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3DO vs. Saturn

crystalmethod - Dec 24, 2001

		crystalmethod		Dec 24, 2001
			What were the strengths and weaknesses of both and what do you think is the overall more powerful system?

		eatpenguin		Dec 25, 2001
			uh.. i dont think that is a fair question... 3DO, altho 32-bit and all, should not be compared to saturn/psx that's just plain old wrong. maybe 3DO and CDI or 3DO and SCD, but not 3DO and saturn!? (Edited by eatpenguin at 10:21 pm on Dec. 25, 2001)

		lancastoor		Dec 28, 2001
			Theres no reason not to compare 3DO to saturn or psx.. 3dO could have held its own if'n it wasn't such a poorly implemented idea, and developers actually developed for it.. Graphically its inferior to both Saturn and PSX.. But superior to SCD w/32x or Jaguar (IMO).. Thats just based on the games i've played though.. If yer a techie goin by the numbers, it appears it could have matched the quality of some saturn/psx titles.. but noone ever coded the thing to its potential.. who knows what it could have accomplished.. if the M2 hadda become reality it'd hold its own against n64.. it still has the most faithful port of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo I've played.. And dont count out all those softcore porn discs from Vivid.. Boobies.. WooHoo

		RadSil		Dec 28, 2001
			A big reason the 3DO never showed off its apparent "muscle" is the fact that all 3DO approved game software had to be coded using an abstraction library that utilized BIOS functions to take care of business. This was to help overcome any minor hardware differences between different manufacturers' versions of 3DO hardware. So effectively, no games could be written "bare-metal" to the hardware like other consoles (In my opinion the main strength of a console platform is the ability to optimize for it heavily).

		eatpenguin		Dec 29, 2001
			what were your fav games for 3do? all i remember is playing Samurai Shodown. 3DO got the best SS port. i remember that much...not much else tho. i remember there was an encyclopedia for it. and some other titles that had to do with "interacte" whatever. werent the titles similar to the cdi?

lancastoor

Dec 30, 2001

	
	
		
		
			effectively, no games could be written "bare-metal" to the hardware like other consoles (In my opinion the main strength of a console platform is the ability to optimize for it heavily).

yeah the 3do had an OS.. they werent supposed to code to the hardware directly, but they did..

thing is, only panasonic and goldstar really made 3dos.. They didnt get the dozens of manufacturers they thought they would.. so there are a handful of games (i cant think of em) optimized for those consoles that dont run on the ill-fated Creative Labs 3DO blaster.. i think theres a couple that dont run on the goldstar too..

it was designed as a 'set top box' though (which IMO is a stupid idea.. i dont want a box that does everything... what if it breaks? or i want to listen to a CD, download off the net, and play a game all at the same time).. The utter failure of VCD outside of the asian market surely didnt help em sell.. It should have been marketed and produced as a video game console.. (though it does a helluvajob with PhotoCD)

as for my favorite games..

Samurai Shodown, Super Street Fighter 2, Night Trap (takes a dump on the 32x and SCD ports), Dragons Lair/Space Ace/Braindead 13 were all well done.. Neurodancer has titties so its worth mentioning.. Lucienne's Quest is as close to a good RPG that it ever saw.. Jurassic Park Interactive is an amusing collection of mini games.. Twisted is a fun trivia party game.. Wing Commander 4 was excellent.. Good ports of Johnny Bazookatone and a handful of other saturn-era titles.. Way of the Warrior is a cheesy mortal kombat clone --worth playing just to rip on the mullet haircuts.. Theres a bunch that I hear are cool but havent gotten around to trying yet..

Fatty Bears Birthday Surprise isnt as fun as it sounds thou..

		g8crapachino		Dec 31, 2001
			I think the main reason that the 3DO failed (and the reason I didn't buy one back then) was the >$600 price tag.

