[$699.99]
Harvey rubbed his eyes in disbelief, trying to open them wide to make sure he hadn't forgotten to wash away the sleep from his eyes in his haste that morning.
Looking back.
Damn, it really is 699.99!
Holy crap, a $700 game console? Are you kidding me?
No wonder...
Harvey suddenly recalled the situation in the parking lot at the entrance.
No wonder there are only a handful of people buying it.
That's way too expensive!
For the same price, you could buy all of Gamenova's games for the year and still have money left over to buy an NX.
Clearly, he wasn't alone in sharing this thought. Hearing the constant exclamations around him, Harvey frowned and squeezed forward again, determined to get a better look at its specifications.
"What the..."
The contents of the GG card almost scared him to death.
Is this a game console?
Is this some kind of supercomputer?
Apart from the slightly smaller RAM and VRAM, all other hardware is next-generation.
Especially that 64+32 architecture, it's absolutely dazzling!
"Don't let its price fool you, 3do uses the brand-new 'madam-cilo' architecture, which nearly doubles the image efficiency compared to traditional triangle rendering."
The sales associate clearly understood everyone's anxieties and was enthusiastically explaining the machine's technical details.
"Look, even with the highest graphics settings, ' One on One: Gold Edition' still manages to achieve a stable 50 frames per second, which is excellent."
On a large CRT television, gameplay footage of a game is playing, and a customer is holding a controller and trying it out.
This is indeed footage from actual gameplay. Harvey grinned, barely managing to squeeze through the crowd.
I opened my Backpack and took a look.
Several game boxes were neatly arranged inside.
My wallet isn't deep enough to hold a whole bunch of stuff. If I really want to bring this thing home, then I can forget about buying all these games.
So here's the question.
Is it worth it?
Harvey frowned.
We'll have to wait until he finishes analyzing 3do's starting lineup to give us an answer.
Currently, the only known game is " One on One: Gold Edition," which looks to be of very high quality.
If future releases feature a large number of models of this caliber, then gritting my teeth and buying one wouldn't be entirely unacceptable.
Moreover, according to the salesperson, this machine can also be used as a CD player, playing multimedia and copyrighted movies from partner companies.
Buying one of these saves you the money you'd spend on a CD player later; you can use it directly to play DVD movies. If you're considering that aspect...
Actually, this price isn't entirely unacceptable.
After all, it's an all-in-one product.
While thinking this, Harvey had already squeezed through the crowd and stopped in front of the game area's display case.
One on One: Gold Edition
Just like its name suggests, the entire card case has a gold border and edging, and the surface is a semi-transparent plastic with a frosted finish.
Through the frosted glass effect on the card case, you can vaguely see the disc inside.
The cover was intentionally not overly frosted, making it much more visible than other areas.
Lakers jersey.
EA's long-time partner, Magic Johnson.
Separated by the central circular hole, on the other side stood Larry Bird of the Celtics.
Both of them are superstars who signed with EA early on. Behind them, you can see the names of many other players.
The game's title is located directly below.
The word "Gold Edition" was written entirely in capital letters and printed with gold ink.
To be honest, the quality of this card case is really quite good, and it deserves the title of "Gold Edition".
Then what?
Harvey paused, then glanced at him.
What about other games?
That's it?
"Oh, and I almost forgot these two."
Compared to " One on One," which occupies the absolute center position, the remaining two launch titles are positioned on the left and right sides respectively.
Their packaging design is clearly quite sophisticated, after all, this is something EA excels at.
Back then, packaging played a significant role in allowing a film to carve out a niche for itself in a market already saturated with publishers. [ Night Trap ]
[Produced by Paramount Pictures ]
[ Hollywood live-action filming, famous actors...]
"Um..."
Harvey frowned even more as he looked at the lengthy description on the packaging box.
If it weren't for the instructions that followed, he would have thought he was holding a video disc instead of a game.
The entire GG language is filled with pride about "filming on location in Hollywood ".
They kept emphasizing how much budget was invested in building the studio, hiring famous actors, how good everyone's acting was, and how long the live-action performance video was.
The actual gameplay was only briefly mentioned in a few sentences.
"Is this a game?"
Without a doubt.
The card box says "a Myst -like Adventure game," so it's probably some kind of puzzle game.
However, unlike " Myst " which uses 3D modeling, it is more radical and uses live-action video footage throughout.
This is what 3Do aims to promote.
