Meanwhile, the oldest videogame company was also making its plans for 1993. Unlike 3DO, gaming pioneer Atari initially was highly secretive about its forthcoming Jaguar. In an early 1992 press release, Bob Schuricht, Atari’s National Sales Director, claimed that the company was considering several configurations for the Jaguar, including both 32- and 64-bit architectures. But the press release was vague about how software would be loaded into the machine, citing just about every input device imaginable, from cartridges, CDs and diskettes to keyboards and modems. Atari wasn’t taking any chances. It planned to use whichever technology the industry seemed to be heading towards. By not committing itself to any set technology, Atari planned its Jaguar to be at the forefront of the videogame industry, once it would finally be released.
By the end of the year, Atari’s offiicals were finally willing to speak openly about the Jaguar. The system would be 64-bit and was scheduled for release sometime in the summer of 1993. It would contain a RISC-based processor and new custom chips that would allow for scaling, rotation and stereo sound. It would accept cartridge-based games that would contain more memory than SNES cartridges, but less than those for the Neo•Geo.
Check out more of the rich history of the industry in Leonard Herman’s book Phoenix IV available at Rolenta Press www.RolentaPress.com and make sure to sign up to get Old School Gamer Magazine for free by clicking here!
