Look what I got in the mail today

Superhero360 · Post by **Superhero360** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 3:52 pm

15 years after its release I got a hand on the Panasonic FZ-EM256 Memory unit

I wanted it really bad when it was first announced like 16 years ago and I struggled with the tiny memory of my Panasonic FZ-1. When it came out it was not even available where I live nor did anybody import it since 3DO was on its way downhill.
15 years later I rediscovered my 3DO and gave the search for the unit another try. Thanks to the internet I found one at a chinese store online.
After some trouble trying to get a hold of it finally arrived today.
I was surprised that the unit was in such great mint condition.
You could almost mistake it for new. Only the saved games on the memory unit itself gave it away

The unit and even the CD-case still had their plastic wrapping and it works just fine. A nice nostalgic treat.

Scarlettkitten · Post by **Scarlettkitten** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 5:36 pm

Nice

great condition too. I've gotta find one of those as I'm fed up with deleting saved games all the time

Superhero360 · Post by **Superhero360** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:53 pm

Quagmire wrote:Nice great condition too. I've gotta find one of those as I'm fed up with deleting saved games all the time

I know, it is annoying. I remember back in the days when the internal memory was full the games couldn't save any more and nobody knew what was wrong. My reseller wanted to open my 3DO up to see if it was broken. I brought my 3DO to the store and turned it on one more time. One game came up with a memory manager and I quickly trashed all my saved games. Since then we all learnt that the internal memory can get overfloated without even a warning message

The FZ-1 doesn't even have a memory manager. I think Wing Commaner III was the first game I had that featured one.
Anyhow great to have really. Does anybody happen to have the manual as pdf file? Or is it just all in japanese?

avanteproject · Post by **avanteproject** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:49 pm

That's awesome. I want to get one of those eventually. How much internal memory does a 3do have? Enough for 5-6 games?

oldskool · Post by **oldskool** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:02 pm

If that. Some games have large memory saves. 2-3 at most.

You basically just have to stick with one game till' you finish it. Which is not always bad I suppose.

Trev · Post by **Trev** » Tue Apr 20, 2010 11:56 pm

oldskool wrote:If that. Some games have large memory saves. 2-3 at most.

You basically just have to stick with one game till' you finish it. Which is not always bad I suppose.

2-3?

Not even close (unless your game are like Alone in the Dark & Slam n Jam or something) Although the memory is certainly less than most desired, you can still fit several games on it. I probably have 15 or so in my own nvram. And of course the Game Guru helps create even more room.

Post by **3DO Experience** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:31 am

Glad to see you got one. I wanted one so bad and it took me a while to get one, only mine didn't come with anything. I got the disc image to run it from someone on here and I've enjoyed it ever since.

Superhero360 wrote:Anyhow great to have really. Does anybody happen to have the manual as pdf file? Or is it just all in japanese?

No need for a manual, just plug it in and put in the disc, it will tell you what buttons do what.

oldskool · Post by **oldskool** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 3:53 am

I meant 2-3 games as far as games that take up a ton of space. I know that it can hold more with the smaller game saves.

ILUV3DO · Post by **ILUV3DO** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 5:42 am

FZ-10 has much more internal storage space then the FZ-1. With my FZ-1 I would run out of space after 2-5 games. With my FZ-10 I believe I have about 12 different titles saved and I have only eaten up about 3/4 of my memory so far.

ILUV3DO

T.A.P. · Post by **T.A.P.** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 10:57 pm

How many saves can that storage device hold? I get the feeling I'm going to need one of those.

Post by **3DO Experience** » Wed Apr 21, 2010 11:06 pm

All 3DO units have the exact same internal memory size, 32kb of SRAM. The Memory Unit has 8 times as much memory. (256kb for those bad with math)

oldskool · Post by **oldskool** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 12:18 am

32kb? Sheesh, that's pathetic.

ILUV3DO · Post by **ILUV3DO** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 6:53 am

Both models had 32kb? Wow, I must have had an FZ-1 with defective RAM. Is that possible? I saved like 3 games on it and it was full. I saved the same three games on my FZ-10 and still had over 3/4 of storage space left. I always just assumed they had expanded the storage space on the later model. Thanks for clueing me in!

ILUV3DO

GuruMeditation · Post by **GuruMeditation** » Thu Apr 22, 2010 8:18 am

The amount of space used differs from game to game.

Panasonic3DO · Post by **Panasonic3DO** » Sun Apr 25, 2010 4:34 pm

I think they all had 32k memory.

By the way, congratulations man!!

Karny · Post by **Karny** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:14 pm

Sorry to revive a dead old post... but I just wanted to confirm that these definitely don't work on a FZ-10?

I'd love to track one of the down if they do!

Post by **3DOKid** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 8:42 pm

Mine does.

Post by **3DO Experience** » Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:54 pm

They work on all 3DO units.

awbacon · Post by **awbacon** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 2:09 am

I always wondered what those units looked like on the inside. Considering the PS1 memory card is 128kb, and its tiny in comparison, what's on the inside that is making the memory unit so big? Is it just aesthetics to make it look boxy compared to the FZ-1 unit/ (and yes..I do know the ps1 has a bit of a tech advantage in being able to shrink down storage at that point in tech history)

bitrate · Post by **bitrate** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 3:56 am

awbacon wrote:I always wondered what those units looked like on the inside. Considering the PS1 memory card is 128kb, and its tiny in comparison, what's on the inside that is making the memory unit so big? Is it just aesthetics to make it look boxy compared to the FZ-1 unit/ (and yes..I do know the ps1 has a bit of a tech advantage in being able to shrink down storage at that point in tech history)

I posted some pics and info in this thread:

http://cdinteractive.co.uk/3do/forum/viewtopic.php.......

Karny · Post by **Karny** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 4:45 pm

Thanks for the replies!

Now I've just got to spot one of these things in the wild...

awbacon · Post by **awbacon** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 8:22 pm

bitrate wrote:
awbacon wrote:I always wondered what those units looked like on the inside. Considering the PS1 memory card is 128kb, and its tiny in comparison, what's on the inside that is making the memory unit so big? Is it just aesthetics to make it look boxy compared to the FZ-1 unit/ (and yes..I do know the ps1 has a bit of a tech advantage in being able to shrink down storage at that point in tech history)

I posted some pics and info in this thread:

http://cdinteractive.co.uk/3do/forum/viewtopic.php.......

Awesome, thanks. Alot of unused silicon in the design.