Harvey picked up another game and glanced at it a few times as well.
He finally understood.
3do...
No wonder it's called a "multimedia entertainment device".
No wonder they insist on calling video games "interactive media".
So that's how it is.
This is what 3DO truly wants to promote.
With the continuous expansion of storage capacity, especially the new experience brought by the 2x speed CD-ROM used by 3do.
Video game development can become more advanced than ever before. It can incorporate a large amount of live-action footage.
How many paragraphs did Gamenova use in Command & Conquer back then?
While there are many Need for Speed, they are merely supplementary options to add variety to the experience.
Myst takes history a step backward, reverting directly to the window-to-window version of Command & Conquer, with the rest of the game using static images!
Gamenova never imagined what it would be like to make a game using fully animated live-action video.
The answer is right here.
These are two plates...
Movies that you can play.
Then what?
Harvey asked himself the question, then he looked up and tried in vain to find something else on the empty shelf.
Any point is fine.
But clearly, he has no chance of finding it. Oh, perhaps that's a bit biased.
Actually, there was one: a promotional poster for an FPS game, expected to be released in mid-1991.
At least it's something somewhat decent, even if it's just a pie in the sky.
"This..."
Harvey put the card case back in its place, without even considering asking the sales assistant to unlock it so he could pick it up and examine it carefully.
He pushed through the crowd and squeezed back to the Real-3Do displays that were on display.
There were quite a few people queuing up to try it out.
After all, it's a groundbreaking remake, so it's definitely worth playing.
Harvey didn't rush to join the queue; instead, he stood aside and watched.
I watched as one player after another tried the game and then left.
Half an hour.
Countless people came and went, but only one person took away a 3do unit.
He must be very rich.
Harvey gazed at the receding figure, whose clothes were all designer brands.
Only rich guys can afford to play with this piece of junk.
With that money, he could even grit his teeth and buy a non-reference version of the Nova Radeon 9000 with a lower video memory.
And to spend the same amount of money to buy... a vase?
Sorry, I can't do that.
If he really wanted to play, he would only choose to rent one.
Day 1.
Trip, sitting in his office, received the returned report.
"7532 units..." There was no "ten thousand" after that.
7532 units, a number with both whole and odd figures.
"Three well-made next-gen titles aren't enough? What do they want?"
This is futuristic technology!
$700 is enough to experience a completely new semiconductor technology that has never been seen before in the world.
Nearly 10,000 units in a single day.
Strictly speaking, while this number is a bit low, it's still quite good for a machine that costs a full $700.
When comparing sales figures, it should be compared to PCs, not game consoles.
If we look at it this way, then the first-day sales figures for this 3do are actually quite impressive.
but...
It's Christmas shopping season now.
How long can this momentum last? This is a very dangerous sign.
Trip wanted to create a super new platform that would sweep away VHS consoles, CD players, and game consoles.
It should be a completely new set of norms that end all conflict.
Based on current sales figures and the rate of increase, it's simply not enough!
Such a small share is simply not enough to form an effective ecosystem.
This would be fatal for a platform that places great emphasis on subsequent output.
Ask yourself honestly.
If he were a game developer, he would also choose the more widely available 8-bit NP over the 3DO, which has fewer than 10,000 units worldwide.
Even if they could actually make an incredibly awesome game.
To whom should we sell it?
We need more... games.
Trip practically choked out those words. He was a completely different person today compared to the one at the press conference not long ago.
That spirited determination to make a comeback was instantly shattered by these sales figures.
"What about OriginSystems? Didn't we sign a contract to do the porting for 3DO?"
He looked at his assistant beside him.
Trip knew exactly why those consumers came; otherwise, he wouldn't have spent so much money to produce three films in Hollywood.
Similarly, during the research and development process, he also provided development machines to many manufacturers.
They even subsidized a significant portion of the development budget to encourage more developers to actively participate in this still-developing new platform.
Garriott said the port of " Wing Commander " is in progress, and they need to relearn a completely new technology stack.
"Learning... what's there to learn? We have so much free material in our resource library; Time Magazine and Universal are practically giving away their copyrighted libraries!"
"The 64+32 architecture... presents some challenges for development. They previously used the N Language, Garriott said. Madam+Cilo is completely different from the implementation model of ' Wing Commander,' requiring development from scratch..."
"Oh my god... they're going to miss the Christmas season!"
"Boss, as for ' Wing Commander '... Garriott said the earliest we can expect is next May."