Primal Rage CD - Why so rare?

[doctor_shred]

This game continues to elude me.

 

Most Jag CD titles released by Atari are easy to come across so how come Primal Rage is so rare? It seems odd to me that Atari would have given it a more limited run than Hoverstrike : Unconquered Lands etc.

 

Anyone have any info please?

 

[+save2600]

Hoarders gonna hoard, but usually see at least a few on eBay each year. $50-$100 game typically. Nothing's too elusive if you've got the time, money and patience.

[Trooper Galactus]

It's not too hard to find; CIB is a bit of a challenge, but they pop up regularly. In terms of price/rarity, Brain Dead 13 is up there as well. Most of the original 11 game run for the Jag CD is pretty easy to get. Given the small number of actual operational CD units compared to available games, it's not surprising there's limited demand for the limited quantities. As for why Primal Rage is so rare, it's probably the most in demand of the long box game in terms of popularity and playability.

[Major Havoc 2049]

Primal Rage was a 3rd party game, published by Time Warner Interactive.

 

I bought mine in 1997 at Electronics Boutique on clearance for $9.99.

Edited June 8, 2017 by Major Havoc 2049

[Austin]

Primal Rage was a 3rd party game, published by Time Warner Interactive.

 

Yeah, I was going to mention this. There might physically be less copies in existence (lower production numbers) than the software Atari published. Just speculation anyway, but that was the first thought that popped into my head.

Edited June 8, 2017 by Austin

[82-T/A]

Primal Rage was a 3rd party game, published by Time Warner Interactive.

 

I bought mine in 1997 at Electronics Boutique on clearance for $9.99.

 

Yup... me too. But at the time, it was $7.99 because it was the extra clearance. Normal cartridge games were $5.99. The Jaguar system was $39.95 I believe, and the CD system was $79... or something like that.

[doctor_shred]

Yeah, Jag stuff was going really cheap in UK stores too in '96-'97. Now used prices are crazy. I guess I'll have to spend more time scouring eBay for Primal Rage. Knowing my luck I'll find a copy and then my Jag CD unit will die

[82-T/A]

Yeah, Jag stuff was going really cheap in UK stores too in '96-'97. Now used prices are crazy. I guess I'll have to spend more time scouring eBay for Primal Rage. Knowing my luck I'll find a copy and then my Jag CD unit will die

 

 

Last time I played it, I remember it being really cool.... but for the life of me, I can't figure out why they didn't just put it on cartridge? Did it really take up that much space that it couldn't fit on a cart?

 

It was a pretty decent game though... at least last time I played it...

 

 

It's about as good as Ultra Vortek... looking at the video now:

 

[skip]

PR's size was discussed in the thread linked below. I don't think the file size on CD was resolved, but the arcade ROM is ~35MB, and the animations for characters do actually benefit from being loaded from CD (compared to the cart versions on 16 bit systems and 32X). That said, the 16MB PC version, the Saturn version, or the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 versions (essentially arcade perfect, on Xbox or PS2, and cost next to nothing**) are the superior versions to go for IMHO. I'm happy I got the Jag version for about ~$40 or $50 back when it was released, but compared to the MAT2 version or the other ones mentioend, it's not worth paying the JagTax IMHO.

PR size thread that didn't reveal the size: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/221741-does-primal-rage-really-need-to-be-on-a-cd/
PR Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Rage
Arcade Treasures 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midway_Arcade_Treasures_2

**All three MAT for Xbox in PAL format for dirt cheap...boom! http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/xbox-MIDWAY-ARCADE-TREASURES-x3-Games-1-2-3-Microsoft-PAL/371542550177

Edited June 11, 2017 by skip

[Felyx]

It's not too hard to find; CIB is a bit of a challenge, but they pop up regularly. In terms of price/rarity, Brain Dead 13 is up there as well. Most of the original 11 game run for the Jag CD is pretty easy to get. Given the small number of actual operational CD units compared to available games, it's not surprising there's limited demand for the limited quantities. As for why Primal Rage is so rare, it's probably the most in demand of the long box game in terms of popularity and playability.

 

I am not that sure the working Jag CD are that rare nowadays: if few were sold (15000 only is rumoured) and if they were not reliable, they are often easy to fix (replacement of the laser transport) and they allow to play numerous home-brews burnt on CD-R.

I am curious to know what percentage of Jag fan have a Jag CD because after all the Jag scene is not that big at all...

[JaggingUK]

It's interesting some of you mention getting Primal Rage on clearance and how the machines were cheap - here in the UK, I bought my boxed brand new Jaguar in the 90s from a store called Electronics Boutique (which was very similar to Game today). In their shop in East Kilbride in Scotland they had a big pile of boxed new Jaguars in the store with a sign that said £5 each. I bought two machines and they were also clearing out all the games for £5 each too so I bought about ten games - Defender 2000, Tempest 2000, Alien Vs Predator, Raiden, Missile Command, Dino Dudes - I remember there were lots of games and I bought one of each they had that looked good. Total cost was £60 for two boxed Jaguars and ten sealed games.

 

I don't remember any Jaguar CD machines in the shop where I was, however my Jag CD when I bought it on ebay many many years later had a sticker crumbled up inside the box that said Electronic Boutique £9.99, so I could only assume that some other Electronics Boutiques in the country had the Jag CD machines on clearance for that price... Let's just say the machine did not cost me £9.99 when I bought it !

 

 

[leech]

Ha, I have a bit of a different story. I managed to get Rayman for a dollar because the store I bought it from was going out of business and the cashier left off a zero. I didn't notice it until I got home. I think I bought a few other games at the same time for 5.

 

The Jaguar/JagCD were bought new though when the JagCD came out. I think it was after the first price reduction of the Jag, so 100 for it, and 150 for JagCD.

 

Sadly, at some point I think I lent out Primal Rage and never got it back, so I still have the box, but don't have the CD anymore, so will have to track that down one of these days.

[minux]

It is not rare, just harder to buy.

[+madman]

I guess without production numbers we don't know if it's technically "rare" or just HTF due to people holding onto their copies. I think this and BD13 were the last 2 games I needed for a CD set and I ended up getting them off the market here. Certainly people aren't holding onto BD13 for its excellent gameplay The rest I was able to find NIB elsewhere. Who knows what those run for these days.

[LianneJaguar64]

I managed to get Rayman for a dollar.

 

So lucky!

[leech]

Because of my lost copy, I think I am only lacking Primal Rage, BD13 and Dragon's Lair. At least I have the 'After the Fall' ones of Iron Soldier 2 and Robinson's Requiem.