Date maintenance tags and general fixes
| ← Previous revision | Revision as of 12:44, 28 September 2009 | ||
| Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
| == History == | == History == | ||
| - | The Jaguar was the last game system to be marketed by Atari Corp. [[Flare Technology]], a company formed by [[Martin Brennan (engineer)|Martin Brennan]] and [[John Mathieson (computer scientist)|John Mathieson]], said that they could not only make a console superior to the [[Sega Mega Drive]] (also called the Sega Genesis) or the [[SNES]], but they could also be cost-effective.{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Impressed by their work on the [[Konix Multisystem]], Atari persuaded them to close Flare and, with Atari Corp. providing the funding, to form a new company called [[Flare II]]. | + | The Jaguar was the last game system to be marketed by Atari Corp. [[Flare Technology]], a company formed by [[Martin Brennan (engineer)|Martin Brennan]] and [[John Mathieson (computer scientist)|John Mathieson]], said that they could not only make a console superior to the [[Sega Mega Drive]] (also called the Sega Genesis) or the [[SNES]], but they could also be cost-effective.{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}} Impressed by their work on the [[Konix Multisystem]], Atari persuaded them to close Flare and, with Atari Corp. providing the funding, to form a new company called [[Flare II]]. |
| Flare II initially set to work designing two consoles for Atari Corp. One was a 32-bit architecture (codenamed "[[Atari Panther|Panther]]"), and the other was a 64-bit system (codenamed "Jaguar"); however, work on the Jaguar design progressed faster than expected, so Atari Corp. canceled the Panther project to focus on the more promising Jaguar. | Flare II initially set to work designing two consoles for Atari Corp. One was a 32-bit architecture (codenamed "[[Atari Panther|Panther]]"), and the other was a 64-bit system (codenamed "Jaguar"); however, work on the Jaguar design progressed faster than expected, so Atari Corp. canceled the Panther project to focus on the more promising Jaguar. | ||
| Line 30: | Line 30: | ||
| The Jaguar was introduced in November {{vgy|1993}} for a sale price of $249.99,<ref name="gamepro">{{cite web|url= [www.gamepro.com] 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time| accessdate=2008-08-01|author=Blake Snow|publisher=[[GamePro]].com|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> under a $500 million manufacturing deal with [[International Business Machines|IBM]]. The system was initially marketed only in the [[New York City]] and the [[San Francisco Bay]] areas. A nationwide release followed in early {{vgy|1994}}. | The Jaguar was introduced in November {{vgy|1993}} for a sale price of $249.99,<ref name="gamepro">{{cite web|url= [www.gamepro.com] 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time| accessdate=2008-08-01|author=Blake Snow|publisher=[[GamePro]].com|date=2007-05-04}}</ref> under a $500 million manufacturing deal with [[International Business Machines|IBM]]. The system was initially marketed only in the [[New York City]] and the [[San Francisco Bay]] areas. A nationwide release followed in early {{vgy|1994}}. | ||
| - | The system was marketed under the slogan "Do the Math",<ref name="gamepro"/> claiming superiority over competing 16-bit and 32-bit systems. Initially, the system sold well, substantially outselling the US$700, highly hyped and publicized [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer|3DO]], which was also released during the holiday season of 1993; but the Jaguar was unable to sustain sales momentum past the holiday season. Among the factors contributing to forestalling sales: lackluster gaming library, due to poorly received launch titles; and Atari's history from its decade earlier 2600 console, which irreparably tarnished the firm's reputation in the eyes of retailers and would-be customers.{{fact}} | + | The system was marketed under the slogan "Do the Math",<ref name="gamepro"/> claiming superiority over competing 16-bit and 32-bit systems. Initially, the system sold well, substantially outselling the US$700, highly hyped and publicized [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer|3DO]], which was also released during the holiday season of 1993; but the Jaguar was unable to sustain sales momentum past the holiday season. Among the factors contributing to forestalling sales: lackluster gaming library, due to poorly received launch titles; and Atari's history from its decade earlier 2600 console, which irreparably tarnished the firm's reputation in the eyes of retailers and would-be customers.{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} |
| - | Jaguar did earn praise with milestone{{fact}} hits, 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]]. 21 February 2006.</ref><ref name=gameaddictonline>'' [gameaddicthotline.com] Video Game News]''. Game Addict Online. 26 February 2006.</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 milestone{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} hits, 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]]. 21 February 2006.</ref><ref name=gameaddictonline>'' [gameaddicthotline.com] Video Game News]''. Game Addict Online. 26 February 2006.</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 [[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. And so writing game-code was often an endurance exercise in the tedious [[assembler]]. | ||
| - | 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"/>}} | + | 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"/>}} |
| In an interview,<ref name="interview on power"> [archive.gamespy.com] GameSpy.com - Article<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Sam Tramiel, CEO of Atari Corp. and son of Jack Tramiel, had declared that the Jaguar was much more powerful than the Saturn and slightly weaker than the PlayStation. He also predicted the PlayStation to enter the US market at a retail price of $500, and that any price below $300 would constitute [[dumping (pricing policy)|price dumping]], an illegal market tactic that Atari would challenge in court. When Sony's Playstation launch into the US market, the $299 price-point swept the market. No lawsuit was forthcoming from Atari, and Tramiel's comments were selected as #3 in [[GameSpy|GameSpy's]] Top 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming.<ref name="interview on power" /> | In an interview,<ref name="interview on power"> [archive.gamespy.com] GameSpy.com - Article<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Sam Tramiel, CEO of Atari Corp. and son of Jack Tramiel, had declared that the Jaguar was much more powerful than the Saturn and slightly weaker than the PlayStation. He also predicted the PlayStation to enter the US market at a retail price of $500, and that any price below $300 would constitute [[dumping (pricing policy)|price dumping]], an illegal market tactic that Atari would challenge in court. When Sony's Playstation launch into the US market, the $299 price-point swept the market. No lawsuit was forthcoming from Atari, and Tramiel's comments were selected as #3 in [[GameSpy|GameSpy's]] Top 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming.<ref name="interview on power" /> | ||
| Line 96: | Line 96: | ||
| ''See also: [[List of video game console emulators#Atari systems|List of Atari Emulators]]'' | ''See also: [[List of video game console emulators#Atari systems|List of Atari Emulators]]'' | ||
| - | |||
| - | == References == | ||
| - | {{reflist|2}} | ||
| == See also == | == See also == | ||
| Line 104: | Line 101: | ||
| * [[List of Atari Jaguar games]] | * [[List of Atari Jaguar games]] | ||
| * [[Contiki]], portable operating system - there's a port for the Jaguar with GUI, TCP/IP and web browser support. | * [[Contiki]], portable operating system - there's a port for the Jaguar with GUI, TCP/IP and web browser support. | ||
| + | |||
| + | == References == | ||
| + | {{reflist|2}} | ||
| == External links == | == External links == |