dreamcastrip

True that. The limits of absurdity Sony employed throughout that, iirc, one year period prior to PS2's launch in the West seemed to hold no bounds. I'll refrain from listing specifics so not to venture too far off-topic but, yes, recalling memories of the whole damn nonsense that was the Iraqi super-computers farcical tale is making me cringe (and laugh ) even now. To the best of my recollection no console launch in the post-Jaguar era has been accompanied by a marketing focus on bit count quite so dominant as the "Do The Math" campaign. Nintendo of course stated bit count within the name of their subsequently released home console, the Nintendo 64. While I vaguely recall some of N64's pre-launch marketing making claims of it's superior power relative to PlayStation I don't personally recall a highly visible sustained emphasis on the bit count. That said, Nintendo haven't traditionally obsessed with detailing system performance specs in how they've generally sought to market new home consoles - for good reason, some might say . Keeping the "64" suffix from the in-development moniker of Ultra64 onwards suggests no fear consumers might have been deterred by any perceived Jaguar 64-bit connotations! Aaaaanyways... I wonder if when marketing future consoles the industry took on board certain memories of the whole "Is it really 64-bit?" much publicised debate of the time that likely helped undermine Jaguar's mainstream credibility from the outset? Moving on from the N64 would be the marketing of both Dreamcast and PS2. Both had references to being 128-bit consoles but it came as one of several factors when communicating technical aspects, e.g. PS2's Emotion Engine and built-in DVD player and DC's built-in modem for out-of-the-box online gaming. Perhaps a secondary reason for both firms not overplaying the 128-bit message was to avoid becoming embroiled in a bits debate reminiscent of what plagued Jaguar, i.e. they'd already took a "Jaguar-esque" risk by using the 128-bit tag given that some have long argued neither console could be genuinely categorised as being 128-bit. In light of such instances as Jaguar, DC and PS2 perhaps its no surprise that the DC and PS2 launches were the last time a mainstream home console was officially marketed on the basis of the number of bits . Finally... The Tramiels sure were a little "unorthodox" at times in how they opted to "Do The Math"! Contriving to infer Atari Lynx had 32-bit sound, as referenced in some promo literature, on the premise "4 channels × 8-bits/channel = 32 bits" was genius ! After pulling such a stunt it seems little wonder that some folk were naturally suspicious when they first heard details of Atari's media announcement that the new Jaguar console was reputedly a 64-bit system.

Just take your beloved PS3 & Time Crisis 4 Oh & make sure YOU GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUTTA BED AT A REASONABLE TIME THIS YEAR!! Scratch the word "beloved" in case folk get suckered into believing such deviant thoughts emanating from your evidently disturbed mind! That aside, playing Time Crisis 4 effectively on a mere 19" TV screen might prove rather challenging , never mind the possibility of the light gun sensor units not functioning properly on such a small sized TV. Oh, your interpretation of what constitutes "... a reasonable time" may markedly differ from mine!

@ thund3r: Re: Televisions - I contact the hotel and they were willing to hire me a TV for the one day I enquired of (the Saturday) for the princely sum of £40. At that considerable price I needless to say politely declined the offer. Thankfully, I've since been able to acquire a TV of my own to bring along as the idea of somehow lifting/carrying my living room's 40" TV to my car so to transport it there was obviously a non-starter! Re: Saturn joypads - As I plan on bringing my Saturn I'll have two or three of its joypads with me too so it seems there'll now likely be an abundance of Saturn pads there! P.S. For info purposes the TV I'll be bringing is a portable 1080p LCD HDTV so there's no chance of light guns working on it from older/retro consoles.

Not everything on the Jaguar needs to cost $80 + S&H Precisely.

Is it the seemingly eternal "game" of seeking to discover the presence of a commonly accepted high quality d-pad on an officially produced game pad/controller?

I initially got myself in knots over whether to vote for Doom or AVP but soon settled upon AVP for several reasons not least of which was the game's kudos of possessing only-on-Jaguar exclusivity.

Potentially a wonderful prospect for the mighty Jag, tomjscott! I've only very recently acquired a ColecoVision and within the past couple of days also snagged Venture for it. Although I've not yet managed to play the game it most certainly appears to be well thought of based on some of the reviews I read on the internets that led me to purchase it. Best of luck for the journey ahead.

I heard it was Nintendo who most notably introduced the gaming disease known as sequelitis.

With some predictability I'd say Dreamcast. Whilst I still enjoy playing some games on PlayStation and N64 I can't help but be put off to some extent due to the horrendous jaggies of the former and the smear-o-vision of the latter. Dreamcast rules!

