Panasonic M2
3DO's cancelled successor
- 1997Released
- Unreleased ConsoleType
- The 3DO Company and PanasonicDeveloper
Panasonic M2 Specifications
- Processor
- Two IBM/Motorola PowerPC 602
- Processor Speed
- 66 MHz
- RAM
- 8 MB SDRAM, shared
- GPU
- Custom 3D and MPEG-1 video chips
- Resolution
- Up to 640 x 480
- Media
- CD-ROM (quad speed)
Overview
The M2 was designed by The 3DO Company as the successor to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, with two PowerPC 602 processors and custom graphics hardware that could draw textured, shaded 3D and decode MPEG-1 video. In early 1996 3DO sold the design to Matsushita, Panasonic’s parent company, which planned to release it as a home console.
Panasonic cancelled the console in 1997, before it reached shops, and sold the hardware instead for kiosks, multimedia players and other industrial uses. Konami built its M2 arcade board on the same design for games such as Polystars and Battle Tryst.
Several games were made for the M2 home console and left unreleased, among them Studio 3DO’s IMSA World Championship Racing, whose nearly complete build later surfaced online. There is no M2 emulator listed here; the community has instead recompiled that game into a native PC port.
Key Features
Dual PowerPC
Two 66 MHz PowerPC 602 processors sharing 8 MB of memory.
3D Hardware
Custom chips for textured, shaded 3D and MPEG-1 video.
Konami Arcades
Konami built its M2 arcade board on the same design.
Never Released
Panasonic cancelled the console in 1997, before launch.
