$THREEDO

]            by SINK/HMD
       


 "Interactive Multiplayer" (IM) or
simply 3DO (which is the name of the
firm which has created it) is undoubt-
edly the multimedia platform of the
future .
Associating the most modern techniques
the machine is impressive .
The system is based on a 32-Bit
revolutionnary architecture .
Its conceptors claim that it can do
certain tasks 50 times faster than
"traditionnal" computers or game
consoles . It is able to create very
realistic images and animations using
many cinema techniques .



 In order to be more competitive 3DO
has become associated with :
 - MATSUSHITA (creator of the VHS
               standard)
 - AT & T     (the largest firm of
               telecommunications in
               the world)
 - Time Warner\__
 - M.C.A.     /  (Producing films and
                  TV programs)  
 - Electronic Arts (Videogames
                    producer)

 As the CD-I (manufactured by Sony and
Philips) 3DO is capable of reading
other CD's standards like normal CDs
(audio), Photo-CDs (from Kodak) and
Video-CDs (also called LaserDiscs) .



 A RISC 32-Bit processor is the
system's core . It is connected to two
coprocessors : one for the graphics
and one for the sound . The latter
allows 3DO to read a digital signal
in the same way as an audio CD .

 This multitasking process allows to
speed up the data analysis and proces-
sing .

 The graphics are in full screen and
the animation is real-time (30 frames
per second, the U.S. standard) .
The 3DO is coming with an internal
CD-ROM reader(player?) (with two speeds
for speeding up the access and data
tranfer) .

 Many peripherals are coming up :

 - a joystick .
 - a trackball .
 - a keyboard .
 - a mouse .
 - a modem .
 - High technology glasses .
 - Memory cards for data saving .
 - Video camera connectors .
 - MIDI connectors .

     SO YOU DON'T WANT AUTOMATIC
    SHOES POLISHER WITH, DO YOU ?

 The animated sequences are stocked
and packed at the MPEG standard .
For example, this kind of packing sys-
tem allows a 24-bit picture
(16 million colors) to be stocked into
60 Kbytes !!! It's actually the best
packing rate .
One of the best trumps of 3DO is that
there isn't any devlopmen exclusive
rights so the 3DO firm suggests all
game editors to create without doubts
their productions for this platform .












 We can expect a fast and efficient
devlopment for this machine !
The price will be approximately
between 700 and 1,000 $US in the USA .