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FAQ (updated as of 2004)

1. What is Atari Today?
2. What is the purpose of this page?
3. Where do I get game manuals?
4. Where can I find Atari products?
5. How much will games cost?
6. Which Atari Jaguar games are the most sought after?
7. How many games are out there anyway?
8. I am new to the Atari scene and want to get some basic information?
9. What is the problem with making new Jaguar games?
10. What is the Jaguar CD Unit?
11. Is the Jaguar really a 64-bit system?
12. Why own a Jaguar?
13. What are the Jaguar Specs?
14. What Jaguar Games are in Development?

1. What is Atari Today? In the 1980’s Atari, which had released the popular Atari 2600 (VCS) home game console, was split into two separate companies. Atari Games, for developing arcade games and Atari Corp. for developing home/console games. Midway which owns, Atari Games, developed arcade games under the Atari Games label including Area 51 and Ultra Vortex.  Today, it appears Midway will no longer use the Atari name.  On the other side, Atari Corp. developed computers, the powerful Atari Jaguar 64 bit home game console, and the Atari Lynx hand held console.  However, in 1996 Atari Corp. merged with the disk driver manufacturer JTS and ceased production of all gaming items.   In 1998, Hasbro Toys bought Atari Corp. including its game patents and warehouses, for a paltry 5 Million, with the express purpose of developing p.c. games based on Atari Classics such as Frogger and Centipede. Hasbro then declared the Jaguar and Lynx open platforms allowing developers to make games for the Jaguar and Lynx without getting Hasbro’s permission.  In 2001, the video game developer, Infogrames Inc., purchased Atari from Hasbro for the purpose of developing new games under the Atari label.

2. What is the purpose of this page? This page is here to collect as much information about the Jaguar, 2600, 7800, and 8 bit computers in one place with plenty of links to guide you to other resources. So if you want to explore the world of Atari this is the page for you.

3. Where do I get game manuals? (1) Jaguar Manuals online (download and unzip the files).(2) Try game descriptions in books or magazines such as “Atari Jaguar, Official Gamer’s Guide” by Zach Meston & J. Douglas Arnold. This book contains reviews and outlines for many games including Alien v. Predator, Bubsy, Checkered Flag, Zool 2, and others.

4. Where can I find Atari products? There are many sources where you can find these items all with their own risks and benefits.(1) Try calling around your local video game stores which buy & sell games. You can find some which carry Atari 2600 stuff, but 7800 and Jaguar is much rarer.(2) Try the internet resources such as Ebay or Classifieds 2000. There is a large availability of products on Ebay, but prices vary and you can always lose the auction. BEWARE! You always run the risk of the other person taking your money and not giving you the product. On Ebay, each bidder has past references that you can check. (3) Some Atari pages post a buy/sell page and list items to sell or trade & wanted to buy.(4) Try local flee markets. You can find many items here (especially 2600, but some Jaguar). However, prices seem to be a little inflated.(5) Garage sales: these are hit or miss, but 2600 items can be found if your persistent.(6) Ask your friends & family. Many Atari 2600’s or 8 bit computers are lying in basements collecting dust. Rescue those poor orphans and bring new life into them. This to me is the best option if available. You know the person and can trust that you will get the product.(7)) Use other Atari enthusiasts. Atari fans hold conventions all across the country. Try the Atari Events page for listings.

5. How much will games cost? Prices vary greatly depending on what source or region of the country you are in. Prices seem a bit high at flea markets and on some retail sites on the internet. Prices are lower in garage sales and local video game stores. Atari 2600 games at local video stores can be as low as $1 (generally without manual or box). You can probably find an Atari 2600 system for around $20 at a game store, a bit more at a flea market. 7800 items are rarer and so are probably more expensive. The Jag system can be found from $15-20 at local stores and on some internet sites and the lesser titles from $5-10 used. Be prepared to pay more for rare or excellent titles which can go over $50. The Jaguar CD unit is more expensive because it is rare. You are lucky to find the unit for around $50 at ebay and many internet sites carry it for $70.

