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"DO THE MATH!"Back in 1993, Atari unleashed a machine called the Jaguar to the public in the USA. This 64-Bit beast of a machine was advertised as being superior to it's 16-Bit and 32-Bit Competitors. While this was technically correct, it was difficult to program for, and had little 3rd-Party Support, which, along with Atari's past mistakes and negative word of mouth, doomed it to failure. That being said, here's the story behind it...
The Journey BeginsFirst introduced in 1993 to New York City and San Francisco Bay at a price of 249.99 US Dollars, it later received a full US Release in early 1994.
The StruggleThe Jaguar was struggling to gain an established user base. Atari themselves had said that it had only sold 17,000 Units in 1993 as part of the Console's initial test market. A good friend of mine, slackur, was present at the launch of the Jaguar. The following are his own words regarding it:
"Launch day for the Jag was practically a non-event, especially compared to the midnight launches nowadays."
slackur went on to mention that the cashier at EB Games had mentioned that they only sold two units before he bought his own, further saying that said cashier seemed surprised that he was excited to get one.
By the end of 1994, Atari still had 100,000 Units in stock, and reduced the price to make the console more competitive.
The Success?The Jaguar received some praise with Tempest 2000, and it's most successful game during it's first year was Alien VS. Predator. Tempest 2000 was clearly a success story, as the following was recalled by slackur:
"I continued playing that game for years. I would keep the Jag hooked up just to play it on occasion, and finished the first loop of 99 levels."
slackur went on to say the following about Alien VS. Predator:
"The only other game I picked up that truly 'WOW'ed me was Aliens VS Predator."
Unfortunately, the Jaguar's Game Library was too small to challenge the success of it's 16-Bit and 32-Bit Competitors. As such, it's appeal never grew beyond that of a small audience.
The FallBy the end of 1995, it was clear that the Jaguar had failed. Atari ran early-morning Infomercials to try and sell it's remaining units, but it did not help much. Ultimately, the Jaguar sold less than 250,000 Units.
The LegacyDespite it's failure in the marketplace, there are people who love the Jaguar, such as myself. There are those who produce homebrew titles for it, as it's source code is public. slackur had the following to say about it:
"I'll probably always have a soft spot for the Jag as a system I believed in when no one else did, and I'm glad I still have it in the collection."
As for myself, I love the Atari Jaguar, and just about everything about it. I have been known to defend it when others speak badly about it, and I have been seen going as far as playing a game that others would call abysmal all the way through on it. Unfortunately, how I came to discover the machine has been lost to time, but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying it.
Early MemoriesFrom what I *can* recall, the first game I played on the thing was Kasumi Ninja. While it is not the system's strongest point, it IS a challenging game, which I enjoy, and think we need more of in this day and age.
The Loss and The ReturnAt one point, I had to sell my precious Jaguar due to real life problems getting in the way, but I eventually acquired another one, with a working CD Unit no less. It was...painful to lose the thing, to say the least. I think it goes without saying that real life problems will NOT get in my way again.
Building an (expensive) LibraryJaguar Games are expensive. They once sold in the UK for 97p a pop, but here in the US, they can command premium prices today. Two of the more expensive titles are Towers II and Primal Rage. Some people attribute the high prices to stupid eBay Users. All this being said, it's not been an easy task building a library of games for it, but I think I'm doing alright, all things considered.
The FutureI plan to keep building my collection, and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. As mentioned before, I love the Jaguar, and NOTHING is going to change that.
Thanks for reading!
) I'm glad the 'ol Jag still gives some folks a fun time. I still have mine hooked up and play it from time to time; its funny the games I'm learning to appreciate more, like Power Rally, Dragon, and even Hover Strike. I can't say they're masterpieces, but the more I tinker with them the more I enjoy them.