Editing Panasonic M2 (section)

==History==
As with the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, the M2 hardware was co-designed by [[Dave Needle]] and [[RJ Mical]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Don't Count Out 3DO's New M2|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=72|publisher=Sendai Publishing |date=July 1995|page=26}}</ref> First announced as a [[peripheral]] chip for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer with a custom [[PowerPC]] microprocessor,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=3DO Powers Up|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=74|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=November 1994|page=272}}</ref><ref name=EGM71>{{cite magazine |title=Exploring M2: A Closer Look at 3DO's Newest Technology |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=71 |publisher=Sendai Publishing|date=June 1995|pages=60–61}}</ref> the M2 eventually became a standalone console and was exhibited and demonstrated at the 1995 [[Electronic Entertainment Expo]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=E3: 3DO|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=7 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=July 1995|page=19}}</ref> For a time, the M2 was scheduled to be released both as a standalone unit and as an add-on chip.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Letters |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=15 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=March 1996|page=106}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=Matsushita Grabs M2|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=88 |publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=January 1996|page=22}}</ref> In 1996, an M2 developer stated that he did not think an M2 add-on chip was possible because the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and M2 architectures were too vastly different from each other.<ref name=EGM87>{{cite magazine |title=More Power to M2 |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=87 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=October 1996|pages=20–22}}</ref>

=== Matsushita sale ===
Initially the plan was for the 3DO Company to license the console to multiple manufacturers, as it had done with the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, and both Matsushita ([[Panasonic]]) and [[GoldStar]] were signed on to produce M2 units.<ref name="NGe10">{{cite magazine |title=3DO's M2 Prepares for its Debut|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=10|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=October 1995|pages=14–15}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=3DO and its Partners Getting Ready for the 64-Bit Battle |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=73 |publisher=Sendai Publishing|date=August 1995|page=26}}</ref> However, 3DO later sold exclusive rights to the M2 to Panasonic<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Matsushita Buys 3DO M2 Technology|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=13 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=January 1996|pages=18–19}}</ref> for a sum of $100 million agreed in October 1995,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=admin |date=1996-05-29 |title=Nintendo pins future on cutting-edge system {{!}} The Journal Record |url=https://journalrecord.com/1996/05/nintendo-pins-future-on-cuttingedge-system/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |language=en-US}}</ref> and relinquished their involvement with the console over the next several months. Matsushita formed a new division in April 1996 named Panasonic Wondertainment Inc. headquartered in Tokyo to be their in-house software developer for the M2.<ref name=":0" /> Several of the M2's third-party developers expressed concern that Panasonic would be unable to give them the same high quality development support that they had been receiving from 3DO and said that in light of this they were reconsidering whether it would be worth the effort of learning how to develop for the M2.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Developers Worry About M2's Future |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=16|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=April 1996|page=18}}</ref> For several months Panasonic and [[Sega]] were discussing a partnership over the M2, but talks between the two companies broke down in the second quarter of 1996.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Divorce Absolute for Sega and M2|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=18|publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=June 1996|page=19}}</ref> According to 3DO president [[Trip Hawkins]], "The deal was virtually done. It only fell apart at the last minute."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The World According to Trip |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=22 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=October 1996|page=165}}</ref>

According to Omid Kordestani, a 3DO spokesperson, the M2 could generate 1 million polygons per second with the graphics features turned off and 700,000 polygons per second with the features turned on.<ref name=EGM71/> There were plans to make M2 models with built-in [[DVD player]]s, similar to the later [[PlayStation 2]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Milk the Clock |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=82 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]] |date=May 1996 |pages=16–17}}</ref> According to 3DO senior vice president of hardware engineering Toby Farrand, "M2 was designed knowing that we would make it a DVD capable player."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Will DVD Change the Face of Videogames? |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=18|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=June 1996|pages=41–42}}</ref>

A preview in ''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' published well before the console's planned release gave it four out of five stars, claiming that the M2 was several times as powerful as any gaming console then on the market. They also praised the 3DO Company's strategies for securing third-party support for the system, and concluded that "M2 has crossed the line from being a collection of fanciful tech specs to hard silicon that people can work on and believe in."<ref name=NGen12>{{cite magazine |title=Which Game System is the Best!?|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=12|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|date=December 1995|pages=79–81}}</ref>

