Syphon Filter
Member
It looks like the atari jaguar was their last console, what made them leave the console business after?
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What happened to Atari that made them leave the console business?
- Thread starter Syphon Filter
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Red Crayon Aristocrat
Member
Blazing hot take, Atari is the ultimate "you had to be there" thing.
They laid a lot of groundwork, but Nintendo, Sony and Sega are all 1000 times more interesting, the Jaguar was a laughable pile of crap.
They laid a lot of groundwork, but Nintendo, Sony and Sega are all 1000 times more interesting, the Jaguar was a laughable pile of crap.
lakitu1982
Member
The issue was that people did not do the Math. It had 64 bits which was double that of anything else on the market. If only people did their Math.
Thread 'Activision becoming a 3rd party sparked the Video Game Crash of 1983' https://www.neogaf.com/threads/acti...sparked-the-video-game-crash-of-1983.1654109/
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Grizzled Ghost
Member
Nolan realized the real money was in children's novelty restaurants.
ahtlas7
Member
Red Crayon Aristocrat
Member
Also, by which I mean the early days of Nintendo, Sega and PlayStation are all more interesting than the 2600, 7800, Jaguar etc.
A lot of groundwork was laid but I don't think anyone can objectively it holds as well as those others.
And the REAL money there was 30 years later turning those children's novelty characters into horror monsters.
A lot of groundwork was laid but I don't think anyone can objectively it holds as well as those others.
And the REAL money there was 30 years later turning those children's novelty characters into horror monsters.
If you read about the Jaguar, costs, budgets, software contracts. Atari was extremely small potatoes by the early 90's. The money they were spending was nowhere close to Nintendo or Sega. Documentation out there about their software contracts/deals were incredibly low/out dated. They never truly evolved past the 2600 and the crash.
They were pretty mickey mouse to be honest. They were able to tap into that CD32/Amiga European development community and get the scraps.
They were pretty mickey mouse to be honest. They were able to tap into that CD32/Amiga European development community and get the scraps.
Nikodemos
Member
Ironically, Jack Tramiel was Atari's biggest enemy. He constantly fought against both his engineers, and the retailers who would theoretically carry his product.
It was this hyper-confrontational and micromanaging attitude which got him booted from Commodore in the first place.
He lost a pretty solid case against Nintendo because he hired the cheapest (read: dumbest) lawyers to represent him in the Tetris IP trial.
The Lynx could've been a lot more compact, had Jack not adamantly insisted on making it ambidextrous. Jaguar could've been way better, had Jack not demanded excessive cost-cutting (which critically hobbled the design).
Atari might've had a slim chance in the '90s, if his sons had succeeded in convincing him to take a step back from Atari earlier in the company's history.
It was this hyper-confrontational and micromanaging attitude which got him booted from Commodore in the first place.
He lost a pretty solid case against Nintendo because he hired the cheapest (read: dumbest) lawyers to represent him in the Tetris IP trial.
The Lynx could've been a lot more compact, had Jack not adamantly insisted on making it ambidextrous. Jaguar could've been way better, had Jack not demanded excessive cost-cutting (which critically hobbled the design).
Atari might've had a slim chance in the '90s, if his sons had succeeded in convincing him to take a step back from Atari earlier in the company's history.
RetroGamingUK
Member
Everything they did was low quality
Mokus
Member
The company behind the Atari Jaguar was very different from what was in the 1970-80s. Jack Tramiel was extremely stingy about the budget for Atari Jaguar while the other companies were locked in a fierce race to put out the best possible hardware and even then selling it at a loss. Atari's last (flawed) console was doomed from the very beginning considering how many consoles were coming out one after another in that period of time.
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Physiognomonics
Member
The answer is in your question.
Radical_3d
Member
After Jaguar they went down as a company but the brand was an asset itself. That brand was bought at least a couple of times, iirc. Last ones were former Infogrames, the glorious company that bought us marvels like Shadow of the Comet and known for their Alone in the Dark series. Sadly the glory days for them are long over as well and there seems to be no talent left in there. So, I guess Atari is now French?
