Now, I have to get a point across. Many Jaguar owners are starting to show signs of being worried that it will not survive when Sony, Sega, and SNK release their systems. Even more nervousness in shown when Ultra 64 is mentioned. AND AM I SICK OF IT! So, just hold your horses (or should I say Jaguars) and be a little more patient, because Atari is dedicated to putting out a promising product, but we have to learn and wait. LITTER BOX BABBLE: The next conference will be May 28, at 9pm EDT (New York time) in the General Meetings Room. GO JAGUAR. This is for CompuServe members only. ASK A QUESTION Each month, people e-mail me with questions and I try and get the answer direct from the source. If you have a question, e-mail me at: 74447.531@compuserve.com Question The CD-ROM was supposed to be released in December? What's happened? Is it still coming out? Answer (contacted Atari) The Jaguar CD, according to Atari, has been ready to go for some time now, but Atari wants to make sure there is an ample supply of titles out for it (6-8). The Jaguar CD will be $149.99 with three discs in it. The Jaguar CD is currently set for a mid-summer release. Question Is Burn Out a CD or a cart? Answer (contacted Atari) Burnout/Super Burnout (name still up in the air) will be a 16 Meg cartridge, due out in May. Question Will Acclaim be releasing any World Wrestling Federation titles on the Atari Jaguar? Answer (contacted Acclaim) At this point, they do not have official plans. There are plans to release WWF Raw for the Sony Playstation, so it is possible they'll do a simultaneous release of the game for the Jaguar. ***The following was posted on the Jaguar Mailing list as supposedly coming from Atari:*** ATARI JAGUAR SOFTWARE LIST Current as of: May 18, 1995 MAJOR HITS/RECENT RELEASES Alien Vs. Predator cart RPG/Adventure Now Doom cart Action/Combat Now Iron Soldier cart Action/Strategy Now Tempest 2000 cart Action/Adventure Now Val D'Isere Skiing cart Sports Now & Snowboarding Hover Strike cart Action/Combat Now UPCOMING SOFTWARE Super Burnout cart Racing 5/95 Ultra Vortex cart Action/Adventure 6/95 Blue Lightning CD Flying/Action 7/95 Creature Shock CD Adventure/Sci-Fi 7/95 Demolition Man CD Action/Combat 7/95 Fight for Life cart Fighting 7/95 Highlander I CD Action/Adventure 7/95 Myst CD Interactive Novel 7/95 Ruiner Pinball cart Arcade 7/95 Super Kart (working title) TBD Racing 7/95 Vid Grid CD Puzzle/Music Video 7/95 White Men Can't Jump cart Sports 7/95 Arena Football cart Sports 8/95 Baldies CD Action/Simulation 8/95 Battlemorph CD Flying/Action 8/95 Charles Barkeley Basketball cart Sports 8/95 Flip-Out cart Puzzle 8/95 Freelancer 2120 CD Adventure/Sci-Fi 8/95 Hover Hunter cart Action/Arcade 8/95 Robinson's Requiem CD Adventure 8/95 Soul Star CD Action/Sci-Fi 8/95 Supercross 3D cart Sports 8/95 Defender 2000 CD Arcade 9/95 Hover Strike CD CD Action/Combat 9/95 Max Force cart Action (3D) 9/95 Space War cart Action/Adventure 9/95 Starlight Bowl-A-Rama CD Simulation/Sports 9/95 Thea Realm Fighters CD Action/Fighting 9/95 Attack of the CD/cart Arcade 10/95 Mutant Penguins Brett Hull Hockey CD/cart Sports 10/95 Commando (working title) CD Action (3D) 10/95 Dactyl Joust cart Action 10/95 Deathwatch cart Arcade 10/95 F1 Racer CD Racing 11/95 Highlander III CD Action/Adventure 11/95 Varuna's Forces CD Action/Adventure 11/95 Black Ice\White Noise CD Action/Adventure 12/95 Iron Soldier II CD Action/Strategy 12/95 Magic Carpet CD Action/RPG 12/95 Missle Command 3D VR 3D Shooter 12/95 NBA Jam:TE TBD Sports 12/95 Zone Hunter VR 3D Action 12/95 Dune Racer CD Racing 1/96 Ironman/Exoman TBD Action 1/96 Alien vs. Predator:The CD CD RPG/Adventure 2/96 Mindripper CD Adventure 2/96 Batman Forever CD Action/Adventure 3/96 Dante CD Action 3/96 Frank Thomas Big TBD Sports 3/96 Hurt Baseball Mortal Kombat 3 TBD Fighting 3/96 3RD PARTY TITLES CURRENT RELEASES Brutal Sports Football cart Sports Now Telegames Cannon Fodder cart Action/Adventure Now Virgin Double Dragon V cart Action/Adventure Now Williams Sensible Soccer cart Sports Now Telegames Syndicate cart Simulation Now Ocean Theme Park cart Simulation Now Ocean Troy Aikman Football cart Sports Now Williams UPCOMING SOFTWARE Flashback cart Action/Adventure 6/95 US Gold Pinball Fantasies cart Arcade 6/95 C. West Air Cars cart Racing 6/95 Midnite Rayman cart Action/Adventure 6/95 UbiSoft Dragon's Lair CD Adventure 7/95 Readysoft Soccer Kid cart Sports 7/95 Ocean Power Drive Rally cart Driving 7/95 TWI Pitfall cart Arcade 8/95 Activision Space Ace CD Space/Combat 8/95 Readysoft Battlesphere cart Space/Combat 9/95 4-Play Primal Rage CD Fighting 10/95 TWI Rise of the Robots CD Action/Arcade 10/95 TWI Wayne Gretzky Hockey CD Sports 11/95 TWI *All date are subject to change* REVIEWS Game Name: Hover Strike Publisher: Atari Developer: Atari Theme: Shooter Megabits: 16 Meg Players: 1-2 Atari hasn't produced a high-quality title since Iron Soldier (and haven't released a game since Val D'Isere S/S I believe), so Jaguar- owners are starving for a good game. Hover Strike will not end that starvation for a great title, but it will definitely hold you