Atari Jaguar and 3DO

[Skull Commander]

Was thinking back to the 90's when the 3DO and Jaguar were 'the future' of gaming. Having only played each for a very limited time, I was wondering if anyone on here has one/collects for them? My knowledge of each is pretty limited.
I remember there was a corking version of super street fighter 2 for the 3do (if you loosened the screws on the dpad to make it less stiff) and a couple of snk conversions. I also recall a white zombie soundtracked beat em up called way of the warrior with mortal kombat stlye digitised graphics.
As far as the jaguar goes I remember tempest 2000, kasumi ninja, aliens vs predator, doom, some generic racer and a 2d shooter with some starfox influenced lion (?) called trevor mcfur or something.
Did much ever come out for the cd add on? Also in terms of both systems were there regional differences? I seem to remember the 3do having a very small picture surrounded by large borders at all sides.

I know this post is a bit rambling, but I am just having a bit of a nostalgic day!

[Silanda]

Also in terms of both systems were there regional differences? I seem to remember the 3do having a very small picture surrounded by large borders at all sides.

That was a bit of a problem with the 3DO. A few games were PAL optimized, but the only one that I remember having a pretty much full screen display was the gaming joy that was Rise of the Robots.

Other than that the 3do could play any game from any region, with a few exceptions for technical reasons (except for Caspar, which was region locked).

[muddy]

Had 'em both. Would happily buy another Jag just for Tempest2k!

[Leon Retro]

The ntsc 3DO has a full-screen display, which is very nice.

The Pal 3DO is pretty lame. I remember seeing StreetFighter, with its borders all the way around.


Way Of The Warrior was made by "Naughty Dog" ... who went on to create Crash Bandicoot, Jak&Daxter etc.....



I enjoyed WOTW far more than Mortal Kombat. The visuals are really clear, there is a lot going on, the sprites are big, and it's very funny.

SuperStreetFighter2TurboX, is a good conversion. A few layers of parallax were missing( god knows why? ) ... but everything else looks great. The sound is fantastic too.


I had a Panasonic ntsc 3DO, back in 1994, and it's still going strong( such a well built machine) There weren't loads of games for it, but back then, the good ones( Road Rash, Need For Speed, Slayer, Wing Commander 3, WOTW, SSFTX, Off World Interceptor, Total Eclipse etc... ) .. were cutting-edge and great to play.


Then the PS1 & Saturn came along, with tons of arcade conversions and all the great Japanese original games, and the 3DO was put to rest.

For a machine that only lasted 2years, it left a very positive impression on me. I rate it as one of my favourite periods of gaming.


Would I recommend one now? ... Not really. I went back to it a year ago, and the visuals are very blocky, and the framerates dodgy. Maybe it would look o.k on a small screen? ... My big widescreen doesn't do the visuals any favours.

If you do buy one, make sure it's a Panasonic ntsc machine.

[Leon Retro]

Have a look at the Way Of The Warrior Intro

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-qO81BtZnw&feature=related

It always makes me laugh.

[Skull Commander]

One for my lunch break! I'l check that out later. I am kinda tempted to pick up a jaguar and a 3do, but I never have enough time to play the stuff I already have! Maybe if I see them at a car boot sale at a knock down price....

[Leon Retro]

One for my lunch break! I'l check that out later. I am kinda tempted to pick up a jaguar and a 3do, but I never have enough time to play the stuff I already have! Maybe if I see them at a car boot sale at a knock down price....

I wouldn't bother with them. As you say, there are already tons of great machines and games to get around to playing..

I'd honestly rather play on a Master System/Nes, than the early 3D machines.

It's a shame, because the 3DO gave me sooo many great memories; but that is all they are, nothing more.

I'll never forget the day I got Crash&Burn free with my machine, and how much it blew-me-away.

The 3DO was a machine of its time, unlike the snes, which is timeless.

Here's Crash&Burn, which didn't get released in Europe. It was the first 3DO game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORZW7kWCKRY

It's a shame how much old 3D games age.

