History
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| Jaguar did earn praise with titles such as ''[[Tempest 2000]]'', ''[[Doom (video game)|Doom]]'', and ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]''.<ref>'' [www.atariage.com] Atari Jaguar History]''. [[AtariAge#AtariAge (website)|AtariAge]]. Retrieved 9 December 2008.</ref> The most successful title was ''[[Alien vs Predator (Jaguar game)|Alien vs. Predator]]''. Both it and ''Tempest 2000'' are often considered the system's defining titles.<ref name="gamepro"/> With such a small library of games<ref name="wired">{{cite web |url= [www.wired.com] | title=Console Portraits: A 40-Year Pictorial History of Gaming |accessdate=2008-03-23 |author=Greg Orlando |date=2007-05-15 |work=[[Wired News]] |publisher=[[Condé Nast Publications]]}}</ref> to challenge the incumbent 16-bit game consoles, Jaguar's appeal never grew beyond a small gaming audience. Customers also complained the Jaguar controller was needlessly complex, with over 15 buttons.<ref name=harris>Harris, Craig. '' [xbox360.ign.com] Top 10 Tuesday: Worst Game Controllers]''. [[IGN]]. 2006-02-21.</ref><ref name=gameaddictonline>'' [gameaddicthotline.com] Video Game News]''. Game Addict Online. 2006-02-26.</ref> The controller was ranked the worst video game controller ever made by [[IGN]] editor [[Craig Harris (journalist)|Craig Harris]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 10 Tuesday: Worst Game Controllers |url=http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/690/690449p1.html |publisher=IGN |accessdate=2009-08-07 |date=2006-02-21}}</ref> | Jaguar did earn praise with titles such as ''[[Tempest 2000]]'', ''[[Doom (video game)|Doom]]'', and ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]''.<ref>'' [www.atariage.com] Atari Jaguar History]''. [[AtariAge#AtariAge (website)|AtariAge]]. Retrieved 9 December 2008.</ref> The most successful title was ''[[Alien vs Predator (Jaguar game)|Alien vs. Predator]]''. Both it and ''Tempest 2000'' are often considered the system's defining titles.<ref name="gamepro"/> With such a small library of games<ref name="wired">{{cite web |url= [www.wired.com] | title=Console Portraits: A 40-Year Pictorial History of Gaming |accessdate=2008-03-23 |author=Greg Orlando |date=2007-05-15 |work=[[Wired News]] |publisher=[[Condé Nast Publications]]}}</ref> to challenge the incumbent 16-bit game consoles, Jaguar's appeal never grew beyond a small gaming audience. Customers also complained the Jaguar controller was needlessly complex, with over 15 buttons.<ref name=harris>Harris, Craig. '' [xbox360.ign.com] Top 10 Tuesday: Worst Game Controllers]''. [[IGN]]. 2006-02-21.</ref><ref name=gameaddictonline>'' [gameaddicthotline.com] Video Game News]''. Game Addict Online. 2006-02-26.</ref> The controller was ranked the worst video game controller ever made by [[IGN]] editor [[Craig Harris (journalist)|Craig Harris]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Top 10 Tuesday: Worst Game Controllers |url=http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/690/690449p1.html |publisher=IGN |accessdate=2009-08-07 |date=2006-02-21}}</ref> | ||
| - | Lack of titles was attributable to two main factors: the Jaguar's questionable long-term prospects among third-party game-publishers, and the problematic nature of developing games for the Jaguar. Atari had one opportunity to convince third-party developers, vital for the diversity of Jaguar's game library, with a solid retail-performance, but as things played out, post-holiday sales figures questioned the viability of Atari's business; merely outselling the niche 3DO-system (which cost almost three times as much as the Jaguar) failed to attract third-party developers already committed to other game platforms. In addition, the Jaguar's underlying hardware was crippled by a flaw in the CPU's [[memory controller]], which prevented code-execution out of system [[RAM]]. Less severe, but still annoying defects included a buggy [[UART]]. The controller flaw could have been mitigated by a mature code-development environment, to unburden the programmer from having to micromanage small chunks of code. Jaguar's development tools left much to the programmer's imagination, as documentation was incomplete. And so writing game-code was often an endurance exercise in the tedious [[assembly language|assembler]]. | + | Lack of titles was attributable to two main factors: the Jaguar's