Trip Hawkins tried to rebuild the console business on the VCR model – one open standard, built by Panasonic, GoldStar and Sanyo – and launched it at $699 in 1993. The price killed the machine; the ideas conquered the industry. This page is the complete story: the licensing heresy, the small and surprisingly strong library, the M2 that died before it could launch, and the vindication that arrived thirty years late.
Start here
Why Did the 3DO Fail – Twice? – the post-mortem: the original’s price trap and the M2’s cancellation, examined in depth.
Ten Weeks in Hell: The 3DO Doom Source Code Tells the Worst Port’s Best Story – the infamous ten-week Doom port, in its own source code’s words.
The machine that administered the fatal lesson, at $299: the PlayStation.
