Atari Jaguar

The Atari Jaguar is was introduced in November 1993 as a powerful next generation platform. It was infamously touted as the "first 64-bit system". Competing with Sega and Nintendo's 16-bit consoles, the Jaguar was said to be 64-bit. Back then, "bitness" was an important marketing factor in the gaming industry, just as polygon-pushing power is today. The Jaguar did not work off of a solitary 64-bit processor, but instead had a collection of processors with bus widths ranging from 16 to 64 bits. The bit classification of the Jaguar is still a source of considerable debate today. Consensus exists among those who are familiar with the system hardware that, because Jaguar's main data bus and some of the processors are 64-bit, the entire system can be considered 64 bit. It would otherwise be considered a 32-bit console.

Nonetheless, it was technically superior to the leading 16-bit consoles at the time. Unfortunately, this last ditch effort by Atari to find room in the console market failed. A relatively small number of games were developed for the system, but Atari pulled the plug altogether in 1996. The Jaguar was a minor cult success. Jaguar conventions are held to show off rare unfinished Jaguar games that never made it to the shelves. A development company named Songbird Productions still produces games available for sale on the commercial market.

The Jaguar and the Lynx were the last two Atari systems to be developed, but because the company did not want any direct involvement in hardware production, they were produced by outside contractors. In 1990, Flare Technology, a company formed by Martin Brennan and John Mathieson with Atari funding, said that not only could they make a console far superior to the Sega Genesis or the SNES, but they could also be cost-effective. Atari immediately agreed and the system was released in November 1993 for a sale price of $249.99, under a $500 million manufacturing deal with IBM. The system was initially marketed only in the New York City and the San Francisco Bay areas. A nationwide release followed in early 1994.

The system was marketed under the slogan "Do the Math" (i.e. 32 bit + 32 bit = 64 bit), claiming superiority over competing 16-bit systems. Initially, the system sold well, substantially outselling the highly hyped and publicized 3DO, which was also released during the holiday season of 1993. However, the system was eventually considered a failure, due to a perception of the Jaguar having poor games and an overall lack of software developed. The system was difficult to program for as the hardware had a large number of bugs, including one in the memory controller that stopped some of its processors executing code from the system RAM.

The final nail in the coffin was the release of both the Sony PlayStation in Fall 1995 and the Sega Saturn earlier in the summer. In an interview, Sam Tramiel, CEO of Atari, also touted that the Jaguar was much more powerful than the Saturn and slightly weaker than the PlayStation. He also predicted the price of the PlayStation to be $500 and said that any price from $250 to $300 would be dumping and that Atari would sue to block sales (they never did). The baseless comments were selected as #3 in the Top 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming.

In a last ditch effort to rescue the Jaguar, Atari tried to play down these two consoles by claiming the Jaguar was the only 64-bit system, causing some controversy. (Some contended that the Jaguar's two 64-bit "processors" were essentially nothing more than graphics accelerators; its GPU was only 32-bit and its CPU was a 16-bit 68000.) This advertising push was futile, and production of the Jaguar stopped after Atari purchased JT Storage in a reverse takeover.

Several peripherals were announced, such as a voice modem and VR headset, but the only peripherals released were the Atari Jaguar CD drive and the JagLink, a simple two-console networking device. Working prototypes of some of the proposed future developments exist (some, such as the Jaguar Voice Modem, in relatively large quantities), and include fully-functional versions of the VR headset, with infrared head-tracking, and a stereo adaptor to allow connection of the Jaguar to a hi-fi system. See Loki and Konix Multisystem for early development.

After Atari was bought out by Hasbro Interactive in the late 1990s, Hasbro released the encryption coding to the Jaguar, finally opening the doors for enthusiasts and hobby programmers to make their own Jaguar games and software, similar to what has happened with another defunct game system, the Sega Dreamcast. Several game companies, including Telegames and Songbird Productions, have not only released previously unfinished materials from the Jaguar's past, but also several brand new titles to satisfy the system's cult following.

