Panasonic REAL 3D0 Interactive Multiplayer Hardware Review by J. Douglas Arnold
Since I was desperate for information on this system before I bought it, and I'm sure there are others out there in my position now, I decided to put together this fact-filled file of 3D0 information. I have been playing with it EXTENSIVELY for five days now. I'm in a five book deadline, so please excuse any errors in grammar or spelling -- my mind is about to burst!
First off, I bought my 3D0 for the retail price of $699. In my business (video game strategy book publishing) I can usually come by these things with a major discount (or even free), but the boneheads at Panasonic thought I should buy one, so I did. At least it's a tax write-off <g>. Prices are rumored to be dropping as early as Christmas in discount stores, and should be hitting as low as $500 by next Christmas (1994).
THE BOX Starting with the outside, the box is a bit of a disappointment. I've seen the Jaguar box, with it's evil-looking eyes peering into your wallet, but the 3D0 box is as generic as you can get. At least they picked black as the background, but the type is very generic and the picture lackluster. The back features pictures of the system, control pad, included game (Crash N Burn -- more on that later), and three sample pictures. The three pictures are a peacock to demonstrate the Photo CD option, a picture of the REAL logo and hurling planets from the demo mode, and a scene from the screen shown during audio CD playback.
KODAK PHOTO CD Photo CDs can be played back on the 3D0 easily. These are compact discs with photos that you can have made at any local Kodak developing lab. I priced them today, and the prices are fairly reasonable. These are prices in Hawaii, so your local developer might have slightly lower prices. A blank disc is $5.99, and holds up to 100 pictures. You can have any pictures put on the disc, old or new. It costs 88" per picture for up to 50 images, then it goes down to 72" per picture for 51-200. The price drops to 62" for 201+ pictures, but you'll have to buy multiple blank discs for that. The $5.99 price for the blank disc has been called outrageously low by people in the know. It's assumed that Kodak is offering the blank gold discs for this low price to spark interest in Photo CD. To buy a similar blank disc for your computer CD drive would cost $10 or more.
AUDIO CD PLAYBACK Audio CD playback is simple. Place a disc in the tray, hit the close button, and the disc loads in. A screen appears with time and track numbers. There is easy on-screen programming, all from the comfort of your control pad. The coolest part is the light box simulator (as I've labeled it). When any normal audio compact disc is playing, an image appears on the screen. The image is made up of 10 3D0 logos. They move in a wave to the music, and the left and right channels effect different sides of the row of logos. It's a cool effect, but gets even cooler when you change display modes. There are four modes, and two of them have psychadelic patterns that pulse with the music. It's a very relaxing way to listen to your new CDs -- especially with the lights out.
DEMO MODE If you don't place any discs in the machine, the 3D0 will go into it's demo mode. It includes a starfield with planets hurling at you, then the letters of REAL mix in with the planets until it finally clears into the REAL logo. Quite cool, considering it's a bonus. There's no sound during the demo (feel free to make your own whooshing sounds). The coolest part is the message "Welcome to the REAL World" that comes up eventually. My pleasure.
THE UNIT AND PORTS The 3D0 unit has a single controller port in the front. Controllers are daisy-chained (see next paragraph on controllers). There is a power button on the left, and a tray open/close button on the right. They call them switches, but I know the difference between a button and a switch so I'm not falling for it! On the right side of the unit is an AV Expansion Slot. As expected, the manual and demo disc state simply its for "future use". On the back is an Expansion Port also for "future use"), along with a Channel 3/4 Switch (not a button -- a switch), and RF Output Jack (for TV hook up), and S-Video Output Jack (hurray!), a standard Video Output Jack, Right and Left Audio Output Jacks, and the Power Cord. There is no cartridge slot (or game pak, as Nintendo calls it), so you can expect 100% support of the CD player for all software being released. That's something you can't say about the Jaguar, and it's an EXTREMELY important fact!
THE CONTROL PAD The controller is very comfortable and a perfect design, in my opinion. The cord is thick and very long -- about 11 feet long. A Genesis controller cord is 6.5 feet long, and a SNES controller cord is 7.5 feet. The controller has 7 buttons. There's A-B-C in the Genesis formation, L and R in the SNES formation on the top (also referred to as "Shift" buttons), and Stop and Play where the SNES Start and Select buttons are (Stop is also referred to as RXS, and the Play button referred to as RPS). The controller is very comfortable to hold and play with over long periods (I've tested it thoroughly). Expect to see several more controllers available in the future, including trackballs and sticks. The controller also has a mini headphone plug in the bottom center, which is handy for playing in a quite room. There's even a volume control! The top of the controller, where the cord comes out, has a port marked "expansion". From what I'm told it will be used to plug in more controllers in a "Daisy Chain" fashion.
