¢THE ATARI JAGUAR (more info)¢compiled by Kevin Cooke¢¢ If Atari manage to market the Jaguar properly it's future looks rosy! I have now seen a photo of the Jaguar's joypad and it looks pretty incredible - as well as having keys positioned in the same place as those on a Megadrive joypad, there are also another 12 small buttons that can each be programmed to do different things. The advertising blurb mentions the joypad as giving you "...so many ways to annihilate your enemies, you'll never have to kill one the same way twice."¢¢ The Jaguar's graphics are so amazing you could wet your pants in excitement - not recommended! To whet your excitement instead, here are a list of some games that are either in development, finished or soon to be started:¢¢Trevor McFur in the Crescent Galaxy¢Wolfenstein 3D¢Soccer Kid¢Theme Park¢Battlezone 2000¢Star Raiders¢Cannon Fodder¢Mortal Kombat 2¢Freelancer (CD) (will allow multi-player action by connecting up more than one Jaguar)¢¢ The following information came from Channel 4's Teletext service (p470) during their "Jaguar Information Week".¢¢ As you may have heard, the Jaguar will soon have a CD ROM add-on. This will plug into the cartridge port and tansform it into a true multimedia unit. Apart from increasing it's data storage capacity to 790Mb, it's built in Cinepak technology will allow full screen, true colour full motion video (FMV) at a rate of 24 frames per sec. To watch films, you'll need a MPEG FMV cartridge.¢¢ The CD ROM drive (manufactured for Atari by Philips) also features it's own cartridge port. A virtual light machine is already being developed for this by everyone's favourite computer hippy, Jeff Minter. This will play audio CD's and convert the sounds into psychedelic paterns. Sounds a little like COLOURSPACE without the hard work to me!¢¢ A voice/data modem is also being developed. This will come with a headset that will allow head-to-head play with an opponent over the phone while talking to them simultaneously. Doom, Club Drive and Iron Soldier are all said to be compatible with this modem.¢¢ Doom will also allow the Jaguar's networking facility to be used. This allows up to 32 Jaguars to be networked together with a standard RJ11 phone cable.¢¢Other titles coming the Jaguar's way include:¢¢Battlemorph¢Jack Nicklaus Cyber Golf¢Highlander¢Demolition Man¢Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story¢Zool 2¢Gunship 2000¢Commando¢White Men Can't Jump¢Kick Off 3¢¢Pfash! (described as an interactive movie with "incredible graphics" boosting over 16 billion colours, 10 big levels, 50 types of enemies and over 50 moves)¢¢Club Drive (includes a level where your car gets miniaturised giving you the chance to drive over books, tables, etc. It is said to boast lots of weird camera angles and a split screen "tag option")¢¢Chequered Flag (looks much like, and as good as, Virtua Racer)¢¢ The music from Tempest 2000 is now due out on CD.¢¢ Finally, Atari have planned to release new merchandising to be called "Jag-Ware". This will include caps, T-shirts, jackets, bags, badges, pens, mugs and sunglasses. All will be released in America (I'm not too sure about a British release) and no item should be retailing for over $100.¢¢ Well, that's all from Teletext, but what is my opinion?¢¢ Although the Jaguar looks as if it could be a success, I truly believe that Atari need to develop a character which they can use in a number of games. Look at the success Nintendo and Sega have had with theirs. Even when Zool was developed for the Amiga, sales of the Amiga rose. To be a success, I believe that Atari need to start making a series of games featuring a character that users can get to know.¢¢ As you can see, it looks like some VERY good stuff is going to be released for the Jaguar, providing Atari keep up their support and don't let it drop off. How about some free Jag-Ware, Atari?!¢¢
