I enjoyed it immensely. As others have mentioned, Need for Speed was a great title (made better by the fact that you could turn off the super annoying commentator), as were Road Rash, Space Hulk, Wing COmmander III. I even enjoyed some of the sports titles, like FIFA Soccer and, yes, I'll admit it, Slam 'n Jam. Plus, since there's no region code in the system, all the import titles work right out of the box. Guess you could argue either way, but Commodore's CDTV of 1991 was 68000 procesor based, too. You might say it wasn't a game console, but it was Commodore's response to the CD-i according to many articles. Anyway, the sticky tricky point is the 68000 was 32bit, but the data bus was only 16 bit and the address bus was 24 bit. However, it was compatible with some CD32 and amiga 500 software-- as it was more or less a dressed down Amiga 500 plus CD player. While not a success, it was out there-- they had them at my local Radio Shack back in the day! But back to the topic-- 3DO... I can't believe I forgot- and i still forget hte actual name-- but the one piece of software that amazed me the most was a Sid Meier creation-- it was a music composer. Not a HUGE fan of chamber music, but it was quite novel in that it supposedly created original works of music from the software's AI. I actually would let that thing go all day while cleaning house just to see if it came up with anything that DIDN'T sound like music. Not sure what drove it, or how 'original' the music was-- but a pretty cool concept. Thought about transcribing what the computer wrote and publish it under my name-- but when I didn't know what i was doing, i figured I'd be a found to be a fraud. But I was young-- would it have mattered? lol Edited November 8, 2006 by Murph74 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flojomojo Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 (edited) That's Sid Meier's CPU Bach. Very cool piece of software, nothing else quite like it before or since. http://fz1-3do.blog.co.uk/2006/10/09/sid_m...pu_bach~1204079 Edited November 8, 2006 by Flojomojo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AussieAtari Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 $10 -what a bargain for a pretty cool system. I was looking at one last night on eBay Oz for AUD$170 with 2 games. Good pick up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted November 8, 2006 Share Posted November 8, 2006 Cpu bach? Sounds intruiging.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 Real cool system IMHO. The first 32-bit cd-based system, unless you count the CD-i. Ahem. Wow, good job on sharing the knowledge about Amiga CD32. LIke many, I imagine, I'd not heard of it. According to Wikipedia, it beat the 3DO to market by a month, which does indeed make my claim about the 3DO incorrect. While I'm owning up to errors, I'll also state that I mistakenly credited the CD-i as being 32-bit, when it was only 16-bit. Oh well, it was a long time ago... Guess you could argue either way, but Commodore's CDTV of 1991 was 68000 procesor based, too. You might say it wasn't a game console, but it was Commodore's response to the CD-i according to many articles. Anyway, the sticky tricky point is the 68000 was 32bit, but the data bus was only 16 bit and the address bus was 24 bit. Yeah, "bits" is a notoriously poor way of measuring computers or game systems... but since the conversation has already started, I should also point out the FM Towns Marty was released in 1991. It's CPU is a 386 (32-bit), and games came on CD and floppy disk... The system was only released in Japan though, and is relatively obscure. Commodore actually marketed the CD32 as "the worlds first 32-bit CD game system" (It even says that on the retail box), so I guess their marketing department hadn't been keeping tabs on Fujitsu. Incidentally, the CD32 uses a 68EC020 processor, which is a low-cost version of the normal 68020... one of the sacrifices of this version of the processor is that the chip only has 24 address lines coming out of the package, so you only get 24-bit addressing on the CD32 too. The system only has 2 MB of memory, and doesn't use cartridges, so 24-bits is plenty for what it was built for. --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madhatter667 Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 For $10 you got it at a steal! I have been after one of these for a while... just trying to not resort to eBay. That, and a Neo Geo AES system... but that also has a cult following, and therefore the prices are high when you find them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph74 Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 the FM Towns Marty was released in 1991. It's CPU is a 386 (32-bit), and games came on CD and floppy disk... The system was only released in Japan though, and is relatively obscure. Commodore actually marketed the CD32 as "the worlds first 32-bit CD game system" (It even says that on the retail box), Was Japan part of the world back then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenoch Posted November 10, 2006 Author Share Posted November 10, 2006 WOW!! A lot more information than I thought I would get on this system. I defiantly want to get some games and try it out. It looks new no nicks or scratches. It turns on. The CD player comes out and goes in. I have to see if it works. Thanks for all the information. Some of you mentioned having games to sell, I might take you up on it. Thanks -t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmi Posted November 10, 2006 Share Posted November 10, 2006 WOW!! A lot more information than I thought I would get on this system. I defiantly want to get some games and try it out. It looks new no nicks or scratches. It turns on. The CD player comes out and goes in. I have to see if it works. Thanks for all the information. Some of you mentioned having games to sell, I might take you up on it. Thanks -t The 3DO plays audio CDs and also lets you select different lightshow displays Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 I 3do should have a video out, so you can probably easily plug it into any TV and check it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamemaster14 Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 I agree $10 is an awesome Price for an FZ-1. They even released a usa version of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo for 3do. Which is the only usa version of that revision (correct me if I am wrong). I personally Love my Goldstar 3do and I have an FZ-1 as well. I wish I could find the ultra rare Japanese Sanyo TRY 3do for a decent price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ze_ro Posted November 11, 2006 Share Posted November 11, 2006 It looks new no nicks or scratches. It turns on. The CD player comes out and goes in. I have to see if it works. The 3DO FZ-1 is a tank... it's second only to the original Atari 2600's in durability in my opinion. That being said, I bought one from a guy on the internet, and it somehow managed to get smashed up in shipping (which was odd, because the guy had actually packed it rather well. Perhaps Canada Post was playing basketball with the package or something). I opened it up and re-glued all the pieces of the case that had busted apart, and it works perfectly fine now. --Zero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misspent_youth Posted November 12, 2006 Share Posted November 12, 2006 Yeah the main failure seems to be the cooling fan. Guess that's why Panasonic left it out of their FZ-10 model (that and cost savings, I imagine). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tenoch Posted November 12, 2006 Author Share Posted November 12, 2006 Hey It works I turned it on and plugged the video and audio ports in and off it went. The start up screen played a space scene with 3D asteroids going by. -t Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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