6. Which Atari Jaguar games are the most sought after? Two factors affect price, supply and demand.  The most popular games include Alien v. Predator, Tempest 2000, Rayman, and Defender 2000. The rarest games are generally the ones produced after Atari essentially gave up on the Jaguar. Telegames produced a few of theses games including Worms, Iron Soldier 2, World Tour Racing, and Towers II.  Songbird Productionshas released new games such as Protector, Skyhammer, Soccer Kid, and Hyper Force.  Scatologic has released Battlesphere.

7. How many games are out there anyway? Take a look at the AAP game list page for the Atari 2600, 7800, Jaguar, and 8 bit computers.

8. I am new to the Atari scene and want to get some basic information?Some excellent information can be found in Robert Jung’s Atari Jaguar faq.  Take a look at the AAP game lists and the excellent game lists at the Video Game’s Hunters Oasis.

9. What is the problem with making new Jaguar games? The basic answer: When Atari was sold to Hasbro, Hasbro got the right to the Jaguar platform game system. In order to make a new Jaguar game, Hasbro’s permission was needed. Recently Hasbro declared that the Jaguar was an open platform, putting the system in the public domain, so that anyone can develop games without Hasbro’s permission (so long as they do not put the Atari logo on the game). However, ever since the Atari 7800, all games have been encrypted with software code so that a non-authorized game could not be produced for the system unless you had the encryption key.Unfortunately, the encryption key has been lost. A search by Hasbro of old Atari warehouses found nothing. So developers had to find a way around encryption. Songbird Productions acquired a hardware bypass to get around the encryption problem enabling it to release Protector, Soccer Kid, Hyperforce, and Skyhammer.Scatologic, makers of Battlesphere, used a software bypass, known as the brute force method, which uses several jaguar searching for a back door into the encryption.Fortunately, in early 2001 the cartridge game encryption keys were found for both the Jaguar and Lynx in some old Atari surplus disks.  Songbird Productions is developing a cart bypass system to allow development of Jaguar cd games.

10.  What is the Jaguar CD Unit? A Jaguar CD attachment is available for the core Jaguar 64 bit home console system.  It plugs into the core system where cartridges normally go.  Prices of the CD unit run around $70. The Jag CD unit has the following advantages:(1)  It looks cool.   When you plug the CD unit into the top of the Jaguar, it gives it a futuristic alien look.  Impress all your friends!  (2) VLM.  The CD unit plays audio CDs displaying a virtual light show to the music. (3)  The games.  Currently there are 13 Jaguar CD games.  There are some excellent games such as Baldies, Battlemorph (a Cybermorph Sequel), Dragon’s Lair, Blue Lightning, Hoverstrike, Highlander, Vid Grid (a cool puzzle game), and Iron Soldier II.  In addition, new Jaguar CD games are likely to be deveoloped because Songbird Productions is developing a cart bypass system to allow development of Jaguar cd games (see topic #9 What is the problem with making new Jaguar games).All these reasons make the Jaguar CD a great addition to the Jaguar.

11. Is the Jaguar really a 64-bit system?  The question is hard to resolve, largely because the definition of what constitutes an “N-bit” system has not been set. Of the five processors in the Jaguar, only the object processor and the blitter are “true” 64-bit components. Because the blitter and the object processor are in the Tom chip, by extension Tom is a 64-bit chip. Furthermore, the Jaguar also used a 64-bit memory architecture, according to Jez San of Argonaut Software.

Some say the Jaguar should be considered a 32-bit system, as that is the maximum register size in the programmable processors (the 68000, the graphics processor, and the DMA sound processor). Others say the Jaguar can be considered a 64-bit system, because 64-bit components are used, and the GPU can access 64 bits of data if required. Again, the lack of an agreed-upon definition serves to complicate the issue.According to Jaguar designer John Mathieson, “Jaguar has a 64-bit memory interface to get a high bandwidth out of cheap DRAM. … Where the system needs to be 64 bit then it is 64 bit, so the Object Processor, which takes data from DRAM and builds the display is 64 bit; and the blitter, which does all the 3D rendering, screen clearing, and pixel shuffling, is 64 bit. Where the system does not need to be 64 bit, it isn’t. There is no point in a 64 bit address space in a games console! 3D calculations and audio processing do not generally use 64-bit numbers, so there would be no advantage to 64 bit processors for this.”Jaguar has the data shifting power of a 64 bit system, which is what matters for games, so can reasonably be considered a 64 bit system. But that doesn’t mean it has to be 64 bits throughout.”For the record, the opinion of most third party developers and observers is that the Jaguar is indeed a 64-bit system. The emphasis is on the word “system”; while not every component is 64 bits, the Jaguar architecture, as a COMPLETE SYSTEM, is. (from Area 64: The Jagzone by Heath Anderson) 

