Atari Jaguar: Difference between revisions

Having been out of the console wars for years after the failure of the 7800, Atari decided, in 1993, to try one more shot at a video game console, as competition for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the 3DO, which had just come out that year (and even the original Nintendo, which was on its last legs). Originally intended to be a 32-bit system called the "Panther", Atari, in shock of the 3DO having 32-bit capabilities, decided to create a 64-bit system called the Jaguar. Although sales were decent at launch, the console was not doing very well in the market, one problem being that the graphics weren't really "64-bit", but more like 16-bit style graphics you'd see on the Genesis and SNES. This may have been because Atari decided to use the 32-bit processors they had for the Panther, and then they added some other processors and enhancements to make it "64-bit" (which probably isn't true). In an attempt to boost sales, Atari created a CD-ROM add-on for the Jaguar, but by then, it was too late. After just three years, in 1996, the Jaguar was discontinued, with sales totaling less than 250,000 units worldwide (with the CD-ROM add-on selling less than 20,000 units) and putting out only 81 games (67 on cartridge, 14 on CD-ROM). The system has developed a cult following, however, and new homebrew games are still being made by some developers.