Grand Slam 3/Grand Slam 3.iso/017/inet4_5.arj/IRC411.TXT

Text File | 1995-05-07 | 19KB | 432 lines

Subject: Transcript of 4/11 IRC Conference (LONG POST)
Date: 12 Apr 1995 05:10:55 GMT



The Guru Fanzine IRC Conference #5
With Greg Richardson of the 3DO Company
4/11/95

NOTE: This transcript is available on the Web at the Intelligent Gamer
Online Web,  http://igonline.escape.com


<greg3DO> I am prepared to spill my guts and give away as much
information as I can on upcoming titles. Go ahead and fire away!

<Kraig> OK id like to start right away with a few of my own and be
selfish

<Kraig> First of all, clearly the 3DO wil have to have alot of arcade
titles to compete with the hordes of incoming game systems. Is 3DO
actively pursuing any big name titles at this moment so that 3doers can
feel safe about their system?

<greg3DO> Absolutely, if you can be patient for a bit longer, I think
you will be MORE than pleasantly surprised

<Kraig> Do you mean as in E3, greg?

<greg3DO> Perhaps sooner, Press announcements need to be timed for
maximum coverage

<Kraig> ok lets go to blazphemy.  go ahead jer

<BlaZZ_> Heheh... Good evening Greg, sorry for the technical
difficulties.

<BlaZZ_> Greg, my questions are mostly about the near future of 3DO..

<BlaZZ_> First, I've been told by developers that some 3DO people were
carting M2 around recently and showing off some demo software, among
the games a Virtua Fighter game with "spectacular" polygon graphics..
is there a name on the title or anything else you can tell us about
it..?

<greg3DO> We have been very busy these past weeks disclosing M2 info to
key developers.  As a part of that presentation we have shown some
extremely nifty demos one of which your source is referring to.  I
cannot yet talk to title specifics on M2, but let me assure you that m2
will have an unprecedented amount of software support at launch.

<BlaZZ_> Source(s), Greg =))

<greg3DO> The absolute best developers in the world will be pushing the
M2 technology far beyond what any of us have seen

<BlaZZ_> My second question for you is about the status of Doom and
Doom 2 - when will we see them and what will they look like?

<greg3DO> You can expect to see Doom this summer with Doom II following
later in the year. As to what they will look like, I have yet to see
either title, but I do know the developers very well, Art Data has some
of the very best 3DO  programmers to be found working on the titles.  I
expect great things

<BlaZZ_> And final question Greg, please give us a rough estimate on
the number of software titles and developers we will see at the launch
of M2, and when that date might be.

<greg3DO> We will target at least a dozen titles to be ready, day one
for M2.  M2 is scheduled to be a 1995 product beyond that I can't give
any more detail

<BlaZZ_> Thanks Greg - looking forward to seeing 3DO at E3.

<SuperPac> Hi Greg...How do you think 3do is faring now in the
industry,
 setting up for the Fall when the competition will get much bigger?
Going into the fall, what do you think is important for 3do to maintain
a position, and why sould consumers stick with 3do?

<greg3DO> I think we are in a great position, having easily passed the
half
 million installed base milestone in 1994, we are in great shape to
have a superb1995.  Momentum is the name of the game and we have it.
Great titles, ever expanding distribution with WalMart and Toys R'Us,
look for a big marketing push from us, and then to top it off, M2.  We
are in heaven. Remember that the competitionwill have to spend lots of
$'s to catch up to our market recognition, retaildistribution, and
software catalog. In the next 5 months, expect to see us continue to
solidify our position as the market leader in next generation CD
systems.

<offmax> While we get netsplits and lags, tell us some of the best 3DO
games coming.

<greg3DO> Gex leaves off in terms of a great character, and the non
stop action  in this fast moving parallax world, they also have
Battlesport an arena combat game that will make people forget about
CyberSled in a hurry. Both of those titles will be exclusive to 3DO.
Currently, 3DO is tracking 175 titles in development from all over the
world.  If history is any kind of a barometer, there are probably
anotherdozen or so that we do not know of.  Sports, action, and
adventure will all be categories where the selection will go beyond
what most of us can probably afford. hehe

<greg3DO> The controller?  Not exactly a work of art is it?
Unfortunately, 3DO  was Panasonic's first foray into video games, they
have heard the feedback and are working not only to improve the
controller but also to make sure that M2 has none of its problems

