Happiest 3Do memory?

All general 3DO chat here please.

Moderators: 3DO Experience, Devin, Bas, 3DOKid

User avatar
3DOKid
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:21 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
Contact:

Happiest 3Do memory?

Post by 3DOKid » Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:49 pm

walking 7 miles to buy a second second-hand copy of Novastorm. in the freezing cold, with an over-enthusiastic buddy,

User avatar
Trev
3DO ZONE MOD
Posts: 4036
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:19 pm
Location: States
Contact:

Post by Trev » Sun Mar 22, 2009 1:33 am

Does finding this forum count? :wink:

User avatar
Lemmi
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 1189
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 11:10 pm
Location: Mich

Post by Lemmi » Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:16 am

waiting for work to be over so i could get back to playing Road Rash for weeks on end
Ex-3DO collector extraordinaire , but i still have my collection
Villagephotos is dead, need to find my old pics and find another host

User avatar
3DOKid
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:21 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
Contact:

Post by 3DOKid » Sun Mar 22, 2009 2:36 am

Trev wrote:Does finding this forum count? :wink:
It does indeed - and get's you an extra big sloppy... (DEPUTY! COME AND DEAL WITH THIS :) )

User avatar
Trev
3DO ZONE MOD
Posts: 4036
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:19 pm
Location: States
Contact:

Post by Trev » Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:42 am

:lol:

User avatar
mattyg
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 890
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:23 am
Location: Australia

Post by mattyg » Sun Mar 22, 2009 3:52 am

Finding out that there was a store that sold 3DO games 5 hours away , "borrowing" a friend's car without his knowledge , going on road trip with a couple of my 3DO convert friends , then not making our destination because we blew the motor , and all my money meant for games went on repairs/towing.
...................oh hang on you said happy memories!

Well it is funny now but wasn't back then !
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

Harmonic Bond
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:25 am

Post by Harmonic Bond » Sun Mar 22, 2009 8:25 am

I dunno, I don't have have a favorite memory, per se. I'm just really grateful that I got to be a part of something not completely mainstream, like the SNES or PSX following. It was a little absurd that I had a $400 machine (I waited a year) as a 13 year old kid, but it allowed me some choice games with friends. Most notably in the form of Road Rash and Return Fire.

As odd as the 3DO was at the time, it was REALLY rare and odd in rural Alabama (where I grew up). In the early going, everything I got for it was either through the mail or on a rare trip to Birmingham. Everything I knew about it came through the magazines at the time. As much as people bash the system now, people sure thought it was the next coming back then. I think Time, or some other comparable publication, called it "the best innovation of 1993" (or something of that ilk).

In the later days (I speak as if it coursed years, although the time between my SNES and PSX was less than two years), the local Wal-Mart began to carry 3DO titles. Instead of begging my parents to take me there, I took up to hoofing it with my friends to get titles like Bladeforce and Battlesport. These trips would often take whole Saturdays, where we would stop in the woods to drink beers sold to us from our older brothers (at a ridiculously inflated prices) or to smoke a joint. Of course, I don't condone such things now, but I'm a firm believer in sowing your oats; and the 3DO was a major element of sowing my oats!

The 3DO was basically the beginning of the end for me in terms of videogames. Ultimately, I sold my original FZ-1 to fund a PSX (I rebought a FZ-10 in '99). I LOVED the PSX and, to a lesser extent, the N64, but it still wasn't the same. I bought a Dreamcast, and there were a couple of bright spots (mainly Jet Grind Radio and Resident Evil: Code Veronica). I bought an Xbox, but it went over with a dull thud. I remember enjoying the new Ninja Gaiden, but that's about it. I haven't even thought about investing in one of the new systems. In the meantime, my academics dramatically improved (in all likelihood, due to me not spending so much time in front of a game console). I finished up my PhD in chemical engineering this past December, which is in stark contrast to my pot smoking days when I was scoping out for the next best 3DO title.

So yeah, I guess my favorite memory is being associated with a darkhorse, which could legitimately make waves in the industry. It's really hard to do that now, with Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo having such a firm grip. It's really something that could only happen pre-PSOne, and I am really happy to have been a small part of it.

User avatar
3DOKid
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:21 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
Contact:

Post by 3DOKid » Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:45 am

mattyg wrote:Finding out that there was a store that sold 3DO games 5 hours away , "borrowing" a friend's car without his knowledge , going on road trip with a couple of my 3DO convert friends , then not making our destination because we blew the motor , and all my money meant for games went on repairs/towing.
...................oh hang on you said happy memories!