over until one comes out! Hover Strike has the same basic storyline as CyberMorph. The Federation has asked you to save colonists from a planet full of Terrakian pirates. The pirates are turning human remains into fuel (don't try that at home!), and you have to get the remains for it. There are six levels containing ten stages each (60 levels total) and you have to pilot a hovercraft to the pirates (and power-ups). There are lots of goodies, like missles, cannons, etc. The graphics in this game are very nice, and texture-mapped. They are a nice sight, especially versus those of Cybermorph. While the ship is a bit slow, it is all very smooth. The t-mapped water even waves! Music is good. The opening theme is top notch stuff and the in- game music is better than that of Cybermorph. Sound effects are nice and crisp as well. The control in the game, at first, is almost unbearable! But, I decided to play a little longer, and I got used to it (unlike those commercial magazines.) and liked it. Much of it is combos to move, but not hard stuff. And, yes EGM, you can strafe and go backwards! Overall, Atari's only Spring release is a very good game. Of course everyone is waiting for Rayman, but if you need something to hold you over until then, buy Hover Strike. Disappointment not included. Graphics: 8 Music/Sound: 6 Control: 7 Overall: 84 Fun Factor: 7 Originality: 7 SPECIAL INTERVIEW Fight For Life will soon be on the store shelves, and it's going to be compared, undoubtebly, to Virtual Fighter for the Sega Saturn, Toh Shin Den for the Playstaion, FX Fighter for Super NES, among other titles belonging to the 3D-fighting genre. All these games are created by developers who know their stuff. FFL is being developed by the same person who help develop the arcade version of Virtual Fight- er, Francois, who now works for Atari. I recently had a chance to chat with him one lonesome morning on CompuServe, and I got some questions I've heard over and over answered. Jeffrey Norwood: Hi Francois! Francois (Atari): Good morning Jeffrey Norwood| Okay, first, you were the designer for VF coinop, right? Francois (Atari): I use to work in AM2 for more than 1 year and a half. I did design the camera system, collision system and some of the special effect on VF arcade. Jeffrey Norwood: What made you decide to join Atari? Francois (Atari): I wanted to work for an ameraican company and not for a publisher. So ATARI was the obvious choice. Jeffrey Norwood: How do the graphics in FFL compare with those of...Virtua Fighter? Francois (Atari): The fact that we use (a lot of ) texture map. make the general feeling about the graphic far better. The background in FFL are ten times better than the Saturn version. Jeffrey Norwood: Great...how about versus FX Fighter (on SNES)? Francois (Atari): Not again. I saw this game once and I cannot wait to see it on the market. A man has got to laugh some times. Jeffrey Norwood: I'm already laughing! Isn't Toh Shin Den on PS differnt than FFL and VF? Francois (Atari): Yes it is. TSD is kind of an eye's candy. The animation are like 2d animation (with a few frame per motion) and the game is kind of easy. A nice game tough. Jeffrey Norwood: How's the music and sound? Francois (Atari): The title screen music has been made by Jo Vitale, who use to play with the Eagles back in the 70'. I made kind of a video clip on it, and think it looks nice. There is 19 in game tunes and you can at any moment during the play change to another tune. Jeffrey Norwood: Okay, the key factor in a fighting game is its play control. How does FFL play? Francois (Atari): I do not have any problem with the control. Like all other fighting games, as soon as you mastered the joystick combi, you'll become a real fighter. I don't think people will have any problem woth that. Jeffrey Norwood: One thing I forgot to cover last time...blood, will it have any? Francois (Atari): The actual version got some, but I am not sure it's going to stay like this. There will be, anyway, some sort of similar special effect. Jeffrey Norwood: Well, before I thank you, how many ploygons per character, and are they textured mapped? Francois (Atari): There is between 700 and 800 polygons/character. Most of them are texture mapped and will remain like this. Jeffrey Norwood: Any slowdown in the game? Whats the frame rate? Francois (Atari): 22 frame/second. If you use the replay mode and make a big zoom on one of the character it drop around 18. But nothing noticeable during the play. Jeffrey Norwood: Finally, what's in store for you after FFL? A racing game maybe? Francois (Atari): No, a sport game and a 3d platform. Jeffrey Norwood: Well, thank you very much, and this time I have it saved! And, thanks for taking some time to anwer my questions something Nintendo refused to do (once). Francois (Atari): ok, I'll talk to you on the future. Take care The above interview was edited for grammar purposes only! Fight For Life should be at your local store this Summer, and a review will be in a future issue of the Jaguar Journal. E3 REPORT All the information in this report is courtesy of Joe C., and CANNOT be