Let's talk about the Atari Jaguar!

[Greg2600]

Very little reason to own one if you ask me beyond simply collecting. Even it's "great" games like Tempest 2000 were ported to other systems like PS1. The CD units quite often break down. Most of the games looked terrible in 1994 let alone now. It wasn't a serious endeavor from the Tramiel's if you ask me.

[Gamevet]

It's funny how people see the Jaguar and 3DO as mid 90's "trash", but yet those two systems have supplied me with more memories than anything that has come since. I guess it's truly a matter of different strokes for different folks, but still, I loved my Jag and still love the ol' cat. It's like with everything, you've got to search through the rubbish to find the true gems.

The 3DO gets a lot of respect, for what it had to offer during its short tenure. The Jag, on the other hand, already looked like a dated product when it arrived. If the 3DO didn't require a whole paycheck to purchase one, the system might have sold very well.

[Rickstilwell1]

I think the reason for the Jaguar's decline in cost must be because us collectors who wanted to own every system have already been there and tried them all out. And for whatever reason a lot of us had to sell our systems. Now less people are buying obscurities or trying to get one of every game for everything. There have been a lot of sales threads before I posted mine and completed selling what I wanted to or had to, and a lot of the stuff I bought here was from people who quit collecting also. There are also a bunch of threads where people have jumped on the bandwagon of only collecting what they really like to play. I wasn't the first one to say that. There seems to be a trickle down effect where some of us are easily influenced by other member's open decisions. We see someone say something then another of us thinks that it's a good idea and we do what they did.

The brand name of Atari is also fading away as more collectors end up being from the NES, SNES or N64 period. I have a friend (well actually one of my bosses) who only collects Gamecube games but still plays some of the old games via emulators. When I tried to sell my older Atari brand stuff it was pretty hard to get a buyer, but at least with the Jaguar and Lynx I was a bit more lucky due to being released after most people's cut off year.

I might buy another Jaguar if I end up having room for a bunch of game systems in my room at my new caregiving job since this boss likes video games, but that system is probably going to be on the back burner for a long time due to having things I would rather get and play.

[Wraith Storm]

I have both a Jag and a 3do. I take the 3do much more seriously than I do the Jag.

I'm sure the 3do appeals to me more because of Japanese developers. I largely prefer Japanese games. I started a thread a couple of years ago about Iron Angel of the the Apocalypse and how I really enjoyed it despite it being panned by almost everyone. For a FPS it has such a strange atmosphere, foreboding soundtrack, and just filled me with loneliness.

The 3do has a lot of unique games that draw me in, even if they aren't that spectacular. Even the terrible games usually have some aspect that I can really appreciate rather it being overly ambitious or just plain wacky.

The Jag is such a strange beast. I honestly love the controller. Its incredibly comfortable and has all the nice shortcut buttons but the D-pad is not as responsive as it could be. I just purchased two Pro Controllers (for the price of my first born child) and I have heard the D-pad is improved, so hopefully this will be a worthwhile investment.

I have about 20 games for my Jag and the main issue that I have is that most of the games feel unfinished or completely generic compared to its rivals. I cannot fully express how much I love video game music and how it moves me and it baffles me that a lot of Jag games don't have in game music!!! I am also a HUGE fan of pixel art and a lot of Jag games just use very generic sprite and menu designs. I REALLY enjoy some of the games the system has to offer but it overall comes off as rushed, unfinished and uninspired.

Although I don't care what anyone says, my friends and I have a blast with Club Drive.

[StealthLurker]

Power Drive Rally is absolutely fantastic on the system. That game alone for me warrants keeping it around. Other stuff I liked at the time were Raiden and Rayman... though not worth it for the system anymore. Don't think Power Drive Rally (which is a sequel?) to the SNES game, doesn't exist on any other platform I believe.

.

[tom]

Trouble with Jaguar is that Atari went bust, Tramiel's sold (merged) the company, and that was that.
The promised games like MK3 and Tiny Toons Adventures (and others) never arrived, and Japanese coders didn't sign up for the machine.
Would they have done so? I never seen any Japanese coders programming for American hardware, except Atari VCS.
So if it would have happened that way (as it was promised), things might have been different. As it turned out, it didn't.

Although, Japanese coders are way overrated, imo.

About Jaguar being 64-bit, there is absolutely no doubt about it:

[M.Buster2184]

I think if they wouldn't have pushed the 64 bit thing, and steered away from 3d games, then the Jaguar would of had a chance. I imagine it would have been a decent platform for good 2d sidescrollers.

[TheRetroVideoGameAddict]

Even though I loved the 64-bit campaign and marketing Atari did for the Jaguar, I kind of think that maybe they would have done a lot better with the unit if they released it a year earlier and marketed it as a 16-bit system. That way the general public wouldn't have over expected on the graphics and would have been surprised at some of the games like AVP and whatnot by how good they looked. I don't know, it's just a thought.

[ProjectCamaro]

I think if they wouldn't have pushed the 64 bit thing, and steered away from 3d games, than the Jaguar would of been chance. I imagine it would have been a decent platform for good 2d sidescrollers.

I agree with that, it could have dominated as a 2D machine.

[MachineGex]

Power Drive Rally is absolutely fantastic on the system. That game alone for me warrants keeping it around. Other stuff I liked at the time were Raiden and Rayman... though not worth it for the system anymore. Don't think Power Drive Rally (which is a sequel?) to the SNES game, doesn't exist on any other platform I believe.