Well it is funny now but wasn't back then !
5 hours away by car...? amazing. gets me every-time. 5 hours to me, would mean that the shop was in Wales or indeed Scotland. I wouldn't even contemplate driving 5 hours to get a game. Although when the 3DO came out in Britain I was working in a chemical factory screwing lids on to plastic bottles and couldn't afford a car - or lessons. :)

That said, when I lived in the West Midlands, me and mate did drive to Barry Island in Wales to play Ridge Racer - where I was sexually abused by a Welsh girl. (she touched my bottom) :oops:

User avatar
3DO Experience
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 3686
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:47 am
Location: U.S.A.

Post by 3DO Experience » Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:58 pm

3DOKid wrote:
Trev wrote:Does finding this forum count? :wink:
It does indeed - and get's you an extra big sloppy... (DEPUTY! COME AND DEAL WITH THIS :) )
Image

I think my happiest moment was actually the very first time I saw HELL playing on it. A friend had it for his Goldstar, which I didn't have at the time, and all the FMV blew me away. Nowadays I see all the flaws I didn't before but it was sooooo awesome. I actually ended up getting the PC version first, but only after he had loaned me the novel. You should read it if you haven't.
"Wait. You don't have a bag of charcoal in your gaming room???"

User avatar
Trev
3DO ZONE MOD
Posts: 4036
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:19 pm
Location: States
Contact:

Post by Trev » Sun Mar 22, 2009 5:13 pm

:oops: You made me blush deputy :wink:

User avatar
3DO Experience
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 3686
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:47 am
Location: U.S.A.

Post by 3DO Experience » Sun Mar 22, 2009 6:04 pm

Just don't tell your wife. :wink:
"Wait. You don't have a bag of charcoal in your gaming room???"

User avatar
BryWI
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 1334
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 8:16 pm
Location: Kenosha, WI, USA
Contact:

Post by BryWI » Sun Mar 22, 2009 7:36 pm

I remember way back in the day a friend of mine had 3do. I think he sold a bunch of stuff to get one used. I remember we were playing killing time in the dark hooked up to nice speakers. We would literaly get scared when something jumped out of nowhere because of how loud the speakers were. good times.

User avatar
mattyg
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 890
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:23 am
Location: Australia

Post by mattyg » Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:24 pm

5 hours away by car...? amazing. gets me every-time
We forget its a big deal to outsiders too!

Our country is physically the size of the states but with less than one tenth of the population - around 75% of which cling to the eastern seaboard between Brisbane and Melbourne. Practically no one lives inland (I did during the 3DO era :cry: ) but am still amazed that in this small town pop 15000 there were 3 of us 3DO owners who all got our machines independant of each other and found out afterwards. There was one FZ-1 , one FZ-10 and one Goldstar! - remember it was never actually released here
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

User avatar
3DOKid
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:21 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
Contact:

Post by 3DOKid » Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:07 am

Wow.

How was the 3DO viewed?

Games consoles that don't get officially released in other regions tend to take a mystic quality. PC Engine springs to mind.

3DO was popular in SOuth America too, where it wasn't released either and indeed, Russia.

User avatar
mattyg
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 890
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:23 am
Location: Australia

Post by mattyg » Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:22 am

Games consoles that don't get officially released in other regions tend to take a mystic quality. PC Engine springs to mind.
You're right
many of the console releases of the time were not available here - Jag64 , Neo Geo , PC Engine , CDi , and the 3DO. To those who were into gaming at the time to own even one of them is/was considered hardcore. The couple of independant shops that could arrange imports defined these as hardcore machines and were indeed revered as such. Many of the store owners & staff had a high opinion of the 3DO and regarded its criticisms as illinformed mumbo jumbo. I found out about 3DO by accident , I picked up a copy of 3DO magazine thinking it was the CD32 magazine (CD32's were readily available and enjoyed local release). The rest is history
As a footnote Sega was more popular here than Nintendo and as a result Mega CD and 32X were easily attainable in general retail outlets
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

User avatar
3DOKid
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:21 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
Contact:

Post by 3DOKid » Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:33 am

Were the stockists good, or were the pickings meagre in the game department?