<Kraig> Greg, what are the confirmed releases for 3DO games in may

<greg3DO> Killing Time is scheduled to release in June, BladeForce will
follow in late July/early august There is no such thing as a
"confirmed" release in this business.  May does shape up to be a great
month however

<greg3DO> May will hopefully see the release of Slam N'Jam from
Crystal, Space  Ace, Kingdom from Interplay, Panzer General from SSI
Hell from Gametek, Creature Shock from Virgin, and Lost Eden from
Virgin/Cryo

<erinfritz> Why is Acclaim being so snobby to 3DO especially with the
ads for  MK II on every platform but 3DO (even PC CD ROM.) I have heard
rumour of getting Alien trilogy.  Is this true? And why won't Capcom do
the Darkstalkers port?

<greg3DO> I'm not sure that Capcom isn't or won't do DarkStalkers for
3DO.
 They tend to play their title releases very close to the vest. Acclaim
is a
different story.  With EA such a strong supporter of 3DO, I think
Acclaim went looking for more open pastures. Acclaim still believes
very strongly in the 16-bit marketplace and has been slow to transition
to the next generation machines  However, don't count them out.
Acclaim now realizes how well EA and  others have done on 3DO.  Outside
of the Williams/Bally properties, which Acclaim titles would you like
to
see.

<erinfritz> Alien Trilogy?

<greg3DO> Alien Trilogy is I believe a title that Acclaim is developing
to
 utilize their proprietary motion capture technology, hopefully we will
see it  on 3DO

<Nater> The M2's 700,000 tmapped polygons/second capability has been
tossed around a lot on the net.  Most people I have chatted with remain
skeptical.  Can you expound on this figure?  Are these independent
polys or triangle strips?  How many lights?  How many pixels do these
polys cover?  How many bits are the textures?  (I apologize if these
seem like obvious questions, but these are all points that graphics
workstation vendors have traditionally tried to sneak by consumers to
inflate their performance numbers.

<greg3DO> I can't speak to the official specs about M2 here, but I can
tell you  that developers are telling us that they believe M2 to be at
least 7x the playstation in overall performance

<Kraig> wow

<greg3DO> Also, remember that pure computing power isn't the only
benchmark for a home entertainment console.  The quality of the
graphics is at least as important, and in this area M2 will be light
years beyond all of the next generation systems (3DO, Saturn, PS-X) I
don't want to overhype M2 before you all have a chance to see it for
yourself, but I can tell you that developers that have seen it
areabsolutely blown away.  First, the U64 is a carttridge machine, and
I fundamentally believe that makes an M2/U64 comparison an apples and
oranges one, however, we know much less about U64 than we do about the
others so it's harder to compare, I will tell you that one arcade
developer who knows both systems has said that M2 is easily 2-4x the
U64

<Renob> Hey Greg...  Back to Doom real quick - as I'm sure you know
there has been some rumors floating around on Usenet about the original
programmers at Art  barely even been started yet.  Is this true?  Also,
as many users have stated, Doom and Doom II will be practically
worthless without modem support. Does anyone have a modem in the works
for 3DO yet?

<greg3DO> I can't speak to Art Data's personnel issues, however as I
said
 earlier, the programmers working on DOOM are second to none and will
produce a very high quality 3DO version

<greg3DO> Some other titles I have just recently seen that I think will
be of interest are, EA's NHL Hockey and their Foes of Ali boxing title.
 These will be must haves.

<greg3DO> Modem?  As you may have noticed a slew of 3DO peripherals are
now showing up, among them enhanced controllers, etc.  Peripherals
aren't my area so I don't know all the details, but a modem may be in
the works from a 3rd  party manufacturer

<Milton> Hello.  I was wondering if there are any plans to allowcurrent
3DO users the ability to upgrade their systems with items such as a
faster CD-ROM drive, more RAM, etc.

<greg3DO> There are no plans that I know of to allow 3DO users to
upgrade their systems memory or CD drive

<greg3DO> Some other hot titles headed our way this year include:
Policenauts from Konami, Slayer II from SSI, Magic Carpet,  Pyramid
Intruder from Taito, and Cyberia from Interplay.

