LOS ANGELES May 11, 1995 The straps are pulled taut. Goggles are firmly fastened. Hands sweating with anticipation grip the controller. Engines roar; enemies line up for the attack. You feel the action from your
head down to your toes. It's the X-O-TRON VR, a life-sized gyroscope that lets gamers live the bullet-dodging tail-spinning dive-bombing action as it happens in 3DO video games.
The X-O-TRON VR from Altare Advanced Technologies is one of many new 3DO peripherals being introduced and demonstrated this week in the 3DO/Panasonic/GoldStar booth (#1835) at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. Other peripherals debuting include a three-button mouse and a sleeker control pad for the Panasonic REAL 3DO Interactive Multiplayer system; a game storage device from TDK Corporation; a two-player version of the GAMEGUN peripheral from American Laser Games; new control pads, including an infrared remote controller, from United Kingdom-based Fire International Ltd.; and the 3DO Control Pad 2 a new, ergonomically-designed controller featuring a smaller footprint and larger shift buttons.
"Our growing user base is driving the market for new intense ways to experience the advanced speed surround sound 3-D graphics and interactivity available only from the 3DO system" said Janet Strauss, 3DO's Vice President of Marketing. "Products like the X-O-TRON VR take interactive entertainment to a new level of realism and open creative opportunities for software developers to showcase their 3DO titles with new audiences."
The X-O-TRON VR is an eight-foot human gyroscope that spins players with full 360-degree freedom while playing 3DO video games. Players become human joysticks as they view games through 3-D goggles
giving them first-person perspective on the gaming action. If a race car veers right the player veers right; if a space ship dive-bombs a target the player plunges with it. BladeForce, a new flying action-shooter title from Studio 3DO, has already been customized to operate with the X-O-TRON VR and is available for "test drives" at the 3DO/Panasonic/GoldStar E3 booth.
The X-O-TRON VR/3DO system is being sold to amusement parks and shopping malls as location-based entertainment. Orders are already in fulfillment with Paramount's Wonderland in Ontario Canada, and at
Dollywood in Pigeon Forge Tenn. Altare Advanced Technologies also plans to sell the system to health clubs as a form of exercise and entertainment. Pricing for the device starts at $22000.
Panasonic introduced a three-button mouse that will be available in July for a suggested retail price of $39.95, and a smaller control pad that accompanies the FZ-10 REAL Interactive Multiplayer system. The new FZ-10 controller can be purchased separately for $29.95.
TDK Corporation announced the Storage Expander, which lets players save up to eight games on one memory card. The expander unit, which connects to the 3DO system's expansion port, and the memory card cost
under $100 and are expected to be available worldwide by the end of May.
American Laser Games (ALG) announced a two-player version of the GAMEGUN, a light gun hardware peripheral designed to enhance the game-playing experience with 3DO shooting games. The gun will operate with
Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold, Crime Patrol, Demolition Man, and Corpse Killer, along with a number of upcoming two-player 3DO titles, including Space Pirates and Drug Wars. The new GAMEGUN, which also operates
with one-player games, is scheduled to ship in August at a median retail price of $59.95.
Catching the wireless wave Fire International Ltd. launched the first 3DO infrared remote six-button controller, retailing at $49.95. Fire also announced a wire-based six-button control pad with arcade-style layout and new features including fire turbo and slow motion options. This pad has a suggested retail price of $29.95. Fire plans to sell the products in the Unites States Europe, and Japan.
The sleek new 3DO Control Pad 2 will be bundled with Zhadnost: The People's Party a Studio 3DO title debuting at the show and shipping in June. The controller is daisy-chainable allowing movement in eight directions with equal ease, and will be available as a standalone purchase for a suggested retail price of $29.95 where 3DO software is sold.
Based in Redwood City Calif. The 3DO Company (NASDAQ:THDO) develops and licenses advanced interactive technology to hardware and software companies worldwide. The company's award-winning product
design the 32-bit 3DO Interactive Multiplayer system was created to deliver a breakthrough in interactive entertainment at an affordable price. The current 3DO system is available worldwide from Panasonic
GoldStar Sanyo and Creative Labs. The company recently unveiled its next-generation M2 technology a 64-bit system architecture which leverages the PowerPC 602 microprocessor and 3DO's high-end 3-D graphics and sound processors.
