GoldStar 3DO
Heralded as the first “Super Console” of the 90’s, the 3DO did little to live up to its expectations or its staggering price tag (more than three times that of the Megadrive).
Towards the end of the 3DO’s life span the technology was used by other electronic developers to make their own low cost incarnations of the hardware. The takers were GoldStar (Later LG) and Sanyo.
The Console
Outwardly this unit is unremarkable, not showing as much design inspiration as the original Panasonic offering .Although it is nice to see a reshaped case because in most cases all that changes is the colour and logo (ie. V-Saturn). For some reason GoldStar decided to remove the S-Video port . Probably because it’s seldom used and only offers a slight increase in quality over composite.
The Pad
The Control pad is smooth and slightly more comfortable to use than the originals. My only complaint overall is that the D-Pad is rather shallow, your thumb just roles over the top with little sensation of actually pressing the directions down.
Overall
Usage wise, the console works exactly the same as all the others. The in-built memory manager and CD player are easy to use (compared to Sega CD and Neo-Geo CD) and as expected there are no extra features to report.
This a suitable alternative to the Panasonic. If you are looking to get into the 3DO seen and have a chance to get this console then it should be considered. Other then the more pleasing style and colour of the FZ-1, you’re not really missing out on anything.
Neil – 8bitplus 2009
