Editing Panasonic M2 (section)

=== 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>}}