Vital Statistics

In 1991, Atari began working on a new 32-bit console, codenamed 'Panther'.  This new console was to directly compete with the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) and the forthcoming Super Nintendo.  However, in December 1992 Atari announced the Panther project was to be cancelled and work to be refocussed on a 64-bit console which they had been working on at the same time, codenamed 'Jaguar'. 

Initially planned for debut in Summer 1993, rumours spread quickly regarding the high specification level of the new machine, in particular the 64-bit RISC microprocessor at its heart.  Atari at the time disclosed a rough price of between $100 and $150.

Technically, the Jaguar was way ahead of its competitors, with 5 processors built into 3 chips - a Motorola 68000 and two proprietary chips called Tom and Jerry.  Tom was an advanced Graphics Processor chip, while Jerry handled the Digital Signal Processing, both running on a 64-bit bus.

At launch in August 1993, the suggested retail price had risen to $200, and by the time it hit the stores in October this price had gone up again, to $250.  Despite this, and reports from the industry's critics that Atari couldn't support the Jaguar, it sold out almost instantly.  IBM handled the manufacturing of the units, while Atari had managed to get around twenty third-party software houses to agree to develop games for the Jaguar.    Unfortunately, these software houses discovered that the Jaguar was very difficult to develop games for, and this resulted in many delays to titles, while other titles were rushed out of the door in a bid to keep the product's momentum.  These games were often considered below par by the media and gaming public.  Following poor sales over Christmas 1994, it became clear that Sony's new Playstation had won the battle of the consoles, despite it being technically far inferior.

Atari continued to push the Jaguar, releasing peripherals including the Jaguar CD-ROM drive, until it's reverse-merger with JT Storage in June 1996. Part of the merger agreement was that JTS would keep the Atari business operational.  After they sold off all the stock, JTS were targeted for investigation by the SEC and quickly sold Atari on to Hasbro Interactive for $5m.