>16MHz Motorola 68000>32-bit 32MHz graphics processor>hardware scrolling>PCM sample based sound chip with up to 25 voices>up to 2000 sprites on screen>7860 colors on screen at any one time>only 32KB RAM for some reason>was supposed to come out in 1991Could it have worked?
>>10943029Nothing would have worked without the Japanese 3rd party in early 90s.
>>10943029Yeah, it could have, too bad the Tramiels sank all that money into the Jaguar insteadThere were plans for a consolized ST but they never got off the ground; it would have been a lot better idea IMO.
>Front-loading cartridgeCute!
>>10943029It probably would've been an impressive console that's hard to program for. The 32KB RAM was as fast as a CPU cache and designed to race the beam like Atari 2600 graphics. The CPU and GPU could read the ROM data directly and transform more than dozens of sprites on the fly, so not much RAM was needed. As one of the engineers said, it was intended to be an ultra cheap console like the NES, I guess it would've debuted for around $80 just like the NES did. It's Atari's answer to the $200 SNES and $190 genesis.I assume Atari tried their best to make the racing the beam display system as painless to program as possible for the game devs. Something resembling variable refresh rate maybe? But the system came out buggy so they scraped the whole project and went full steam on the jaguar.
>>10943029What would have made it stick out? Probably not the software.
>>10943068while it's true the tramiels ran the company to the ground slowly chipping away everything that once made it great, it's also true that prior to the acquisition it had above ion storm levels of mismanagement.
>>10943064Pretty much and for good reason, 90% of console games made by American devs back then were bargain bin trash.
>>10943029Probably not but it had a better chance than the Jaguar did.The numpad controller design of the Jaguar should have been scrapped. Relic of a failed experiment that no one asked to come back. Should have been an evolution of the Atari 7800 d-pad controller with six buttons and better ergonomics. Something along the lines of pic-related would have been significantly nicer.
>>10943064>Nothing would have worked without the Japanese 3rd party in early 90s.or American first parties that actually wanted to make games and not shit, especially licensed shit. Atari had several IPs that if re-tooled into good games would have dragged alot of nostalgia interest along. But atari was already a shell by that point, at least anything tied to a non-arcade project.>>10943138any idea what they were planning to use for the sound chip(s)?
>>10943029> 32 colors per lineper line colors in practice are going to match the total displayed colors asside from amigeresq rainbow skies gimmick.
>>10943029Could it have been able to run Doom with those specs.
>>10943029No. The Jaguar didn't die because of a lack of performance (it was actually on the level of a 32X), it died because it had no games. The architecture was even more esoteric than the Saturn, and Atari themselves had never grown out of their golden age arcade era mindset which absolutely did not work after the early 80s. As late as like 1991 they were still making games that had the same sort of gameplay loop as Centipede and Breakout. Meanwhile SEGA and Nintendo had 40+ hour deep RPGs and physics-based platformers and all sorts of great stuff. It's telling that the best Jaguar game is a cut rate Doom clone.
>>10944079>any idea what they were planning to use for the sound chip(s)?The same Ensoniq sound chip used in Gravis Ultrasound. Samples would be stored in the cartridge ROM which the sound chip would have direct access to, making the console really cheap.
>>10944876But wouldn't putting almost everything in the cartridge make them really expensive? You need to strike a balance between the price of the razor and that of the blades.
Ban "what-if" threads.
>>10943029modem support? in 1991?
>>10943029All Atari had to do was make a cheaper version of the 3DO before EA did - make a deal with EA.
>>10944520>Could it have been able to run DoomNot a chance. Doom needs a frame buffer.
>>10943169>What would have made it stick out?Arcade-perfect Double Dragon?
>>10944946It would make the cartridge more expensive because you'd need fast ROM and raw uncompressed data, just like NES carts were, but the console unit itself would be really cheap. That strategy worked for the NES.
>>10944520>>10945341It has a line buffer like the Atari 2600 and 7800 did. Since the 7800 had 2.5D games like BallBlazer, the Panther probably could run Wolfenstein-like games. Doom needed a beefier CPU though.
>>10943029is this an actual prototype or aislop?
>>10945578The planned specs were real at least, not sure if an actual prototype system was made.
>>10945578It's a 3D rendering based on the actual sketch. >>10945609The development kit exists, prototype chips and board were already made, but there's no existing complete system as the chips that were designed came out buggy.
>>10943029>Only 32K of main RAMThat can't be right. The Genesis has more than that. Either that or the designers were smoking crack.
>>10945803The architecture would've allowed cartridges to have up to an additional 32K RAM if devs required more, but yeah that does seem a little tiny.
>>10945803>>10945848It accessed program, sprite, and sound data directly from the cartridge, unlike the genesis which had to unpack them into the main RAM. Remember that PC Engine only has 8KB main RAM, there's 64KB VRAM because the VDP can't access tileset from the ROM directly.
>>10943116kek
>>10945309Never gonna happen
>>10945673>there's no existing complete system as the chips that were designed came out buggy.What was it with Atari and buggy chips, anyway?
>>10949631They're designed in weeks by a few guys in their garage. Other companies would spend months or years and involve hundreds of experts.
>>10943270For better of for worse, the Jaguar controller makes it stand out from other failed consoles.
>>10943270>The numpad controller design of the Jaguar should have been scrapped.What's wrong with it? The numpad makes menu selection and equipment management faster and it didnt take a lot of space. It fit nicely in between the handles. The only thing the original Jag controller lacked was shoulder buttons, and the pro controller fixed that.Why do consolekeks hate having more buttons anyway?
>>10943204And nothing has changed.
>>10951490Ah yes, the nipponese quarity is unparalleled.
>>10952198what game is this from?
>>10952216Xenogears 7
>>10952224ahh xenogears. ive heard mixed things about that series all the way back to the psx version. I wouldnt even know where to get the game just to see some dumb dancing scenes and other humor. thanks tho anon
>>10944994no
>>10943029I think it would've worked and been a hit... until the SEGA Neptune came along to steal the show.
>>109522167th Xenogears game = Xenoblade 2
