Un nouveau témoignage sympa
Today is the 10th anniversary of the release of the Atari Jaguar 64-bit
Interactive Multimedia System!
I bought the system on launch day, November 23, 1993. 10 years later, it's
still hooked up, along with some other systems as well. Although I don't
play it nearly as much as I used to, I still get occasional enjoyment from
some of the games.
Is anyone still reading this newsgroup now that was a poster on Usenet 10
years ago and remembers the buzz? On 11/23/93, I wasn't able to post on
the newsgroups, although I was able to read them through a local BBS. I
eventually got the ability to post a few months afterward.
I remember all the big game announcements, subsequent delays, and playing
the waiting game (particularly during the first year of availability).
Whenever a new developer signed on, people would speculate on (or at least
wish for) what games they would eventually produce.
I remember when Cybermorph, the game that was initially packaged with the
Jaguar, drew praise for its innovative and addictive gameplay and
rendition of fully 3D "worlds," and also criticism for the lack of texture
mapping and in-game music.
I remember Tempest 2000, and how it paved the way for modernized remakes
of classic arcade games.
I remember the jaw-dropping screenshots of Alien vs. Predator, and all of
the comparison that arose between that title, Wolfenstein 3D, and Doom.
Jaguar owners were fortunate enough to have all three of those great games
on the system.
I remember Checkered Flag and Club Drive, and how they were delayed many
times and disappointed people who were hoping for worthy competitors to
The Need for Speed on 3DO or Virtua Racing Deluxe on 32X.
Heck, for that matter, I remember lots of comparisons, arguments, and
outright flame wars arising between fans of the Jaguar, 3DO, and 32X
(mostly between Jaguar and 3DO fans, not so much the 32X). Right around
this time (late 1994), the Saturn and PlayStation came out in Japan, and
we eventually got fans of those systems involved in the battle, too.
I remember Iron Soldier seemingly coming out of nowhere and surprising a
lot of people.
I remember when many of the Jaguar 2D games were criticized for looking
"16-bit," particularly games that were ported over directly from 16-bit
systems. This, of course, sparked off legendary "Is Jaguar really 64-bit?"
debates, fueled by misinformation printed in some of the magazines that
the Jaguar had no 64-bit processors, but merely two 32-bit processors.
Interestingly, I still see this type of debate played out from time to
time on Web message boards.
I remember when Rayman was first shown, and people saw a beaufiful 2D
platformer that was clearly beyond what the 16-bit systems could do.
People hoped that this game would be to the Jaguar what Mario and Sonic
were to Nintendo and Sega, respectively.
I remember when BattleSphere was also announced. The developers, 4Play
(later known as Scatologic) were highly involved in the Jaguar community,
and were often caught in the middle of arguments over what the system
could or couldn't do. BattleSphere appeared to be the game that could
prove the naysayers wrong, and Jaguar owners hoped that it would.
I remember the announcement of the Jaguar voice modem and Jaguar VR
headset, and all the anticipation of how they could revolutionize
gameplay. Sadly, these were never released to the public, although a few
prototypes exist. Two released games can even utilize them: Ultra Vortek
is compatible with the voice modem, and Missile Command 3D is compatible
with the Jaguar VR headset.
I remember when the Jaguar CD finally did come out almost two years after
the system did. It never did amass a large library of CD games, but Jaguar
owners did find a few worthwhile games, as well as the Virtual Light
Machine.
I remember Jeff Minter's Defender 2000, which was generally loved by most
fans in one way or another, but debates arose over which play modes were
the best.
I remember Fight for Life, which (like Checkered Flag and Club Drive) was
delayed many times, and disappointed people who were hoping for a worthy
competitor to Virtua Fighter 2 on Saturn or Tekken on PlayStation.
I remember when Atari merged with JTS in 1996, and the Jaguar was
discontinued.
I remember when Telegames acquired and released several Jaguar titles even
after the system was discontinued. Jaguar owners seemed to be happy that
even with Atari out of the picture, Jaguar game development could continue.
I remember the wonderful CatBox, which several people loved for all of the
useful functionality it brought, and which several other people were
bilked out of their money on a later production run that was never
fulfilled.
I remember when Songbird Productions was able to obtain the rights to a
few other Jaguar games that Telegames passed on or otherwise didn't have
the rights to.
I remember when ScatoLOGIC had finally--after more than five years of
development--completed BattleSphere, and faced a new challenge: how to
encrypt working cartridges when the encryption key was seemingly lost.
They eventually overcame it using a brute-force method involving a network
of Jaguar systems, and released the game in 2000. In case you're curious,
the cartridge encryption key was eventually found about a year later, and
the CD encryption key was finally located JUST LAST WEEK.
I have many other memories, too numerous to post here. I also remember so
many other people involved with the Jaguar community in general, in this
newsgroup, in the alt.atari-jaguar.discussion newsgroup, on IRC channels,
on Web sites and Web message boards.
If anyone else reading this has Jaguar memories they want to share, feel
free to post them! Let's celebrate the first ten great years of the Atari
Jaguar!
--
Sal Manfredonia (smanfred@optonline.net)
)
#a-fumé-un-peu-trop#