User avatar
mattyg
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 890
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:23 am
Location: Australia

Post by mattyg » Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:47 am

Hardwarewise was okay but gameswise they tended to stock a small amount of A titles then you were pretty much on your own (hence the 5 hour drive!)
Most of my games came via UK mail order company Special Reserve who were pretty reliable - even the CD32 with official stock channels was difficult to get games for
swap meets were few and far between and the internet was in its infancy and was unsafe for transactions
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

tinman
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 79
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:03 pm

Post by tinman » Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:22 am

I don't know where you got your games mattyg, but in Western Australia, Hi Tech World had a fairly good range of games in the mid 90's, or so I thought.
There was also a video/games rental shop, which also sold games. I remember going in there to buy one or two cheap to moderately priced games and ended up coming out of the shop with about seven to eight games. The guy behind the counter, must have known the end was near (as far as he was concerned) for the 3do and he told me if there was any of the rental games I was interested in buying then they would be available at some cheap price (can't quite remember what they were each, $10-20 Australian dollars?) :lol: . Most of them are in storage now but I remember I did pick up the tragic PDWT-powerpoint extravaganza. :oops:
I think one of the last games I bought from Hi-Tech World was Flying Nightmares. I actually paid $110 Australian dollars for it. :shock: Could probably get it off the auction site for about $30 now. Actually I still haven't played that game yet :roll:
Hi Tech World died years ago, I think the victim of people buying pirated games...and quite possibly their sometimes high prices.

User avatar
mattyg
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 890
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:23 am
Location: Australia

Post by mattyg » Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:30 am

I heard at the time games were easier to come by in WA and Queensland than they were in NSW! Unfortunately for me I was at the end of the line in Western NSW - we were lucky to get television let alone 3DO!
funny you should mention Flying nightmares - I just bought it last night on evilbay for $10 US!
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

tinman
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 79
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:03 pm

Post by tinman » Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:00 am

I got into the 3do right at the end, so I was lucky to pick up some bargins (at the time) but then the panic also set in and I thought I'd better get as many as I can before I never see them again, hence the hefty payment for Flying Nightmares. Of course this was the days before "that" auction site. The only other chance of picking these things up was via Trading Posts, if you were lucky. :lol:
The first 3do I got was from a trading advert in the back of "Hyper" gaming magazine (that magazine still going ain't it?) The 3do was a Goldstar and came with about 4 to 6 games. I think that console lasted about 2-3 years before it crapped itself, as those Goldstars were reknown for. :x
Flying Nightmares for $10 US..so there you go, I was $20 out! :P

User avatar
mattyg
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 890
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:23 am
Location: Australia

Post by mattyg » Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:20 am

NSW and Victoria due to their population bases tended to harbour the larger chain stores whereas the smaller economic states still had more of an independant owner operator/local chain enviroment.
Its the only explanation I have !
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

User avatar
3DOKid
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:21 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
Contact:

Post by 3DOKid » Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:42 am

In the UK we had Calculus stores for all our 3DO needs. Which went bust not too much later. I bought my 3DO on release day (with 200 quid (£) of my sisters money and 200 quid of my own cash) I paid her back in long painful installments.


Special Reserve were awesome - I used obsessively read their catalogue / magazine adverts when I was kid, and they were a lot cheaper than everywhere else. Although I never actually bought more than one item from them as I recall. They went bust last year belly-aching on about competition.

The other store was CEX. (Computer Exchange) They, before the years of neglect, smell and arrogant staff, were a nirvana of gaming. Only special places like London and Birmingham. (I grew up in a field)

Aside from this, WHSmiths (pre-3DO) were a big gaming haunt, as were John Menzies (now gone?) and every town had an Indi - and that was your lot.

Gaming stores in the UK are now ruled by Game and the supermarkets. The supermarkets have lousy stock and only stock what they can sell so the whole set-up to a trained eye is pretty cynical. I mean 40 copies of "Wii Virtualz Petz IV CutesZ KidZ cash-in" and not a lot else and Game sell secondhand games at higher prices than most online retailers sell new games. That said, there is a Ye Olde Gaming store in Cambridge (Game Zone) that sells a lot of import stuff, and lo, it has a box full of posters in the corner which are 50p each. Although I'm banned from even looking on pain of divorce.