Anyways, I preferred the old logo better:
Anyways, I preferred the old logo better:
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top-manager could visit this forum and ask us:Atari boss Jack Tramiel said the Taiwan PC cloners will kill the non-IBM/PC computer industry (he was right for the most part) which Atari/Commodore and others businesses where reliant on, that's why Atari rolled the dice on a games console one last time to save the company.
As to why the Atari Jaguar failed, Arcade Attack podcast has an interview with guy who worked on jaguar and came from Lucasarts dev background.
* Too many older timers at Atari who didnt understand it now took teams of 30 people to makes games in 1-2 years, there were still people there that thought one or two working for 6 months was good enough.
* The head of their dev relations was a fraud, didn't know how to do the job, by the time they realised this and replaced him it was somewhat too late.
* The Jaguar hardware was powerful but had a terrible SDK making devs not like it, the Lucasarts guy said getting the hardware engineers to improve the SDK was like pulling teeth.
Atari went out of business in the years after which is why there aren't any more Atari machines.
The name was traded around to various companies, the current owners seem pretty decent and are positioning themselves as a retro company.
As to why the Atari Jaguar failed, Arcade Attack podcast has an interview with guy who worked on jaguar and came from Lucasarts dev background.
* Too many older timers at Atari who didnt understand it now took teams of 30 people to makes games in 1-2 years, there were still people there that thought one or two working for 6 months was good enough.
* The head of their dev relations was a fraud, didn't know how to do the job, by the time they realised this and replaced him it was somewhat too late.
* The Jaguar hardware was powerful but had a terrible SDK making devs not like it, the Lucasarts guy said getting the hardware engineers to improve the SDK was like pulling teeth.
Atari went out of business in the years after which is why there aren't any more Atari machines.
The name was traded around to various companies, the current owners seem pretty decent and are positioning themselves as a retro company.
Badlucktroll
Member
I feel that they should have made the jaguar a cd console from the get go
ManaByte
Member
PeteBull
Member
As a kid/teenager who lived in the 90s and witnessed fall of atari jaguar first hand- it was super simple- they got outcompeted by much better products.
Even sega saturn was much better from atari jaguar, not to mention first playstation...
BlackTron
Member
The only reason I "get Atari" is because when I was a kid, my dad took me to this rich persons house who had a TV in the finished basement with an Atari and a ton of games once, and while they talked about whatever grown up stuff, I played Atari games like Pifall with their teen daughter for hours. I had never seen it before and was utterly fascinated. I saw the wood finish, the dust on the cartridges, that she had been playing it when she was a kid like me before Nintendo, in my little mind it was a somewhat perspective shifting event.
I didn't leave wanting one, but realized it was all some gamers had before they grew up, and that they existed, which was mind blowing! I had previously thought Nintendo and Game Boy just came from nowhere, like the big bang of the universe. Being in the context of a place it never bothered to get upgraded, I could tell how it was once actually good and pushed gaming forward. That is to say, I realized how much more Nintendo had iterated than invented, and it also raised many questions seeing games like DK. I walked in thinking I was gaming God because my dad bought me a magazine, and walked out assured I knew nothing. lol
But that was the last time they were relevant...so long ago the carts were already dust encusted well before I could drive. It's ancient ancient history. Jaguar was an ill-fated last attempt. As a kid, the branding alone seemed bad. Fucking cat eyes. I rolled my eyes every time I passed the stacks of them at Kay Bee Toys covered in discount signs. Didn't even bother to read the amount. At least I asked for a Virtual Boy when it was $29.99.
I didn't leave wanting one, but realized it was all some gamers had before they grew up, and that they existed, which was mind blowing! I had previously thought Nintendo and Game Boy just came from nowhere, like the big bang of the universe. Being in the context of a place it never bothered to get upgraded, I could tell how it was once actually good and pushed gaming forward. That is to say, I realized how much more Nintendo had iterated than invented, and it also raised many questions seeing games like DK. I walked in thinking I was gaming God because my dad bought me a magazine, and walked out assured I knew nothing. lol
But that was the last time they were relevant...so long ago the carts were already dust encusted well before I could drive. It's ancient ancient history. Jaguar was an ill-fated last attempt. As a kid, the branding alone seemed bad. Fucking cat eyes. I rolled my eyes every time I passed the stacks of them at Kay Bee Toys covered in discount signs. Didn't even bother to read the amount. At least I asked for a Virtual Boy when it was $29.99.
