Atari Jaguar

Procon Troller Jaguar VR ( study)

The jaguar is a based on the Motorola 68000 processor video game console the company Atari.

4.1 Jaguar 2
4.2 JagDuo
4.3 HotRod

5.1 modules
5.2 CD -ROM

History

The console was largely developed by the Flare2 chip designers Martin Brennan and John Mathieson. The production was carried out in cooperation with IBM. This last project realized by Atari was not a commercial success despite advanced for its time technology. The estimated sales numbers are 125000-250000 units for the base unit, and 25000-50000 for the JaguarCD volume expansion.

For the unit more than 100 games are usually released officially on module. Before setting all Jaguar products by Atari Jaguar CD still a few units were sold. Some manufacturers (including Songbird Productions, Starcat Developments ) produced up to now new so-called " homebrew" titles or publish beta versions of games that have not officially made it into the sale. Due to the still very active Atari community constantly created new software. However, new hardware, such as the Skunk Board, a kind of developer kit, find their way into the community.

Technology

The 68000 processor of the device published in 1993 is clocked at 13.295 MHz and is equipped with a 64- bit graphics and 32- bit sound chip. The two special chips with the name Tom and Jerry are based on a RISC architecture and feature a 64- bit data bus. The design of both processors proved to be validated as defective; Hardware failure forced an evasion of software developers to the stable, but not more contemporary market entry MC68000. The 68000 works internally with 32 and external 16-bit bus (data bus ) and was originally intended only for booting the console and control the controller. The console has four 512 - Kbyte DRAM chips that together 2 MB main memory. The graphics chip supports hardware scrolling, Gouraud Shading and scaling ( texture mapping, morphing, however, does not ). The modules can contain up to six MB Software and partially save the game on the EEPROM. Only later managed to exploit the multi-processor Jaguar and bypass the Hardwarebugs by clever programming.

Accessories

The controller

Pads

The two controller - being Procon Troller was not until the end of 1995 available - differ both in the handling (ergonomics, Procon Troller is thinner and smaller than the StandardPad ) as well as in the keys. Thus the control of cross Procon Trollers is notably flat, making it easier to use. In addition, offers the Procon Troller two shoulder buttons and three additional fire buttons. These additional buttons are, however, useful only supported by a few games because they are just doubled points of the keyboard ( the buttons X, Y and Z correspond to the number 7, 8 and 9, and the shoulder buttons L and R with the buttons 4 and 6 connected ). They were only integrated targeted by some of the recent games. The standard pad is available in black / red and adapted to the design of the Falcon computer as PowerPad in gray / blue. In both controllers the number pad is recessed and provided with slits on the sides, there find some games of the enclosed space called overlays.

Resourceful tinkerer from the Atari homebrew community built the so-called "Rotary Controller", which are supported by the officially published game " Tempest 2000 " as of homebrew titles like "Impulse X" or " Kobayashi Maru ". It is likely that more games will follow. Rotary have a knob, similar to tennis controllers for the Atari VCS, with which users can control some game types easier and above all accurate. Four variants of the "Rotary Controllers" are common. A converted standard or per - controller to which the DigiPad was replaced by a rotary control or a standard or pro- controller which, in addition, a knob below the Digipads mounted. By means of switches can be switched between Digipad and knob.

Jaguar Virtual Reality

The VR system which has been developed since 1993, never found its way to the market, although it was 1994 already exhibited at trade fairs. The items consist of a helmet with a screen, a hand controller with fire button and a receiver. Atari delayed the release date out further and the system finally gave up altogether. The only published game with VR support is Missile Command 3D. Today, there are two working prototypes. The well-known by various trade shows red VR helmet with a lower (low- resolution ) resolution and a blue helmet with a higher resolution ( high resolution). The Blue VR headset is part of the " Atari Jaguar Europe Festival" short ejagfest in autumn 2007 for the first time in Europe, specifically in Germany, shown and could also be tried. Other presentations on retro gaming events are planned.

JaguarCD

In September 1995, came out also after a long announcement, the JaguarCD drive. The package next to the drive a demo version of Myst, the soundtrack to Tempest 2000 and the Games Blue Lightning and Vid Grid were included. In JaguarCD is programmed by Jeff Minter " Virtual Light Machine" integrated in the bios that plays various optical effects when playing an audio CD, and thus the direct predecessor of the corresponding software in the Nuon DVD players and the Xbox 360 is that also from Jeff Minter. To save game, the track memory, a memory card, is necessary. The modular bay JaguarCD is looped through and can therefore absorb the normal game modules.

Others

JagLink: This makes it possible to link multiple consoles together and play against each other. This is supported, for example, of "Doom "
TeamTap: In order for the controller interfaces of a jaguar be quadrupled. It is possible to connect 2 TeamTaps. Among other things, this multiplayer solution of " White Men Can not Jump" and " NBA Jam Tournament Edition " is supported.
Jaguar Modem: only prototypes available. The plan was a connection of the Jaguars to the Internet. The only game with modem support is "Ultra Vortek ".
ICD CatBox: This accessory is not from Atari, but was made by ICD and in Germany the Jaguar distributor Just! distributed. The CatBox extends the Jaguar to the inputs and outputs for composite video, S-Video, RGB output, stereo and mono audio outputs, two headphone jacks with volume control, RS232 and RJ11 communication ports and a DSP port. The metal box is plugged into the back of the Jaguars.

