3DO ZONE Forums

Hi! Just before I start, I want to say that I realise I'm an idiot... just so that you don't tell me what I already know to be true!!!

My brother and I recently bought a Goldstar 3DO from the US. To be honest, we've never imported a games console in our lives and we'd never really considered it, but we saw one while we were on holiday and knowing that it's not region locked, we bought it at about half the price we'd have expected to pay in the UK. We also bought around 20 games, some of them good (although mostly bad, I suspect!). I saw it working in the shop, so I know it was okay when it was there.

When we got back we plugged it in through a converter plug and although we hadn't pushed the 'on' button, it made a horrible buzzing sound and a sort of clicking (I can best describe it as though it sounded like it was melting away inside). We unplugged it straight away, maybe after 2-3 seconds, but it smelt bad and like I said, there was a noise coming from it which didn't sound good. A little research suggests to us that we've fried the poor thing, but I don't know for sure. It seems obvious now, but we use the same plug to power our PSPs (both US) with no problems at all and my brother also uses the same one for his PS Vita, so the idea of using a step down converter wasn't really on the radar.

Anyway, I wondered firstly what your opinions were as to whether or not we'd fried it and if so, if it would be repairable? Like I said, I already know I'm an idiot for not looking into this before plugging in, so only helpful advice required please

Oooooo! That's not good. Were you using a travel converter?

Also, does anyone know if the Goldstar has a fuse like the FZ-1? I'm judging by the sounds it doesn't.

SillyPerson1 wrote:Hi! Just before I start, I want to say that I realise I'm an idiot... just so that you don't tell me what I already know to be true!!!

My brother and I recently bought a Goldstar 3DO from the US. To be honest, we've never imported a games console in our lives and we'd never really considered it, but we saw one while we were on holiday and knowing that it's not region locked, we bought it at about half the price we'd have expected to pay in the UK. We also bought around 20 games, some of them good (although mostly bad, I suspect!). I saw it working in the shop, so I know it was okay when it was there.

When we got back we plugged it in through a converter plug and although we hadn't pushed the 'on' button, it made a horrible buzzing sound and a sort of clicking (I can best describe it as though it sounded like it was melting away inside). We unplugged it straight away, maybe after 2-3 seconds, but it smelt bad and like I said, there was a noise coming from it which didn't sound good. A little research suggests to us that we've fried the poor thing, but I don't know for sure. It seems obvious now, but we use the same plug to power our PSPs (both US) with no problems at all and my brother also uses the same one for his PS Vita, so the idea of using a step down converter wasn't really on the radar.

Anyway, I wondered firstly what your opinions were as to whether or not we'd fried it and if so, if it would be repairable? Like I said, I already know I'm an idiot for not looking into this before plugging in, so only helpful advice required please

SILLYPERSON...

Most likely you have killed the internal PSU in the machine. I don't own a Goldstar unit myself, but if the Panasonic model is anything to go by (probably not, but hey!) the PSU's are changeable. The only problem being, you'd need another 3DO to donate the PSU from. Probably best looking for non-working units, as the most likely culprit will be the laser ribbon with those, not the PSU you'll be wanting.

As for your PSP and Vita's - the difference is that both those use an external PSU which is actually capable of processing voltages from 110v through 240v - thus if you plug it into a US or UK power outlet (or Europe etc) it will work just fine as it converts the input accordingly. So, there's no comparison I'm afraid.

As you've rightly ascertained, you needed to use a step-down I'm afraid.

Couldn't tell you if there is any further damage to your actual 3DO's hardware though (motherboard etc). Perhaps someone else could shed light on that?...

Firstly, thanks for the replies and advice - I didn't even know there was a 3DO forum, so finding this came as a relief at least!

Yep, it was a travel converter. In hindsight it seems so obvious, but at the time we were just very excited about playing it and the thought never occurred to us

I've had a quick look for spare working PSU's but haven't found anything so far. That said, I don't know for sure that we've destroyed it, so I thought it might be worth getting a step-down converter and giving it a try perhaps? We didn't actually turn it on, just plugged it in (perhaps that's enough, I don't know?).

