3DO Interactive Multiplayer

Background: The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer console, often called simply the 3DO, is a home video game console platform developed itself by The 3DO Company. Developed by entrepreneur and Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the 3DO was not just a console manufactured by the company, but it was also a series of specifications, originally designed by Dave Needle and R. J. Micalof New Technologies Group, that could be licensed by third parties. Panasonic produced the very first models in 1993, and later renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by GoldStar (now LG Corp) and in 1995 by Sanyo themselves (only in Japan, though).

(October 4, 1993-December 31, 1996)

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Nickname: "3DO in Space"

Logo: On a space background, a 2D model of the Earth, tilted on its side, only showing Africa and Antarctica, as well as Saudi Arabia, zooms toward the viewer at a slow pace, spinning as it does so. Next, we travel through a 2D version of the asteroid belt, and if you look closely, you can see colored dots, and the letters in the word "real". When we get through the asteroid belt, the letters form the word "R•E•A•L", in a very futuristic font, at the top of the screen, but it zooms towards the bottom very quickly. A gray moon rock spins to the viewer, and when it stops, "REAL" slides up, then, "WELCOME TO THE" and "WORLD" appear, with "REAL" between "TO THE" and "WORLD". We also notice the red, green, and blue dots between each letter in "REAL" as well. Then, finally, a tan asteroid flies downward to the right, causing the moon rock and "Welcome to the real world" to fade out, but then, "REAL" spins back into place, and the 3DO logo, consisting of a white box with a red diamond, blue square, and yellow sphere, with a shadow under the sphere, over a black box with "3DO" inside, fades in along with a blue line under "Real", plus the text "3DO INTERACTIVE MULTIPLAYER", with trademark symbols next to them, as well as a blue Panasonic logo, all fade in. Then, they all fade out, with "REAL 3DO INTERACTIVE MULTIPLAYER" fading a second after the 3DO and Panasonic logos do.

Variant: When you turn on an FZ-10 top-loader model on and there's no disc inside it, only the last part of the animation (which starts with "REAL" spinning into place) plays, with no music.

FX/SFX: The Earth zooming, the letters forming, the moon rock spinning, the words flying and appearing.

Music/Sounds: Humming synth bass notes, along with whooshes when we go through the asteroid belt.

Availability: This appears when a 3DO is turned on (FZ-1 model [front-loader] only) with no disc inside (when you turn the system on with a disc inside, you just get a still shot of the 3DO logo on a black background).

Editor's Note: None.