119 replies to this topic

[ATARI7800fan]

I was wondering what people's opinion of the Jag are. I have been keeping my eye on it and the 5200 to add to my collection. I recently passed up the chance to buy one with composite cables, two six button controllers and 20-30 games including all the good ones, came with manuals but not boxes. The seller had it listed for 120-130 dollars. When I checked back later after I decided to get a Sega saturn instead it was already sold. Was that a good deal, what do you think of the system. I currently have a Atari 7800,Atari Lynx,SNES,Sega Nomad,Neo Geo AES in storage-power supply needs replaced,n64,Sega saturn,Sega Dreamcast,Neo Geo pocket color,Wii,Xbox 360, and a TI-99/4A computer.Is it worth collecting for. Also am planning of buying the 7800 expansion module. Thank you for your time.

[ls650]

the system rocks and has some great, unique games.

Some of the fanbase, however, tend to be a little too fanboyish and obsessed.

[ATARI7800fan]

ls650, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:05 PM, said:

the system rocks and has some great, unique games.

Some of the fanbase, however, tend to be a little too fanboyish and obsessed.

Thanks for the response, what is your opinion of how much the seller wanted for the Jag collection. The one thing is have noticed about the system is how good the music is,especially it being cart based, I actually listen to the music when studying for college, usually tempest 2000 love that music. Or the theme for Atari carts.

Edited by ATARI7800fan, Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:16 PM.

[GKC]

What were the games? CIB? Regardless though a Jag with two six button controllers, composite cables and 20-30 games for $120 is a great deal. As far as worth buying, if the games the Jag has appeal to you then of course it's worth it. The Jag has a diverse library with games that will appeal to any genre... minus football but Brutal Sports substitutes just fine. Most of the games are moderate as far as prices go (meaning there are cheaper systems to collect for) with some being up there in price but alot can be had for pretty cheap (depending if you care about completeness).

Edited by GKC, Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:06 PM.

[Jag_Slave]

I like it. Small library which means you can usually complete the entire set. Also, its unique, and has alot of odd titles (some good, alot bad).
I think I love the system for what it could have been. And because it was an under dog. Same reason I like the Dreamcast.

[Austin]

$130 is a great price if it included two Pro Controllers, especially with at least twenty games, boxed or not. The Pro Controllers can go for up to $50 by themselves.. hopefully that helps put it into perspective for you.

ls650, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:05 PM, said:

the system rocks and has some great, unique games.

Some of the fanbase, however, tend to be a little too fanboyish and obsessed.

This, without a doubt.

[ATARI7800fan]

GKC, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:05 PM, said:

What were the games? CIB? Regardless though a Jag with two six button controllers, composite cables and 20-30 games for $120 is a great deal. As far as worth buying, if the games the Jag has appeal to you then of course it's worth it. The Jag has a diverse library with games that will appeal to any genre... minus football but Brutal Sports substitutes just fine. Most of the games are moderate as far as prices go (meaning there are cheaper systems to collect for) with some being up there in price but alot can be had for pretty cheap (depending if you care about completeness).

That was a few weeks ago so I can not remember them all but I do remember Rayman,Super burnout, AVP,cannon fodder,Iron soldier,Power Driver Rally,Pinball fantasies,Raiden,Tempest 2000,theme park,Ultra vortek,wolfenstein 3D, Zool 2,missile command 3D,NBA Jam, and some other not so good games, past it up to get a Sega Saturn.

Edited by ATARI7800fan, Fri Jan 14, 2011 10:01 PM.

[GKC]

ATARI7800fan, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:45 PM, said:

GKC, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:05 PM, said:

What were the games? CIB? Regardless though a Jag with two six button controllers, composite cables and 20-30 games for $120 is a great deal. As far as worth buying, if the games the Jag has appeal to you then of course it's worth it. The Jag has a diverse library with games that will appeal to any genre... minus football but Brutal Sports substitutes just fine. Most of the games are moderate as far as prices go (meaning there are cheaper systems to collect for) with some being up there in price but alot can be had for pretty cheap (depending if you care about completeness).

That was a few weeks ago so I can not remember them all but I do remember Rayman,Super burnout, AVP,cannon fodder,Iron soldier,Power Driver Rally,Pinball fantasies,Raiden,Tempest 2000,theme park,Ultra vortek,wolfenstein 3D, Zool 2, and some other not so good games, past it up to get a Sega Saturn.

You can have a lot of fun with a Saturn too but that was a screaming deal for the Jag lot you passed up.

[ATARI7800fan]

GKC, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:50 PM, said:

ATARI7800fan, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:45 PM, said:

GKC, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:05 PM, said:

What were the games? CIB? Regardless though a Jag with two six button controllers, composite cables and 20-30 games for $120 is a great deal. As far as worth buying, if the games the Jag has appeal to you then of course it's worth it. The Jag has a diverse library with games that will appeal to any genre... minus football but Brutal Sports substitutes just fine. Most of the games are moderate as far as prices go (meaning there are cheaper systems to collect for) with some being up there in price but alot can be had for pretty cheap (depending if you care about completeness).