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Theme Park - Atari Jaguar (PAL) You've ridden every ride, spent your pocket money on the slot machines, money on the slot machines, and filled up on hot dogs and candy floss. You've even mastered Whack-A-Mole.. now you're ready to design and operate your own amusement park. You choose the location, hire the staff, build and repair the rides, manage the cash flow,... Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!	Total Carnage - Atari Jaguar (PAL) Total Carnage is the classic arcade game originally ported by Hand Made Software and licensed from long-time game publisher Midway. One or two players assume the roles of Captain Carnage or Major Mayhem in a tongue-in-cheek frantic assault on the dastardly forces of General Ahkboob. There is an unending -- often overwhelming -- number of enemies... Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!
Trevor Mcfur - Atari Jaguar (PAL) Attention all Circle Reserve units. The Crescent Galaxy has fallen. Now it's up to you and your comrade Cutter to return the planet Cosmolite to it's citizens. You'll face killer Starbots, deadly Gundinos and savage Cyber Cherubs - the most formidable opponents this side of the universe. Rapid 3D rendering will make your... Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!	Troy Aikman NFL Football - Atari Jaguar (PAL) How would you like to have the best arm in football? You can. All 28 NFL teams. Over 100 real offensive plays and over 50 defensive plays. Battery back up to save your stats. Design your own plays, team and your own season! Go head-to-head or be the coach. Super smooth animation and life-like stadium sound. Real weather conditions that affect your... Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!
Ultra Vortek - Atari Jaguar (PAL) Mankind must prove that it is worthy of the powers of the Ultra Vortek - the eternal energy source for all life on Earth. Failure to meet this challenge will result in the Earth's destruction. Seven of the planet's mightiest warriors have been chosen to pit strength and cunning against the Guardian for complete control of the Ultra Vortek. Who... Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!	Val d'Isere - Atari Jaguar (PAL) Cut the slopes on some of the steepest mountainsides in skiing and snowboarding, a wild winter challenge where speed is guaranteed! Train and compete on the breathtaking slopes of France's world-famous Val d'Isere Ski Resort. Race against time and friends in slalom, giant slalom and downhill events. Watch out for tree, snowmobiles and... Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!
White Men Cant Jump - Atari Jaguar (PAL) Are you ready for the most hyped up, monster jammin', bruisin' elbows, rebound snatchin', rim stuffin', skying over suckers, down your throat, money making game of street ball you never thought possible? Well, here it is, in your face, and it's time to get it on! Hit the courts with WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP! 15 teams to choose from. 25 incredible... Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!	Wolfenstein 3D - Atari Jaguar (PAL) Bring down The Third Reich! As the legendary William J. "B.J." Blazkowicz, you've been commissioned to rewrite history in a bloody 64 bit war zone filled with enough Nazi scum to keep you trigger happy for weeks. Annihilate Der Fuehrer's elite commando team, assassinate the diabolical Dr. Shabbs, capture the secret war plans, infiltrate... Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!
Zero 5 - Atari Jaguar (PAL) It is the year 2044. Earth has finally made contact with the first non-Terran life form -- and it isn't friendly. As the alien armada approaches, Earth Defence deploys armoured HIT-PAK space cruisers to stop their attack. Using the HIT-PAK's main guns and its autonomous BAMBAM fighter, you must engage the enemy over an extended campaign and try to... Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!	Zool 2 - Atari Jaguar (PAL) Zool and his daring and lovely sidekick Zooz face a challenge that would wilt the knees of even the toughest Ninja The Nth dimension is under attack from the evil forces of Krool. Our heroes must restore the Nth dimension to equilibrium and exile Mental-Block and his mind-numbing cronies before imagination is wiped out of existence. Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!
Zoop - Atari Jaguar (PAL) Right inside the box is the excitement you crave, the challenge you need. Level after level of brain-burning action coming at you from all sides faster and faster until your thumbs are numb, your eyes are aching and your mind is molten. Scorching four-way action, over ninety-nine levels of 'Opti-Challenge' increasing complexity. Box: yes Manual: yes Sold Out!

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Iron Soldier

- Atari Jaguar (PAL)

The Iron Soldier, or I.S., is a forty-two foot tall piloted robot that has been stolen from the Iron Fist Corporation by a bunch of rebels. they want you to pilot it. Arm yourself with a giant Assault Rifle, Oil-drum sized Hand Grenades, or other...

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