I want to get a 3DO, a reliable one.

[Steve W]

One of my biggest problems with the 3DO is that it's so hard to find games for it without the aid of online auctions. I generally only buy games in the wild, and you just don't come across any good ones anymore. In the past few years Dallas has started to brim over with places to buy retro video games, and very few of them have anything other than sports titles and commons. I have found controllers and SNES-to-3DO adapters in the wild (and new!), but few games. I can't tell you how disappointing it is to see one of those longboxes from a distance, then getting my hopes dashed when I see it's only a Madden game. Bleh.

[josekortez]

I'm quite excited as I have been acquiring 3DO games lately through trades (mostly disc-only, some in jewel cases and some boxed) and today Yu-Yu Hakusho and Hell: A Cyberpunk Adventure appeared in the mail. I've got an FZ-10 with cables coming from one trade and two controllers coming in another trade. Hopefully, by the end of the week, I'll be able to contribute something to this thread in reference to the majesty of the FZ-10. I've been dying to play Real Pinball since I like pinball games.

[pseudonym]

Yeah, 3DO games are hard to find in the wild, for a couple of years all I had was 2 games until I bought some more on Ebay. I like Emperor Megas' list, I have a lot of the same games as him that I enjoy too.

[Insaneclown]

Get the original heavy beast!!!

[Oldskool]

I'm quite excited as I have been acquiring 3DO games lately through trades (mostly disc-only, some in jewel cases and some boxed) and today Yu-Yu Hakusho and Hell: A Cyberpunk Adventure appeared in the mail. I've got an FZ-10 with cables coming from one trade and two controllers coming in another trade. Hopefully, by the end of the week, I'll be able to contribute something to this thread in reference to the majesty of the FZ-10. I've been dying to play Real Pinball since I like pinball games.

Congrats on the new 3DO stuff. I honestly didn't think Hell was that great, it's got a LOT of reading/storyline, and TO ME it can be quite boring too. As far as Real Pinball is concerned, it's really not that good either. If you want a really good pinball game get Pataank! It's sort of a 3d, first person pinball game, I've never seen anything else like it. I keep hearing of this Yu-Yu Hakusho game, but I am not quite sure what it is, so I cannot tell you if it's any good or not, but people seem to mention it a bit so it must be good. You'll probably want to get some better games before you reference to the majesty of the FZ-10.

[Steve W]

I honestly didn't think Hell was that great, it's got a LOT of reading/storyline, and TO ME it can be quite boring too.

I feel the same way. So many people talked about how great it was supposed to be, but the early '90s rendered art, odd animation, iffy voice acting, and tediousness of the gameplay totally turned me off. But to be fair, I'm more of an action game person.

I think I'm going to pull out the ol' FZ-1 and fire it up later tonight. I just wish I had more of a selection of games to play than I do right now.

[Platinum]

I just finished 3DO Doom yesterday morning. I scaled the screen down one size to decrease the lag. Other than that, I don't see why people bog on it all the time. Sure I had some lag, not aften. It was a respectable version if you ask me. Now I award the title of worst doom port to the 32X version, and I still liked that one.

[Emperor Megas]

I honestly didn't think Hell was that great, it's got a LOT of reading/storyline, and TO ME it can be quite boring too.

HELL: aCT also had a couple of nasty game ending bugs, too. But even with all of it's flaws I always enjoyed the game. It's a point and click adventure after all, so you can't really expect much in the way of action or intensity. I was really into cyberpunk too, so the theme earned it points with me as well. And Dennis Hopper is so over the top, and some (most) of the dialog is so incredibly terrible that it's hard (for me) not to enjoy it.

Bad dialog in older games is a guilty pleasure of mine (Telenet/Reno, FTW!).

I feel the same way. So many people talked about how great it was supposed to be, but the early '90s rendered art, odd animation, iffy voice acting, and tediousness of the gameplay totally turned me off.