Successor models

Jaguar 2

This console (codenamed Cobweb ) was scheduled for the end of 1996 as a rival to the consoles Sony Playstation, Sega Saturn and Nintendo 64 Release and was not completed due to the merger with JTS and Atari's financially precarious situation. A total of eight processors have been developed for the Jaguar 2, which should share the work, but " Tom 2 " contains five of these processors: The 64-bit RISC GPU with 64/128-Bit-Register, clocked at 63.951 MHz, a programmable 64- bit RISC processor object, the blitter, the 64- bit RISC texture mapping engine for up to 2.5 million polygons per second ( without textures ) and a JPEG / MPEG chip. In addition, (sound ), a 32 -bit DSP ( 53.3 MHz) and a Motorola came " Jerry 2 " 68EC020 ( 26.59 MHz ) is used. Like the Jaguar, the Jaguar 2 should be able to deal with modules and CD -ROMs, the appropriate interfaces were present on the prototype.

JagDuo

The summary of the jaguar and the CD drive in an enclosure was abandoned before completion. There are only empty shells.

HotRod

It was later offered a dental camera with Jaguar housing under the name HotRod.

Games

Modules

Air Cars ( ICD)
Alien Vs. Predator (Atari )
Atari Karts ( Atari / Miracle Design)
Attack of the Mutant Penguins (Atari )
Barkley Shut Up And Jam! (Atari prototype)
Battlesphere Battlesphere GOLD ( scatoLOGIC )
Breakout 2000 ( Telegames )
Brett Hull NHL Hockey ( Atari prototype)
Brutal Sports Football (Atari )
Bubsy in: Fractured Furry Tales ( Atari )
Cannon Fodder (Virgin )
Checkered Flag (Atari )
Club Drive (Atari )
Cybermorph (Atari / Attention To Detail)
Defender 2000 ( Atari )
Doom ( Atari / id Software )
Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls ( Williams)
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story ( Atari )
Evolution: Dino Dudes (Atari )
Fever Pitch Soccer (Atari )
Fight For Life (Atari )
Flashback ( computer game) (U.S. Gold)
Flip Out (Atari )
Hover Strike (Atari )
Hyper Force ( Songbird Productions )
I-War (Atari )
International Sensible Soccer ( Telegames )
Iron Soldier ( Atari / Eclipse) Iron Soldier 2 ( Telegames / Eclipse)
Kasumi Ninja (Atari )
Missile Command 3D ( Atari / Virtuality )

NBA Jam Tournament ( Atari )
Pinball Fantasies ( 21st Century )
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure ( Atari / Activision )
Power Drive Rally ( Time Warner )
Protector Protector Special Edition ( Songbird Productions )
Raiden ( Atari / Fabtek )
Rayman ( Ubi Soft)
Ruiner Pinball (Atari )
Skycopter ( Carousel / WalMart )
Skyhammer ( Songbird Productions )
Soccer Kid ( Songbird Productions )
Space War 2000 ( Atari prototype)
Speedster II ( Carousel / WalMart )
Super Burnout (Atari )
Supercross 3D ( Atari )
Syndicate (Ocean )
Tempest 2000 ( Atari )
Theme Park (Ocean / Bullfrog )
Total Carnage ( Songbird Productions )
Towers II ( Telegames )
Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy (Atari )
Troy Aikman NFL Football ( Williams)
Ultra Vortek (Atari )
Val D' Isere Skiing and Snowboarding ( Atari )
White Men Can not Jump ( Atari )
Wolfenstein 3D ( Atari / id Software )
Worms ( computer game) ( Telegames )
Zero 5 ( Telegames )
Zool 2 (Atari )
Zoop (Atari )

CD-ROM

American Hero (prototype exists)
Baldies (Atari )
Battlemorph (Atari / Attention To Detail)
Black Ice White Noise ( BJ West - prototype exists)
Blue Lightning ( Atari / Epyx )
Braindead 13 (Ready Soft)
Caves of Fear (?)
Demolition Man / Commander Blood (? )
Dragon's Lair (Ready Soft)
Highlander: The Last Of The MacLeods (Atari )
Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands (Atari )
Iron Soldier 2 ( Telegames / Eclipse)
Double Feature # 1 ( Matthias Domin )

Jag - Ads ( Starcat Developments )
Myst (Atari / Cyan )
Native Demo ( Songbird Productions )
Ocean Depths ( Starcat Developments )
Painter ( Sinister Developments )
Phase Zero Demo (?)
Primal Rage ( Time Warner )
Soul Star (?)
Space Ace (Ready Soft)
Varuna 's Forces (?)
Vid Grid (Atari )
World Tour Racing ( Telegames )

More titles were announced, however, were not implemented. Some games are run via emulator on the PC.