The Video Game Console Library

The Video Game Console Library - Panasonic 3DO M2

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	Panasonic 3DO M2
	DW FACTS by Dark Watcher
	Page content, development and design by Marriott_Guy

Developer	Manufacturer	Release Date	Country(s)	Initial Price	Model Number	Game Releases	Overall Rating
Matsushita / Panasonic	Matsushita / Panasonic	1998	Japan	Unknown	FZ-21S, FZ-35S	Unknown	N\A
Ratings	Reviews	Pictures\Video	Specs	Games\Emulation	Models	Clones	Links

Ratings
Consoles are rated based upon the available technology at the time of its release. Ratings based upon a 10 point scale (10 being excellent\very rare).
Console Design (appearance, functionality)	N\A
Console Durability (sturdy or frail and fragile)	N\A
Controllers (design, response, feel, use)	N\A
Graphics (graphical capability and presentation)	N\A
Audio (sound, music, speech, effects)	N\A
Media (game media format, design, durability)	N\A
Packaging (appeal, durability of packaging)	N\A
Game Library (quality, quantity of game library)	N\A
Innovations (technological industrial strides)	N\A
Gamer Value (good investment for the gamer?)	N\A
Collector Value (good collector investment?)	N\A
Games Rarity (general availability of games)	N\A
Console Rarity (general availability of a system)	N\A

Reviews

Panasonic 3DO M2

A special thanks to Timo Weirich (WindowsKiller) for great technical and historical assistance in this page,
as well to Borman and the rest of the community at ASSEMblergames.com. Your support is appreciated!

DW FACTS
- by Dark Watcher

Two years after the release of 3DO, the company began working on it's successor codenamed Bull Dog (model FZ-DR21 - the external drive unit for the development kit). At first, M2 began as 64-bit add-on for 3DO systems. The concept was initially developed by the same people responsible for the first 3DO system (called Opera).

Later around 1995, 3DO sold the technology to Matsushita and left the hardware market. The Japanese electronic giant worked on the base of the system to produce a better technology called M2. At first this technology was to be sold as a videogame system until mid year 1997, but Matsushita felt the market was not ready for another videogame console, and changed their game plan.

Matsushita / Panasonic finally released M2 later on that same year. The technology was remade into a TV-based interactive multimedia player that was geared towards corporate businesses for use in Public Information and Display Terminals, Sales Promotion and Exhibit Presentations, 3-D Viewing, Educational and Training Kiosks, etc.

The Panasonic M2 Interactive Media player came in two versions. The FZ-21s was a more sleek and compact version that featured a 4X CD-ROM (Plays M2-CDs, as well as VideoCD 2.0) and a PCMCIA Type III slot for use with modem, Ethernet, memory, hard drive or other compatible PC card devices.

The FZ-35s is the more high end featured model that features a DVD-ROM drive for increased content storage capability, as well as expanded input/output device connectivity, expanded SRAM, a built-in Infrared Receiver, LS-120 SuperDisk, Flash Memory, Modem, or LAN card.

It would have been interesting to see what the M2 could have done videogame wise. Sadly, it remained a multimedia device.

Unofficial M2 logo designed by Brilliant2meNu.
Excellent work!!

HANDS ON REVIEW

Coming soon, but while it is being written, Timo Weirich offers this interesting bit of information:

"Many people think the name M2 comes from Matsushita and refers to Matsushita and the 2 PPCs of their design, but that's wrong. The name was there long before the M2 was sold to Matsushita. The add-on originally went under the name Mark 2 Accelerator. At some point, it was simply shortened to M2."

Pictures & Video

Various picture\video media for this console. Click pictures to enlarge.

3DO M2 Information

Video courtesy of Tekknorg.

3DO M2 Development - 1st movie

Video courtesy of Tekknorg.

Konami M2 Arcade System Board

Video courtesy of Brilliant2meNu.

3DO M2 Development - 2nd movie

Video courtesy of Tekknorg.

3DO M2 Development - 3rd movie

Video courtesy of Tekknorg.

3DO M2 Development - 4th movie

Video courtesy of Tekknorg.

FZ-35s User Manual

FZ-35s User Manual - Page 1	Panasonic FZ-35s - Front	Panasonic FZ-35s - Back	FZ-35s User Manual - Page 2
FZ-35s User Manual - Page 3	FZ-35s User Manual - Page 4	FZ-35s User Manual - Page 5	FZ-35s User Manual - Page 6
FZ-35s User Manual - Page 7	FZ-35s User Manual - Page 8	FZ-35s User Manual - Page 9	FZ-35s User Manual - Page 10

3DO M2 Development

3DO M2 Development - Screen 1	Panasonic FZ-35s	3DO M2 Development - Screen 2
3DO M2 Development - Screen 3	3DO M2 Development - Screen 4	3DO M2 Development - Screen 5
3DO M2 Development - Screen 6	3DO M2 Development - Screen 7	3DO M2 Development - Screen 8

Panasonic FZ-35s manual scans provided courtesy of Timo Weirich (a.k.a. WindowsKiller @ ASSEMblergames.com).
3DO M2 Developement screen shots provided courtesy of Tekknorg (a.k.a. qirex-rd @ ASSEMblergames.com).

Specs

For the hardware enthusiasts out there - all the detail you\we love.

Processor Type	Processor Speed	Other Processor Information	RAM \ Video RAM
Dual PowerPC602	66.7 MHz	Custom ASIC (w/10 co-processors)	16 MB
Screen Resolution	Color Palette	Polygons \ Sprites	Audio
720 x 480 (max)	16.7 million	700K @ 1 Mil per sec	16-bit PCM stereo
Media Format	Media Capacity	Games Released	Other Supported Formats
CD \ DVD	4.0 GB	2 (multimedia apps) & many game protos	MPEG-1
Internal Storage	External \ Removable Storage	Game Controllers	Other Game \ Peripheral Devices
SuperDisk or LS-120 HDD	None	Gamepad style (not released)	Mouse, Keyboard
Controller Ports	Network Ports	Other Ports	Audio \ Video
One (1)	Available as an upgrade	Serial, Parallel, Keyboard, Mouse	Composite, S-Video, VGA
Power Supply	Other Outputs	Other Details \ Notes
100V \ 120V AC, 50\60 Hz	None	ATAPI/IDE DVD-ROM drive on most models

Games & Emulation

Games screen shots and\videos released for this system. Click pictures to enlarge.

3DO M2 - Chevy Kiosk Video

Video courtesy of ASSEMblerEX.