PixelFX, the team of developers responsible for the Morph 4K scaler and Retro GEM HDMI mods, has opened up pre-orders for a version of the Retro GEM that is compatible with 3DO consoles.
Released in 1993, the 3DO belongs to the fifth generation of video game consoles along with the N64, Playstation, and Sega Saturn. 3DO took a unique approach to the video game console market, opting to license out their platform’s hardware design to third party manufacturers instead of releasing it themselves. This resulted in 3DO consoles being made by Panasonic, Sanyo, LG (nee, Goldstar), and even a 3DO ISA card from Creative Labs that would let you play 3DO games on your Windows PC. Besides the ISA card, the hardware in these consoles is relatively consistent and mod compatibility is robust—with an important asterisk.
The 3DO eventually received a cost-cutting hardware revision around 1995 that consolidated multiple chips on the motherboard in to a single, monolithic chip. Known as “Anvil” revisions, these consoles are impossible to mod because so few signals are exposed to developers and therefore can’t be tapped in to for mods like the Retro GEM. A substantial number of 3DOs out there today were made before Anvil, but the following models are incompatible with RGB or HDMI mods:
- Late model Panasonic FZ-10
- Goldstar GDO-202
Very little information has been released about the Retro GEM 3DO mod, but we do know a few things so far:
- Per PixelFX’s documentation, All pre-Anvil consoles should be compatible.
- Even though the 3DO renders games at an internal resolution of 240p, it converts that native 240p image to 480i on output—resulting in a softer image that is less stable. The Retro GEM board can reverse this process and scale its output from the original 240p signal, or you can choose to have it scale the 480i signal.
- PixelFX says that they are able to sample 240p from 3DOs without incurring the same speed increases that previous 240p mods have caused in certain games.
PixelFX says that the Retro GEM 3DO kits will be shipping in January 2025. Like other Retro GEM variants, the 3DO kit is available in both “Basic” and “Shiny” editions that retail for $120 and $190, respectively. The short story is that if you’re using your modded console directly with your TV, you will benefit most from a “Shiny” edition; but if you’re using your modded consoles in tandem with a RetroTink 4K, Morph 4K, or OSSC Pro, then you can safely save some money with a “Basic” edition. PixelFX has a feature comparison on the store page for the Retro GEM.
For some extra information about the 3DO, its quirks, and some existing mods, feel free to check out videos from RetroRGB, My Life in Gaming, and LGR: