3DO ZONE Forums

I know / have talked to a ton of you from the boards, but I have yet to stumble across anyone in Chicago with any affection for the 3DO. Am I the only one in the Windy City?

I'm close to chicago, and I work in chicago a few days a month. But I'm down in STL.

sneth wrote:But I'm down in STL.

Sexually Transmitted Lymphoma...?

NeoGeoNinja wrote:

sneth wrote:But I'm down in STL.

Sexually Transmitted Lymphoma...?

So THAT'S how you get lymphoma...always wondered

Whatever STL is...I don't think I am into it haha

As relatively popular as the 3DO was compared to say, the Jaguar you would figure there would be more aciton on this forum.

I'm between an hour or two north of Chicago.

a31chris wrote:As relatively popular as the 3DO was compared to say, the Jaguar you would figure there would be more aciton on this forum.

We have ups and downs. Part of the lull in action at times stems from the fact that we don't have too many trolls & flame wars. 3DOKid & 3DOExp can sniff em out a mile away.

I grew up in the Chicago area, specifically Wheaton. If that counts. Lived there from 1976 (8 years old) until 1989 (21 years old). Lived in many places since, but have been in Texas now since 2004.

My sister lived in Chicago for a while. I doubt she'd know what I was talking about if I mentioned the 3DO, though.

A little late to the party, but yeah -- I moved to Chicago in the fall. I'm in Hyde Park. How about you?

a31chris wrote:As relatively popular as the 3DO was compared to say, the Jaguar you would figure there would be more aciton on this forum.

Back in the day, the 3DO was better known because they had better marketing and distribution than the Jaguar, but in actuality I don't think there were a ton more actual sales of the unit compared to the Jaguar, mainly due to the high price. It just got a ton more developers and hence more game releases. And since there was no core fan base like Atari had/has, it just hasn't drawn a good long-time retro following like the Jaguar. I still think of it as a complimentary system to my Jaguar myself (sorry 3DO fans-it's still my second favorite console of all-time, even though I bought it to compliment my Jag's small library).

As far as console history is concerned, the 3DO company was just a "fly-by-night" console company since the 3DO was the first and last console. Atari, Nintendo, Sega, Sony, etc. have all been around for years with multiple consoles and built core audiences to stick with them in a retro-perspective.

Gunstar wrote:Back in the day, the 3DO was better known because they had better marketing and distribution than the Jaguar, but in actuality I don't think there were a ton more actual sales of the unit compared to the Jaguar, mainly due to the high price.

Erm. Jaguar sold HALF of it's 250,000 units produced in its commercial lifetime.

3DO nearly sold 15x as much in it's commercial lifespan (around 2 Million).

Regardless of the Jag's (reasonably thriving) homebrew scene now and Atari's rich history throughout the 80's the Jag and 3DO... aren't actually all that comparable when discussing success and sales...

NeoGeoNinja wrote:

Gunstar wrote:Back in the day, the 3DO was better known because they had better marketing and distribution than the Jaguar, but in actuality I don't think there were a ton more actual sales of the unit compared to the Jaguar, mainly due to the high price.

Erm. Jaguar sold HALF of it's 250,000 units produced in its commercial lifetime.

3DO nearly sold 15x as much in it's commercial lifespan (around 2 Million).

Regardless of the Jag's (reasonably thriving) homebrew scene now and Atari's rich history throughout the 80's the Jag and 3DO... aren't actually all that comparable when discussing success and sales...

I heard on another site that the 3DO sold roughly 5 million world wide throughout its entire lifespan. Which is true?

And yeah, the Jag didn't sell anywhere near what the 3DO sold. The Jaguar wasn't competition at all except for the very, very beginning.

FZ-10 wrote:

NeoGeoNinja wrote:

Gunstar wrote:Back in the day, the 3DO was better known because they had better marketing and distribution than the Jaguar, but in actuality I don't think there were a ton more actual sales of the unit compared to the Jaguar, mainly due to the high price.

Erm. Jaguar sold HALF of it's 250,000 units produced in its commercial lifetime.

3DO nearly sold 15x as much in it's commercial lifespan (around 2 Million).

Regardless of the Jag's (reasonably thriving) homebrew scene now and Atari's rich history throughout the 80's the Jag and 3DO... aren't actually all that comparable when discussing success and sales...

I heard on another site that the 3DO sold roughly 5 million world wide throughout its entire lifespan. Which is true?

Couldn't say for sure, but I think the 2 million figure is much more credible. For instance, consider the fact that the Saturn sold about 9.5 million units worldwide. If you take into account that the Saturn's market availability lasted longer than the 3DO's, especially in Japan, and the Saturn being far more popular in Japan than elsewhere versus the 3DO being most popular in the USA, then 5 million units would mean the 3DO was selling in numbers comparable to the Saturn in the USA. Not like the Saturn was a hit here, but I think it can be readily agreed that the 3DO did not sell that well.

I moved to the Chicago area last Sept. I live about 45 minutes south.

Martin III wrote: Couldn't say for sure, but I think the 2 million figure is much more credible. For instance, consider the fact that the Saturn sold about 9.5 million units worldwide. If you take into account that the Saturn's market availability lasted longer than the 3DO's, especially in Japan, and the Saturn being far more popular in Japan than elsewhere versus the 3DO being most popular in the USA, then 5 million units would mean the 3DO was selling in numbers comparable to the Saturn in the USA. Not like the Saturn was a hit here, but I think it can be readily agreed that the 3DO did not sell that well.

I have to go with this figure too. I still don't understand why they pulled the plug right when the 3DO seemed to really be beginning to build steam. If they hadn't and allowed the system to continue a little further, it's possible it could have reached 3 million, but Matsushita (Panasonic) was in a hurry to pull the plug to get the M2 that never released, of course, out the door to the public. In the end, it was a sad situation, honestly. Once they packed the system with GEX, it really was making a difference in sales, especially since many of the key titles everyone wanted had started to come down in price too.

cdoty wrote:I moved to the Chicago area last Sept. I live about 45 minutes south.

What city? We should totally hang out and do some 3DO hacking/coding!

I'm from Chicago. I was born and lived in Lincoln Park until I was 5 when my folks moved us to suburban Glenview.

Lived in Cook County and Lake County Illinois my entire life.

Got my FZ-1 for $399 right around the time Super Street Fighter II Turbo was released in NA. I think I got mine very in early 1995, was living in Grayslake at the time. Spent countless hours play SSF2T (the music was beyond amazing) and soon after, Need For Speed and, of course, Return Fire. Also enjoyed playing Panzer General. Those last two games I bought because, respectively, they reminded me of all the fun I had with Herzog Zwei on Genesis and Military Madness on TurboGrafx-16 in the early days of the 16-bit revolution.