<Carl> Hi!!! Do you know if/when a mouse for the 3DO will arrive?  It
would be much appreciated by my 4 year old :)

<greg3DO> A mouse will be available soon from Panasonic.  I don't know
the  exact release date however

<Cyclops> Hello Greg.  :)  Thanks for being here tonight.  I have two
 questions:  As an Amiga programmer, I was just wondering how similar
3DO's OS  and the Amiga's OS are internally.  Also, is the voiceband
modem a sure thing  or is it just on paper now? Thanks.

<greg3DO> With regard to similarities between the Amiga and the 3DO OS,
given that they are both multi-tasking and were developed by many of
the same people, there probably are a fair number of similarities, I do
not know the Amiga's system software well enough to give you a detailed
answer

<greg3DO> I have heard discussions surrounding a voiceband modem but I
 personally do not know of any plans to bring one out

<Galford> Hi Greg! I've got some questions about the M2. It seems like
every next generation system will have a spectacular racer ready to
ship along with their debut in the US. Do you know of any racing games
in development for the M2? And also, roughly, how many M2 titles are
being worked on? One more thing, will the actual M2 system and software
be on display at E3 or just demos?

<greg3DO> Yes, it does seem that racing titles are a launch staple
these days.  M2 will have multiple racing games available upon its
release or shortly thereafter   As to E3, I can't give away any details
about our display or possible demos, competitive reasons, you
understand, but yes M2 titles are currently being worked on

<num_six> okay, 1) In the 3do sampler there's an ad for Red Baron, what
 happened to that?  and secondly, are there going to be movies for the
MPEG for the 3DO?

<greg3DO> Yes, there are already hundreds of films available in the
Video CD  format, Goldstar will bundle "Total Recall" with their MPEG
adaptor

<num_six> But it won't be compatible with the CD-i format, and what
about Red Baron?

<greg3DO> As for Red Baron, unfortunately the project got cancelled.
Many of the best laid plans from developers don't reach the light of
day due to
 personnel turnover, financial considerations, etc. Yes,all of the
video cd
movies that play on CD-I will also work on  3DO.

<erinfritz> three questions:   one:  You mention the other companies
need to spend lots of money  to get the name recognition of 3DO.  I
think it is oposite and that if Panasonic/3DO/Goldstar don't start
spewing out the ads soon they will have a tough time.  I would say
Sega, Sonyand Nintendo are probably the most reconiseable!

<erinfritz>Second point Some guys at EA said the M2 performance is only
2 to 3 times PS by their tests.  WHen I asked what they used for a
benchmark they said they weren't sure.  Sounds fishy.  Surprised me
coming from EA.

<erinfritz> Third, lets get a modem out already   instead of that damn
anchor MPEG.  Can MPEG and get the first modem out.

<greg3DO> You are half right.  3DO has led the way with television
advertising in North America for our hardware partners and we will
continue to do so this year.  Marketing is a crucial component to
success, and this year alone, the 3DO partners will spend in excess of
$60 million dollars to this end. However, don't fool yourself with
regard to the name recognition of the U64, Saturn and PS-X.  A recent
market research study showed 3DO with a 74% recogntion rate among our
target audience, Saturn had @10% with Sony and Sega even less.

<gurupubl> What is your target audience?

<greg3DO> Yes, the hard core gamers do know about the competitors, but
this year 3DO will be breaking into the mass market as the price
declines and mass market distribution expands.  To reach that market,
SOny, Sega and Nintendo will have to spend multi-millions of dollars
just to  catch up with our brand recognition

<greg3DO> We classify the target market as adult gamers (18-35),
primarily males, fairly affluent, with a background in using video
games and/or PC's#

<JohnWise> Ok...Does 3DO plan to expand it's RPG library in the coming
year?

<greg3DO> RPG's, definitely something that we need more of.  The good
news is that plenty are on their way:  Slayer II will be much more of
an RPG than the first Slayer, Also look out for Policenauts, Dragon
Lore, and others. The thing with RPG's, is that to create really good
ones take awhile, but I have heard the cry for more and we will
continue to  urge our 3rd parties as well as our own studio to create
more.

<Guru2> When 3DO was founded, Trip needed a few things to happen. The
business model required that 3DO become a standard and that hardware be
sold to make a profit.  The 3DO did not become a standard. What part of
trips business model  has changed since then?

<greg3DO> Actually, 3DO has adapted quickly to market realities.  On
issues ranging from price to finding ways to make our hw partners
profitable, we have altered our initial model 3DO is still a company
focused on creating a standard.WIth M2, we believe we have a large
enough advantage technology wise to do it.