I didn't realize that there was ever any buzz about the game, but then I never knew anyone else who owned a 3DO back then. I still enjoy HELL, but it's definitely a love or hate title. I especially enjoyed the puzzles. I used to work offshore when I first played though it, and it was really fun to play in short half hour intervals each night before bed. The same with MYST. I found those point and click games to be very relaxing, and stimulating, too.

[josekortez]

Congrats on the new 3DO stuff. I honestly didn't think Hell was that great, it's got a LOT of reading/storyline, and TO ME it can be quite boring too. As far as Real Pinball is concerned, it's really not that good either. If you want a really good pinball game get Pataank! It's sort of a 3d, first person pinball game, I've never seen anything else like it. I keep hearing of this Yu-Yu Hakusho game, but I am not quite sure what it is, so I cannot tell you if it's any good or not, but people seem to mention it a bit so it must be good. You'll probably want to get some better games before you reference to the majesty of the FZ-10.

Well, I've got others. Over the past 6 or so months, I've acquired Road Rash, Need for Speed, Mad Dog McCree 2, Twisted: The Game Show, Panzer General, Supreme Warrior and John Madden Football. I figure those should get me started. I'm not necessarily in a rush to collect for 3DO. It's just an obscure system I haven't tried yet.

And Yu Yu Hakusho is a Japanese-exclusive 2D fighting game. I always hear it mentioned in league with Street Fighter II and Samurai Shodown as one of the three available fighters for the system, although I don't think the gameplay is as deep as it is in either of those games.

I still need to find a light gun. Are the light guns hard to find for this thing?

[jwlowry]

I completely agree that 3DO games are nearly impossible to find in the wild, plus online searches aren't as fruitful as they were just a few years ago. I picked up the majority of my 3DO collection as game stores were selling off stock when the system was being phased out, which historically has been the best way to build a collection of any console. I've always got one eye open for 3DO games in the wild with no expectations of actually coming across anything.

[josekortez]

My FZ-10 arrived today, but the seller didn't put the AV cables or the power cord in like he was supposed to. I know it uses off-the-shelf AV cables, but is it possible to use the power cord from any other game systems successfully with a 3DO? I don't want to use the wrong voltage. I'm kind of ticked off since I had planned to test my 3DO games today.

[Oldskool]

Hmmm that sucks about the power cord. I couldn't tell ya the specs on it, but basically try to look on the bottom of the console somewhere for how many volts and amps it takes, ac or dc, and try to look at some adapters and see if they match. You'll also want to make sure that the polarity is correct. I didn't recall it having a separate AC adapter, but it's been years since I had an FZ-10. The FZ-1 is cool in the fact that the power cord is integrated into the console, maybe that's one reason why it's so heavy.

[bitrate]

My FZ-10 arrived today, but the seller didn't put the AV cables or the power cord in like he was supposed to. I know it uses off-the-shelf AV cables, but is it possible to use the power cord from any other game systems successfully with a 3DO? I don't want to use the wrong voltage. I'm kind of ticked off since I had planned to test my 3DO games today.

All 3DO consoles (Goldstar, Panasonic, Sanyo) have integrated power supplies so you do not need to worry about using an incorrect AC adapter. As such, all you need is a run-of-the-mill polarized power cord. A two conductor 18 awg cable with a polarized IEC C7 connector on the end that plugs into the FZ-10.

[Oldskool]

So basically plug your Playstation AC adapter into it, and it will work. Looks like you are in luck! I suggest using an S-Video cable for the video. You can get one at most stores for just a few bucks.

[josekortez]

So basically plug your Playstation AC adapter into it, and it will work. Looks like you are in luck! I suggest using an S-Video cable for the video. You can get one at most stores for just a few bucks.

Yeah, I found an AC in my cords drawer that was 125 v even though the power specs on the bottom of the system say it should be 120 v. After I cleaned the system out thoroughly (it seemed to have been buried under a pile of leaves at some point), I tried the 125 v cord and it powered on. I had some gold-plated composite cables from an old VCR, and it works fine on my TV! That was a stroke of genius on the designers' parts to make it possible to use AV cables from almost any piece of tech.

