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[VGEsoterica]

I don't often do big grand tours of the random and obscure stuff I've managed to come across over the years but considering my lifelong annoyance that Panasonic cancelled the 3DO M2 when it was basically ready to ship to gamers as a finished console...why not. It's taken me a little over ten years of active hunting to go from zero pieces of M2 hardware to what now amounts to basically an example of every piece of M2 hardware and software to ever exist, the full source code for the SDK, tons of unseen game dumps Ive shared with anyone who wants to enjoy them...and a closet dedicated to 3DO M2 hardware that now barely closes due to how much I've actually managed to find.

Plus I recently sent some NOS chips from the M2 to an engineer for decapping and scanning...because you never know...could get an FPGA core going and finally let anyone who wants enjoy what the 3DO M2 actually has to offer considering it does have five fully released arcade games, one near finished console game, a ton of game betas and demos...and some weirder stuff too!

Gaf...I can't be the only one who was excited for M2 back in the day? Who else here was interested in it?

 

[IbizaPocholo]

SNES CD? Meh...Nintendo Playstation? What is there to play...nothing? 3DO M2? Now you have five arcade games and a ton of diverse demos...along with the rarest video game console ever made! (ish)

But I heard the 3DO M2 didn't exist nor did the Konami arcade games on the Konami 3DO M2 arcade board? WHO KNOWS

 

[Drew1440]

It's a shame the M2 hardware was never released as a console, especially during the generation where you had you choose between jiterrly polygons (PS1), or a blurred foggy mess (N64). The M2 could have been the OG Xbox of its generation, not a huge success but a good place to play third party games.

 

[Knightime_X]

I remember seeing M2 screenshots of would be games.
They looked soo much better than ps1 at the time.
Not like ps2 levels of good, but certainly better than ps1 and even n64

 

[deriks]

It's a shame the M2 hardware was never released as a console, especially during the generation where you had you choose between jiterrly polygons (PS1), or a blurred foggy mess (N64). The M2 could have been the OG Xbox of its generation, not a huge success but a good place to play third party games.

They didn't know how to sell, no talking with publishers and it was expensive as fuck. That's the recipe of doom

 

[Dazrael]

I used to have the arcade board of Tobe! Polystars. The thing was mammoth, definitely the biggest board I ever had. It's cool that M2 games exist out there in some form.

 

[RAIDEN1]

The M2 would have had its work cutout against the Dreamcast though, and blame it ALL on Panasonic, they got cold feet in going head to head with Sony....probably goes down as one of the most regrettable "deals" in the history of videogames....(ie 3DO and Panasonic and M2)

 

[omegasc]

15 years old me was really excited about it. I had a 3DO and loved it, quirky ports and whatever

 

[RAIDEN1]

15 years old me was really excited about it. I had a 3DO and loved it, quirky ports and whatever

The things is though, that the Phillips CD-i had the kind of longevity that the 3DO could only dream of....despite it being under powered against the competition, yet they both adopted similar models, ie letting 3d parties develop the hardware from a physical shell point of view....and all things considered the CD-i did well to last as long as it did..

 

[6502]

Any idea how much this shift in use case would have generated vs just writing it off?

 

[Plies]

They looked soo much better than ps1 at the time.
Not like ps2 levels of good, but certainly better than ps1 and even n64

So the M2 had Dreamcast level visuals?

 

[omegasc]

The things is though, that the Phillips CD-i had the kind of longevity that the 3DO could only dream of....despite it being under powered against the competition, yet they both adopted similar models, ie letting 3d parties develop the hardware from a physical shell point of view....and all things considered the CD-i did well to last as long as it did..

Where I live we barely knew the CDi, and save for a pic or two in magazines, there was no press coverage in Brazil. 3DO was a big thing in a local rental, everyone watching half episodes of Batman and 2 Stupid Dogs lol
Good times.

 

[TGO]

So the M2 had Dreamcast level visuals?

Not exactly based on the arcade games released using it's tech they was basically PSX games with Texture filtering..... although that's pretty much as far as the Dreamcast got too so.....

 

[Knightime_X]

So the M2 had Dreamcast level visuals?

Like a ps1 pro.
Slightly better than ps1 with some benefits of n64 like texture filtering, and I THINK some form of antialiasing.
My memory may be rose-tinted at this point, but I do recall they looked a bit better than ps1 at the time. Not quite a generational leap, but better overall.

 

[nkarafo]

So the M2 had Dreamcast level visuals?

Absolutely not.

It had all the benefits of the other 5th gen consoles without their weaknesses. It had the stable 3D graphics and texture filtering capabilities of the N64 with the sharpness and texture resolution of the PS1. But it was still a 5th gen console capabilities wise. The DC was still a full generation ahead of it.

 

[s_mirage]

Absolutely not.

It had all the benefits of the other 5th gen consoles without their weaknesses. It had the stable 3D graphics and texture filtering capabilities of the N64 with the sharpness and texture resolution of the PS1. But it was still a 5th gen console capabilities wise. The DC was still a full generation ahead of it.

While I've always been a little sad that the M2 console never released, in hindsight it's hard to see a scenario in which it would have succeeded. It sounded extremely impressive when it was announced, and the bullshots looked amazing, but the games actually produced with the hardware demonstrate what a weird place it would have been in technically. Given how fast graphics were advancing, I don't think PS 1.5 level would have cut it.

Maybe, maybe, it could have blunted the Playstation's advance if it released in '96 with some high profile games and good marketing. I think the window where it could have been a success was very small though.