☆ Nintendo & SEGA Battle It Out In 80's 3D! ☆

There was a time when Nintendo & SEGA entered into the 3D video gaming world and that time was 1987!
Yes Nintendo & SEGA experimented with 3D Video Games in the 80's however, the experiment was not a success and these peripherals remain largely unheard of unseen.

NINTENDO'S 3D experiment was carried out on the all-conquering Famicom in Japan. Around this time Nintendo would release experimental concepts to a Japan audience only in order to see whether it would be scalable to a world audience and then if scalable in terms of consumer popularity it would then be released in North America, Europe etc.

The Hardware:

FAMICOM 3D System 

The Famicom 3D System hardware looks rather cool with it's ski mask style 3D glasses. You would not look at this and think it was brought out in 1987.

I checked on eBay and you can actually pick one up for around £100. I think this would be a decent investment if you had the cash as I can only see rarity increasing and prices going up as time goes on.


The Video Games:

"TURN RIGHT YOU IDIOT!"

There were only ever 8 video games released for the Famicom 3D system and they were:

1. 3D WorldRunner - 1987

2. Rad Racer (Highway Star (JAP) - 1987

3. JJ - 1987

4. Falsion - 1987

5. Attack Animal Gakuen - 1987

6. Famicom Grand Prix II: 3D Hot Rally - 1988

 

7. Cosmic Epsilon - 1989

8. Orb 3D - 1991

The games released utilised Stereoscopic 3D and therefore it wasn't necessary to utilise the bulky 3D hardware glasses in order to get the 3D effect as the smaller paper glasses were always supplied with the game itself.

The games had a Space Harrier theme to most of them as you can see from the screenshots. The one that stands out is the first racing title to feature the Mario Bros in! 3D Hot Rally looks awesome on the front cover of the box art, I'd like to see that car pop up in downloadable content for Switch Mario Kart as a nod towards the game.

A month after Nintendo launched their 3D effort it was SEGA's turn to wade into the new 3D Video Games Market with SEGA Scope 3D Glasses.....

SEGA didn't just test the water though, no they went full on and had a worldwide release for their very own 3D peripheral for the SEGA Master System.

The Hardware:

SEGAScope 3D Glasses 

The SEGAScope 3D hardware looks great with it's Google Glass style 3D glasses.
Although the wire looks like it would be annoying, to say the least.

I checked on eBay and you can actually pick one up for around the £50 mark. Again that has got to be a decent investment.

With only 6 Video Games released for SEGAScope 3D, it's safe to say that the peripheral didn't quite have the desired impact in the retail market!
 

The Video Games:

1. Maze Hunter 3D

2. Missile Defense 3D

3. Zaxxon 3D

4. Blade Eagle 3D

5. Space Harrier 3D

6. Poseidon Wars 3D

Out of the 6 games, Space Harrier 3D stands out as a good-looking title. But not much more to get excited about here.

When you look back at these efforts from Nintendo & SEGA to launch a 3D product it was the first of many efforts at convincing consumers that they want 3D products. But I suppose the truth is the gimmick is just that, a gimmick and generally doesn't last too long.

3D and VR have both suffered from this perception for a long time and developers and the big games companies have always struggled to get past this over the years.

Did YOU Own Any Of This Cool 3D Hardware?

Let Me Know In The Comments Box Below