Did you buy a Jaguar or Jaguar CD when they came out?

[gbpxl]

The Jaguar was a pretty unlikely contender when looking at home much Nintendo and Sega were dominating the market at the time. With 3DO being the first "next-gen" system with full CD media and higher resolution video than the Sega CD and TurboGrafx CD, it seemed that 3DO filled a niche for a third group of gamers and its obvious the system catered toward older gamers what with its more adult themed offerings.

But where did Jaguar fit in? If you werent getting what you wanted from Nintendo, Sega, and 3DO, what exactly would it have been that you were wanting? The advertising seemed to try to make people feel they were stupid if they didnt buy their system. That couldnt have been the most effective marketing. Everything I have read has said that the Jaguar didnt actually have 64 bits and it is ironic that a company would belittle gamers' intelligence when they themselves couldnt seem to understand their own products' capabilities.

Alien VS Predator seemed to be the only reason to buy the system back then. And I feel they were so late to the party that if you hadnt bought a SNES or a Genesis 2-4 years later after theyve released, you may as well wait the 1 year and some change for the real next generation (Saturn and PS1)

It is an interesting console but I just dont see why people wouldve bought this system when it didnt exactly look next-gen and there were cheaper options with a ton of games already released for those older systems

Edit: oh yeah and the Jaguar CD. Released six days after the PS1. What were they THINKING? Atari had to have shit their pants when they saw the sales figures from Sony. even if it were only $150, people werent going to buy a system that is DOA and had zero third party support with the cartridge based Jaguar

[Steve W]

I developed a dislike for Nintendo after the "chip shortage" excuse to price gouge consumers back in the '80s (which brought on a Senate investigation), so by the end of the '80s I was supporting everybody else other than Nintendo. I had always been an Atari fan from the 2600 days, so getting the Jaguar was a no-brainer for me. I got mine during the late 1993 test market phase before it was widely released, when there was nothing to play other than the handful of games that came out before its official launch. I stuck with it as my primary game console all the way to Atari's end. I mail-ordered the Jag CD directly from Atari (they used to have a nice little mail-order business with old stock - I hate myself for not buying BMX Airmaster from them, it was the cheapest Atari 2600 game they had in the catalog at only $9.99) and mine didn't work - the spindle was crushed down into the machine and couldn't spin. Sent it back, opened the replacement box, and inside was... a bare Jaguar console. Contacted them, let them know they made a mistake, sent that back, and finally got a working Jag CD unit. Totally worth it for Battlemorph and Hover Strike: Unconquered Lands.

I love underdog machines. Those oddball consoles and handhelds usually have something worthwhile in their library, something making it worth the effort. That's the reason I bought a Nokia N-Gage QD and a Gizmondo at launch. I picked up a Nuon DVD player so I could play Tempest 3000. I won't dismiss a game machine just because it isn't by a giant gaming company. That's why I supported Atari when everybody else was going to Sony. It's just the way I am.

[Bojay1997]

I also was an early purchaser of the Jaguar, buying it during the test marketing phase from a video game store in New York. I remember having to send a cashier's check for the full amount and the console arriving about two weeks later. I can't believe people used to have to take risks like that. In any event, I bought it because I was a huge Atari fan, having collected their consoles and computers since the late 1980s as people were dumping them at garage sales and swap meets. I also thought Cybermorph was the most advanced looking console game I had ever seen. It was my only game for the first couple of weeks and I played it for hours and hours. I honestly didn't care about Aliens vs. Predator and in fact, the game that got me was Tiny Toons which sadly was never released. I was a big fan of the cartoon and really wanted to play a game based on those characters. I also got the Jaguar CD right at launch from Incredible Universe in San Diego and didn't regret it for a moment.

The 64 bit claim is not anything I ever took seriously, just like I didn't care about "Blast Processing" when I bought my Sega Genesis. As for where the Jaguar fit, the 3do at launch was $700, so it was almost three times what the Jaguar cost at $249. The 3do came down to $400 pretty quickly, but that was still well beyond the cost of the Jaguar. The Jaguar also got into some stores like Circuit City and Good Guys and much later Walmart that 3do never made it into. I don't regret buying a Jaguar at launch and while it didn't have the longevity I hoped for, it provided some great play experiences along the way.

[Bratwurst]

I love underdog machines. Those oddball consoles and handhelds usually have something worthwhile in their library, something making it worth the effort.

I do too.

I know it's a bit obvious but it hasn't been mentioned yet in contrast to AvP; The Jaguar port of Doom was a very big deal for the time. Until the Playstation version which came out a year later, no other console could touch it.

[goldenband]

Nope. Kinda wanted one to play Tempest, though.

Had I owned a Jaguar then, I almost certainly would have been disappointed -- it would've felt like the 5200 debacle all over again. It's an easier machine for me to appreciate now, I think.

[Aussie2B]

Nope, and I haven't bought one in all the many years since either. As best as I can recall, I've never even played one. I don't imagine I ever will have one unless I come across a cheap one. There's nothing in the library that's particularly desirable to me, especially because I mostly play games developed in Japan, and as far as I know, there isn't a single Jaguar game made by a Japanese developer.

[Greg2600]

Not a chance! One good thing about being a broke teenager was that high introductory prices on new systems never tempted me to make a mistake. I still had zero interest as Jaguar systems were being practically given away.

[gbpxl]

Power Drive Rally looks cool. Too bad its $80+

[WelcomeToTheNextLevel]

I was an infant when the Jag came out and still only 2 when the Jag CD came out. I do have a Jag now though, but not a Jag CD. I did get the Xbox 360, Wii and the PS3 for Christmas the years they came out (2005-2006), I was 13-14 then so had I been born around 1980 I probably would have gotten a Jag when it came out. It had a few good games, and at least was fairly reliable.

The Jag CD was an unreliable paperweight with no good games. Of the 20,000 units made, I'd bet that maybe 500 to 1000 are still in operation.