questionable long-term prospects among third-party game-publishers, and the problematic nature of developing games for the Jaguar. Atari had one opportunity to convince third-party developers, vital for the diversity of Jaguar's game library, with a solid retail-performance, but as things played out, post-holiday sales figures questioned the viability of Atari's business; merely outselling the niche 3DO-system (which cost almost three times as much as the Jaguar) failed to attract third-party developers already committed to other game platforms. In addition, the Jaguar's underlying hardware was crippled by a flaw in the CPU's [[memory controller]], which prevented code-execution out of system [[RAM]]. Less severe, but still annoying defects included a buggy [[UART]]. The controller flaw could have been mitigated by a mature code-development environment, to unburden the programmer from having to micromanage small chunks of code. Jaguar's development tools left much to the programmer's imagination, as documentation was incomplete. Writing game-code was often an endurance exercise in the tedious [[assembly language|assembler]]. |
| - | In a July 1995 interview with Next Generation Magazine, then CEO Sam Tramiel declared that the Jaguar was as powerful, if not more powerful, than the [[Sega Saturn]], and slightly weaker than the [[Sony PlayStation]].<ref>{{Citation | + | In a July 1995 interview with Next Generation Magazine, then-CEO Sam Tramiel declared that the Jaguar was as powerful, if not more powerful, than the [[Sega Saturn]], and slightly weaker than the [[Sony PlayStation]].<ref>{{Citation |
| | title = Atari's President talks back | | title = Atari's President talks back | ||
| | magazine = Next Generation | | magazine = Next Generation | ||
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| }}</ref> | }}</ref> | ||
| - | By the end of [[1995 in video gaming|1995]], the Jaguar's fate was all but sealed. Atari's revenues declined by more than half, from 38.7 million dollars in 1994 to $14.6 million in 1995.<ref name="10-K405 SEC Filing, filed by ATARI CORP on 4/12/1996"> [sec.edgar-online.com] ATARI CORP Annual Report (Regulation S-K, item 405) (10-K405) ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL C<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{Dead link|date=September 2009}}</ref> In late-1995, Atari Corp. ran early-morning [[infomercial]] advertisements with enthusiastic salesmen touting the powerful game system. The infomercials ran most of the year, but did not significantly sell the remaining stock of Jaguar systems. In their 10-K405 SEC Filing, filed 4/12/1996, Atari informed their stockholders of the truly dire nature of the Jaguar business: {{quote|From the introduction of Jaguar in late 1993 through the end of 1995, Atari sold approximately 125,000 units of Jaguar. As of December 31, 1995, Atari had approximately 100,000 units of Jaguar in inventory.<ref name="10-K405 SEC Filing, filed by ATARI CORP on 4/12/1996"/>}} Atari had already suffered an ill-fated crash in the mid 1980s as a result of the oversaturation of the video game market by third party developers. | + | By the end of [[1995 in video gaming|1995]], the Jaguar's fate was all but sealed. Atari's revenues declined by more than half, from US$38.7 million in 1994 to $14.6 million in 1995.<ref name="10-K405 SEC Filing, filed by ATARI CORP on 4/12/1996"> [sec.edgar-online.com] ATARI CORP Annual Report (Regulation S-K, item 405) (10-K405) ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL C<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{Dead link|date=September 2009}}</ref> In late 1995, Atari Corp. ran early-morning [[infomercial]] advertisements with enthusiastic salesmen touting the powerful game system. The infomercials ran most of the year, but did not significantly sell the remaining stock of Jaguar systems. In its 10-K405 SEC Filing, filed April 12, 1996, Atari informed their stockholders of the truly dire nature of the Jaguar business: {{quote|From the introduction of Jaguar in late 1993 through the end of 1995, Atari sold approximately 125,000 units of Jaguar. As of December 31, 1995, Atari had approximately 100,000 units of Jaguar in inventory.<ref name="10-K405 SEC Filing, filed by ATARI CORP on 4/12/1996"/>}} Atari had already suffered an ill-fated crash in the mid 1980s as a result of the oversaturation of the video game market by third-party developers. |