<greg3DO> The bottom line for 3DO is that we do not believe that a
closed
 system will ever win.  If this market ever wants to grow beyond a toy
 industry, then the necessity for a standard is paramount

<Guru2> Has 3DO suggested a new target 3DO price for the next few
months?

<greg3DO> 3DO cannot suggest pricing, only our hardware partners can do
that.  The only price related factor that we control is the design of
the system

<Guru2> I know 3DO doesnt set the prices for the hardware, but in the
past Trip has set prices which he wants the 3DO to drop to within a
certain time frame.

<greg3DO> We have been able to cost reduce the system dramatically
since its introduction and we feel very strongly that this will allow
our hw partners to have a large competitive advantage  3DO is currently
the price leader in Japan, I see no reason for that to change in North
America

<OffMax> Greg - what do you know about Star Trek, NHL, and Aliens v.
Predator on 3DO???

<Kraig> And NBA live

<greg3DO> Star Trek has been in development for over two years now and
has yet to be released.  This is not a good omen.  I do not have a
current release date for the project.  Aliens vs. Predator, the arcade
title or the Jaguar title?

<greg3DO> I do not know anything about Aliens vs. Predator, I will have
to
 follow up with 3DO Japan on that title

<Kraig> Do you know anything of plans for NBALive, youv mentioned NHL,
but not that one

<greg3DO> I'm not sure what EA's plans are for NBA Live, Given the
competive landscape with Crystal, they may just be playing coy with its
release date.

<offmax> How will Matsushita sale of MCA effect 3DO??? Will this have
any effect Universal Interactive Studious, and more specificaly Naughty
Dog??

<greg3DO> Great Question.  I am wondering the same thing myself.  I
haven't spoken to the Dogs nor anyone at Universal Interactive since
MCA wenton the block. I do know that Matsushita will have $5 billion +
to spend now, hehe. Universal does have several projects in development
now on 3DO and I have every reason to believe that they will finish
them regardless

<Kraig> Greg, what do you think of Crystal Dynamics announcing their
Baseball game and Solar Eclipse for the Saturn, with no mention of the
3DO?

<greg3DO> Crystal is a company that was founded to create 32-bit CD
titles, they have always had every intention of supporting other
systems beyond 3DO. They are an important developer to 3DO and will
continue to be  regardless of their Saturn and PS-X releases

<Kraig> Will Gex stay exclusive to 3DO for a reasonable amount of time?

<greg3DO> I do not know whether GEX will stay exclusively on 3DO, but
given that we will have at least a six-month lead time advantage over
any other version, it's somewhat of a moot point

<greg3DO> Also, anyone who wants to buy a 3DO because of GEX will have
every  opportunity as Panasonic will be bundling the title with their
next 250,000 +  systems

<offmax > Greg- what are the worldwide sales #s you have for all
systems?

<greg3DO> Thanks for the opportunity to be here tonight.  I hope I have
given you a clearer picture of the number and quality of new title
releases on 3DO. 1995 will be a very good year to be a 3DO owner, with
over 150 new 3rd generation titles in development, it can't be anything
less.

<greg3DO> As to worldwide sales number, I do not have anything more
than
 estimates for Sega and Sony, but I am confident that we are clearly in
the
 lead as we close in our first one million systems sold

<Kraig> is 900,000 a close number?

<greg3DO> Remember not to trust our competitors so literally, unlike
3DO they  are not a publicly traded American corporation and therefore
are not audited as to their sales claims.  Also, if you have paid
attention to Sega's press releases regarding the 32X, you would have
noticed that they have steadily DECREASED the number of units they
claim to have sold.  I believe it was initially one million,then
600,000, and now300,000.  Must be a lot of returns, huh?

<Kraig> greg3do, 20% i hear

<greg3DO> The 300,000 number seems very far fetched given the retail
research  data that I've seen.  3DO clearly outsold the 32x last x-mas
(probably at  As for official 3DO sales figures, our last announcement
was through  1994 which was over 500,000 units.

<Guru2> One last thing? Maybe. Have you heard anything on EA's reaction
to Immercinary  The net has gone crazy against EA for that.

<greg3DO> You may see a new official release this spring around E3

<greg3DO> Thanks again everyone!  Good-bye