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Interview With Atari Jaguar creator John Mathieson
Bill Kendrick writes "The website Toxic Mag has an interview with John Mathieson, creator of the short-lived Atari Jaguar 64-bit game system - the system we can thank for such awesome games as the original Alien vs. Predtor, Iron Soldier, and the gorgeously psychadelic Tempest 2000. The beginng and end of the interview are in French, but the actual questions and answers are 'en anglais.'"
It's ineteresting to note that the Jag had no regional lockouts - cartirdges and CDs from the US would workm in Europe and vice versa. The Jaguar would detect if it was NTSC or PAL and properly written software would display properly on the TV. Pity things aren't so simple these days...
----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
The Sims is original how? It's just an enhanced version of LCP, with a better graphics engine, and better AI due to the increased CPU horsepower. The game concept itself is far from original.
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown
I would have thought that, after all their hype, the Battlesphere people would have the claim to the game that pushed the Jag the hardest. And given that Carmack has said he could optimized DooM better if he had it to do over again, I find it difficult to believe that it's pushing the Jag to the limit. Surely something that pushed more texture mapped polygons was tougher for the system to handle.
Other than that, it was an ok interview, I suppose. I'm not sure that there is a whole lot there that we haven't heard before, except for some of the details about the next-gen hardware. Would have been neat to see an example of the full-antialised graphics from their next sytem, given that good AA is still something people are stiving for today. (E.g. PS2 with jaggies galore on some games. Ick.)
Jag ramblings to follow...
Iron Soldier on the Jag was a great game, FWIW. Since playing IS1, I've had a chance to played Iron Soldier 3 on the PSX but not Iron Soldier 2 on the Jag. The update is both better and worse. The Jaguar, for all its faults, had the most button-laden controller to ship with a console, and for a game like Iron Soldier, that rocked. Unfortunately, the PSX control scheme just doesn't work well enough. On IS1 (and presumably IS2) you could choose the weapon mounted on either shoulder or either hip or one of the two hand weapons with a single button press. For IS3 on the PSX, you have to cycle through weapons, and that turns out to be a step back in terms of control.
Of course, the graphics on the PSX are a step up, but not all they could have been.
And it's true that Tempest 2000 was the best game for the system. Best music and best control and best gameplay experience. Defender 2000 (also by Jeff Minter) and Power Drive Rally are my other favorites. I sold all the rest, including the much-ballyhooed Battlesphere (which was definitely not worth the wait or the price).
(Shameless plug: I also compared Tempest 2000 for the Jag and Tempest X for the PSX here. Jag wins, despite the better hardware of the PSX.)
Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy