The $699 3DO console is a special presence in the video game market around the world.

With the gradual development of Voodoo graphics cards, the display performance of high-end personal computers has actually far surpassed that of home game consoles.

But unlike the low price of home game consoles, even a high-end voodoo graphics card can cost several times more than a game console.

A top-of-the-line personal computer can cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Mr. Tripp, the former president of Electronic Arts and the founder of Electronic Arts, saw this opportunity and he planned to start a business with a game console that would far surpass the performance of today's game consoles, at least to the level of high-end personal computers.

After gathering a large number of manufacturers, his plan succeeded, and the 3DO host was licensed in a standardized form to white goods giants such as Samsung, Panasonic, and Sanyo, who were responsible for production and sales.

Although the memory2M,Video memory1M,The picture resolution reaches 480P,The maximum number of colors32000 colors,The performance of the same screen color number1670 colors is far ahead of the console of the same generation,But its high price to 699 US dollars,It has become the biggest obstacle to its sales increase。

Nintendo has been making game consoles since it started, and game consoles have always guarded a line, and the price cannot exceed 25,000 yen.

Why this number?

It is said that this is the amount of pocket money that children can get during the New Year.

When converted into U.S. dollars, the selling price is about 200 U.S. dollars.

Therefore, after the red and white consoles led the peak of home game console performance for a period of time, Nintendo's home game console was not the best performance in its contemporaries, but the low price guaranteed its sales.

The market share of the platform is high, and there are many manufacturers who are willing to make games for it, and Nintendo is still the market leader.

However, the low price of the console cannot make money, and if you want to make money as a platform, you must reverse the money charged by the game manufacturer.

Therefore, on Nintendo's platform, there are countless expenses of all kinds, and game manufacturers are complaining, and it has become a daily routine.

The emergence of 3DO represents a collective voice of game manufacturers.

However, the platform made according to their ideas is not so easy to sell.

The high price makes it very rare for families to be able to buy a game console.

In the first year, the number of 3DOs sold worldwide was just over 100,000 units.

The only influential game series is "Toy Soldier Wars".

What's even more frustrating is that this platform façade game is not an all-age game.

It's a toy soldier game with a nostalgic flavor and real-time strategy elements.

Players need to arrange the positions of the toy soldiers to conquer one level after another, although it can be said to be interesting, but the poor operation of the controller makes the game a little detracted.

Why mention this gaming platform that has just been born with no future in sight and is just waiting for death?

Because Tripp himself, he came to Manho's headquarters and found Takahashi in an attempt to convince Takahashi to let Manho launch the game on 3DO.

In the spring season, the snow melts, and small ditches gather on the flat ground.

Takahashi stood up to greet Tripp and shook his hand.

"Gao, I hope Wanhu will be able to launch the game on 3DO. I know that Manhu has some conflicts with Nintendo, and has a good cooperative relationship with Sega. But I want you to assure you that the game launched on 3DO, the share ratio must be the most favorable, it must be far better than Nintendo, and it must be better than Sega. ”

Takahashi waited for Tripp to finish, but there was no expression on his face, and he said slowly, "As far as I know, 3DO sells for as much as six hundred and ninety-nine dollars. How much can such an expensive console sell?

If I'm correct, I've sold less than a million units.

I think you also know what kind of sales Wanhu has launched on Sega.

Everyone is an old rival, such as ball games, which have been competing with video games all year round, and have not sold less than two million units in the past two years.

Even if it is a role-playing game, Wanhu's "Endless Fantasy" series has millions of sales on the Sega platform.

You also know that if a platform has too few shares, it can't support sales.

And now you know the trend of game development, which is burning more and more money.

You want me to launch a game on 3DO, I can say yes, but it's not possible to make a big game, maybe we'll release some small titles on the 3DO platform. ”

Tripp listened carefully, Takahashi's words did not jump out of his expectation, he said, "Gao, if it's a small-scale game, why should I come to China to find you in person? The follow-up copyright of the game also belongs to Wanhu.

The performance of 3DO, you know, is absolutely fantastic.

The exorbitant selling price, which we have recently worked on to solve, intends to reduce the price by two hundred dollars, which is four hundred and ninety-nine dollars for sale.

It's true that 3DO needs a big game, but I think Manhu is also looking for a platform where he can publish games.

Sega's platform has more than 6 million units in the United States, more than 3 million units in Europe, and more than 1 million units in Japan.

However, this generation of Sega consoles has been around for eight years and is already entering the end of its life cycle.

But the short-sighted Sega America didn't want to promote the new console at all, only wanted to keep the best-selling console in service for a longer period of time.

After my investigation, I found out that lately Sega has launched a lot of useless and ridiculous hardware. Players who originally supported Sega have also complained.

I think it's time to choose other platforms.

And your company is in a state of cold war with Nintendo, so why not choose us 3DO?

I believe that with the game of 10,000 households, the sales of 3DO will soon come up.

It's a win-win situation. ”

Tripp's words are also reasonable, according to the current situation analysis, Wanhu is now a masterpiece of console games, and it does lack a platform as a carrier.

According to him, it seems that 3DO is a good choice, but Takahashi has little interest in this option.

Even if the price is reduced to $499, it is still twice as expensive as other hosts, and maybe it can continue to reduce the price, but when it drops to the range of $200 to 300. How much worse will the performance of Nintendo and Sega's next-generation consoles be compared to 3DO?

Takahashi said indifferently, "Mr. Tripp, I wouldn't choose to launch the game on 3DO.

Sega America does have some problems, but why do you think Wanhu won't launch its own console?"