Overview
The 3DO was the second of the next generation 32-bit consoles. It is basically a set of technical specifications developed by The 3DO Company (not Panasonic). A novel idea, 3DO didn't actually make any consoles, rather it licensed the specifications out to other corporations to make their own versions. Although it was a technically sound idea it never became a hit, mainly because of its extraordinary introductory price of $699, and the fact that most of the games were subpar. There were exceptions, however, such as an excellent version of Wing Commander and an arcade-perfect port of Capcom's Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

Models
Because of the way that the hardware was licensed, several models of the 3DO was released. They were all pretty much the same (none were faster than any other) with only petty differences like the amount of save game space really separating them. The first was the Panasonic FZ-1, a rather sexy looking model with column-like corners, and a front loading CD-ROM drive. This was followed by the less expensive FZ-10, which looked like a Mega Drive ('Genesis' in the USA) with a top-loading CD drive. The Panasonic models were the most popular, which is the reason why almost everyone thinks the 3DO was a Panasonic product. Versions of the console were also released by Goldstar, Sanyo and Samsung.

Technical Specifications
The system was based around the standard 12.5Mhz ARM60 32-bit RISC (equivilent to a 25Mhz 68030) processor.
It has 2 Mb of DRAM, 1 Mb of VRAM, a doublespeed CD-ROM drive, and built in SRAM to act as a built in memory card. They were truly ahead of their time.
Two Accelerated Video Co-Processors ran at a 25Mhz clock rate. They were capable of producing 9-16 million REAL pixels per second (36-64 Mpix/sec interpolated), distorted, scaled, rotated and texture mapped. Supports transparency, translucency, and color-shading effects.
Custom 16-bit Digital Signal Processor for CD quality sound, and the ability to produce 3D sound effects.

Accessories
The 3DO had the usual assortment of controlling devices, including a flight stick, contoller and light gun. Creative Labs also made a pass-through add on card that allowed you to watch MPEG-1 encoded video cd's on your 3DO, it never took off, I cant see why ;)

The Next Step
The most tragic aspect of the 3DO's failed carreer was the 'M2' accelerator for the console being developed by Panasonic. It would have been a true 64-bit console (none of that Jaguar 64/32bit rubbish), but because the original 3DO didn't take off, development was cancelled. For tech specs, click here.