reproduced in anyway without permission of him. Jaguar --------- Day 1 The Jaguar setup though much smaller than the others had its own healthy crowd - with two Virtual Reality setups at opposite ends of the booth. This new VR system will be coming out in the late fall - and will be priced under $299.00. Tomorrow I will get in line to try it - but from what I can tell from the external displays - the game people were "immersed" in looked mighty impressive. It was some kind of 3D space exploration game - looking a bit like AvP, with lots of detailed polygons. The tile is called Zone Hunter, and according to one of the heads of this project, this might very well be the pack in. People who tried on the goggles stepped off the specially made platforms with smiles on their faces Another title we might be seeing for this Jaguar add-on is a 90's Missile Command, VR-style. As far as games, there wasn't exactly a large explosion of new titles, but many of the promised titles were finally finished, or much further along in progress. There were a few monitors that weren't showing anything, so aside from the list below - more can show up on tomorrow's report. Defender 2000 - Once again, Jeff Minter is king. I can't even begin to describe the magic surrounding this updated William's coin-op classic. D2K is chock full of special effects, and simply put - the hottest Jag-game in Atari's booth. BurnOut - 3D motorcycle racing - updated further - and looking better and better! RayMan - Hey, it's almost here - and it'll be worth the wait. Flip-Out - Very nice-looking puzzle game... Baldies - Looks like another Lemmings-type - not impressive. Brett Hall Hockey - too early to tell - but knowing Accloade, don't count on it knocking your socks off. TRF - A new fighting game - in fact, it was displayed on a large screen as everyone thought it was Mortal Kombat III as they passed. Looks great! Myst - Jaguar CD - like the other 900 versions. Highlander - Jaguar CD - looks juicy, though I'll have to look at it more closely tomorrow. BattleMorph - Jaguar CD looks like Cybermorph - but it's unfair to judge, as I didn't take a crack at it yet. Creature Shock Jaguar CD - looks sharper than the PC version! Fight For Life - They added more textures to the characters since the last time I saw it. Still needs works - but improving. Vid-Grid - Jaguar CD -Some rock-n-roll-stye puzzle game with full motion music videos. Varuna's Forces - Jaguar CD - looking hot! A space/action adventure which I will be playing tomorow. Blue Lightning - Jaguar CD - Another improvement from the last time it was on display at WCES. Primal Rage - Only had a the title page done. Ultra Vortex - Yep, once again it's here - and they've added a lot more. The final version should be great (damn-well better be!). DeathWatch (I think this is the name ) - An immensiely colorful platform game - though shown in early stages. Day 2 Acclaim announced Jaguar NBA JAM: TE (I think we've heard this news already). The Jag VR system is quite nice - I finally found some time to give it a whirl, and I must say, it's quite responsive considering the state of the consumer level VR systems. I did notice the game (see Report Day 1), was running from an Atari TT computer, and we were told the Jaguar version will be very close in speed/response time as far as tracking. Ruiner on Jaguar breaks new grounds in the pinball arena. The game uses all kinds of scaling techniques - and a lovely burst of color and sound too! I'm looking forward to this one. Defender 2000 is so damn spectacular - and Jeff Minter (programmer) showed me the special Warp sequences - which look like a 60's acid overdose! Finish this game already Jeff! Soul Star is heading to Jaguar CD - but I'm not sure if it's the same game from Core on Sega CD? Only an FMV title was showing. Blue Lightning Jag CD has undergone quite a few changes - much nice, and a lot more like Afterburner, with excellent sound effects. The enemies really taunt you with lots of speech effects. Ultra Vortex has also gone to the land of improvement. This is hands down - THEE fighting game for Jaguar - the moves are incredible, especially the death moves. This will be worth the LOooog wait. Rumor has it that Jag II will be up there with M2 (according to a few industry folks). This is getting more bizarre by the minute. Day 3 Best Jaguar Title: Defender 2000 Second Place: Ultra Vortex and Battle Sphere Killer Potential: Varuna's Forces and Hover Hunter. SMALL STUFF ATARI IS BECOMING A TV STAR Atari, which 20 years ago ventured into the gaming industry, is now becoming a hot star on television. People on the Internet and CompuServe have reported that "Wyatt" on "Wierd Science" (on USA) was shown playing Alien vs. Predator. It was only a few seconds, but the whole screen was used. Alien vs. Predator made its second television appearance, along with Fight For Life, on the Discovery Channel's Next Step. Included in the program were nice pictures of the game, and how they developed (or are developing) each. While Atari may not be putting the games out fast, they have proven that their products are well known and