If panasonic backed the 3DO

3DO151 · Post by **3DO151** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:30 am

Ok so seeing how sony had the muscle and power to financially back the PS1,would it have been the same for 3DO if panasonic had poured $$$ into the console??

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:50 am

Panasonic did pour money into the 3DO, Panasonic and Goldstar. Two of the biggest companies around. Unfortunately due to the fact that they wanted to actually try and make money on the console(not including game sales), the insane price out the door hurt the 3DO badly. With all the money they dumped in, it's really unlikely they would have turned a profit on the console itself in any case. They should have sold it for 200-299 from day one and eaten those losses so they could sell games.

Later, Panasonic poured even more money in to buy the M2 technology. Unfortunately, they wound up deciding the 3DO was too far dead by the time they got done with their countless meetings on the subject, so the tech went into demo kiosks and such.

The failure of the 3DO was one of the reasons people thought the Playstation would fail as well. Sony had as much experience in the video game console department as Panasonic and Goldstar... None. Philips failed as well with the CDi. Of course their failure was due more to the fact that few people had any idea what in the world a CDi was or what it could do. For the longest time, I thought CDi was just some other format for cd rom drives like CD+G, video cd, etc. Plus Philips is miserable in the marketing department. The ONLY games I EVER saw playing on any CDi units at extremely high end electronics shops were the Zelda games, specifically the first one and if you know the Zelda games for the CDi, well, those would be enough to bury any game console.

bonefish · Post by **bonefish** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:52 am

I agree with Hound. The companies marketed it like a VCR. Strangely unaware that hardware in the videogame biz outdates itself quickly, so a balance of profit needs to be struck. Don't lose too much on the console, make some money off the games (the usual plan). Oddly enough, you'd think Korean and Japanese companies would see this clear as day, but that wasn't how it went down. I think it is surprising the 3do did as well as it did all things considered then. It had lots of strikes against it, fortunatly it was a very high quality product, offering a unique experience 2-3 years ahead of its time. I own 20+ games for it, all ones I actually wanted to play. Only recently my X-Box caught up and surpassed that #!

Sony, I'm sure was watching all of this like a hawk. They really did everything right with the Playstation then the PS2. But, alas, they pulled a Nintendo, except on a grander scale.

One thing is for sure, I wouldn't have wanted to be in a meeting or on a conference call between Panasonic etc. and 3do/Mr. Hawkins as the ship was sinking! Oh boy, I don't even want to think about how much money they blew through in the end.

Post by **3DOKid** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 12:58 am

agreed. Panasonic (peace be with them) approached the market like a VCR/stereo manufacturer. I think Matsushita (Panasonic) threw as much weight behind 3DO as they dared. Lack of vision failed them, but their ability to execute on a plan was second only to Sonys at the time, they just lacked Sonys balls. Philips were the same.

3DO151 · Post by **3DO151** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:34 pm

Funny thing about CD-I here in canada nobody knew it even existed. When I was growing up not one person had heard of the system at all.

bonefish · Post by **bonefish** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 1:56 am

The CD-I was bad. Really bad. I've never even seen one and it is one of the few game systems that I think I could die tomorrow and never regret not playing it.

UnholyTancred · Post by **UnholyTancred** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:09 pm

I woke up very early in the morning a few days ago. None of my friends were online to stop my retro gaming addiction and I was browsing eBay auctions for a CD-I...... and I came across one.... and I had a huge urge to buy it.

The only thing that stopped me was looking at the game library for the CD-I.

That made me regain my senses. It was a real close call.

bonefish · Post by **bonefish** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:43 pm

The only thing that stopped me was looking at the game library for the CD-I.

That made me regain my senses. It was a real close call.

That is what I'm talking about

I was late to the 3do game. I was a little jaded when it bit the dust under 2 years after I got it. But, it had many many games to play so my investment wasn't in vain. If I got a CD-I I probably would have drove to Philips media myself and went crazy!

Trev · Post by **Trev** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:41 am

Unless you are quite technically inclined, I'd strongly advise against grabbing a cd-i unit now. When the battery in the machine dies, it renders the console useless! No games will load, so you are left w/a paperweight & a library of titles you can't play.

To be fair, the cd-i did have a # of good titles, but this flaw in the design of the machine is embarissing!