The second controller will plug into the expansion port of the first, then the third controller plugged into the second, and so on. If you've ever had five people playing off a Turbografx-16 Tap, you'll know what a pain it is to have all of the controllers coming from one direction (especially with short 4 foot cords!).
WHAT'S INCLUDED With your system you receive all of the cords you'll need to hook it up, except the S-VHS Video cord (not included!). You also receive two compact discs, and there was room in the styrofoam for a third. I'd expect to see some kind of educational software pack-in by next year -- perhaps an encyclopedia to sell the parents. Another possibility is a Photo CD sampler (if Kodak has any brains! ).
FREE SAMPLER CD One of the two compact discs is the "Sampler" CD. Put it in and it begins with a cool demonstration that shows an old-style TV. The TV is switching channels to old commercials and horror films, then as a lady is screaming the music gets louder and the top of the TV explodes, releasing all kinds of wonderful stuff. A voice comes on to welcome you to the REAL world.
The menu eventually comes up with three options. You can check out the REAL hardware with a guided tour of the system. This tour shows a three- dimensional picture of the unit, which you can rotate by hitting the control pad. When you stop on a side, words point out the different ports. Click on a port and the voice comes back with information on that port. Not useful information, mind you -- I mean you've hooked up the system if you're watching the demo so you know what those ports do, and the interesting expansion ports are simply billed as future uses stuff. Nonetheless, it's still fun to watch the unit spin. The music is cool techno sounds in the background. Gets you in the mood. Back to the menu you can choose the "coming soon" titles. You'll be placed in a square room with 7 posters hanging on the walls. You can spin in the room in real time by using the controller. Step up to a poster and it automatically comes alive with a looping animation. Press A and you'll see what's under that topic. Topics include Simulations, Edutainment, Interactive Movies, and Sports. You can flip through the pictures of the games, then press a button to hear more about it. The information on all of the titles is vague, since nobody seems to be near releasing anything shown. There are a few still pictures - some surprisingly bad and others surprisingly sharp (Jurassic Park), and a voice narrates what the program will include. The interface in this area could have been better, and the software package info should have included a short animation, but it's still worth exploring for a few minutes. The final selection from the menu is "Diversions". During the development of 3D0 there were several demonstration programs made up to show what the 3D0 was capable of doing. All of the "Diversions" are worth about what you paid for them (it's free!), but they are fun to play with for a few minutes.
There's a limited demo of PGA Tour Golf, a bizarre driving game called "Road Race", a Shell Game from the upcoming "It's A Bird's Life" disc, a cool graphic demo with psychedelic colors, and two short animations. The animations show off the full-motion video. I'm not talking about that junk on the Sega CD -- this is real, full-frame, full-motion video. The picture rarely jerks, the resolution is very high, and the sound is perfect stereo (not Sega's Digital Mono featured on Sewer Shark and Night Trap!). The animations are about five minutes of a "Batman The Animated Series" episode and a "2 Stupid Dogs" episode (very funny).
CRASH N BURN Okay, now there's the topic of the pack-in game. Let's see, in the past we've seen Altered Beast, Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros, Tetris... Well, you've just spent $700, so you better not be seeing any blocky mushrooms or hear any squeeky screams. I've played literally over a thousand 16-bit games (including the Amiga computer and Macintosh). Crash N Burn blows every single one of them away -- far away! I love going to the arcade, and my favorite all-time games have been Virtua Racing and Race Driving. Virtua Racing is the closest you can get to the fast-driving experience without getting a citation. Crash N Burn has far better graphics than Virtua Racing, and there are 30 tracks to choose from (instead of 3). Considering that buying a Virtua Racing for your home would set you back about $7,500, 3D0 is a bargain! Now if they'd only come out with a feedback steering wheel...