are popular ... popular enough to appear on one of USA's top TV shows. CD Will Be Filled With Goodies It is now official, according to Atari Corporation, that the Jaguar CD-ROM peripheral will cost $149.99, and is due out in late-July. While the accessory is many months overdue, those who have waited will be rewarded. The $149.99 CD unit will include, not only the CD (!), but THREE CD's. The first CD is a title called "Vid Grid". The game is a puzzle game with lots of full motion video clips. The second CD title will be an audio CD, the "Tempest 2000 Soundtrack". Currently available for $12.99 through Atari, when you buy the CD system, this is free! The music in Tempest 2000 is probably the best in the video game world. The third CD will be a game, but it is unannounced. WE WANT YOUR OPINION: Atari has not disclosed any info on the third title, and noone knows if they've made a choice for the third game. The Jaguar Journal wants your opinion on what it should be. E-Mail the opinions to - 74447.531@compuserve.com - by June 5th. Explain WHY it should be the 3rd title. Then, we'll USMail ALL of the opinions to Atari in a formal style. I personally believe that Atari would like to hear their owner's opinion on such decisions, and it could influence them greatly. Conferences The Jaguar Journal will be hosting conferences monthly on CompuServe. Come and join in on the crowd. They will be announced at least two weeks prior to the conference. Last Conference: April 18 - while there were no guests, it was a good conference. At one point, over 20 people were in the room. Next Conference: May 28 - guests that were invited or notified were: Acclaim, Accolade Electronic Arts, Atari, and ICD Inc. UBi Soft was invited, but cannot make it. Be there! - Sunday, May 28; 9PM Eastern Time; Atari Jaguar Forum (GO JAGUAR); General Meetings Room; I'll be setting up about 10 minutes early, so you may start coming in then. ATARI SO. CALIFORNIA TOUR - Report Woodland Hills, CA Well, as per Mr. Minter's instructions, I hie'd myself down to the Woodland Hills Toys 'R Us today to get a sneak peek at DEFENDER 2000 and generally soak up all sorts of Jaguar-related news. And as Las Vegas predicted easily enough, here's an account of my experiences... * GENERAL: Jeff Minter and Garry Tramiel had a table set up in the middle of the TRU video-games aisle. Jeff's development Jaguar was hooked up to a nice large color TV with the RGB cable; they were showing off existing and upcoming Jaguar games, and handing out free Jaguar T-shirts (large or extra large only) and free copies of the TEMPEST 2000 soundtrack CD. I got a copy of the CD signed by Jeff (*yay* B-), and a few other net.jag.enthusiasts (sorry, I didn't catch names) brought their Jaguar consoles in for Jeff to sign (*gee!*). I got some spiffy pictures of Jeff signing the Jags, and Jeff playing TEMPEST 2000 as well... It was very informal. Mostly Jeff was showing off games, either playing them himself or letting eager volunteers take a crack at things. Garry was answering questions and generally promoting the Jag while handing out freebies. A very direct sales pitch; if someone was curious about (say) ALIEN VS. PREDATOR, Garry and Jeff would be glad to let them take a shot at it and see how they think. During the time I was there, they sold three Jaguars and 7 or 8 games were sold (out of Toys 'R Us' stock). * GARRY TRAMIEL: fairly loose and informal, at least as informal as a high-level company exec could be in a public outing (I'm sure he's a blast at parties, though B-). Only managed to weasel a few tidbits out of him... >> Take a BIG bag of salt with any "I called Atari Customer Service and they said..." reports you hear. Customer service is set towards dealing with sales and/or problems only; they are NOT a repository of official release dates and whatnot. Often they'll say any old thing just to get a beligerent questioner off the phone so they can get back to doing their job -- dealing with customers who need servicing. >> Jaguar CD. "We'll have an announcement regarding that at E3." >> ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 2. "We have no statement regarding that at this time." Ditto on IRON SOLDIER 2. * JEFF MINER: a fun guy in person. Soft-spoken, friendly as you can get, and clearly enthusiastic about playing games. I can't picture Jeff enjoying a board meeting in a suit and tie, but I can sure picture him plugging away at a DEFENDER machine. The kind of guy you want to spend a Saturday evening with, eating pizza and drinking beeer and then blowing several bucks at the arcade... >> D2K is still his "mission from God," and he loves it. Nice to see someone who's enthusiastic about his work. D2K will definitely be on CD-ROM now, and everyone hopes it will help sell lots of Jaguar CD units. More on that below. >> What's in life after DEFENDER 2000? "Maybe MAJOR HAVOC 2000, or ROBOTRON 2000, or SINISTAR 2000." Yep, put me down for SINISTAR... * THE GAMES: okay, okay. On to the important stuff already. I won't cover the released stuff, except to say that there was a lot of them. Not just Atari's carts, but also