And I found a disc-only copy of Stellar 7 that I already had from two years ago! Score!!!

[bitrate]

Yeah, I found an AC in my cords drawer that was 125 v even though the power specs on the bottom of the system say it should be 120 v. After I cleaned the system out thoroughly (it seemed to have been buried under a pile of leaves at some point), I tried the 125 v cord and it powered on. I had some gold-plated composite cables from an old VCR, and it works fine on my TV! That was a stroke of genius on the designers' parts to make it possible to use AV cables from almost any piece of tech.

And I found a disc-only copy of Stellar 7 that I already had from two years ago! Score!!!

You are misunderstanding what that 120V designation on the console and 125V designation on the power cord mean.

Just because the power cord has 125V printed on it does not mean that it is going to power a device with 125V when plugged into a wall outlet. The power cord is going to give you whatever voltage is available at that wall outlet (minus a VERY small amount based on cable length and conductor diameter, etc.)
When you see a voltage designation on a cable/wire, it is usually there to indicate to the user what type of circuit that cable/wire is to be used in and/or a maximum allowable voltage that can be placed across it.

The 120V designation on the bottom of the 3DO console does indicate an input voltage requirement, but it is not a strict number and instead is there to (along with the other printed information) indicate that the console operates under the North American voltage range (usually quoted at 110-volt, 115-volt and 120-volt). Electric utilities, under standard conditions, usually deliver 120 volts +/- 5% at the transformer.

So, when you say "I found an AC in my cords drawer that was 125 v even though the power specs on the bottom of the system say it should be 120 v" understand that a simple AC power cable is not used for stepping-up or stepping-down voltages and that your cable should work fine for use with the 3DO console (assuming the cable has sufficient current carrying capability).
The times when you need to pay attention to input voltages and currents are when you are powering an electronic device that uses an external supply (wall-wart, power-brick, etc.)

[josekortez]

You are misunderstanding what that 120V designation on the console and 125V designation on the power cord mean.

Just because the power cord has 125V printed on it does not mean that it is going to power a device with 125V when plugged into a wall outlet. The power cord is going to going to give you whatever voltage is available at that wall outlet (minus a VERY small amount based on cable length and conductor diameter, etc.)
When you see a voltage designation on a cable/wire, it is usually there to indicate to the user what type of circuit that cable/wire is to be used in and/or a maximum allowable voltage that can be placed across it.

The 120V designation on the bottom of the 3DO console does indicate an input voltage requirement, but it is not a strict number and instead is there to (along with the other printed information) indicate that the console operates under the North American voltage range (usually quoted at 110-volt, 115-volt and 120-volt). Electric utilities, under standard conditions, usually deliver 120 volts +/- 5% at the transformer.

So, when you say "I found an AC in my cords drawer that was 125 v even though the power specs on the bottom of the system say it should be 120 v" understand that a simple AC should work fine for use with the 3DO console (assuming the cable has sufficient current power cable is not used for stepping-up or stepping-down voltages and that your cable carrying capability).
The times when you need to pay attention to input voltages and currents are when you are powering an electronic device that uses an external supply (wall-wart, power-brick, etc.)

Thanks, bitrate. I appreciate the explanation about the voltage. And I don't mean that in a sarcastic way. My main concern was not shorting anything out or electrocuting myself.

I have a worse problem now, though. The FZ-10 wouldn't boot any games and it's making a grinding noise. I'm pretty sure it won't read any discs because it continues to reboot to the loading screen. So as to not derail this thread any further, I'll continue my inquiry in the Technical and Restoration Society forum.

[Breetai]

Yeah, before the PSX and Saturn I'm pretty sure that all CD-based systems play backups.

Even after them, the Neo-Geo CD and Jaguar CD both play backups as well. I think the PC Engine FX does, but I'm not absolutely certain about that.

And of course, thanks to an exploit the Dreamcast plays backups... but other than that everything since then has copy protection.

I can tell you first-hand that the PC-FX does play backups. At least, I assume you meant the PC-FX when you said "PC Engine FX".