User avatar
mattyg
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 890
Joined: Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:23 am
Location: Australia

Post by mattyg » Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:50 am

The niche market here is a battle between Game (UK) and EB (US) the rest are pretty much Toys R Us , Target , KMart and the like . There is only one chain that will look at anything older than an XBOX to deal and they are a growing independant chain called gametraders. I have bought all kinds of stuff from them by mail order recently (even 3DO !) I try to give them what business I can but the big guys are restricting their ability to compete in Vic & NSW and most of their stores are located quite a distance away from me.
"purge with fire Bretheren"

3DO is dead , long live 3DO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K2kuP_anAc

"The greatest games in the world take seconds to learn but months to master. The worst take months to learn and minutes to finish."...MattyG

User avatar
pitsunami
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 342
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2007 10:55 pm
Location: GREECE

Post by pitsunami » Mon Mar 23, 2009 10:45 am

First happy 3do moment was when i gave my mega drive ii in exchange for my 3do fz1!
Second was when i plugged it in and saw starblade....i was instantly in love with it!! :)

User avatar
3DO Experience
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 3686
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:47 am
Location: U.S.A.

Post by 3DO Experience » Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:27 pm

Electronics Boutique (EB) is no more. They were bought up by Game Stop years ago and I think as of last year all the EB stores have converted. No more retro selling except for one generation behind, aka. GameCube, X-BOX, PS2. Plus their prices are doodie as so are their company practices. :x
"Wait. You don't have a bag of charcoal in your gaming room???"

User avatar
Lemmi
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 1189
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 11:10 pm
Location: Mich

Post by Lemmi » Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:48 pm

3DO Experience wrote:Electronics Boutique (EB) is no more. They were bought up by Game Stop years ago and I think as of last year all the EB stores have converted. No more retro selling except for one generation behind, aka. GameCube, X-BOX, PS2. Plus their prices are doodie as so are their company practices. :x
ahh there is another happy moment, hunting down all the EB/Babbages stores to get the buy 2 get one free and buy 1 get one free offers. most games were $1 to $4 each. i would buy the cheap ones and get the more expensive ones for free :D

thats how i got up to 70+ games in 1997 before i hit ebay in 2002
and i cant forget Funcoland (before the evil gamestop bought them too) for mostly loose 3do games

i miss these papers
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f105/ ... papers.jpg
i would look over them all the time
Ex-3DO collector extraordinaire , but i still have my collection
Villagephotos is dead, need to find my old pics and find another host

User avatar
3DOKid
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:21 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
Contact:

Post by 3DOKid » Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:35 pm

Lemmi wrote:
3DO Experience wrote:Electronics Boutique (EB) is no more. They were bought up by Game Stop years ago and I think as of last year all the EB stores have converted. No more retro selling except for one generation behind, aka. GameCube, X-BOX, PS2. Plus their prices are doodie as so are their company practices. :x
ahh there is another happy moment, hunting down all the EB/Babbages stores to get the buy 2 get one free and buy 1 get one free offers. most games were $1 to $4 each. i would buy the cheap ones and get the more expensive ones for free :D

thats how i got up to 70+ games in 1997 before i hit ebay in 2002
and i cant forget Funcoland (before the evil gamestop bought them too) for mostly loose 3do games

i miss these papers
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f105/ ... papers.jpg
i would look over them all the time
There is nothing quite like drooling of catalogues of games for hours. I guess nobody does that anymore.

User avatar
UnholyTancred
3DO ZERO USER
Posts: 437
Joined: Tue Feb 13, 2007 2:49 am
Location: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by UnholyTancred » Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:26 pm

I hate GameStop. New games aren't new. They're opened with stickers all over the place. They charge tax too. Load of crap.
"Democracy for an insignificant minority, democracy for the rich — that is the democracy of capitalist society."
-Vladimir Lenin

User avatar
3DOKid
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 4683
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2007 4:21 pm
Location: Cambridgeshire, UK
Contact:

Post by 3DOKid » Tue Mar 24, 2009 12:08 am

Gamestop sounds like the equivalent of Game in the UK. Why, for the love of all that is holy, game stores don't have a section called "If you really like games then you should have a copy of this" and then stock the 100 games that are actually worth owning on the last 2 gens of machines. But oh no....

User avatar
3DO Experience
3DO ZONE ADMIN
Posts: 3686
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2007 8:47 am
Location: U.S.A.

Post by 3DO Experience » Tue Mar 24, 2009 1:41 am

So that's what happened to Funcoland, all of the sudden all the stores closed at once.
"Wait. You don't have a bag of charcoal in your gaming room???"

Post Reply