New youtube channel covering the unreleased 3DO / Panasonic M2 console and games

[SharpX68K]

This recently started channel on youtube, Video Game Esoterica, has a really nice overview of the 3DO / Panasonic M2 hardware and games, both for the unreleased console,
as well as the Konami arcade games that used M2.

 

[Tizoc]

Thanks for the heads up will watch it later.

 

[Meatwad]

Cool stuff, would've never thought there was enough info about the M2 to run an entire Youtube Channel around it

 

[ninjaurbano]

It looks like N64 level of graphics. I wonder why Konami used it for arcade games in 1998 because it was already obsolete at that time.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

I had a 3DO that was a fascinating console. I had few games : Starfighter, Fifa, Road Rush and several demo disk with games such a Captain Qasar, Bladeforce, Po'ed, and sevral other games. Underrated console imo.

 

[SharpX68K]

It looks like N64 level of graphics. I wonder why Konami used it for arcade games in 1998 because it was already obsolete at that time.

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At least one of those Konami arcade games came out in 1997. M2 was the best low-cost hardware that existed in 1996-1997, a bit stronger than 3DFX Voodoo 1.

Sega's Dreamcast based NAOMI was far more powerful but wasn't available until late 1998, just before the console release in Japan.

 

[Zonic]

Damn, I just heard on Giant Bomb a week or so ago there was a prototype M2 controller on Ebay & that's how I learned about said console. I might have to give this a watch.

 

[Mr. Pointy]

Sweet. The channel actually has decent Heat Of Eleven '98 video. I think the only Konami M2 arcade I've played was Total Vice.

If the M2 did come out as a console, it probably would have been squeezed to death before the PS2 launch.

 

[SharpX68K]

Sweet. The channel actually has decent Heat Of Eleven '98 video. I think the only Konami M2 arcade I've played was Total Vice.

If the M2 did come out as a console, it probably would have been squeezed to death before the PS2 launch.

Click to shrink...

Squeezed to death between Dreamcast and PS2, without a doubt, yeah. The M2 was originally supposed to launch Christmas 1995, although that was before the hardware was upgraded with a second PowerPC 602 processor and more RAM (originally 4-6 MB, then 8 MB).

Next Generation, June 1997:

EDGE magazine, July 1997:

Sega was in negotiation in late '95 / early '96 with Panasonic to use the M2 as its 64-bit console hardware. That fell apart too.

 

[SharpX68K]

Full preview of IMSA Racing.

https://web.archive.org/web/19970605163257/http://www.next-generation.com/news/051797a.chtml

While Next Generation Online had a pretty good idea of what should be expected from the M2 in terms of graphics, the editors were somewhat surprised when the system actually delivered something near what was promised.
Based upon the demo of 3DO's IMSA Racing the M2 hardware graphically eclipses any currently available consoles and even manages to do a slightly more impressive job than even 3Dfx powered PCs. Textures were extraordinarily clean, there was no discernible pop-in but this wasn't by virtue of fogging. There simply was no discernible horizon on the game. This is partially due to track design (with turns) but even on straight-aways one couldn't see any pop-in. Framerate of the game was consistently high and was claimed to be locked at 30 fps by the game's director. The entire game runs at 640x480 which even made the menu screens look better than typical console games through the use of anti-aliased text.

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The game itself was a fairly straight forward racing game, distinguished primarily by its incredibly clean graphics. All shadows were cast in real-time and there was a dynamic soundtrack. Doppler shifts in audio as cars pass or the grandstand is passed are all done in real-time. All textures were filtered and tri-linear mip-mapped providing extremely beautiful visuals. In comparison to typical Nintendo 64 games, there was none of the tell-tale blurring usually associated with bilinear-texture filtering. Specular highlights on chromed textures and even glossy cars are stunning.

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At one point in the game (albeit a load screen) there are four colored dynamic spotlights moving over a 7,000 polygon model of one of the race cars as the camera spins around. While it doesn't add anything to the gameplay, it does give some insight into the system's capabilities.

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[Celine]

I'm not sure if it was already noted but a few of the Konami arcade games for the M2 based arcade board (the football game and the fighting game) are clearly based on similar N64 games (ISS '98 and Deadly Arts).

 

[Celine]

Sweet. The channel actually has decent Heat Of Eleven '98 video. I think the only Konami M2 arcade I've played was Total Vice.

Click to shrink...

For additional direct feed footage there is this italian YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEagTa9VZSU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LtKHZbY9uE

If the M2 did come out as a console, it probably would have been squeezed to death before the PS2 launch.

Click to shrink...

M2 stood no chance if it was released in 1997.
Too few software support at that point, it would have been a still born.

 

[SharpX68K]

I'm not sure if it was already noted but a few of the Konami arcade games for the M2 based arcade board (the football game and the fighting game) are clearly based on similar N64 games (ISS '98 and Deadly Arts).

Click to shrink...

Yeah, looking at Battle Tryst for M2 arcade board, it definitely looks like it was based on N64's Deadly Arts.





Edit: I would've liked to have seen what SEGA AM2 and Namco could have done with M2, given how hard they pushed the Saturn and PSX, respectively.

Especially with their own engines and tools.

 

[Deleted member 45765]

I'm not sure if it was already noted but a few of the Konami arcade games for the M2 based arcade board (the football game and the fighting game) are clearly based on similar N64 games (ISS '98 and Deadly Arts).

Click to shrink...

Total Vice!

 

[bobeth]

I will admit I bought a 3do back then because of the promise of the M2, in retrospect I should have known better than believing Trip Hawkins..

 

[airbagged_]

Gonna go ahead and subscribe.

 

[Rygar 8Bit]

Sucks could have gotten a really good Killing Time sequel.

 

[SharpX68K]

Here are a couple more articles on M2 that I found very interesting.

 

[Celine]

Ironblood:

 

[SharpX68K]

Ironblood:

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Oh wow, I forgot about Ironblood. Thanks Celine.

 

[JuanMR2]

Sucks could have gotten a really good Killing Time sequel.

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I remember winning a copy of Killing Time for the 3DO in the early internet days. On their website you were placed in a maze and were presented with a choice of turning left or right, I guessed correct maybe once or twice in a row then I was met with a "you were killed" screen after choosing incorrectly. I simply hit the back button on the browser each time I chose wrong then selected the opposite choice and eventually made it through the maze until I won the copy of the game. Think that's the first and last time I won anything online :(

edit: Actually I won a free hat in the NBA Thread not too long ago, but the contest runner took the gift back since I didn't post in the thread often enough :(

 

[Deleted member 17210]

I was always curious about the M2. I remember seeing that fake footage of an FPS game on TV (at the end of this video).

 

[SharpX68K]

I was always curious about the M2. I remember seeing that fake footage of an FPS game on TV (at the end of this video).

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I remember seeing FPS game on TV as well, and even recorded it on VHS. Like the M2 Car demo, it was pre-rendered.

At least with the Ultra 64 / N64 demos around the same time, most of them were real-time, just running on SGI Onyx / RealityEngine systems, which cost $100K-200K.
I don't think even those systems could produce the M2 Car and FPS demos on the fly.