Atari_Jaguar

{{Refimprove|date=October 2007}}
{{Infobox CVG system| title = Atari Jaguar
|logo = [[Image:Jaguar Logo.gif|100px]]
|image = [[Image:Atari jaguar4.jpg|200px|center|Atari Jaguar]]
|manufacturer = [[Atari]]
|type = [[Video game console]]
|generation = [[History of video game consoles (fifth generation)|Fifth generation]] (32-bit/64-bit era)
|lifespan = {{flagicon|US}} [[November 18]], [[1993]]
|Launch price (USD) = [[$249.99]]
|CPU = [[Motorola 68000]]
|media = [[Cartridge (electronics)|Cartridge]], [[CD-ROM]]
|unitssold =250,000 in its first year on the market<ref name="gamepro">{{cite web |url=http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domestic/games/features/111823.shtml |title=The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time |accessdate=2007-11-25 |author=Blake Snow |publisher=[[GamePro]].com |date=2007-05-04}}</ref>
|onlineservice =
|topgame = ''[[Alien vs. Predator (Jaguar)|Alien Vs. Predator]]''{{Fact|date=November 2007}}
|predecessor = [[Atari 7800]]
|successor = [[Atari Jaguar II]]
}}
The '''Atari Jaguar''' is a [[video game console]] that was released in November [[1993 in video gaming|1993]] to rival the [[Sega Mega Drive|Mega Drive/Genesis]] and the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] as a powerful next generation platform. Promoted as the "first 64-bit system", it proved to be a [[List of commercial failures in video gaming|commercial failure]] and prompted [[Atari]] to leave the hardware business. Despite its commercial failure, the Jaguar has a large fan base that produces homebrew games, making this console a [[Cult following|cult classic]]. <ref name="redundant">{{Citation
| last = Goss
| first = Patrick
| title = Redundant gadgets (Atari Jaguar entry)
| url=http://tech.uk.msn.com/features/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=6171299&imageindex=5
| accessdate = 2007-10-23}}</ref>

== History ==
The Jaguar was the last game system to be marketed by [[Atari Corporation]]. [[Flare Technology]], a company formed by [[Martin Brennan (engineer)|Martin Brennan]] and [[John Mathieson (computer scientist)|John Mathieson]], said that not only could they make a console superior to the Sega Mega Drive or the SNES, but they could also be cost-effective. Impressed by their work on the [[Konix Multisystem]], Atari persuaded them to close Flare and, with Atari providing the funding, to form a new company called Flare II.

Flare II initially set to work designing two consoles for Atari. 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, and Atari canceled the Panther project to focus on the more promising 64-bit technology.

The Jaguar was released in November 1993 for a sale price of $250,<ref name="gamepro"/> 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 1994.

The system was marketed under the slogan "Do the Math",<ref name="gamepro"/> claiming superiority over competing 16-bit systems. Initially, the system sold well, substantially outselling the highly hyped and publicized [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer|3DO]], which was also released during the holiday season of 1993; however, the Jaguar could not shake the perception of having poor games after several dismal launch titles. It finally had its first hit game with ''[[Tempest 2000]]'', and other successful games like ''[[Doom (video game)|Doom]]'' and ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'' followed. The most successful title was ''[[Alien vs Predator (Jaguar game)|Alien vs. Predator]]'' which, along with ''[[Tempest 2000]]'', is often considered one of the system's defining titles.

Through its lifetime, the Jaguar had an overall low number of titles due to being difficult to develop for. This was due to bugs in the released hardware (such as a memory controller flaw that could halt processor execution out of system RAM). Customers complained the Jaguar controller was needlessly complex, with over 15 buttons.

By the end of [[1995 in video gaming|1995]], after the entrance of the [[Sony]] [[PlayStation]] and the [[Sega Saturn]], the Jaguar's fate was all but sealed. In an interview,<ref name="interview on power">http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/june03/dumbestmoments/index22.shtml</ref> [[Sam Tramiel]], CEO of Atari and son of [[Jack Tramiel]], declared that the Jaguar was much more powerful than the Saturn and slightly weaker than the PlayStation. He also predicted the price of the PlayStation to be $500 and said that any price from $250 to $300 would be [[dumping (pricing policy)|price dumping]] and that Atari would sue to block sales, which they never did. His comments were selected as #3 in [[GameSpy|GameSpy's]] Top 25 Dumbest Moments in Gaming<ref name="interview on power" />.

In a last ditch effort to rescue the Jaguar, Atari tried to play down these two consoles by proclaiming the Jaguar was the only "64-bit" system. Technically-minded gamers debated the merits of Atari's claim: some felt the Jaguar's principal "64-bit co-processors" were simply graphics accelerators, requiring external control from the Jaguar's primary processors; the primary [[Graphics processing unit|GPU]] executed a 32-bit instruction-set, while the remaining [[Central processing unit|CPU]] ([[Motorola 68000|68000]]) was already established to be a 32-bit unit. Others countered that the mere presence of 64-bit ALUs for graphics, was sufficient to validate Atari's 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, most developers used the Motorola 68000 to drive gameplay logic and AI. {{Fact|November 2007|date=November 2007}}

Finally, in mid-1996, Atari 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.