games from Williams and Telegames as well. Garry had a small box full 'o EEPROMs with him; about half were of games already released, but the other half is where the fun begins. In no particular order: >> DEFENDER 2000. Have no fear, folks, this game is coming along just great. "Classic" and "Plus" modes are almost done, barring a few minor tweaks here and there, and trivial changes to the text screens (currently there are messages like "How many players? One, sheep of my dreams. Two, o you beautiful llama you." B-). "Classic" is a 98.44% perfect adaptation of the original arcade machine. My only nit is that the lasers don't stay on the screen as long as they do in the original, and that's being REALLY nitpicky. B-) Same sounds, same graphics, same gameplay -- nostalgia city. And running at 60 fps, you know it's smoooooooooooth... "Plus" is, like "Tempest Plus" on T2K, a hybrid of the original game and the full-blown "2000" mode. Your ship's now fully rendered, banking and flying beautifully with two (optional) helpers along the way. New large enemies to make your life miserable, the llightning llaser to help kick butt, and the stargate (with warp option) too. As you would expect, the graphics go overboard here -- flowing, color-cycling pattern fills on the mountains, animated humanoids, FAST and SMOOTH scrolling (60 fps again), a spiffy "aurora borealis" effect over the planetary horizon, and a truckload of on-screen Pixelshatter- esque explosions everywhere. The CD techno-rave soundtrack wasn't there (this was an EEPROM, after all), but the amount of explosions and weapons fire more than made up for that. Jeff demonstrated the "Flossie" hack, where you fly Flossie the Prettiest Sheep in the World (tm) and save llovely llamas from the aliens. A minor bug after that reverted Flossie back to a spaceship, but left the humanoids a s llamas instead. B-) "Defender 2000" is still very early. All of the enemies are from "Plus" mode, and collision detection was off; all you could do was fly around and shoot at things at this point. The battlefield is now one-and-a-half screens tall, and the backgrounds will be multi-layered parallaxed all the way. The current placeholder graphics wwas a simple cityscape of rectangles and cylinders, but it's a start. 30 fps is the goal here, and I doubt Jeff will compromise that come hell or high water. Expect 20+ soundtracks, an interview with Eugene Jarvis (possibly multimedia), and lots of hidden games and Easter eggs. There will probably also be the obligatory FMV canned rendered intro, too. Everything's "right on schedule," and a September-October '95 release looks very good. If Jeff keeps the rest of the game as great as what he's already got down, this will be another blockbuster from Llamasoft all right... >> BATTLESPHERE. Actually, this was a no-show; everyone was hoping 4Play would drop by, but they didn't while I was there. Jeff Minter did see it Friday night, however, and was -really- enthusiastic about it. That's enough of an endorsement for me... B-) Expect to see the original STAR RAIDERS photon launch sound to make a cameo, too. >> PINBALL FANTASIES. A straightforward port of the Amiga game. If you like your pinball games hyper-real (with video features, as in DEVIL'S CRUSH), give this a pass. As a fan of realistic pinballs, I thought it was about average; the boards seemed a little simplistic. Maybe I'm spoiled by more complex video pinball games like CRYSTAL CALIBURN... >> CONAN. A side-scrolling fighting game (a la FINAL FIGHT) with a barbarian theme. Only the first level was playable. The graphics are NOT digitized as originally reported, but are instead detailed hand- drawn sprites. Visually, reminded me a lot of Capcom's ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS arcade game. Grab weapons, keys, gems, and food as you beat up enemy guards, giant dogs, and other nasties -- nothing too complex, just a nice arcade-quality travelling figher game. Two player cooperative. Nobody was sure if CONAN is a licensed property or a working title (the name for Player 1's character was "Carlo"). >> RAGE RALLY. Best way to think of this is as an updated version of SUPER SPRINT. Like CONAN, it's not a complicated game; just drive around and try to outrace the other car while grabbing goodies. Some early sounds -- most notable were a voice that announces upcoming curves ("hard left," "hairpin right," etc.), and an engine that sounds like a go-kart (hmmm). Scrolling is smooth and fast, and there are lots of little touches, like the track marks you leave behind when you go off the road. A variety of weather conditions (night, rain, and snow were the ones I saw) that noticably affect your car's handling. >> RAYMAN. Hmmm, what to say here? This version was probably close to complete; there wasn't an opening sequence of any kind, but the graphics and sounds seemed complete. Graphically awesome -- VERY smooth animation, luscious graphics, several layers of foreground and background parallax scrolling. There were LOTS of "decorative" animated background items on the first level: fluttering butterflies everywhere, mushrooms