From: Timothy Wilson Subject: HARDWARE: All about Atari's Jaguar Date: Sat, 3 Jul 1993 11:08:48 -0700 I attended the Atari stockholder meeting Friday June 25. This is from the end of the year report. Jaguar: ======= The Company [Atari] is developing a new interactive multimedia console based on proprietary custom semiconductor chips, including a 64-bit RISC processor. This multimedia console is code named "Jaguar." The video features include 24-bit graphics with up to 16 million colors and a 3-D rendering engine which can manipulate 3-D polygon shapes in a "real" world in real time. The "Jaguar" also has real time texture mapping and can create special video effects. We anticipate the video output on "Jaguar" will be far superior to video games available today and will allow for more realistic simulations for moving vehicles such as spaceships, cars, airplanes, and figures. The entertainment software for the system will be first available on ROM cartridge. The sound system is based on a high-speed custom Digital Signal Processor dedicated to audio. The audio is stereo 16-bit CD quality and can be processed from simultaneous sources of audio data. This allows for very realistic sounds to be used during software design as well as human voices. The "Jaguar" will include a 32-bit expansion port which will allow for future connection into cable and telephone networks when such opportunities arise. These also will be a radio processing port for modem use and for connection to digital audio peripherals such as DAT players. The Company is also developing a compact disc peripheral for the "Jaguar." Software developed for this media can take advantage of lower media cost, capacity (up to 650 MB) and additional flexibility in the area of full motion video (FMV), voice and music. In the future, "Jaguar" will be able to connect a cartridge into the 32-bit expansion port which will allow for FMV playback at VHS quality. The cd peripheral is double-speed and is being designed to also play regular CD audio, CD+G (graphics) and Kodak's new Photo-CD. My Comments =========== The graphics were nice and the machine was very obviously fast. The sound was not yet working (they said it would be done in a few days). The RISC chip took three years to desing and is being produced by a major semiconductor manufacturer in the USA. (They wouldn't say who). The sound DSP is also made by Atari. The price will be around $200. October/November in SF and NY. December in London and Paris. Rest of the places in 1994. (I will buy one if it is out in Jan and costs about $200- it was fairly cool.) They showed about four games. One, CyberMorph, was excellent. (Sim to what you may see on a VR headset on a Silicoln Graphics) Anyhow, spelling errors are mine. Redundant language is all Atari's. (I.E. proprietary custom - those words seem the same to me!) Hope it helps -- Mike Draeger (MDRAEGER@SCU.EDU) -- Timothy Wilson ~-~Dark Oak Software~-~- Atari Explorer Online wilsont@rahul.net <--Mail me at--> AEO.8 on GEnie ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: I walk the path Electronic. :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::