1995: A Banner or Swan Song Year for 3DO?

01/30/22 • 4 min

If 1994 was the year that the 3DO finally got the quality games that had offered the promise the machine held, 1995 was when it truly solidified its reputation as a serious piece of kit.

Owners of the system were treated to excellent games like:

Killing Time, a photo-realistic take on the first person shooting game
Return Fire, an excellent multiplayer war game, where vehicles and strategy played a huge part
Slam 'n' Jam, an awesome and super fun basketball game
BattleSport, a futuristic sports battle game, and a forerunner to this generation's Rocket League
Space Hulk: Vengeance, a hugely atmospheric shooter based on the popular board game
and Demolition Man, a movie tie in that offered scenes from the Sylvester Stallone movie alongside a multi-genre platformer.

These were just some of the games that helped the 3DO company enjoy their best sales since launch. Coupled with the ongoing teases of the upcoming 64-bit upgrade, the M2, and other hardware partners releasing versions of the console, 1995 looked as if it was going to be a banner year for the machine.

However, there were storm clouds on the horizon, from both a gaming and a financial viewpoint. On the gaming front, while Sega had released the Saturn at the end of 1994, it was industry newcomer Sony who was making the biggest noise with their PlayStation, also released in Japan at the end of 1994.

Back at the 3DO company, despite the excellent games lineup the company published throughout the year, it was clear things weren't looking good. The Sega Saturn and the Sony PlayStation had essentially stalled sales of the 3DO console, and the licensing model that the 3DO company hoped would change things in the industry hadn't made the impact the company hoped for.

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01/30/22 • 4 min

Memories of 3DO - 1995: A Banner or Swan Song Year for 3DO?

Transcript

Danny00:00:04.349

You're listening to Memories of 3DO, a retrospective look at a video games console classic. Choose your preferred app to follow on. And now this week's episode.

00:00:20.100

If 1994 was the year that the 3DO finally got the quality games that had offered a promise machine. 1995 was when it truly solidified its reputation. As a serious piece of kit owners of the system were treated to excellent games like killing time for a realisti

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