12. Why own a Jaguar? The Jaguar is a low cost entertainment console.   The console runs $15-20 and most games can be found for around $10! Today most games have lightning fast polygonal graphics.  Most of the Jaguar games are sprit-based, but the depth of the games clearly make up for anything lost in graphical flare. One of the main complaint of critics is the lack of games and lack of graphical ability. A recent surprise for Jag fans was that one of the magazine’s that was originally one of these critics, game pro, reviewed some of the new Telegames releases  (after persistent letter writing for them to at least look at the games). In their review of Iron Soldier Game Pro stated: Iron Soldier 2’s nicely animated texture-mapped polygon objects will probably give Jaguar a surprise, while a driving, menacing soundtrack-mastered for Surround Sound, no less-propels gamers through the carnage. Probably one of the best reasons to own a Jaguar is the impending release of Battle Sphere, the most advanced game on the system. The Jaguar may not be the newest, or the most advanced system anymore, but all things considered it’s still one of the best. (from Area 64: The Jagzone by Heath Anderson) 

13. What are the Jaguar Specs? Physical dimensions:

  • Size: 9.5″ x 10″ x 2.5″Controls: Power on/offDisplay: Programmable screen resolution. Horizontal resolution is dependent on the amount of scanline buffer space given to the “Tom” graphics processor. Maximum vertical resolution varies according to the refresh rate (NTSC or PAL). Reportedly, a stock Jaguar (without additional memory) running NTSC can display up to 576 rows of pixels. 24-bit “True Color” display with 16,777,216 colors simultaneously (additional 8 bits of supplimental graphics data support possible) Multiple-resolution, multiple-color depth objects (monochrome, 2-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit) can be used simultaneouslyPorts: Cartridge slot/expansion port (32 bits) RF video output Video edge connector (video/audio output) (supports NTSC and PAL; provides S-Video, Composite, RGB outputs, accessible by optional add-on connector) Two controller ports Digital Signal Processor port (includes high-speed synchronous serial input/output)Controllers: Eight-directional joypad Size 6.25″ x 5″ x 1.6″, cord 7 feet Three fire buttons (A, B, C) Pause and Option buttons 12-key keypad (accepts game-specific overlays)

The Jaguar has five processors which are contained in three chips. Two of the chips are proprietary designs, nicknamed “Tom” and “Jerry”. The third chip is a standard Motorola 68000, and used as a coprocessor. Tom and Jerry are built using an 0.5 micron silicon process. With proper programming, all five processors can run in parallel.”Tom”

  • 750,000 transistors, 208 pinsGraphics Processing Unit (processor #1)32-bit RISC architecture (32/64 processor)64 registers of 32 bits wideHas access to all 64 bits of the system busCan read 64 bits of data in one instructionRated at 26.591 MIPS (million instructions per second)Runs at 26.591 MHz4K bytes of zero wait-state internal SRAMPerforms a wide range of high-speed graphic effectsProgrammableObject processor (processor #2)64-bit RISC architecture64-bit wide registersProgrammable processor that can act as a variety of different video architectures, such as a sprite engine, a pixel-mapped display, a character-mapped system, and others.Blitter (processor #3)64-bit RISC architecture64-bit wide registersPerforms high-speed logical operationsHardware support for Z-buffering and Gouraud shadingDRAM memory controller64 bitsAccesses the DRAM directly

“Jerry”

