Old 3DO Stuff

The Stuff I Did on The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer

1996.11.20

Last updated: 2020.01.07

In October of 1996, after four and a half years of service, The 3DO Company finally discharged me in one of their numerous "reorganizations." I don't mind saying that the entire "3DO Experience" left me very disillusioned; I didn't start enjoying my work again until I went to work for Be, Inc.

Having been one of the more rabid supporters of the Amiga computer, I saw NTG/3DO as a "second chance" for the philosophy that bred the Amiga. Even today, it is still my firm opinion that 3DO could have succeeded as much as Trip claimed it could. Sadly, for everyone, it didn't happen, and a lot of excellent work was lost, buried in disinterest and non-disclosure agreements.

Before I was laid off, however, I held out hope until the very last that 3DO was still capable of doing something magnificent, and I was prepared to contribute as much as I could. The links below are just a couple of the results of that enthusiasm I had. The descriptions below are precisely as they used to appear on my home page.

Someday, if I can get past my own sense of betrayal enough to report more or less factually, I may write about my experiences at the Salt Pile. Until then, enjoy the links.

Stuff I Did

• 1996.05.09: The 3DO Personal Programming Kit Survey
  I don't know about anyone else, but I've always thought rather poorly of game console manufacturers who won't let you program for their machine unless you sign some draconian "license." Personally, I happen to think that anyone should be able to hack on whatever machine they can (legitimately) get their hands on. Well, I finally convinced my unusually cool employers at The 3DO Company to let me conduct this survey to see just how many other copies of me there are out there...
  Last updated 1996.06.20.
  • (1998.07.19: Yes, I do still have the data, and yes, when I learn enough about Perl, I'll process the results and post them.)
  • (1998.09.01: Warning: Some of the mailto: links point to my old email address at 3DO. Obviously, this address no longer works, so if you're sending mail, be sure the To: field points to my current email address.)