Editing Panasonic M2 (section)

=== 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>