| Production of the Jaguar ceased after Atari Corp. merged with [[JT Storage]] in a [[reverse takeover]].<ref name="jtmerger">{{cite web | url=http://contracts.onecle.com/atari/jt.mer.1996.04.08.shtml | title=Atari and JT Storage Reorganisation Plan | publisher=One Cle | accessdate=2006-11-25}}</ref> In a last ditch effort to revive the Jaguar, Atari Corp. tried to play down the other two consoles by proclaiming the Jaguar was the only "64-bit" system. This claim is questioned by some,<ref name="usenet">{{cite web|url= [groups.google.com] Jaguar 64-bit?? No.}}</ref> because the [[Central processing unit|CPU]] ([[Motorola 68000|68000]]) and [[Graphics processing unit|GPU]] executed a 32-bit instruction-set, but sent control signals to the 64-bit graphics co-processors (or "graphics accelerators"). Atari Corp.'s position was that the mere presence of 64-bit ALUs for graphics was sufficient to validate the claim. Design specs for the console allude to the GPU or DSP being capable of acting as a CPU, leaving the Motorola 68000 to read controller inputs. In practice, however, many developers used the Motorola 68000 to drive gameplay logic. | Production of the Jaguar ceased after Atari Corp. merged with [[JT Storage]] in a [[reverse takeover]].<ref name="jtmerger">{{cite web | url=http://contracts.onecle.com/atari/jt.mer.1996.04.08.shtml | title=Atari and JT Storage Reorganisation Plan | publisher=One Cle | accessdate=2006-11-25}}</ref> In a last ditch effort to revive the Jaguar, Atari Corp. tried to play down the other two consoles by proclaiming the Jaguar was the only "64-bit" system. This claim is questioned by some,<ref name="usenet">{{cite web|url= [groups.google.com] Jaguar 64-bit?? No.}}</ref> because the [[Central processing unit|CPU]] ([[Motorola 68000|68000]]) and [[Graphics processing unit|GPU]] executed a 32-bit instruction-set, but sent control signals to the 64-bit graphics co-processors (or "graphics accelerators"). Atari Corp.'s position was that the mere presence of 64-bit ALUs for graphics was sufficient to validate the claim. Design specs for the console allude to the GPU or DSP being capable of acting as a CPU, leaving the Motorola 68000 to read controller inputs. In practice, however, many developers used the Motorola 68000 to drive gameplay logic. | ||
| - | Over the short life of the console, several add-on peripherals were announced. However, only the ProController, the [[Atari Jaguar CD]] drive and the JagLink (a simple two-console networking device) reached retail shelves. A voice modem and [[Virtual reality|VR]] headset (with infrared head-tracking), existed in prototype form, but were never commercialized. (See [[Loki (computer)|Loki]] and [[Konix Multisystem]] for early development.) | + | Over the short life of the console, several add-on peripherals were announced. However, only the ProController, the [[Atari Jaguar CD]] drive and the JagLink (a simple two-console networking device) reached retail shelves. A voice modem and [[Virtual reality|VR]] headset (with infrared head-tracking), existed in prototype form, but were never commercialized. (See [[Loki (computer)|Loki]] and [[Konix Multisystem]] for early development.) |
| After the Atari Corporation properties were bought out by [[Hasbro Interactive]] in the late 1990s, Hasbro released the rights to the Jaguar, declaring the console an open platform and opening the doors for [[homebrew (video games)|homebrew]] development.<ref name="hasbro">{{cite web | url=http://www.atariage.com/Jaguar/archives/HasbroRights.html | title=Hasbro Releases Jaguar Publishing Rights | publisher=Hasbro Interactive | accessdate=2008-05-14}}</ref> A few developers, 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. The most recent release is the arcade-style game "Mad Bodies" by Force Design on May 2, 2009. | After the Atari Corporation properties were bought out by [[Hasbro Interactive]] in the late 1990s, Hasbro released the rights to the Jaguar, declaring the console an open platform and opening the doors for [[homebrew (video games)|homebrew]] development.<ref name="hasbro">{{cite web | url=http://www.atariage.com/Jaguar/archives/HasbroRights.html | title=Hasbro Releases Jaguar Publishing Rights | publisher=Hasbro Interactive | accessdate=2008-05-14}}</ref> A few developers, 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. The most recent release is the arcade-style game "Mad Bodies" by Force Design on May 2, 2009. |