That was a few weeks ago so I can not remember them all but I do remember Rayman,Super burnout, AVP,cannon fodder,Iron soldier,Power Driver Rally,Pinball fantasies,Raiden,Tempest 2000,theme park,Ultra vortek,wolfenstein 3D, Zool 2, and some other not so good games, past it up to get a Sega Saturn.

You can have a lot of fun with a Saturn too but that was a screaming deal for the Jag lot you passed up.

I was afraid of that, That is like the 5th time I have passed up getting a good deal on a Jag, was thinking of which one would be more fun to collect for instead of which one would be fun to own, plus it does have Gex.

[kevincal]

ya a jag with 2 pro controls and 20-30 games is worth atleast double of $120 (240-260)... Oops, oh well.

Edited by kevincal, Fri Jan 14, 2011 10:47 PM.

[avanteproject]

The Jaguar is awesome. Some really unique games and excellent ports of games like Doom and Wolfenstein. It's one of my favourite consoles and it always will be! Also, I wouldn't have passed on that offer.

[The_Laird]

Easily one of my favourite consoles and has far better games than most people give it credit for and some great exclusives. For me Missile Command 3D alone makes the machine worth owning.

[doctorclu]

avanteproject, on Sat Jan 15, 2011 4:43 AM, said:

The Jaguar is awesome. Some really unique games and excellent ports of games like Doom and Wolfenstein. It's one of my favourite consoles and it always will be! Also, I wouldn't have passed on that offer.

Shoulda, coulda, would....

Yeh you missed a good deal, but now you know. The Jaguar is a fun system with some people still making games for it. So pick one up at some point. If you have a Jaguar and Tempest 2000 or Doom you will never be disappointed.

If you get the CD unit, you at least have a good CD player with video display at that point.

[Christos]

ATARI7800fan, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:57 PM, said:

I was afraid of that, That is like the 5th time I have passed up getting a good deal on a Jag, was thinking of which one would be more fun to collect for instead of which one would be fun to own, plus it does have Gex.

You should have gone for the jaguar then. That way you'd have the thrill of PvP battles and the satisfaction that you get from finding a rare item. Only downsides are that the world is very small so there is very little exploring and you might end up doing a lot of grinding.

[Stephen]

ls650, on Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:05 PM, said:

the system rocks and has some great, unique games.

Some of the fanbase, however, tend to be a little too fanboyish and obsessed.

LOL - can I nominate this for understatement of the year

[greencoman]

Yeah an awesome deal. Oh well we all find good deals then wait and their gone. It happens on ebay alot to me. I figure I cant get them all. But you learn thing is it is a great system. It seems to be one of those overlooked system that has fun games. Which then makes it fun trying to discover what other games their are on it. I wonder why the fan base is so devoted? Maybe because no one feels it gets the respect it deserves. I like wolfenstien 3d its fun action packed and addicting. The music is catchy as well. Hit the # key when the sphere comes up in the begining you know the ball then it comes up with a song list then you can listen to the tunes from there.

[Austin]

greencoman, on Sat Jan 15, 2011 4:08 PM, said:

I wonder why the fan base is so devoted? Maybe because no one feels it gets the respect it deserves.

I'm going to go with "mentally disturbed" on this one.

[Major Havoc 2049]

Austin, on Sat Jan 15, 2011 10:44 PM, said:

greencoman, on Sat Jan 15, 2011 4:08 PM, said:

I wonder why the fan base is so devoted? Maybe because no one feels it gets the respect it deserves.

I'm going to go with "mentally disturbed" on this one.

A large portion of the Jaguar fan base are hardcore Atarians in general and the Jaguar was the last system by the company they grew up loving as a kid, teenager and young adult in the living room, at the computer desk and in the arcades.

Hardcore Atarians are no different from hardcore Sega, Apple, Nintendo, etc. fans.

[ls650]

Yeah - but there is definitely something different with the Jaguar fans. You don't see fans of the other systems going overboard in the same way.

[remowilliams]

ls650, on Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:21 PM, said:

Yeah - but there is definitely something different with the Jaguar fans. You don't see fans of the other systems going overboard in the same way.

I'm going with one of my favorite topic titles that I've seen lately to explain the fringe weirdo bunch that even the NeoGeo community would shun - 'Sociopaths and the Atari Jaguar'

[jaybird3rd]

ls650, on Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:21 PM, said:

Yeah - but there is definitely something different with the Jaguar fans. You don't see fans of the other systems going overboard in the same way.

Must have been all that Haterade that Atari slipped into the plastic.

Seriously, though, I think I could write a thesis-length treatment of that subject, because it's a very interesting phenomenon. I think there are several possible factors at work here:

• People who are "into" video games in a serious way tend to gravitate toward games that reflect some aspect of their own personalities, and so they identify strongly with platforms that offer more of those types of games than others. They also choose platforms for nostalgic reasons: the systems they grew up with, or that they admired and always wanted for themselves, or that their friends had. That kind of highly personal attachment is a double-edged sword: it can motivate you to spend a lot of time and money building and enjoying a collection over a period of years, but it can also make any kind of negative feedback (such as a discussion of the system's shortcomings) feel like an attack on you, which isn't likely to leave you in a mood for rational discussion.
  