Mibu no ookami
Demoted Member® Pro™
The same thing that happened to basically ever platform creator in the 90s. They had pricey hardware (because they didn't have economies of scale) and they didn't have any games.
The only reason why the PlayStation was successful is because they had the manufacturing chops to mass produce a system and make it affordable and selling it at a loss. Combined with publisher's dissatisfaction with Nintendo at the time, it made PlayStation the obvious choice to put their games there.
The reason the PS1 was successful was because of Square, Enix, EA, Namco, Capcom, Konami, Activision... The Jaguar didn't have any of this.
It's actually interesting because EA's support of the PS1 started off pretty slow. It was definitely the Japanese support that spurred it on in the beginning.
Madden for example didn't hit PlayStation until 1996, more than a year after it launched. FIFA on the other hand had launched in 95.
The only reason why the PlayStation was successful is because they had the manufacturing chops to mass produce a system and make it affordable and selling it at a loss. Combined with publisher's dissatisfaction with Nintendo at the time, it made PlayStation the obvious choice to put their games there.
The reason the PS1 was successful was because of Square, Enix, EA, Namco, Capcom, Konami, Activision... The Jaguar didn't have any of this.
It's actually interesting because EA's support of the PS1 started off pretty slow. It was definitely the Japanese support that spurred it on in the beginning.
Madden for example didn't hit PlayStation until 1996, more than a year after it launched. FIFA on the other hand had launched in 95.
mansoor1980
Member
C B A?This ugly ass controller is what killed Atari.
the lack of alphabetical order bothers me ,what the hell were they thinking when they designed that controller.
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Havoc2049
Member
The video game crash and home computer price war in the early 80's really crippled the old Atari and they never recovered.
The Atari ST was a mild success when it launched, but soon sales dropped off a cliff. By the time the Falcon, Lynx and Jaguar came out, Atari already had one foot in the grave and didn't have the funds to properly support those systems.
I do enjoy my 2600+, 7800+, new controllers and all the new 2600 and 7800 cart releases of late. The new Atari is doing a solid job supporting these systems, with new releases on the horizon. The homebrew scene for all the old Atari systems has been going strong for close to 20 years now. I'm always buying new Lynx and Jaguar games.
The Atari ST was a mild success when it launched, but soon sales dropped off a cliff. By the time the Falcon, Lynx and Jaguar came out, Atari already had one foot in the grave and didn't have the funds to properly support those systems.
I do enjoy my 2600+, 7800+, new controllers and all the new 2600 and 7800 cart releases of late. The new Atari is doing a solid job supporting these systems, with new releases on the horizon. The homebrew scene for all the old Atari systems has been going strong for close to 20 years now. I'm always buying new Lynx and Jaguar games.
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Sooner
Gold Member
Nintendo invented the modern controller, so what they say goes - B comes before A, Y comes before X, so obviously C would come before B.
mansoor1980
Member
ReyBrujo
Member
The fact that "Where did you learn to fly" looked much worse than Star Fox.
SF Kosmo
Banned
Really they never regained their footing after Bushnell sold the company.
So the short version:
Console generations weren't something that was well understood at the time. They got bought by a guy who envisioned the market as pivoting toward inexpensive computers after the crash, which was what was happening in the Europe, so they went in on their computer business and did well in Europe but the strategy didn't pan out in the US.
They shelved their next gen consoles, the 7800 until after the NES revitalized the market and it was late and dated by then.
They essentially sat out the 16-bit gen on the console side, again concentrating on the 16 bit computer market with the Atari ST.