that hopped and danced, etc. Sounds and music were appropriate but unobtrusive. Gameplay-wise, this is a pretty "mellow" game. There's a good dose of places to explore and things to see, but it's not like MARIO or SONIC where there's a disaster you have to deal with every five seconds. On the other hand, I don't know if this changes in the later levels. You start with -NO- abilities except the basics: walk, climb, and jump. But soon you run into a fairy godmother (voice missing, to be supplied later) who gives you a flying punch power. Then you run into more bad guys to punch, along with power-ups to increase your abilities. Should be interesting to see how the final game is like. >> FLIP OUT. Some sort of puzzle game; unfortunately, nobody could figure out just what you were supposed to do. Assorted aliens walk on a 5 x 5 grid. You select one of the squares with the joypad, then press a button to flip the piece. For some reason, any piece I flipped gave a "game over!" message afterwards. Only other thing to note is that the aliens look like digitized clay figures, a la CLAY FIGHTER 2. >> ULTRA VORTEX. Version 0.94 -- not quite complete, but close. It only let you fight one match, and always against Lucious (that's either a bug, an early hack, or an intentional design). All of the fighters were available, and special moves were available. Figuring out the controls took a little time (Lucious insisted on pounding players into the dirt instead of letting them dope out the controls B-), but after that, it was fun to play. Detailed, animated backgrounds, a number of head-bangin' tunes, solid controller response; what else do I need to say? The frame rate was a little low (I'd guess around 18-20 fps), but that's a small matter, since it didn't affect the game any. Oh, and instead of MORTAL KOMBAT's "Finish him!", UV has "Annihilation time!"... **The entire report was done by Robert Jung. You can reach Jung via the Internet at: rjung@netcom.com** PRESS RELEASES CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 ATARI CORPORATION ADDS TWO TOP INDUSTRY VETERANS TO SENIOR MANAGEMENT TEAM SUNNYVALE, CA (May 1, 1995) -- Atari Corporation has powered up its senior management team with the addition of top industry veterans Dean Fox and Jon Correll. Mr. Fox comes on board as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Correll as Vice President of Software Product Development. "The formidable skills and experience of Dean Fox and Jon Correll will provide Atari with a focused marketing plan and the development of the highest quality software for the consumer, taking full advantage of Jaguar's capability including 60 FPS, 16 million colors and 64 Bit Processing, " Sam Tramiel, CEO, Atari Corporation said in making the announcement. Prior to joining Atari Corporation, Correll held the position of Manager of Development Administration for Sega of America. At Sega, Correll implemented and negotiated development contracts and produced the first CD titles for Sega Corporation including "Night Trap". Correll began his career in the software and gaming industry as Manager of Product Development for Accolade in 1986. While at Accolade, Correll produced some of the company's most popular games including "Test Drive" and "Mean 18 Golf". Correll went on to consult various Silicon Valley companies including EPYX and worked as Director of Product Development for Three-Sixty. Before joining Atari, Mr. Fox founded, staffed, and led the marketing group for Rocket Science Games. Prior to RSG, Fox directed the launch for Sega CD and led ongoing strategic marketing, product concept and distribution consultation for several CD-ROM multimedia entertainment publishers. In his marketing and advertising tenure, Fox contributed to the introductions of many consumer products, including Sony Betamax and JVC VHS Videocassette recorders, Sharp laptop computers, and Sega CD multimedia game systems. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. ### CONTACT: Jessica Nagel or Tom Tanno Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 ATARI CONTINUES TO EXPAND JAGUAR PERIPHERALS SUNNYVALE, CA (May 11, 1995) -- Atari continues to provide new gaming options for owners of its 64-bit Jaguar Interactive Entertainment System. Key products to enhance the Jaguar play experience hit the marketplace in 1995, with many more to come. "Since Jaguar has already made the leap to 64-bit technology, we can now focus on providing even more value to consumers by expanding the system with new and innovative peripherals," says Sam Tramiel, CEO of Atari Corporation. One of the Jaguar extras is the much anticipated multimedia compact disc (CD) player. Priced at approximately $150, the Jaguar CD player attaches to the top of the Jaguar console. The Jaguar CD plays many new CD games, including "Battlemorph", "Highlander", "Blue Lightning", "Demolition Man", "Myst", and "Creature Shock" in addition to playing standard audio disks. The Jaguar CD player provides 790 megabytes of raw data storage, allowing video game programmers to incorporate more complex digitized images, full-motion video sequences and