3DO

The 3DO Company (NASDAQ: THDO) was founded1993 by Electronic Arts co-founder Trip Hawkins inpartnershipseven other companies, including Matsushita, AT&T, MCA, Time Warner,Electronic Arts. The company's original objective wascreatenext-generation, CD-based video game system which would be manufactured by various partnerslicensees; 3DO would collectroyalty on each console soldon each game manufactured. To game publishers,low $3 royalty rate per game wasbetter deal thanhigher royalties paidNintendoSega when making gamesthose consoles. The launch ofplatform was well-promoted, withgreat dealpress attention inmass media as part of"multimedia wave" incomputer world attime.

Unfortunately3DO console itself was priced at $700, andpromised "early adopters" never showed uppurchase mass quantitiesgames. The quality3DO games was perceived as low, onwhole. WhenSony PlayStation appeared1995its hardware 3D graphics supportits outstanding game software,smashed all remaining hopes for3DO console. The 3DO Company sold its console rightsMatsushitachanged its businessdeveloppublish games forPlayStation as well as other game consolesPCs.

After abandoning3DO console,company's biggest hit was its seriesArmy Men games, featuringgeneric green plastic soldier toys that had been re-popularized byunrelated movie Toy Story. Its MightMagicHeroesMightMagic series from subsidiary New World Computing were also popularlucrative forcompany. After strugglingseveral years,company filedChapter 11 bankruptcyMay 2003.