The object of Crash N Burn is to survive the grueling 30 tracks of the tournament. You race against five other drivers, each with a lot of personality. After inserting the CD and turning on your 3D0, you'll first see the Crystal Dynamics opening logo (awesome), followed by the options of "Crash N Burn" or "Previews". "Previews" will show you an amazing movie-like computer animation of an upcoming title called "The Horde". The camera is a pegasus-eye-view of a stately-looking room, highly-detailed. As the pegasus walks past a suit of armor he hits it and you see the head roll under a table. The only way to tell it's a pegasus is by the shadow on the wall in the background. He approaches a book and uses hoof to open it. A voice narrates the text in the book which tells the story of The Horde. The story is abruptly interrupted moments later. Very cute and very cool. This game is supposedly being produced by the guys that programmed Star Control, so expect amazing things! The other preview is a jerky demo of the next game to be available from Crystal Dynamics, "Total Eclipse". It's an awesome-looking flight simulator that puts Star Fox to shame. The demo appears to be in full-motion video, so the final game won't be as jerky (if jerky at all). Looks to be an excellent game.
Select "Crash N Burn" from the first menu and you'll get to see an excellent computer animation of the end of the world (as we know it). The bomb hits and a wave sweeps through city skyscrapers, sending shards of glass shooting at the screen. The next scene is an aerial view of the devastated city, which pans to a race track. The camera flies down onto the race track and enters one of two cars racing. The track is bumpy, causing the car to move a lot. The driver is working the controls, shooting the car in front of him. The camera angle changes to an outside view in front of the cars. As the cars race towards the camera a missile is launched and hits the car in front, then a second makes it explode in flames as the Crash N Burn logo rises. A teaser for the game, yet lightly exaggerated of actual gameplay. Still, the real game comes real close.
You can select Options to turn the sound or music off and on, or you can reassign the controls if you're not happy with them. The other options are Rally, to choose any of the first five courses and race on them, or Tournament. In the Tournament mode you must race through all six courses (the sixth one is only playable in the tournament mode -- I have no idea what it looks like and hope to find a secret code because I can't get past the fourth course!). You begin by choosing one of six characters. You see their pictures spread across the screen. Click on one and they'll introduce themselves and their philosophy on racing. Expect to hear quotes like, "A dead enemy can't kill you". This ain't Nintendo, so the word "kill" is totally acceptable. After the driver introduces himself, you'll see his car spinning showroom-style using perfect computer 3-D graphics, along with stats on the car's top speed, acceleration quality, and armor quality. The weakest car has a speed of 270, but Awesome acceleration and Great armor. The fastest car will reach 320 on straightaways, but expect to totally sacrifice acceleration and armor.
In tournament mode you start with a "stock" car. As you collect winnings money from racing and shooting the other drivers, you can purchase guns, missiles, laser cannons, land mines, armor, and special items. Special items include nitros, a flash to blind drivers behind you, and improved tires. Every once in a blue moon when you enter an area you'll be greeted by the black market seller. He'll offer you items that aren't totally legal, but no one will know. Items I've been offered include a device to make my car invisible, a better tracking system for my missiles, and an item that causes projectiles to miss my car. All very interesting, and all very expensive at more than $10,000 each.
Choose your driver (Twix is my favorite), then prepare to race. You begin on the Crash Course circuit. It's mostly straightaways with few mines and road hazards. Road hazards include ice, water, dirt, and tar. Place first, second or third on the first track and you'll see a stats display with the total number of cars disabled (drones are worth $100, drivers $500, the champ $1000). I've taken out 18 drones on one race, which adds up quick! Take your money into the shop and buy something useless, or save it up and buy something that will move those jerks out of your way.
The big "UGH!" award goes to the saving feature. During the tournament you have three continues. The 3D0 will save your game as long as you still have continues. The problem? This is a family device (and I have a lot of friends), but there is only one save. If you're working hard on a tournament, you don't want anyone else messing it up or erasing it. They're stuck to playing the Rally mode, which isn't as fun because you can't buy weapons. This is almost as bad as having one save position on Dungeon Master for the Super Nintendo!
My strategy: use Twix because his car is balanced. With your first winnings buy tires (they seem to make you go slightly faster). Second purchase should be the $9,000 gun, which wont be until after a few races. Your next purchase must be the Nitro, because otherwise you'll never be able to keep up with the other drivers on the tougher tracks. Only use the Nitro on the upward hills. Next is an excellent missile. Not necessarily the most expensive. There's one that has strong power and decent accuracy. Finally, buy some mines to keep those goons off your tail.
Crash N Burn is hands-down the BEST driving game I've ever played. Listening to the threats from the other drivers in between races is a kick, and the graphics are soooo realistic you'll forget it's a game. My problem is keeping control of my real sportscar after driving in Crash N Burn for several hours. "In life, there's no second chances" as the MTV public service message states. Crash N Burn is easily the best pack-in game ever.