I've admittedly not read any other posts in the thread but in seeing your thread's essential question (from a fellow Englander, no less! ) I just had to reply. In a word: YES! £200 is indeed a whole load of cash to be shelling out on what is at the end of the day "only" an add-on peripheral for a retro games console and so I think I kinda see where you're maybe coming from in openly asking such a question. £200 for a BNIB Jaguar CD alone would imho be rather steep BUT with six additional games included for the price its a great deal. Honestly, if I didn't already own a Jaguar CD I'd be snapping up that deal immediately! Caveat: Apologies in advance if this question's already been asked by someone else here but are those six game all ADDITIONAL to the system's pack-in titles or inclusive of?

Chicky', My thoughts are with you and those close to you at this most difficult and challenging time. Should you ever feel a need for any kind of additional emotional support by one not directly involved, so to speak, then you're genuinely and most sincerely welcome to PM me at any time should you so choose. In support as always, D.

I wont answer Hatta's. I'll answer yours. The reason as stated is that its been answered a thousand times. Only 1% or so of those people who would download and play roms would ever use it reasonably, if there is such a thing. And reasonably would be demo purposes as a try-before-you-buy kind of thing. The rest would drain this community of everything they could until ever developer or business distributor got up and went for greener pastures. Its just the mentality of those who would do this. They would contribute nothing to the community and drain it for everything they could. They would drive to extinction all of the businesses like Songbird and GoAtari. Taking away from those of us who actually love this community and the Jaguar and like to be able to buy 'new' stuff in new packaging. This community is too small to give parasites any kind of leeway. This isnt a big community like the 2600. If we dont protect it there will be nothing left but tumbleweeds. Whilst I'm still here struggling, for better or for worse, to hold true to my previously stated intention to not on this occasion be overtly drawn into another piracy-related Jaguar debate I'd just wish to now respectfully acknowledge your response. Therefore, in seeking to clarify my general stance in relation to your reply and so solely for your benefit, I wholeheartedly and unreservedly agree 100% with the tenet of what you just said. Reflecting on my unnecessarily "wordy" initial post maybe in hindsight it'd have been better to have instead taken ls650's more succinct approach of recommending others to search past threads. Whatever!

Hey, I did try to help!

Whilst admittedly quite tempted myself to also chip in here with my own personal take I just can't see how doing so could ever likely prove constructive given the strength of feeling and seemingly entrenched views of so many within the Jaguar "community". To respectfully qualify that observation in the event anyone should misguidedly interpret it as a form of "criticism" or flame-bait, my own perspective on the matter is crystal-clear in my mind and so I guess could also be considered an entrenched position too. With all due respect to the various personal opinions expressed thus far since the thread's innocent and innocuous posited question it'd perhaps be a good thing indeed if Hatta's query were to be respectfully answered without folk also feeling the express need to nail their colours to the mast in relation to the piracy debate. I'd never seek to "tell" folk what not to say as the sincere motivation in posting this is to however idealistically somehow help avoid yet another needless and so easily avoided flame war. Peace . As an aside to the above stated sincere hope for peace, another consideration as to why Hatta's query should be addressed directly and responsibly without additional "baggage" being introduced would be the clearly stated "Don't Discuss Piracy" Jaguar forum rule as stated in AA's/Albert's Jaguar Forum Rules - Read Before Posting! thread.

In relation to any differences, Wikipedia states: "By default, the DOS version has an extended introductory sequence and more minor cut scenes than the Amiga version, such as when picking up items. In the Amiga version, the user can see these scenes by enabling them (although with few seconds of delay every time the animations load) or by playing the game entirely from the hard drive. The Amiga version also had an option to zoom in on the action whenever Conrad opens fire. Due to criticism of the look, it was removed from all other versions. The message that Conrad writes in the ending was also different in this release.[6] The game was originally released on 3.5" floppy disk for MS-DOS. Re-releases on CD-ROM for 3DO, CD-i, PC, and Sega CD featured redone cinematic FMVs with audible dialog and sound. The Sega CD port also has voice work for gameplay and CD tracks for each level. The Jaguar port has the title screen that these ports have, but the music is different and the look of the title screen is all that it has from the CD releases. In North America, the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo and Sega CD versions featured a Marvel Comics comic book within the manual in order to explain the initial story. The PAL Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo releases (There was no Mega-CD version.) omitted the comic and instead featured a textual prologue. The Super Nintendo port was also censored, with New Washington's bar becoming a cafe and Death Tower being renamed Cyber Tower. There was also a version of Flashback which included CGI cutscences, called 'Flashback: Enhanced'." Hope that helps.

'Buddies, would you please clarify exactly what you're saying cos the possible alternative interpretation is a little, ahem, worrisome? My bad!