The M2 failed to appear at the 1996 Electronic Entertainment Expo; a Panasonic spokesperson at the show said they were still undecided on how they were going to use the M2 technology, and that it was no longer certain that they would be using it as a gaming platform.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Show Notes|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=95 |publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]] |date=August 1996|page=16}}</ref> By the end of 1996 a release date was not yet set for the console, and third-party developers were stating that in practice the M2 was not significantly more powerful than the [[Nintendo 64]].<ref name=NGen26/> ''[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]'' summarized the M2 situation at this time: "Some months, it seems the boat is still afloat: Rumors crop up of a public showing, new demos come out or a Matsushita official doles out some tantalizing hints. Other months, it seems the boat has capsized, with developers scrambling to get off the boat while they still can."<ref name=EGM90>{{cite magazine |title=M2 Jitters?|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=90|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=January 1997|page=21}}</ref>

{{quote box | width=30% | quote=The M2 was a very powerful 64-Bit design with a lot of RAM and a big disk drive. Perhaps like the 3DO, it was slightly ahead of its time because of the component costs, but this is the design direction where the industry is headed. | source=—3DO President Trip Hawkins, commenting on the cancellation of the M2<ref>{{cite magazine |title=License to Kill - M2 Axed: 3DO Reacts|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=99|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=October 1997|page=27}}</ref>}}

=== Cancellation of console ===
Matsushita cancelled the project in mid-1997, unwilling to compete against fellow Japanese electronics giant [[Sony]]'s [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] and [[Nintendo]]'s [[Nintendo 64]], both of which had recently had several top-selling games released for them.<ref name=Retro122>{{cite journal | last = Matthews | first= Will | date = December 2013 | title = Ahead of its Time: A 3DO Retrospective | journal = [[Retro Gamer]] | issue = 122 | page = 26 | publisher = [[Imagine Publishing]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Matsushita Kills the M2|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=108|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=September 1997|page=20}}</ref> Word of this leaked in late May, but it was not until July that the console's cancellation was made public, via an announcement by Matsushita president Yoichi Morishita.<ref>{{cite web|first=Micheal|last=Mullen|url=http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_07/03_mtwo/index.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19990504114422/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_07/03_mtwo/index.html|title=M2, We Hardly Knew You|website=[[GameSpot]]|archivedate=May 4, 1999|date=July 3, 1997|accessdate=July 29, 2022}}</ref><ref name=NGen33>{{cite magazine |title=Matsushita: Finally Pulling the Plug |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=33 |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=September 1997|pages=20–21 |url=https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_33/page/n21}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Where Was the M2? |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=98|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=September 1997|page=73}}</ref> The M2 was canceled so close to release, marketing had already taken place in the form of flyers, and several of its prospected launch titles had gameplay screens in circulation.

In October 1997 Matsushita announced that they were marketing the M2 hardware as an industrial system capable of custom multimedia applications for simulations.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=M2's Second Life |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |issue=102 |publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=January 1998|page=22}}</ref>

=== Use in other hardware ===
Development kits and prototypes of the machine became very valuable pieces among collectors. M2's technology was integrated in the multimedia players FZ-21S and FZ-35S, both released in 1998.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} Both products were aimed at professionals working in medicine, architecture, and sales, not home users. The M2 also became a short-lived arcade board by [[Konami]]. The agreement to develop the board was made well in advance of the M2 console's planned release date, with the understanding that games using the arcade board would be ported to the home console, similar to the relationship between the [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]] and [[Namco System 11]].<ref>{{cite magazine |date=1 March 1996 |title=Overseas Readers Column - Konami To Develop Coin-Op Videos Using 64-bit "M2" |magazine=[[:ja:ゲームマシン|Game Machine]] |publisher=[[:ja:アミューズメント通信社|Amusement Press, Inc.]] |page=30 |issue=513 |lang=ja}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Webb |first=Marcus |date=May 1996 |title=Konami, Matsushita Plan 64-Bit Home and Arcade Sister Systems |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |page=26 |issue=17}}</ref> Because games ran straight from the [[CD-ROM]] drive, it suffered from long load times and a high failure rate, so only five games were developed for it.

In the late 1990s and from 2000 on, the system was also sold in the [[interactive kiosk]] market. In 2000, PlanetWeb, Inc. began offering software to allow the M2 to be used as an Internet appliance.<ref name="BusinessWire" /> All of the software released for the M2 kiosks was developed with the "CDMotion for M2/M2X" software, which was a point and click "codeless" SDK for M2. None of the applications utilized the Macintosh based SDK in conjunction with Macintosh Programmers Workbench.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} The M2 technology was later used in [[automated teller machine]]s, and in [[Japan]] in [[coffee vending machine]]s.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}}