WHAT ABOUT JAGUAR? Well, money is probably the biggest barrier here. But wait -- there's a lot of ways to look at this! While I plan to buy a Jaguar too (or get one!), here's the way I explain it to my friends. The 3D0 is out now. It's expensive to buy, but the games whould be reasonably priced (500 meg games for $50-75 ain't bad!), and the prices on the game and hardware will come down. Since every game, along with all of the other software, will be on CDs, you can expect to be blown away by nearly every one of them. The programmers aren't limited by memory, and the manufacturers aren't limited by chip prices. This is a hot system with tons of support. There are currently over 320 licensees (320!!!). Sega and Nintendo each have about 50. Atari has less than 20, and I haven't heard of but about three of them. One newscaster stated that the deciding factor for 3D0s success will be software. If there isn't any software, there's no reason to buy the machine. With 320 licensees, you can expect at least 150 discs by the end of next year. Many of the companies (Electronic Arts, Software Toolworks, Crystal Dynamics) plan to release several discs during the next year. I'd bet the Jaguar won't have even one-third that many.
The Jaguar has several flaws. First, there's Atari. If ever there was a company with a bad track record, Atari is it. Since the days of Atari 2600 they haven't had another hit. Even the Lynx was a superior machine, but without marketing, advertising and software, what's so superior?! From what I've seen of the first Jaguar games, the graphics are nothing that the Super Nintendo couldn't do (or hasn't done). There might be the occassional awesome special effect, but nothing consistent during gameplay.
The biggest limitation is MEMORY! Those little chips cost a fortune, and to address all of the fancy graphics co-processors in the Jaguar you can expect that memory is going to be a major requirement. The cartridge games will have to be HUGE if they are to feature the graphics everyone is expecting with the typical gameplay of a Genesis or Super Nintendo game. How much is a cartridge that big going to cost? $60? $70? $80? Neo Geo made the same mistake by not having a CD player, and now Atari is stepping up to repeat it, never learning from the mistakes made by others.
Yep, I've heard of the Jaguar CD player. But what are we really talking about? The system is up to $250, and the CD player is supposed to only be $200. It won't be out until early 1994, so the price still has plenty of time to rise. You're up to $450 for the full system, but didn't Sega already do this. On the Genesis side there were an estimated 10 million consoles in use. They released the CD player, which only sold 50,000 in Japan, and were surprised to sell 100,000 in the U.S. That's a major success, but were talking only 1 in 1,000 Genesis owners buying a CD player. Now the figure is supposed to hit more like 200,000 by Christmas 1993. That's 1 in 500. Better, but if you're a company with a limited budget and limited production team, are you going to go after the market with 200,000 potential customers (of which about 10% may buy your product), or do you go after the 10 million cartridge system owners? If you like money, you make a cartridge game. Take these figures and reduce them dramatically for the Jaguar. I might produce a game for the cartridge users, but no way can I afford to produce a CD game (very expensive to produce, by the way) for a market so small. Atari plans to sell 50,000 Jaguar units by Christmas 1993. That's half of the number of Sega CD units that sold during its rollout. The Jaguar might have some cool games, but the 3D0 has the survival instincts of a real jaguar.
The 3D0 also has major backing from very respectable companies. We're talking the biggest companies, like Matsushita (Panasonic, RCA), Warner Bros., TCI (the largest cable company), and Electronic Arts (Trip Hawkins started EA and created the 3D0). Many people think Atari has the backing of IBM, but IBM is merely the paid manufacturer of the units. IBM needed the money badly -- it's not a partnership. If you can't afford to buy a 3D0, wait! The prices will begin dropping during the final weeks of December, and even drop further during the new year. There will be several companies making 3D0 systems. Joining Panasonic will be Sanyo in December or January, followed by Mitsubishi, among several others.
With TCI involved in the 3D0 partnership, you can expect this thing to connect to the digital highway we've been hearing so much about. Download software through your cable TV hookup or phone, play games with people around the world, participate in interactive game shows, shop, learn, read a book or monthly magazine (with full-motion video). This machine is built for the future, and the future is just around the corner.
----- J. Douglas Arnold is the author of several video game strategy guide books, including his most recent Awesome Sega Genesis Secrets 4 and Awesome Super Nintendo Secrets 3. His guides are often picked up by GamePro, for which he has also written reviews. All opinions expressed in this review are strictly his own.
