¶ Technical data
- Manufacturer: The 3DO Company (hardware built under licence by Panasonic, Sanyo and Goldstar)
- Year of release: 1993
- CPU: 32-bit ARM60 RISC @ 12.5 MHz
- RAM: 2 MB DRAM + 1 MB VRAM
- Video: two dedicated graphics processors (video cells)
- Resolution: up to 640x480, 16.7 million colors
- Sound: 16-bit stereo audio DSP
- Media: double-speed CD-ROM
¶ Presentation
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is not a console like the others: it is first and foremost a standard. Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts, created The 3DO Company in 1991 with the idea of defining a hardware specification and licensing it to consumer electronics makers, on the model of the VHS recorder or the CD player. The manufacturer pays a royalty to build the machine, and the game publisher a royalty on every disc sold.
The first model, the Panasonic FZ-1 REAL, was released in October 1993 in the United States. The more compact Panasonic FZ-10, the Goldstar GDO-101M and the Japanese Sanyo TRY followed. Technically the machine was ahead of the 16-bit generation then in place: 32-bit RISC processor, double-speed CD drive, 640x480 display and, above all, excellent video playback capabilities, which favoured the full motion video games that were so fashionable at the time.
The business model nonetheless turned against the console. Since no manufacturer sold the machine at a loss to make it back on the games, the 3DO launched at 699 dollars, more than twice the price of a regular console. The library holds real successes — Road Rash, The Need for Speed, Star Control II, Gex, Alone in the Dark, Samurai Shodown, D — but they are diluted in a mass of forgettable FMV titles.
The arrival of the far cheaper PlayStation and Saturn at the end of 1994 finished the 3DO off: around two million units were sold before the format was dropped in 1996. The 3DO Company then sold its next-generation console, the M2, to Matsushita, and turned itself into a game publisher.
¶ Emulators
Emulator availability per board:
| Emulator | RPI3/RPI02W | RPI4/400 | RPI5/500 | OGA/OGS/RG351 | PC | RG353 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libretro Opera | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Opera is Recalbox's only 3DO emulator, and it is available on every board, with high compatibility and high speed. It supports netplay and is flagged as compatible with CRT output. Softpatching is not available. RetroAchievements are supported, as is the light gun, optionally, for the machine's handful of shooting games.
¶ BIOS
A BIOS is mandatory on this system: without it, no 3DO game will start. It is the boot ROM of the original console, and Recalbox expects three of them as mandatory files — the others match the 3DO models built by the other manufacturers and the Kanji ROMs used by Japanese games.
| File name | Description | MD5 | Emulators |
|---|---|---|---|
panafz1.bin |
Panasonic FZ-1 (US) — mandatory | f47264dd47fe30f73ab3c010015c155b | Opera |
panafz1j.bin |
Panasonic FZ-1 (JP) — mandatory | a496cfdded3da562759be3561317b605 | Opera |
panafz1j-norsa.bin |
Panasonic FZ-1 (JP), RSA check disabled — mandatory | f6c71de7470d16abe4f71b1444883dc8 | Opera |
panafz10.bin |
Panasonic FZ-10 (US) | 51f2f43ae2f3508a14d9f56597e2d3ce | Opera |
panafz10-norsa.bin |
Panasonic FZ-10 (US), RSA check disabled | 1477bda80dc33731a65468c1f5bcbee9 | Opera |
panafz10e-anvil.bin |
Panasonic FZ-10 (EU) w/ ANVIL | a48e6746bd7edec0f40cff078f0bb19f | Opera |
panafz10e-anvil-norsa.bin |
Panasonic FZ-10 (EU) w/ ANVIL, RSA check disabled | cf11bbb5a16d7af9875cca9de9a15e09 | Opera |
goldstar.bin |
Goldstar GDO-101M | 8639fd5e549bd6238cfee79e3e749114 | Opera |
sanyotry.bin |
Sanyo IMP-21J TRY | 35fa1a1ebaaeea286dc5cd15487c13ea | Opera |
3do_arcade_saot.bin |
Shootout At Old Tucson (3DO arcade cabinet) | 8970fc987ab89a7f64da9f8a8c4333ff | Opera |
panafz1-kanji.bin |
Panasonic FZ-1 (JP) Kanji ROM — useful for some Japanese games | b8dc97f778a6245c58e064b0312e8281 | Opera |
panafz1j-kanji.bin |
Panasonic FZ-1 (JP) Kanji ROM — useful for some Japanese games | c23fb5d5e6bb1c240d02cf968972be37 | Opera |
panafz10ja-anvil-kanji.bin |
Panasonic FZ-10 (JP) w/ ANVIL Kanji ROM — useful for some Japanese games | 428577250f43edc902ea239c50d2240d | Opera |
Place your BIOS files like this:
/recalbox/share/bios/3do/
├── panafz1.bin
├── panafz1j.bin
├── panafz1j-norsa.bin
├── panafz10.bin
├── panafz10-norsa.bin
├── panafz10e-anvil.bin
├── panafz10e-anvil-norsa.bin
├── goldstar.bin
├── sanyotry.bin
├── 3do_arcade_saot.bin
├── panafz1-kanji.bin
├── panafz1j-kanji.bin
└── panafz10ja-anvil-kanji.bin
Check the MD5 of your files: this is the most common mistake on this system. A BIOS with the right name but the wrong content gives a black screen when the game starts. Recalbox's built-in BIOS checker (
STARTthenBIOS CHECKING) lists missing or incorrect files.
¶ Roms
Put your games in:
/recalbox/share/roms/3do/
Supported extensions: .chd .cue .iso
The CHD format is strongly recommended: it compresses the disc while keeping the audio tracks, which 3DO games often use. A
.cuemust be accompanied by its track files (.bin) in the same folder..zipand.7zarchives are not accepted.