Well perhaps he'd think, 'Wow, years later someone made an improved nice new shiny version of tetris with polished graphics, some really catchy audio, and a choice of different play modes and then gave it away for free, how great!' A better question would be - What would he think if he had a thread related to his original jagtris release and then someone came in to shit on it saying something like 'Do you really want to play this on the Atari Jaguar 64-bit Interactive Multimedia System?' Anyhow - feel free to continue trolling the thread in a poorly veiled manner, because as is often the case when dealing with the vocal Jag minority here - this is growing tiresome. Aside from you evidently not having grasped the lighthearted nature of my comment, I'd never be so presumptuous or clairvoyant enough to suggest what somebody else may think. As for the context of your Jagtris reference please consult Zerosquare's most recent post to appreciate why that line of argument is fundamentally flawed. If you're going to present debate by quoting others then please do it correctly as the "quote" you suggested I posted is not as you presented it. Twisting its wording to suit your own agenda and so misrepresenting what was said is disingenuous to say the very least. Reading back to yourself what I actually posted and you'll hopefully see the intention was altogether different from what it is you took me to mean, i.e. your personal interpretation and subsequent claim that I've "came in to shit on it". If you perceive me to have been "trolling the thread" then that's prerogative however wide of the mark it may be. From your confrontational tone I suspect that so entrenched are you in holding such a view that there'd be little point in me presenting any response to the contrary - although I sincerely hope my suspicion is wrong. Looking beyond the aforementioned sometimes confrontational nature of your post together with its additional negative inferences, I have no overt desire to engage in these kind of unpleasant exchanges. I've no axe to grind against you personally having on many occasions both read and admired several of your posts on Jaguar forums. I hope the overall nature of this reply hasn't come across as unnecessarily hostile as the intention was primarily to defend, not attack.

I can't help wondering what Bastian Schick might make of such a statement!

I specifically quoted the above comment so to be crystal clear in what my response is solely in reference to. Having just re-read the entire thread the only comments as far as I could make out to have made direct reference to the game's graphics were those made by me. More specifically, I posted one comment in each of two separate posts. However, even after having re-read those comments, I cannot agree with your assertion that they were "attacking the graphical merits" of Beebris. To characterise what I posted as an "attack" is to misrepresent both what I said and the context it was said in. I'm not seeking to bait or antagonise, just to bring a due sense of proportion and to respectfully correct this minor indiscretion.

On the basis it is indeed yet another Tetris clone/variant, appearing as a SE re-release in the year 2010 no less, I can only therefore respond in saying fair enough to you if you're content with playing such a thing on the Atari Jaguar 64-bit Interactive Multimedia System. "Each to their own" as the saying goes. Pretty colours excepted, playing Tetris on my monochrome screen circa-1989/'90 Game Boy will do me just fine.

From the screenshots, especially the one located to the right side, it certainly looks like a Tetris clone/variant so I'm curious to see your query answered too. From the thread's opening description featuring all those Atari ST references I can't help wondering whether its essentially a tarted up ST-level effort that's largely been coded solely using the 68K.

@ Chicky': As per your most welcomed request, here's the pic we chuckled over and thought somehow appropriate to the thread - @ all present: Legal disclaimer - The above posted content does not, and so should not be interpreted to, indicate or imply any personal knowledge as to the colour, blonde or otherwise, of Chicky's "cat".

Please forgive the selective quoting but it touches on something about John Carmack's stated appreciation of Jaguar that's always intrigued me. I'm familiar with Carmack's statement/s praising Jaguar and have since seen him words occasionally quoted by Jaguar sceners, including a highly esteemed current coder, to support claims of Jaguar's true potential when placed in the hands of sufficiently talented devs who know of and also implement the various techniques required to make Jaguar fly. What I've never been able to truly fathom about what Carmack said all those years ago is what he was actually getting at beyond the immediately apparent or indeed if he said those words to perhaps gain additional media attention for both himself and his company. Whilst he may well have been merely voicing his opinion that Jaguar, despite its general media portrayal and mainstream public perception to the contrary, was in fact a more than capable system than was then commonly accepted. I've no issue at all in accepting he in any way intended to suggest anything more than what his words stated when taken literally. For the sake of continued debate though, here's an alternative and more analytical take ... I can't help but wonder if he was actually expressing a sincere personal admiration for Atari's decision to take to market what was for the time such an unconventional, for the want of a better term, video game console with its proprietary multiple-processor architecture design model. As far as I'm aware and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, such an alternative and novel design then represented a whole new approach in the world of mass marketed video game systems, for better or for worse (Saturn & PS3, anyone?!?), and was therefore unprecedented. I realise Carmack has also expressed how he considered Atari could/should have improved elements of Jaguar's internal design but I don't necessarily interpret those observations as a direct criticism. More of a personal regret of his maybe that such a left-field system was unnecessarily hamstrung by what he saw as a few easily remedied issues. One possible impression is of Carmack putting on public record that he actively enjoyed the experience and personal challenge represented in learning to effectively exploit the Jaguar hardware. Looked at another way, perhaps he reveled in the opportunity and associated challenge of producing a game, and maybe several more if Jaguar had been commercially successful, which showcased his talent in order to gain industry/peer and fan recognition especially at a time when so many people perceived Jaguar as not being particularly special in part as a consequence of the numerous "lazy" 68K-only Amiga-esque titles then been released by lesser talented individuals.