high-quality audio soundtracks. This powerful double-speed CD player also provides fast access speed for smoother game play, and its massive data capacity gives users better graphic detail, expanded plot lines and more characters for an overall enhanced video game experience. Additionally, built into the unit is the "Virtual Light Machine(tm)", which creates and displays 81 different light patterns on the video screen in response to music played through the system. Mr. Tramiel says about the system, "The combination of the most advanced technology, sophisticated software and affordable consumer pricing sets Jaguar apart from all competitors." Target ship date for the CD player is August, 1995. For around $30, Jaguar owners can take advantage of the Jag Link(tm), which allows users to play competitively side-by-side. The Jag Link enables users to connect two Jaguar systems for simultaneous game playing up to 100 feet apart. The Jag Link uses standard RJ11 phone line cable for linking two Jaguar systems. Team Tap(tm) is a new peripheral that for around $25 enables competitive, simultaneous play for up to four players on one Jaguar. The peripheral, which debuts with the new title "White Men Can't Jump", provides players with a two-on-two playground simulation experience. With two Jaguar systems and Team Tap, the competitive play can be expanded up to eight players. In addition, the Jaguar Voice/Data Communicator gives players the ability to link up over the phone. Developed by fax-modem-voice technology experts, Phylon Communications, the new technology permits two players to compete using a phone connection. Players can speak with each other during game play through the use of a headset. With the utilization of a "call waiting" feature, players can also pause a game to answer a phone call. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. ### Contact: August J. Liguori ATARI CORPORATION (408) 745-2069 (408) 745-2173 May 16, 1995 For Immediate Release ATARI CORPORATION ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 1995 RESULTS Sunnyvale, CA-- Atari Corporation (ASE:ATC) today reported its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 1995. Net sales for the first quarter of 1995 were $4.9 million as compared to $8.2 million for the first quarter of 1994. Late in the first quarter, the Company lowered the wholesale price of the Jaguar 64-bit multimedia entertainment system to allow for a $159 retail price. As a result of the low sales volume and continued investment in marketing activities during 1995, the Company incurred a net loss of $4.4 million for the first quarter of 1995 as compared to a net loss of $0.9 million for the same quarter of 1994. The first quarter of 1994 was favorably impacted by the settlement of patent litigation in the amount of $2.2 million. Commenting on the results, Sam Tramiel, CEO, said "The Jaguar price change was made possible due to technology advances and near term cost savings. We have positioned the 64- bit Jaguar as new advanced technology with great software, at an affordable price. With a retail price of $159 or less, the 64-bit Jaguar is in a good position to be the upgrade choice for the present 16-bit game owners. We are focused on developing software for the Jaguar and preparing for the upcoming fall selling season." Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-bit entertainment system. Atari is headquartered at 1196 Borregas Avenue, Sunnyvale, California 94089. ATARI CORPORATION Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands, except per share) Quarter Ended -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mar 31, Mar 31, 1995 1994 -------- -------- Net Sales $4,874 $8,156 ======== ======== Operating Income (loss) $(5,158) (3,372) Exchange Gain (loss) 5 272 Other Income (Expense) Net 355 2,392 (a) Interest Income Net of Interest (Expense) 372 (219) -------- -------- Income (loss) Before Income Taxes $(4,426) (927) -------- -------- Net Income (loss) $(4,426) $ (927) ======== ======== Earnings Per Common and Equivalent Share: Net Income (loss) $ (0.07) $ (0.02) ======== ======== Weighted Average number of shares used in computation 63,701 57,219 (a) Includes settlement of litigation. ### CONTACT: for Atari Corporation Jessica Nagel Dorf & Stanton Communications (310)479-4997 for Virtuality U.S. Allison Ellis Edelman Public Relations (214)520-3555 for VIRTUALITY U.K. Helen Horner/Ben Vaughan Virtuality Group plc 011-44-116-233-7082 ATARI AND VIRTUALITY PREVIEW FIRST VIRTUAL REALITY GAME SYSTEM FOR THE CONSUMER MARKET AT E3 Affordable 64-bit Jaguar VR sets industry standards; available by end of year. LOS ANGELES (May 11, 1995) -- The Jaguar VR, the world's first fully immersive virtual reality game system for the consumer market, was unveiled today at E3. It is being developed jointly by Atari Corporation, developer of the world's first 64-bit game system, and VIRTUALITY Group plc, the global market leader in VR systems. The Jaguar VR incorporates VIRTUALITY's revolutionary new VR head-mounted display (HMD) and optional track joystick, offering unequaled display, audio, and