  • 600,000 transistors, 144 pinsDigital Signal Processor (processor #4)32 bits (32-bit registers)Rated at 26.6 MIPS (million instructions per second)Runs at 26.6 MHzSame RISC core as the Graphics Processing UnitNot limited to sound generation8K bytes of zero wait-state internal SRAMCD-quality sound (16-bit stereo)Number of sound channels limited by softwareTwo DACs (stereo) convert digital data to analog sound signalsFull stereo capabilitiesWavetable synthesis, FM synthesis, FM Sample synthesis, and AM synthesisA clock control block, incorporating timers, and a UARTJoystick control

Motorola 68000 (processor #5)

  • Runs at 13.295MHzGeneral purpose control processor

Communication is performed with a high speed 64-bit data bus, rated at106.364 megabytes/second. The 68000 is only able to access 16 bits of this bus at a time.The Jaguar contains two megabytes (16 megabits) of fast page-mode DRAM,in four chips with 512 K each. Game cartridges can support up to six megabytes (48 megabits) of information, and can contain an EEPROM (electrically erasable/programmable read-only memory) chip to save game information and settings. Up to 100,000 writes can be performed with the EEPROM; after that, future writes may not be saved (performance varies widely, but 100,000 is a guaranteed minimum). Depending on use, this limit should take from 10 to 50 years to reach.Other Jaguar features:

  • Support for ComLynx I/O for communications with the Atari Lynx hand-heldgame system and networked multiconsole games (on DSP port, accessibleby optional add-on connector). Networking of up to 32 Jaguar units available.The two controller ports can be expanded to support “dozens” of controllersDigital and analog interfacesKeyboards, mice, and light guns are possibleExpansion port allows connection to cable TV and other networksDigital Signal Processor port allows connection to modems and digital audio peripherals (such as DAT players)One megabyte per second serial interface9600 baud, RS-232 serial port (accessible with optional interface)General-purpose I/O bits via the cartridge portCan accomodate future expansions of different processor types, I/O types, video types, and memory types and/or quantities.

The Jaguar is capable of doing the following visual effects:

  • High-speed scrolling (Object Processor).Texture mapping on two- and three-dimensional objects (GPU and Blitter).Morphing one object into another object (GPU).Scaling, rotation, distortion, and skewing of sprites and images Object Processor).Lighting and shading from single and multiple light sources (GPU and Blitter).Transparency (Object Processor).”Rendering” up to 850 million one-bit pixels/second (35 million 24-bit pixels/second, 26 million 32-bit pixels/second), or 50 million Goroud shaded pixels/second. “Rendering” is believed to mean transferring a pixel from a frame buffer to the screen.Sprites of “unlimited” size and quantity. Realistically, sprites can be over 1,000 pixels wide/tall, and the number of sprites allowed is limited by processor cycles instead of a fixed value in hardware (Object processor).Programmable screen resolutions, from 160 to 800 pixels per line. The resolution can be increased even further with additional hardware up toa reported 1350 pixels per line. (from Area 64: The Jagzone by Heath Anderson as seen in Atari Jaguar FAQ by Robert Jung) 

14. What Jaguar Games are in Development? The following games were announced for the Jaguar.  For Jaguar games announced and abandoned see the AAP – Jaguar Archives.  For underground Jaguar games see AAP – Jaguar Developer.

NameDeveloperType% Complete
The Age of DarknessOMC GamesAction RPG?????
ArkannaStorm Works Interactive1st PersonAbandoned?
The AssassinOMC GamesAction RPG?????
CrazeFORCE DesignArcade?????
Dark GuardianOMC Games2D Platform?????
Eternal Darkness: Scent of the SpiderOMC GamesAction RPG?????
GP Earth God’s TroopersFORCE DesignArcade?????
Gorf 2000KrunchFORCE 3DShooter?????
JagDOOM Group GameSongbird Productions1st PersonOn Hold
Legion Force JidaiFORCE Design2D Platform?????
Protector SE (with encryption bypass)Songbird Productions2D Platform1st Qrt. 2002
S.A.I. CorpsBand in the BoxWar SimAbandoned
UnamedBand in the Box2D FighterAbandoned
ZeroStorm Works Interactive2D Platform20%