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3DO Newb Questions


LynxVGL

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I'm toying with the idea of adding a 3DO to my collection. It has enough interesting titles that aren't on other consoles to get me interested. Should I stick with a Panasonic model, or go for a Goldstar? I hear that the Goldstars are a little less dependable though...

 

What are the MUST have titles that also aren't on other consoles? "Road Rash" for example is also on PS1. It looks like the FMV games (shudder) look a little better on Trip's Toy than other systems. Thoughts?

 

EDIT: I did just read the other thread : "3DO Opinions?" which has some direction on software. But I'm looking at more of a hardware answer I guess.

Edited by LynxVGL
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Everything I've read about the Goldstar version says stay away. The disc drives in the Goldstars supposedly fail the quickest of all the units. In addition even a "working" Goldstar unit has stuttering & loading problems with certain games.

 

The FZ1 is considered by many (myself included) to be the coolest looking one. But it does not have any built in memory management. If you want to manage save data you will need a game with a decent memory management program.

 

The FZ10 doesn't have the cool front loading tray but does have built in memory management. So you can manage your save games without needing a disc or certain game to do it.

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I'm toying with the idea of adding a 3DO to my collection. It has enough interesting titles that aren't on other consoles to get me interested. Should I stick with a Panasonic model, or go for a Goldstar? I hear that the Goldstars are a little less dependable though...

 

What are the MUST have titles that also aren't on other consoles? "Road Rash" for example is also on PS1. It looks like the FMV games (shudder) look a little better on Trip's Toy than other systems. Thoughts?

 

EDIT: I did just read the other thread : "3DO Opinions?" which has some direction on software. But I'm looking at more of a hardware answer I guess.

 

I like the reliable flip-top Panasonic FZ-10. Reads CD-Rs easily. I think the styling of the hardware is great, personally. Looks like a cross between a PS2 and PS3.

For controllers, the FZ-JP2x is my favorite. It's the smaller, later Pansonic model that's missing the headphone jack at the bottom & has round stop/start buttons. Works great, though. Stay away from the cheap Naki pads you see on eBay, they are total unusable crap.

 

3do_panasonic_fz10.jpgacessorios-consoles-16087-MLB20114443239

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Depends on what you are willing to pay. If you find a working Goldstar considerably cheaper than one of the Panasonic models, it's worth springing for. I've owned multiple Goldstar units over the years and while they have been finicky at times, they have at least worked. You can also stack another console on top of it if you are looking to conserve space (back in the day I had my Goldstar on the bottom, the NES on top of it, then a Genesis 2 on top of that, hehe).

 

That said, the FZ-10 is the best model to have overall. It is the most reliable, it has a larger amount of memory and I believe a built in memory manager (the FZ-1 does not). Just be careful when closing the disc tray door, I've had the little plastic nub that presses the button to spin the CD snap off. Had to get a little creative to fix that.

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I like the reliable flip-top Panasonic FZ-10. Reads CD-Rs easily. I think the styling of the hardware is great, personally. Looks like a cross between a PS2 and PS3.

For controllers, the FZ-JP2x is my favorite. It's the smaller, later Pansonic model that's missing the headphone jack at the bottom & has round stop/start buttons. Works great, though. Stay away from the cheap Naki pads you see on eBay, they are total unusable crap.

 

3do_panasonic_fz10.jpgacessorios-consoles-16087-MLB20114443239

See, you learn something new everyday. I had no idea that 3DO controllers had a built in headphone jack. That is a cool feature that other Console Manufacturers never picked up on. Very cool.

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Not only that, but you could 'daisy chain' the controllers together.

 

The 3DO does have some fun games, but a lot of them were ported to other systems also. I think the best 'unique' game, if you're a fan of the series, is Super Wing Commander. It had new missions along with voice acting and it never got ported anywhere else.

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See, you learn something new everyday. I had no idea that 3DO controllers had a built in headphone jack. That is a cool feature that other Console Manufacturers never picked up on. Very cool.

 

Yeah, a few of them do. The first FZ controller models do as Rex mentioned, but the stock Goldstar controller does as well.

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The 3DO headset socket outputs ALL the console audio. The 360 headset socket is usually only used for chat.

 

I'd only ever owned Goldstar 3DOs but that's just because I've never found a Panasonic 3DO in the wild. The power supply fan got loud on one of them but they both read discs fine. There's some misinformation going around that all Goldstar 3DOs stutter cutscenes on The Horde but I tried it and it worked fine.

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The 3DO headset socket outputs ALL the console audio. The 360 headset socket is usually only used for chat.

 

I'd only ever owned Goldstar 3DOs but that's just because I've never found a Panasonic 3DO in the wild. The power supply fan got loud on one of them but they both read discs fine. There's some misinformation going around that all Goldstar 3DOs stutter cutscenes on The Horde but I tried it and it worked fine.

Burned or Official copy?

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I have a Goldstar, FZ-1 and FZ-10 and they are all running strong. My FZ-10 is actually a developer model that has a sticker underneath it which reads "1995 E3 Demo Kiosk". It will play 3DO games.that are not encrypted. I've never had a problem with any of them. I've rarely come across a broken 3DO at all.

 

As for good games... Return Fire is fun especially two player. Naughty Dog software got their big start with Way of the Warrior. Street Fighter was one of the best ports of the series made. Road Rash is fun, Need for Speed was the last version that felt more like the C64, Amiga 500 versions kind of 'simulator-ish'. Wing Command and Star Control II are good. Star Fighter was one of the last games for the system, it was programmed in assembly and really pushed the system to the limits graphically.

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