Over the short life of the console, several add-on peripherals were announced. Yet only the [[Atari Jaguar CD]] drive and the JagLink (a simple two-console networking device) reached retail shelves. The 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.)

Production of the Jaguar stopped after Atari 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>

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. Several game companies, including Telegames, ScatoLOGIC, 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.

Some time later, [[Imagin Systems]], a manufacturer of [[Dentistry|dental]] imaging equipment, purchased the [[Molding (process)|molding]] plates for several of the Jaguar's casings as, with minor modification, they were the right size for housing their HotRod camera.<ref name="dental">{{cite web | url=http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3119381&did=1 | title=Atari Jaguar Revived As Dental Camera | publisher=1up | accessdate=2006-11-29}}.</ref> Even the game cartridge molds were reused to create an optional memory expansion card. Later product casings also bear a significant resemblance to the Jaguar.

==Arcade games==
[[Atari Games]] licensed the Atari Jaguar's chipset for use in its arcade games. The system, named '''COJAG''' (for "Coin-Op Jaguar"), replaced the [[68000]] with a [[68020]] or [[MIPS architecture|MIPS]] R3000-based CPU (depending on the board version), and added a hard drive and more RAM. It ran the lightgun games ''[[Area 51 (arcade game)|Area 51]]'' and ''[[Maximum Force]]''. Other games (''3 On 3 Basketball'', ''Fishin' Frenzy'', ''Freeze the Cat'' and ''Vicious Circle'') were developed but never released.

==Technical specifications==
From the Jaguar Software Reference manual:<ref name=atarimanual>{{cite book
| first = Atari Corp.
| title = Jaguar Software Reference Manual - Version 2.4
| publisher = Atari Corp.
| date = 1995
| url =http://www.larshannig.com/download.php?id=3
}}</ref>

"Jaguar is a custom chip set primarily intended to be the heart of a very high-performance games/leisure computer. It may also be used as a graphics accelerator in more complex systems, and applied to work-station and business uses. As well as a general purpose CPU, Jaguar contains four processing units. These are the Object Processor, Graphics Processor, Blitter, and Digital Sound Processor. Jaguar provides these blocks with a 64-bit data path to external memory devices, and is capable of a very high data transfer rate into external dynamic RAM." (page 1)

[[Image:Jaguar Controller.jpg|thumb|right|Controllers]]

'''Processors:'''
* "Tom" Chip, 26.59 [[Megahertz|MHz]]
** [[Graphics processing unit]] (GPU) – 32-[[bit]] [[RISC]] architecture, 4 [[kilobyte|KB]] internal cache, provides wide array of graphic effects
** [[object (computer science)|Object Processor]] – [[RISC]] architecture; programmable; can behave as a variety of graphic architectures
** [[blitter| Blitter]] – [[RISC]] architecture; high speed logic operations, [[z-buffering]] and [[Gouraud shading]], and 32-bit internal registers.
** [[Dynamic random access memory|DRAM]] controller, 64-bit memory management (not a processor)
* "Jerry" Chip, 26.59 [[Megahertz|MHz]]
** Digital Signal Processor – 32-[[bit]] [[RISC]] architecture, 8 KB internal cache
***Same [[RISC]] core as the [[GPU]], and not limited to sound production
** CD-quality sound (16-bit stereo)
*** Number of sound channels limited by software
*** Two DACs (stereo) convert digital data to analog sound signals
*** Full [[Stereophonic sound|stereo]] capabilities
** Wavetable synthesis, FM synthesis, FM Sample synthesis, and AM synthesis
** A clock control block, incorporating timers, and a UART
** Joystick control

* [[Motorola]] [[Motorola 68000|68000]] "used as a manager."<ref>Atari Jaguar Software Reference Manual, Atari Corp. 1995, Pg 2</ref>
** General purpose control processor, 13.295 [[Megahertz|MHz]]

'''Other Jaguar features:'''
* [[Random access memory|RAM]]: 2 [[MB]] on a 64-bit bus using 4 16-bit fast page mode DRAMS
* Storage: [[Cartridge (electronics)|Cartridge]] – up to 6 MB
* Support for ComLynx [[Input/output|I/O]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
* [[List of Atari Jaguar games]]

==External links==
* [http://jaysmith2000.ipbhost.com/index.php? Jaguar Sector II]
* [http://www.ataritimes.com/system.php?System=Jaguar Jaguar] at Atari Times
* [http://atariage.com AtariAge – Jaguar Rarity Guide and information] at Atari Age
* [http://www.hillsoftware.com Jaguar Development Tools for DOS/Windows]
* [http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Console_Platforms/Atari/Jaguar_64/ Jaguar] at [[Open Directory Project]]
* [http://www.electric-escape.net/atari/Jaguar/FAQ Atari Jaguar FAQ] at Electric Escape
* [http://www.atari-jaguar.com/ Atari JagFest Guide]
* [http://www.planet-atari.de Planet Atari]
* [http://www.classicgaming.com/jfpn/ Jaguar Front Page News]
* http://www.atari-jaguar64.de/
* [http://www.geocities.com/archdukeadvice/atari.html Sam Trameil interview]


{{Atari hardware}}
{{dedicated video game consoles}}

[[Category:1993 introductions]]
[[Category:Atari consoles|Jaguar]]
[[Category:Fifth-generation video game consoles]]
[[Category:Video game failures]]

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