		ExCyber		Dec 31, 2001
			lancastoor: can you give any examples of games that won't run on some 3DO systems, or know where a list can be found?

		lancastoor		Jan 3, 2002
			not off the top of my head.. only owning a panasonic I couldnt say from experience.. and for all intents and purposes (aside from the laser assembly) the goldstars and panasonics were identical on the inside (both companies parented by matsushita, it makes sense).. So Its all heresay, I suppose.. I've read stories of games that wont boot with a VCD card installed, etc.. Just check google and find the spattering of 3DO fansites still floating around the 'net.. most of the incompatibilities were with the 3DO Blaster.. And #### if i know anyone who even owns one of the things.. But the only things I've read about it were how buggy and unstable it was during gameplay.. I believe i remember Wing Commander IV and NeuroDancer as examples, but I could be wrong.. My point was that people did go to lengths to optimize for the hardware.. And i guess its better proved by saying the only sites I've seen speak about coding for the 3DO focused alot on machine-level stuff, opcodes and assembler and registers and whatnot..

		crystalmethod		Jan 3, 2002
			I was also thinking along the lines of the system architecture. I know the Saturn was very complex system with it's multi-chip architecture and this has caused difficulty with regards to emulating the system. The lack of an even prototype or 3DO emulator in the works got me thinking...is the 3DO a complex machine as well?? And was the development consensus at the time that the machine was hard to program for???

		eatpenguin		Jan 4, 2002
			hehe i like vcd's recently i found this store downtown houston that sells vcds (obviously pirated; they had tomb raider loooong before it came out on dvd/vhs) they also sell a lot of local-dj trance cds oh, and crystal method, its not exactly an emulator, but didnt creative make a pc-card that allows you to run 3do games? i think i even saw a post on this forum somewhere. (Edited by eatpenguin at 9:54 pm on Jan. 4, 2002)

		Fabrizo		Jan 5, 2002
			I have had a 3DO for several months now, and from the few games I have this is what I can say about it versus the saturn: While as its cinematics are equal and mabye even better then those in a lot of saturn games, actual non CG gameplay is inferior in all departments, 2D and 3D (yes it can do 3D). But then again I only have 4 games for the 3DO and around 70 for the saturn, so its a pretty un-fair comparison.

		eatpenguin		Jan 5, 2002
			but 3DO's "3-D" only comes close to just about SNES with FX2 chip, while saturn has (few) great 3D games like VF2

		FAKK2		Jan 7, 2002
			my replys..... and Im not tring to get anyone mad its just my reply eatpenguin "but 3DO's "3-D" only comes close to just about SNES with FX2 chip, while saturn has (few) great 3D games like VF2" 3DO's 3D is way way better than SNES, my god give me a break!! Escape from Monster Manor is a title I would like to see SNES ever try to do.....or Star Blade......or Burning Soldier......or Killing Time, or Death keep etc...etc... I can go on all day.... But it is true Saturn is better in 3D games (speed wise nothing else) 3DO is slower in speed ( 3DO came out 1993 Saturn came out 1995) So ofcourse the Saturn is faster..... Fabrizo get more games... Youll thank me later... g8crapachino "I think the main reason that the 3DO failed (and the reason I didn't buy one back then) was the >$600 price tag. " Well guess what it was actually $699.99 at Software Etc. (plus tax) the day it came out and thats when I bought mine.....and all my friends wanted one but your right, the price was way out of most peoples league and by the time they were going down in price Sony PSX came out and the rest is history. lancastoor "thing is, only panasonic and goldstar really made 3dos" Wrong!! Sanyo did also.... so there were 4 3DO models made which is plenty to coose from IMO. 1. Panasonic FZ-1 2. Goldstar 3. Sanyo TRY 3DO IMP-21J 4. Panasonic FZ-10 (pop top) 5. Panasonic M2 (System never released, prototype controllers were made and nothing else) 1 have one of the M2 6-Button Prototype control pads, extremely rare. All in all 3DO is a great system and is FUN to play, and I wish I had more 3DO games than the few I do have.....I have a little over 60 3DO games. but I plan to get alot more. Hope you guys like yours as well, there are lots of 3DO games that arent on any other system.