In our present times everyone talks about processing power. But when I was growing up, everyone talked about video game console power in “bits”. The Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis were both 16-bit, so you can imagine the suspense when Atari announced their new “Jaguar” system with its massive 64-bit power. It was also one of the most massive failures in video game console history. In this article we’ll take a look back and remember.

Back in 1991, Atari announced they were creating a 64-bit console named Jaguar. Previously they were known to be working on a 32-bit console named Panther but Atari decided to give this up and put all of their efforts into the Jaguar. The Jaguar was released in November 1993 for a price of $249.99, which was $50 to $100 more than the price Atari had claimed they would release it for.

The Atari Jaguar was a red and black console and had one of the largest video game controllers released for home consoles. It had 17 buttons and a D-pad, which is 9 more buttons than the standard Super Nintendo controller used. 12 of the buttons were for a number pad and not intended to be used very often during normal game play. The controller had 3 large action C-B-A buttons, similar to a Sega Genesis controller. An improved controller called the Pro Controller was released later and added three more action buttons and two shoulder buttons.

Jaguar Controller

The Atari Jaguar relied on its power to sell systems, but power alone is not enough. The Jaguar was reportedly very hard to develop games for because of difficulty with programming and a lack of good development tools from Atari. Without any good games, the best of video game hardware becomes useless, and this is partially what led to the Jaguar’s commercial failure.

At first the system sold well, but it received plenty of criticism right out of the gate. Many games felt unfinished or rushed through production, especially in the beginning. With time the system began to see some great games, like Rayman and Aliens Vs. Predator, but they weren’t enough when compared to the constant hits being released on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis.

Jaguar Console, Games & Accessories

Although the Jaguar wasn’t necessarily a horrible system, it also wasn’t a very good one, and when the Sega Saturn and Sony Playstation were released, it no longer stood a chance. The one leg Atari had to stand on was power, but that became a joke once people saw that the 32-bit systems were producing better looking games than Atari’s 64-bit system. By 1996, the Jaguar was all but dead and left Atari poor. The Atari Corporation was later bought out by Hasbro Interactive in the late 1990s.

So what has become of the Atari Jaguar? The console has a cult following and Hasbro has allowed the system to be an open platform, which means it is legal for anyone to create their own games for it without licensing fees. The homebrew community is still somewhat alive with a few games seemingly being created.

Tempest 2000, a popular Jaguar game

I hope you enjoyed the look back on the Atari Jaguar. Did you have or ever play one? If so, leave a comment and tell us about it.

Image credits: Frognum, CPS II, TrojanDan