It's nice to see someone else give "Power Drive Rally" some love. I bought this game from a small used game store for $10. The owner sad the game sucked, but I only had 2 Jag games at the time and wanted to try something else. I was so happy when the game turned out to be sooooo much fun!

I also think Tempest 2000 with a rotary controller is reason enough to own a Jag. That game is a blast and the rotary controller makes the game even more fun. I use to think the Jag was a joke, but I got "mad-love" for it now! RESPECT!!!

[Gamevet]

Where did you get a rotary controller for the Jag?

[ProjectCamaro]

Where did you get a rotary controller for the Jag?

There's a guy on Atari Age that sells them otherwise you can buy them straight off eBay.

Here's the different designs he makes:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-Jaguar...item41730d942d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-Jaguar...item4172307ed7

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-Jaguar...item4170d3524a

[WCP]

Technically, Atari might have been in their legal right to call the Jaguar a 64-bit system, but we all know that it has very little to do with a 64 bit system. Just look at the damn games.




Look at that 64 bit power !




Another example of the amazing power of the Jaguar

[TheRetroVideoGameAddict]

Sure, the Jaguar was 64-bit, but that doesn't mean that the graphics were. It may have had a 64-bit chip in there somewhere that legally allowed them to call the system a 64-bit system but I mean come on, the games compared to the N64 were not even close in graphics. The only people who sit there are call the Jaguar a 64-bit system and talk about how it was under-developed and the programmers didn't know what they were doing are either Atari fanboys or strict Jaguar fanboys who probably used to post over at Jaguar Interactive II (a dead forum). But graphics aside, I still stand by the system as being fun and really entertaining (to me at least)

[RP2A03]

Sure, the Jaguar was 64-bit, but that doesn't mean that the graphics were. It may have had a 64-bit chip in there somewhere that legally allowed them to call the system a 64-bit system but I mean come on, the games compared to the N64 were not even close in graphics. The only people who sit there are call the Jaguar a 64-bit system and talk about how it was under-developed and the programmers didn't know what they were doing are either Atari fanboys or strict Jaguar fanboys who probably used to post over at Jaguar Interactive II (a dead forum). But graphics aside, I still stand by the system as being fun and really entertaining (to me at least)

I would just like to point out that bits mean jack squat. Most N64 code was 32-bits. Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox, and Wii, are 32-bit machines. PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360 are 64-bits.

Also, the M68000 in the Genesis had 32-bit general purpose registers making it arguably a 32-bit machine although it had a 16-bit wide bus; and the N64 could be considered 32-bits since the CPU only had a 32-bit wide bus although it had 64-bit general purpose registers...

[tom]

Technically, Atari might have been in their legal right to call the Jaguar a 64-bit system, but we all know that it has very little to do with a 64 bit system. Just look at the damn games.




Look at that 64 bit power !




Another example of the amazing power of the Jaguar

You're right, and then later Nintendo made the same mistake:





Look at that 64-bit shit

[tom]

I would just like to point out that bits mean jack squat. Most N64 code was 32-bits. Dreamcast, GameCube, Xbox, and Wii, are 32-bit machines. PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360 are 64-bits.

Also, the M68000 in the Genesis had 32-bit general purpose registers making it arguably a 32-bit machine although it had a 16-bit wide bus; and the N64 could be considered 32-bits since the CPU only had a 32-bit wide bus although it had 64-bit general purpose registers...

That is true, only Atari got it right, the Atari ST being 16/32, hence ST. Basically ST and Amiga and Genesis are 32bit machines. SNES that's a different boat.

[M.Buster2184]

I almost forgot. I know it was released on other systems, but I always have a good time playing Zoop on the Jaguar. Pretty decent puzzle game.

[Rickstilwell1]

Also remember that bits don't make a pretty picture. Graphics artists do. Hence Superman 64 being ugly graphically while Donkey Kong 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time look wonderful for the machine's capabilities.

[Wraith Storm]

My Jaguar Pro controllers arrived yesterday afternoon and they were everything I hoped they would be. They took everything good about the Jag controller and improved upon it and fixed everything bad. The Dpad is far more satisfying and the buttons are a bit smaller, more responsive and layed out a bit more horizontally. The original controller had those huge C,B,A buttons and they had too much of a vertical arch to them. C and B were okay, but it just wasn't very ergonomic for me to hit the A button.


So I sat down last night, hooked up the pro controller, and played my Jag for several hours. I certainly got a bit more enjoyment out of it with the responsiveness of the controller and the extra Z(7), X(8) and Y(9)buttons. Some games really benefited from the extra buttons that had critical things mapped to the 7, 8, and 9 buttons.

So I got reacquainted with all of my Jag games and I still feel the same way about it. It just blows my mind that its flagship titles were so lack luster. The pack in game Cybermorph had no in game music. How can you launch a next-gen 64 bit system and not have the packin game promote the systems basic capabilities. The heavily promoted Trevor McFur looked amazing in screenshots, but had no in game music and felt incredibly primitive. The enemies have no attack patterns they just glide on screen and bounce around. It really feels like an amateur Klik N' Play game. Then there is Doom which is an excellent port and a lot of fun, but again... Where the hell is the music? I have heard lot of excuses that "It makes it more atmospheric" or "It makes it more realistic". I don't care what way you see it, to me it makes it feel like only half the game is there. When every other version has a kickass soundtrack or the ambient music of the Saturn and PSX version, it just comes off as lazy, cost cutting and rushed.

While I enjoy the Jag, and there are some amazing exclusives to be played, I just can't shake the overall generic, rushed and lazy feeling that most of the library exudes.