tracking features. Atari's Jaguar VR sets an impressive industry standard for home virtual reality systems and has been designed with the highest international health and safety regulations in mind. According to Sam Tramiel, President of Atari, "There is not one consumer VR product that can compete with the Jaguar in terms of price, performance and quality. The Jaguar VR has been designed with human factors in mind and sets the standard for the industry to follow. We are committed to delivering great experiences and entertainment." The proprietary, ergonomic HMD weighs less than 1 pound and easily adjusts to comfortably fit users, with or without glasses. It features a custom-designed optical pupil projection system and a full-color active matrix LCD screen. In addition, the HMD's 3D spatialized sound system has been enhanced by placing speakers at the player's temple, with sound projected back to the ears allowing for peripheral hearing. A built-in microphone allows networked players to talk to each other. A docking station, which links the Atari Jaguar system to the HMD and joystick, houses the technologically advanced "V-Trak" infrared tracking. This is the fastest tracker ever developed for consumer application, reacting to real-time head and hand movements with no perceptible lag time in the virtual world. In addition, Jaguar VR is designed to be used only when a player is sitting with the unit stationary on a flat surface. If a player attempts to walk around while immersed in the game, an automatic cutoff will be triggered. Players who own an Atari Jaguar will be able to to upgrade by plugging Jaguar VR into their existing system. The Jaguar VR has a targeted retail price of $300. Jaguar VR Software Development ------------------------------ Through a software licensing agreement, VIRTUALITY is developing immersive virtual reality games for the Atari Jaguar VR. Atari's classic home and arcade hit "Missile Command" is being recreated in VR format by VIRTUALITY and will be available by the end of the year. In addition, the popular VIRTUALITY arcade title "Zone Hunter" will also be available for Jaguar VR with the system introduction. Discussions are also underway with a number of third-party developers for the creation of future games that take advantage of this unique technology to create new experiences. "The combination of Jaguar's 64-bit graphics processing power and our IVR technology has produced a phenomenal, fully integrated VR consumer product which has no competition, " said Jon Waldern, CEO of VIRTUALITY Group plc. "This system expands the boundaries of the in-home interactive games market and sets a new standard for others to try to achieve. Founded in 1987 in Leicester, England, VIRTUALITY Group plc. is the world's leader in immersive virtual reality entertainment systems worth more than 80 percent global market share. VIRTUALITY Entertainment, Inc. headquartered in Irving, Texas, was established in 1993 as the U.S.-based subsidiary to oversee all North American operations, sales, market development and distribution for its parent company. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale CA. #### VR SPECS (from Donald A. Thomas, Jr.) Jaguar Virtual Reality - VR Headset Official Specs """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Head Mounted Display (HMD): Less than 1 pound. Two degrees of freedom (DOF) tracking, stereo sound, and 52 degree horizontal by 40 degree vertical field of view. Uses a single 0.7" TFT active matrix color LCD containing 104,000 pixels. Optical System: Custom-designed pupil projection with aspheric acrylic lenses, beam splitters, mirrors and thin film coatings. Large exit pupil size of 5mm x 14mm. Can be used by anyone with an interpupilliary distance between 45mm and 70mm. Focus Adjustment: There is no need for focus adjustment because the optical system is highly tolerant, projecting a binocular image, aligned to infinity to both eyes. Tracking Systems: "V-Trak" is the fastest tracker ever developed for the consumer market, with a sample rate of 250Hz and a lagtime of only 4 milliseconds. Optional Joystick: Offers two of six degrees of freedom, allowing greater control over movements in the virtual world. Jaguar VR games can also be played with the standard Jaguar controller. Docking Station: Houses "V-Trak" position sensing system, a joystick interface and high speed communications link to the Jaguar for transferring audio and visual tracking data. Atari has been in the video game business for over twenty years. Today, Atari markets Jaguar, the only American made, advanced 64-Bit entertainment system. Atari Corporation is located in Sunnyvale, CA. ### That's A Rap! So long. I hope you will attend the conference in May, and their should be another conference in either June or July, but currently is to-be-determined. In the next issue... REVIEWS (scheduled): Burn Out, Fight For Life, Rayman, among others PREVIEW (scheduled): Jaguar CD and first CD games SPECIAL: Reviews of classic titles before returning in 1995! And a lot more, as usual. BYE! THE JAGUAR JOURNAL = Jaguar + Dedication + Truth + YOU