3DO M2
 | |
| M2 board DFUP0882ZAM1 with two IBM PowerPC 602 processors | |
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Developer | The 3DO Company |
| Manufacturer | Matsushita (Panasonic), which bought the rights |
| Type | Cancelled game console; used in multimedia players and arcade hardware |
| CPU | Two PowerPC 602 at 66.7 MHz[1] |
| Memory | 8 MB SDRAM (FZ-21S1K) |
| Storage | — |
| Display | 640 × 480, up to 16.7 million colours |
| Sound | 16-bit stereo, 44.1 kHz |
| Media | 4× CD-ROM (FZ-21S1K) |
| OS / Firmware | — |
| Predecessor | 3DO Interactive Multiplayer |
The 3DO M2 is the hardware The 3DO Company designed to follow the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. It began as an accelerator for the existing console and became a console of its own, built around two PowerPC 602 processors. Matsushita bought exclusive rights to it in 1995 and cancelled the console in 1997 without releasing it.[2][3] The M2 hardware was sold instead in Panasonic's FZ-21S and FZ-35S interactive media players for commercial use, and in a series of Konami arcade games.[2][1][4] No M2 console reached the market, so the M2 hardware that survives is in those players, the Konami boards and development kits.
History
[edit | edit source]Like the 3DO, the M2 was designed by Dave Needle and RJ Mical. It was announced as a PowerPC add-on for the 3DO, shown as a separate console at the 1995 Electronic Entertainment Expo, and for a time planned as both. Matsushita and GoldStar were both signed to build M2 consoles before The 3DO Company sold Matsushita exclusive rights.[2] The sale was agreed in October 1995.[2] The definitive agreement, announced on 7 December 1995, gave The 3DO Company a US$100 million licence fee plus royalties. Matsushita gained exclusive rights to use M2 in consumer and commercial products, including game consoles, DVD players and set-top boxes, while The 3DO Company kept the rights for coin-operated arcade machines, PC applications and development tools.[3]
Matsushita set up Panasonic Wondertainment in April 1996 to write software for the console. It cancelled the M2 console in mid-1997; Matsushita's president, Yoichi Morishita, made it public in July. In October 1997 Matsushita offered the hardware as an industrial system for custom multimedia applications.[2]
What exists
[edit | edit source]Panasonic interactive media players
[edit | edit source]Panasonic sold two M2 players in 1998, aimed at professionals in medicine, architecture and sales.[2] Both use two PowerPC 602 processors at 66.7 MHz.[1][4]
| Item | FZ-21S1K | FZ-35S |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 8 MB SDRAM | 8 or 16 MB SDRAM; 0 or 128 KB battery-backed SRAM |
| Disc drive | 4× CD-ROM | ATAPI/IDE DVD-ROM or CD-ROM |
| Other storage | Memory card in the microcard slot | Optional SuperDisk LS-120 drive or hard disk |
| Video | NTSC composite and S-Video; 640 × 480 | NTSC composite and S-Video up to 720 × 480; RGB 640 × 480 on a 15-pin D-sub |
| Audio | 16-bit stereo, 44.1 kHz, RCA | 16-bit PCM stereo, RCA |
| Ports | Two 9-pin control ports; PCMCIA type III slot; RS-232C communication port; serial and PS/2 keyboard and mouse ports through supplied adaptors | Controller port; two RS-232C; parallel; PS/2 keyboard and mouse; expansion slot |
| Power | 120 V AC, 60 Hz, about 30 W | 100/120 V AC, 50/60 Hz, about 60 W |
| Size and weight | 274 × 71 × 230 mm, 1.8 kg | 280 × 95 × 274 mm, 3.5 kg |
[1][4] The FZ-21S1K is a Class A digital device under the FCC rules, the class for equipment used in commercial premises.[1] Some FZ-35S units were sold with a SuperDisk drive or a LAN card already fitted.[4]
Konami arcade hardware
[edit | edit source]Konami built arcade games on M2 hardware: Tobe! Polystars and Total Vice (1997), and Battle Tryst, Evil Night (Hell Night) and Heat of Eleven '98 (1998). The games ran directly from CD-ROM, which gave long loading times and a high failure rate.[2] Disc images of the Konami games are preserved on the Internet Archive.[5]
The board in the photograph, Matsushita number DFUP0882ZAM1, carries two IBM PowerPC 602 processors (EMPPC602FB66), the 3DO CDE2 chip and four SDRAM chips.[6] Japanese Wikipedia describes this board as Konami's arcade M2 board, with a Panasonic CR-583 eight-speed CD-ROM drive.[7]
Development hardware and software
[edit | edit source]M2 development cards survive in collections, and the 3DO Development Repo records the changes that convert a Macintosh revision H card to the PC version.[8] The M2 SDK and the M2 V2.7 developer documents are archived.[5] An M2 build of IMSA Racing was released to the public in 2010, and demo discs from development have been released since.[2]
Servicing
[edit | edit source]No service manual, schematic or parts list for the FZ-21S, the FZ-35S or the Konami board has been found in the 3DO Development Repo, the 3DO-information archive on GitHub or the Internet Archive; the two operating manuals are the only Panasonic documents hosted here.[9][5] The FZ-35S manual gives the battery-backed SRAM as 0 or 128 KB depending on the model, so check whether a unit has a backup cell and inspect it for leakage; see Battery Explosion, Capacitor or Corrosion Damage.[4]
Documentation
[edit | edit source]- 3DO M2 Documentation: Panasonic's operating instructions for the FZ-21S1K and FZ-35S.
Related pages
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Interactive Media Player FZ-21S1K Operating Instructions (1998), 7 pages, specifications on p. 7. Hosted here as File:Panasonic FZ-21S1K Operating Instructions.pdf; see 3DO M2 Documentation.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Panasonic M2, Wikipedia—link(accessed 2026-10-01) Used for history, dates and the list of Konami arcade games.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The 3DO Company, "3DO signs definitive agreement with Matsushita for $100 million for M2 technology", press release, 7 December 1995, reproduced at 3DO signs agreement with Matsushita for M2 technology, Real 3DO UK—link(accessed 2026-10-01)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Interactive Media Player FZ-35S Operating Instructions (1998), 12 pages: names of parts p. 6, built-in optional devices p. 10, specifications p. 11. Hosted here as File:Panasonic FZ-35S Operating Instructions.pdf; see 3DO M2 Documentation.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Internet Archive items Konami3DOM2 ("The 3DO M2 / Konami M2 Arcade Hardware Repository of Goodness!", disc images of the Konami M2 games, uploaded 2021), Panasonic3DOM2DeveloperReferenceDocuments (M2 V2.7 developer documents) and M2tkIso (M2 SDK). Searched 1 October 2026.
- ↑ Baz1521, photograph of an M2 board, 2 July 2006, Wikimedia Commons File:3DO-M2 01.jpg (CC BY-SA 3.0), hosted here as File:3DO M2 board DFUP0882ZAM1.jpg. Board number and chip markings read from the photograph.
- ↑ 3DO M2, Japanese Wikipedia—link(accessed 2026-10-01) Section on the arcade board, which gives the board's chips and its Panasonic CR-583 drive; used with the board photograph.
- ↑ DevCard Rev H, 3DO Development Repo—link(accessed 2026-10-01)
- ↑ Manuals and Schematics, 3DO Development Repo—link(accessed 2026-10-01) The GoldStar entries are the GDO101M owner's manual and the GDO101M power supply drawing; the service manuals listed are all Panasonic's. The 3DO-information repository (https://github.com/trapexit/3DO-information) holds the same two GoldStar files.
