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[Barkley's Justice]

Did anyone have this?

It was a PC upgrade kit from Creative Labs (makers of the Sound Blaster audio cards) that would upgrade your PC to a fully functional 3DO. It came with a 3DO logic board that plugged into your PC's available ISA slot, and a 3DO controller. If you did not have a CD-ROM kit, there was an additional "upgrade" bundle you could purchase with the CD-ROM drive, the 3DO board and the controller.

I remember seeing it heavily discounted in CompUSA years ago and I regret not picking it up, just to satisfy the collector in me.

Surprisingly, there are very few YouTube videos about the kit. I managed to find this one below with the system running on a PC, but no videos of people discussing the hardware:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2CzI3qoci8

I always found it a fascinating part of the 3DO legacy. Although a commercial failure, 3DO really reached for the stars in its vision. That you could leverage your existing PC hardware and essentially "bolt on" 3DO technology still feels futuristic. And I can't help but wonder what lessons could be learned from it if future console makers take a more "open" approach to hardware.

 

[kick51]

whoa! Never knew that existed. and apparently it was $400 on launch in the USA. I guess $400 back then was a lot more money than it is today, but still cheaper than I expected.

 

[kitsuneyo]

Could that card work in a modern PC?

 

[SolsticeZero]

Could that card work in a modern PC?

No modern PCs have isa slots

Isa is pre PCI

 

[dark10x]

Yeah, it was fascinating. That window appears quite small. I wonder if it could support real 320x240 output? 3do hardware itself interlaces everything at 480i despite operating internally at 240p. The result is image quality much worse than its peers.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

This is something I always wanted console makers to do.

 

[KojiKnight]

No modern PCs have isa slots

Isa is pre PCI

I had several computers up until 2000 or so that had ISA and PCI slots (and AGP of course)... but yeah, ISA is long dead at this point.

 

[Uncle Rupee]

Neat, but relying on specific hardware in a PC is a surefire path to obscurity. Emulators make much more sense in the long run to preserve games. Obviously we know from its mobile stance that Nintendo would be against selling its virtual consoles to PC gamers, but why Sony and Microsoft haven't opened stores allowing you to download PS1, PS2, and OG Xbox games on first-party built emulators is unclear, and does seem like a missed opportunity.

 

[andrerobot]

I had several computers up until 2000 or so that had ISA and PCI slots (and AGP of course)... but yeah, ISA is long dead at this point.

AGP!! I forgot that thing existed. 10 years ago they were pretty common.

 

[7DollarHagane]

This is amazing. Imagine if Sony made a video card that was basically just a ps4 for $300. It booted the ps4 is and everything. Lol

 

[kitsuneyo]

No modern PCs have isa slots

Isa is pre PCI

I see, thanks.

I remember reading a Trip Hawkins interview in Edge where he really talked up the power of the 3DO, made it out to be a beast. Suppose he would do that. Looking back it seems quite a weak system, especially considering PlayStation came out the following year. Never really wanted one.

 

[mentalward]

There was a similar card that turned your PC into a Sega Saturn. Can't remember if it was one of the early voodoo graphics cards or not.

 

[Ceallach]

No modern PCs have isa slots

Isa is pre PCI

But there are USB to ISA converters.

However this thing was probably made with Windows 3.0 in mind, so good fucking luck with that..,

 

[Barkley's Justice]

I see, thanks.

I remember reading a Trip Hawkins interview in Edge where he really talked up the power of the 3DO, made it out to be a beast. Suppose he would do that. Looking back it seems quite a weak system, especially considering PlayStation came out the following year. Never really wanted one.

3DO was really a vision. And in retrospect, a lot of what it set out to do in the early 90's has come to fruition and/or taking place right now. 3DO was ahead of it's time.

This Wired article from 1993 does a great job highlighting what 3DO set out to do:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.02/3do.html

 

[TheMan]

holy shit this is a blast from the past. think i would rather have owned a 3do, though.

 

[mrklaw]

How about the Amstrad mega PC? A PC with built-in Sega megadrive?

 

[isny]

How about the Amstrad mega PC? A PC with built-in Sega megadrive?

That Lord Sugar...

 

[sixteen-bit]

How about the Amstrad mega PC? A PC with built-in Sega megadrive?

Any relation to the Sega Terra Drive?

 

[s_mirage]

There was a similar card that turned your PC into a Sega Saturn. Can't remember if it was one of the early voodoo graphics cards or not.

Not really. There was the Diamond Edge 3D card, using the Nvidia NV1 chip, that had Saturn control ports. It couldn't play Saturn games though, it was just supported by Saturn ports.

 

[AzBat]

I worked at Creative Tech Support when this came out. Used to do tech support on it. I thought it was cool tech. I think Creative even planned all kinds add-on devices like it that combined a lot more stuff in one device. Pad sucked though & it got terrible sales due to its high price. Plus, it came out before Windows 95 & relied on Win3.1. yuck. It also came out before the onslaught of 3D accelerators. Little late to the party & too expensive.

 

[Hasney]

Any relation to the Sega Terra Drive?

It was basically the UK version of it, although IIRC, it was a lot more gimped.

 

[kitsuneyo]

3DO was really a vision. And in retrospect, a lot of what it set out to do in the early 90's has come to fruition and/or taking place right now. 3DO was ahead of it's time.

This Wired article from 1993 does a great job highlighting what 3DO set out to do:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.02/3do.html

The main thing I remember about the vision was that a single platform would be best for everyone, and 3DO was gonna be that platform because anyone could license and manufacture it. That hasn't really happened.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

The main thing I remember about the vision was that a single platform would be best for everyone, and 3DO was gonna be that platform because anyone could license and manufacture it. That hasn't really happened.

Well, it sort of has. It was just called Xbox 360 and PS3. All the things the 3DO promised ("Listen to a CD on your device! Watch movies! Play games with friends across the country! Connect the 3D headset -- well, thats XB1/PS4, I suppose...Search a digital library for information! Do all of these things on a single device connected to your TV!") coalesced relatively recently in the last generation of consoles. That was always the 3DO vision. And you are right, the hardware licensing model was a means to get us there.

Arguably, all of these connected multimedia things were done on the PC a long time ago. But that "fight for the living room" wages on, even coming full circle with Steam Machines entering the ring. And the 3DO was the first one to go for it in a big way. Before Sony, before Microsoft and WebTV.

 

[s_mirage]

The main thing I remember about the vision was that a single platform would be best for everyone, and 3DO was gonna be that platform because anyone could license and manufacture it. That hasn't really happened.

As the 3DO proved, that kind of business model is incredibly difficult to pull off in the console market. Why would companies license anything when they would either make next to no money off system sales, or make a system that is overpriced compared to the competition?

 

[Monado Blade]

I remember seeing this in my local stores at the time (late 90s I think). I never saw it in action though and it was incredibly expensive.

Still pretty mind-blowing though that you could install an upgrade card into your PC and it turns into a console. Imagine if you could have installed an N64 upgrade card to upgrade your PC into a Nintendo 64.