If it is destroyed then I'd be interested to know if anyone on here is any good at repairs at a reasonable price... I don't really want to buy another one, although I realise that might be the only option now. I gather that the Goldstar isn't the best 3DO to have either, but we own two Mega CD/Megadrive combinations, so we have some form when it comes to buying unpopular consoles

I wasn't sure which converter would be best? I guess I couldn't be so lucky that this cheap and cheerful one would do the trick?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mercury-Step- ... 4d11f29226

That would work, 45w max and your 3DO is 30w. I prefer heavy duty ones myself but I do use a little one like this for some things.

Thanks, I bought one and we tested it today... IT'S ALIVE! Operation is very quiet, the disc tray seems quite smooth and load times are fine. Actually I'm quite impressed with it so far... and I'm also very relieved

So far we've only played Dragon's Lair, Soccer Kid, Off-World Interceptor and Quarantine, so it hasn't exactly been gaming heaven, but hopefully there are a few treats out there and I'm particularly looking forward to seeing how Psychic Detective compares to the PS1 version Here's what we've got lined up in our collection so far:

Syndicate
Total Eclipse (I've got this for PS1 as well)
Crime Patrol
Gex
FIFA Soccer
Gridders
Pebble Beach Golf
Waialae Golf
Real Pinball
Shanghai Triple Threat
Shockwave
Shockwave 2
Space Hulk
Space Pirates
Psychic Detective

I was keen on getting Drug Wars and Night Trap, but I didn't have the cash while I was out in the US to get those.

Thanks for all the advice and help anyway, I'm so glad it actually works

Glad it worked out for you!

SillyPerson1 wrote:Thanks, I bought one and we tested it today... IT'S ALIVE! Operation is very quiet, the disc tray seems quite smooth and load times are fine. Actually I'm quite impressed with it so far... and I'm also very relieved

So far we've only played Dragon's Lair, Soccer Kid, Off-World Interceptor and Quarantine, so it hasn't exactly been gaming heaven, but hopefully there are a few treats out there and I'm particularly looking forward to seeing how Psychic Detective compares to the PS1 version Here's what we've got lined up in our collection so far:

Syndicate
Total Eclipse (I've got this for PS1 as well)
Crime Patrol
Gex
FIFA Soccer
Gridders
Pebble Beach Golf
Waialae Golf
Real Pinball
Shanghai Triple Threat
Shockwave
Shockwave 2
Space Hulk
Space Pirates
Psychic Detective

I was keen on getting Drug Wars and Night Trap, but I didn't have the cash while I was out in the US to get those.

Thanks for all the advice and help anyway, I'm so glad it actually works

Glad to hear that you didn't kill your 3DO after all!

Thats a pretty big selection of titles you have btw. Not bad, but there are plenty of good titles you're yet to get really.

Shockwave 1 & 2, Total Eclipse & Gex are the standout titles there imo

NeoGeoNinja wrote:

SillyPerson1 wrote:Thanks, I bought one and we tested it today... IT'S ALIVE! Operation is very quiet, the disc tray seems quite smooth and load times are fine. Actually I'm quite impressed with it so far... and I'm also very relieved

So far we've only played Dragon's Lair, Soccer Kid, Off-World Interceptor and Quarantine, so it hasn't exactly been gaming heaven, but hopefully there are a few treats out there and I'm particularly looking forward to seeing how Psychic Detective compares to the PS1 version Here's what we've got lined up in our collection so far:

Syndicate
Total Eclipse (I've got this for PS1 as well)
Crime Patrol
Gex
FIFA Soccer
Gridders
Pebble Beach Golf
Waialae Golf
Real Pinball
Shanghai Triple Threat
Shockwave
Shockwave 2
Space Hulk
Space Pirates
Psychic Detective

I was keen on getting Drug Wars and Night Trap, but I didn't have the cash while I was out in the US to get those.

Thanks for all the advice and help anyway, I'm so glad it actually works

Glad to hear that you didn't kill your 3DO after all!