So by the time Jaguar came out they were really on their last legs. When they got bought out by Hasbro, it was really just for the IP, the company was effectively gone. And then Infogrames bought them a couple years later and rebranded their existing operation as Atari, but it was just a rebrand for the French publisher.
Just so everybody understands this one, they literally had the 7800 and games for it sitting in a warehouse for a year or two. They eventually dumped it on the market only after the NES had finally gotten its national release in early 86. Given how fast things advanced in those days, yeah the thing and its games seemed pretty dated.
Futaleufu
Member
Jaguar would've made a lot more buzz if it had released in 1991 as the original roadmap. They couldn't produce them fast enough and everybody had trouble programming for the hardware architecture so they had to add a 68000, which caused most 3rd parties to just go for ports of 16 bit games.
Also its hard to make real "64 bit" games when you are limited to 4 megabyte cartridges. The Jaguar CD should've fixed this but it just exposed how uneven the hardware was: the Jaguar CD port of Primal Rage looks closer to the 16 bit consoles ports than the 32 bit/DOS ports.
Also its hard to make real "64 bit" games when you are limited to 4 megabyte cartridges. The Jaguar CD should've fixed this but it just exposed how uneven the hardware was: the Jaguar CD port of Primal Rage looks closer to the 16 bit consoles ports than the 32 bit/DOS ports.
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diffusionx
Gold Member
Madden 96 was in development but canceled.
Spiral1407
Member
The Jaguar happened. It had hardware as complex as the Saturn with none of the charm.
Horseganador
Member
TransTrender
Gold Member
Holammer
Member
Atari like many other US companies failed to innovate. They thought they could sell the same hardware forever or until the video game fad was over.
The Atari 8-bit computer line is a perfect example, first machine came out in 1979 and they kept trying to sell the same basic hardware with small RAM upgrades as new machines up to 1992.
Everything they did was a comedy of errors and it's almost amazing they managed to limp along as long as they did.
The Atari 8-bit computer line is a perfect example, first machine came out in 1979 and they kept trying to sell the same basic hardware with small RAM upgrades as new machines up to 1992.
Everything they did was a comedy of errors and it's almost amazing they managed to limp along as long as they did.
kevboard
Member
awful games and awful hardware...
they made the worst consoles imaginable after the 2600. and had basically zero IPs that anyone cared about.
all the big IPs during the 2nd console gen (when Atari was king) belonged to Namco, Taito or Nintendo.
PacMan - Namco,
Space Invaders - Taito,
Donkey Kong - Nintendo,
Pitfall - Activision,
Frogger - Konami/Sega...
those are the most popular 2600 games... none of them are by Atari. the only Atari IP with any real brand recognition at the time was Asteroids. and that's an IP that's worthless basically, as it has no recognisable characters, and can't really be evolved past its initial concept in a way that keeps it relevant past the early Arcade era.
during the 3rd console gen they completely fell flat on their face with the 7800, a console that was such a failure, it only ever got 59 officially released games. most of which were just remakes of old arcade games.
by the time the Jaguar (another dog shit console) launched, they lost all their brand loyalty.
the fact that they even tried to make a 5th gen console in the first place was surprising... they never stood a chance
they made the worst consoles imaginable after the 2600. and had basically zero IPs that anyone cared about.
all the big IPs during the 2nd console gen (when Atari was king) belonged to Namco, Taito or Nintendo.
PacMan - Namco,
Space Invaders - Taito,
Donkey Kong - Nintendo,
Pitfall - Activision,
Frogger - Konami/Sega...
those are the most popular 2600 games... none of them are by Atari. the only Atari IP with any real brand recognition at the time was Asteroids. and that's an IP that's worthless basically, as it has no recognisable characters, and can't really be evolved past its initial concept in a way that keeps it relevant past the early Arcade era.
during the 3rd console gen they completely fell flat on their face with the 7800, a console that was such a failure, it only ever got 59 officially released games. most of which were just remakes of old arcade games.
by the time the Jaguar (another dog shit console) launched, they lost all their brand loyalty.
the fact that they even tried to make a 5th gen console in the first place was surprising... they never stood a chance
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