Slashdot Mirror

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing out videogame auction site Bidiots has a pair of Virtuality SU2000 Atari Jaguar-related VR pods for sale. These 1995-era 'virtual reality' arcade machines originally cost "$33,000 - $35,000 per seat", and the machines come bundled with compatible software titles, including Dactyl Nightmare 2, a multiplayer networked shooter in which, if you're not careful, the "awesome [eponymous] beast will pick you up in its claws, and fly hundreds of feet above the playing arena before dropping you to certain death!" A set of specifications for the SU2000 reveals more information, including exciting action shots of the device, and elsewhere, Atari Explorer has pictures of the unreleased Jaguar VR system, an "ambitious plan for a home VR headset at under $300" which used similar technology to this device.

Thanks to Atari Explorer for their updated article revealing concept pictures of the Atari Panther, the 1991-era machine which "was going to be the first new Atari console since the launch of the 7800 by Atari Inc. in 1984", before the console "was shelved at the last minute as a parallel project within Atari showed much more promise and much more power - that project gave birth to the Atari Jaguar nearly 2 years later." The new pictures reveal that "The unit is much smaller than a stock Jaguar... [and] the cartridges would be inserted flat into the front of the Panther like a front-load VHS tape recorder."