Thats a pretty big selection of titles you have btw. Not bad, but there are plenty of good titles you're yet to get really.

Shockwave 1 & 2, Total Eclipse & Gex are the standout titles there imo

My votes would be for Gex and Psychic Detective. Shanghai Triple Threat's a pretty good pick too, a nice relaxing bit of gaming to take a break between the likes of Total Eclipse and Space Hulk. Do you have a 3DO mouse to play it with?

My votes would be for Gex and Psychic Detective. Shanghai Triple Threat's a pretty good pick too, a nice relaxing bit of gaming to take a break between the likes of Total Eclipse and Space Hulk. Do you have a 3DO mouse to play it with?

Sadly no mouse, although they had one at the store I believe (along with a few lightguns and pretty much every other retro item I ever wanted). I was a little disappointed with Psychic Detective when we tried it, as I'd hoped video would be full screen (the PS1 allows this, although it's not very clear). Total Eclipse I have for PS1, but I'd be interested to see what it's like. I think most of the games in that list I bought for $1-$3 as they didn't have cases, but the store did skim all the discs, which was nice of them

Even without a light gun, I absolutely loved Crime Patrol! I'm sad now that I didn't fork out for Drug Wars while I had the chance. Space Pirates also made me chuckle. I really do enjoy the old FMV games... probably more than I should

SillyPerson1 wrote:

My votes would be for Gex and Psychic Detective. Shanghai Triple Threat's a pretty good pick too, a nice relaxing bit of gaming to take a break between the likes of Total Eclipse and Space Hulk. Do you have a 3DO mouse to play it with?

Sadly no mouse, although they had one at the store I believe (along with a few lightguns and pretty much every other retro item I ever wanted). I was a little disappointed with Psychic Detective when we tried it, as I'd hoped video would be full screen (the PS1 allows this, although it's not very clear). Total Eclipse I have for PS1, but I'd be interested to see what it's like. I think most of the games in that list I bought for $1-$3 as they didn't have cases, but the store did skim all the discs, which was nice of them

Don't worry too much about leaving the mouse behind. It's only used in a few games, which is why I myself decided against seeking one out. I was just curious if you happened to have one, since Shanghai Triple Threat is one of the few that supports it. Space Pirates does too, but I'd imagine it's not as good that way as with the light gun or standard controller.

PS1 Psychic Detective is all full screen? Huh. I'd think that would be a bit confusing, since your options circles would then overlap the video. (Disc space was probably also a consideration in making the FMV for the interactive portions of the game partial screen.)

$1-3 per game is a very nice deal! With a few exceptions, I actually prefer my 3DO games without longboxes, since they take up so much extra space.

Martin III wrote:With a few exceptions, I actually prefer my 3DO games without longboxes, since they take up so much extra space.

Same.

Although we didn't get long boxes over here in PAL land, a few of the US titles I own, have them; namely the Digital Pictures releases of Demolition Man & Supreme Warrior.

I also own the US Super SFIITurbo long box just for that awesome box art/cover:

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Oh yes...

PS1 Psychic Detective is all full screen? Huh. I'd think that would be a bit confusing, since your options circles would then overlap the video. (Disc space was probably also a consideration in making the FMV for the interactive portions of the game partial screen.)

You can still view it in a smaller screen, but you get about an extra inch of video each way. When it's expanded to full screen it's not too confusing, but the quality does suffer a fair bit, so I tend to keep it in the small screen mode.

The stepdown converter broke... apparently we used it for too long! So assuming that this hasn't damaged the 3DO (again), I need one of the bigger units to run it on. Please could someone advise if either of these would be any good?

http://www.maplin.co.uk/300w-uk-to-usa- ... ter-265288

http://www.maplin.co.uk/usa-uk-stepup-300va-265307

Thanks!
Sam

Your first link will definitely do it for you. You don't need it to go up to 300 watts but it wouldn't be bad to have around in case you need it for something else.

Thanks, that worked a treat. It's great to be able to play it again