[Skull Commander]

I'v said it time and time again, but give me an old 2D game over an old 3D game anytime. A lot of 3D PS1 games are bordering on unplayable nowadays, so your proberly right.
The main draw for me would be the beat 'em ups, but since the only exclusives that I know about were WOTW and Kasumi Ninja it really wouldn't be worth my time.

[Skull Commander]

Just checked out that into to WOTW and some of the gameplay clips. It looks very 90's cheese! Love the voice overs and the character 'vs' screens. Someone should stick this on 360 for download. I'd buy it for ****s and giggles!

[anephric]

I still use my 3DO quite a bit (it actually sits next to my Jag, and they sneer at each other) but I'm officially a prevert. I have a thing for crap FMV games.

You used to be able to pick up PAL Panny FZ-10s (a top-loading, cheaper version of the FZ-1) for £20-30. I don't know what they go for now.

Other than that the 3do could play any game from any region, with a few exceptions for technical reasons (except for Caspar, which was region locked).

Is that the reason why Caspar doesn't work on PAL consoles? I've always wondered. It seems strange to have put region-lockout in just the one title.

[Leon Retro]

Just checked out that into to WOTW and some of the gameplay clips. It looks very 90's cheese! Love the voice overs and the character 'vs' screens. Someone should stick this on 360 for download. I'd buy it for ****s and giggles!

It was very cheesy and stupid back in the day. I guess that's why it got some bad press, but obviously, some people enjoyed the style.

It's easy for people to give the impression that WOTW was a lame game in every way, but it wasn't. The visuals were impressive, with large characters, interesting animated backgrounds, cool special effects etc... Yeah... it looks gaudy, but that is part of its style.

Obviously, these days, it's far less impressive; much like all the fighters that had digitised characters.

If you are going to buy a 3DO, I think you should be patient and wait for a ntsc panasonic machine. The FZ-1 looks great, and has an s-video output.

[Silanda]

Is that the reason why Caspar doesn't work on PAL consoles? I've always wondered. It seems strange to have put region-lockout in just the one title.

Yeah I think so, AFAIK it detects how fast your machine is running and if it isn't at 60Hz it won't work. IIRC that used to screw it up using FreeDo too, not sure about now.

I'd guess that either there was a technical issue which glitched it at 50 Hz so they just locked it, or (more likely) it was a licensing issue.

[Phar]

I always wanted a 3DO back in the day, need for speed was stunning back then. I'm half tempted to pick up a JPN unit now after reading this thread, whats the S-video output like quality wise, I also remember seeing a box that you could connect up to adjust the image, I'm pretty sure it was someone on here who had it, suppose they'd be pretty hard to find now.

Does anyone remember the name of a chain of electronic stores that used to have 3DO demo units set up, I know their not around no more, I think they had some kind of early distribution deal with Panasonic when first released as they were always advertising it in the papers and games mags.

[Leon Retro]

I always wanted a 3DO back in the day, need for speed was stunning back then. I'm half tempted to pick up a JPN unit now after reading this thread, whats the S-video output like quality wise, I also remember seeing a box that you could connect up to adjust the image, I'm pretty sure it was someone on here who had it, suppose they'd be pretty hard to find now.

Does anyone remember the name of a chain of electronic stores that used to have 3DO demo units set up, I know their not around no more, I think they had some kind of early distribution deal with Panasonic when first released as they were always advertising it in the papers and games mags.

The S-Video quality is good. My Panasonic FZ-1 has a very nice image, even through composite. It's obvious to me, that Panasonic used very good parts.

I had a thing called a Scart-Box, which took an S-Video signal to a scart lead, and you could twiddle the colour/brightness settings.

A guy on here had a really pro RGB conversion, which is stunning to behold.

I vaguely remember the shop you're talking about. They really promoted the 3DO, and I heard it did sell quite a few over a couple of years.

When the Playstation hit the headlines, everyone focused on that, and the 3DO died.

The 3DO & Jaguar were released at a strange time. The tech was o.k, but soon dated, and most gamers were happy with their sneses and megadrives anyway.

By the time most people noticed the 3DO, the magazines were going on about the PS1 & Saturn, so they set their minds on buying one of those instead.

[Silanda]

Does anyone remember the name of a chain of electronic stores that used to have 3DO demo units set up,

Calculus?