  
• Because the Jaguar user base is so small, and because the pool of developers with both the interest and the skill to create games for the Jaguar is even smaller, it seems natural that those who are doing creative work on it would develop a sense of ownership of the Jaguar; after all, they're the ones who are "keeping it alive" through their work. It takes a special kind of person to maintain that level of involvement without becoming territorial, or becoming suspicious of the interest and participation of others, especially when there are personal or philosophical differences involved. These differences are magnified by the fact that these people are choosing game development on the Jaguar as one of their leisure activities, and are more likely to have stronger feelings about how it should be done than someone who's doing it for a paycheck.
  
  
• If you're enough of a contrarian to like a video game system that was as completely and decisively rejected in the marketplace as the Jaguar was, you're probably not the kind of person who cares very much about other peoples' opinions or about getting along with everybody; in fact, you probably think that you know better than the majority of the population, because you can see something worthwhile in the Jaguar that almost everyone else in the world missed. This might be one reason why the Jaguar fan base has more than its fair share of highly abrasive and belligerent personalities.

Mix all these ingredients (and probably a lot more) together with the mental derangement that any online community is vulnerable to, and you have what I sometimes call "Jaguar disease."

[superjudge3]

I like the Jaguar a lot. I mean a whole lot. I don't know why either. There's just something about underdog systems that attracts me to them. Every failed system released by a major company is bound to have some good games on it so that's why I gave the Jaguar a shot. Plus I'm a product of the 1980s and I grew up with the 8-bit and 16-bit systems. I always wanted a Jaguar and had respect for it but I couldn't afford one has a 10-year old kid. I was only allowed to have 2 systems as a kid, a NES, SNES, and a Gameboy.

But, I'm a realist so I don't go crazy on forums or the internet trying to defend the Jaguar. I'm a fan of it, I own one and I have fun with it. That's good enough for me.

[Morpheus23]

jaybird3rd, on Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:40 AM, said:

ls650, on Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:21 PM, said:

If you're enough of a contrarian to like a video game system that was as completely and decisively rejected in the marketplace as the Jaguar was, you're probably not the kind of person who cares very much about other peoples' opinions or about getting along with everybody; in fact, you probably think that you know better than the majority of the population, because you can see something worthwhile in the Jaguar that almost everyone else in the world missed. This might be one reason why the Jaguar fan base has more than its fair share of highly abrasive and belligerent personalities.[/list]

First, I was a registered developer with Atari back then and the reasons the Jag suffered poor sales was because it, 1. was released with a limited inventory in 2 major markets (New York and California) with 1 game. 2 games came out from Atari relatively quick shortly thereafter that weren't that great. 2. It had absolutely no marketing behind it and it wasn't until Sony was readying it's PS1 that Atari released the Jag on a larger scale. Again, without much marketing. The whole ramp up was too late. A lack of developers early on and games that were hurried out the door didn't help.

Jeff Minter (Tempest 2000), who I idolize for his talent in writing code, showed that the Jaguar was capable of really good games. The VLM was absolute genius. It wasn't the hardware that failed. It was lack of a knowledgable marketing scheme to support the Jag. When the Japanese PS1 was available, people were spending double just to get one.

[jaybird3rd]

Morpheus23, on Wed Feb 2, 2011 6:02 PM, said:

First, I was a registered developer with Atari back then and the reasons the Jag suffered poor sales was because it, 1. was released with a limited inventory in 2 major markets (New York and California) with 1 game. 2 games came out from Atari relatively quick shortly thereafter that weren't that great. 2. It had absolutely no marketing behind it and it wasn't until Sony was readying it's PS1 that Atari released the Jag on a larger scale. Again, without much marketing. The whole ramp up was too late. A lack of developers early on and games that were hurried out the door didn't help.

Jeff Minter (Tempest 2000), who I idolize for his talent in writing code, showed that the Jaguar was capable of really good games. The VLM was absolute genius. It wasn't the hardware that failed. It was lack of a knowledgeable marketing scheme to support the Jag. When the Japanese PS1 was available, people were spending double just to get one.

I don't doubt any of that, and it's all very unfortunate. In addition to the lack of marketing support and the underwhelming library of early titles, I also get the impression--possibly mistaken--that Jaguar developers were under a certain pressure to do PlayStation-style 3D games, even though this wasn't something that the hardware and/or the development tools were well-suited for. But in spite of all that, the Jaguar did get several excellent games, and I still enjoy playing them today. I own a Jaguar/JaguarCD and a decent collection of games, including some real gems like Breakout 2000, Iron Soldier II, Total Carnage, and of course Tempest 2000 and Defender 2000.

The criticisms in my earlier post were directed at the community that has evolved around the Jaguar, rather than at the Jaguar itself.

[remowilliams]

jaybird3rd, on Thu Feb 3, 2011 12:06 AM, said:

I also get the impression--possibly mistaken--that Jaguar developers were under a certain pressure to do PlayStation-style 3D games, even though this wasn't something that the hardware and/or the development tools were well-suited for.

The funny thing is the fans that still clamor for 3D games on the Jaguar that it's really ill suited for.