toiletunes Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 I've played neither, and I'm looking for a new console to collect- but the prices! Why is the Jaguar so expensive? Is there really that much demand? How do you justify the cost for a dead console? I just don't get it- please educate me, show me the error of my ways.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 In retroness and coolness, yes. In hardware capabilities, no. I think the title of this thread should be "Why is the Jag so expensive?".. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazing Lazers Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 Astrocade is superior - hardware cost is higher for a working unit but games are far more affordable, there are multicarts, and it's far easier to develop for if you're into making your own games. There's also more games for the Astrocade if you count homebrews and cassette titles. Astrocade is also better for multiplayer. The Astrocade community is also a lot more mature and saner than certain elements of the Jag community. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 How do you justify the cost for a dead console? HELLO! Welcome to AtariAge! Home of "DEAD" consoles! BTW: neither the Jaguar, nor the Astrocade are "dead" by any stretch. Or any machine that still works and is enjoyed by people. On the subject of new gaming (and even ignoring forums for just a second) support, BOTH systems are currently enjoying homebrew efforts. So there you go. Nothing is truly dead here. Nor there. Nor anywhere. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted May 20, 2015 Share Posted May 20, 2015 The astrocade looks pretty impressive graphically considering when it was released. Though I don't think i'd pay ebay prices for one if I ever saw one at a garage sale i'd pick it up. Even considering it's strengths and with a handicap for age difference I would still say the Jaguar has a better library and is a more solid console overall, so I would say no to your question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Common, the Jaguar not only has Gorf (which the Astrocade has) but also Doom 1 and 2 and Bubsy. I mean what more could you want? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+remowilliams Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Microvision FTW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Microvision was the boss of handhelds! If the Astrocade had T2K it might be a tossup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutsy Doodleheimer Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 I don't have either one. But if I had to choose which one I wanted, I'd take the Astrocade. The graphics for it's time was impressive, ability to run BASIC programming language, amazing sound capabilities, and really like the design of the joystick. It may not be the prettiest looking system, but for it's time in the late 70s to the early 80's it was a very advanced system for it's time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82-T/A Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Dude, this post is awesome, and I can't believe people aren't realizing the intended sarcasm! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lokeyguy Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 My first system was the Bally Astrocade, and though it had a few notable games, especially The Wizard ( Wizard of Wor), my next system was the 5200 which aside from its controller blew it out of the water. I don't know much about the home brew scene for the Astrocade, but the Jag shouldn't even compared side by side with the Astrocade. A better comparison would be the 2600 for which it is a better system but very limited in games IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+madman Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 The thing is the video game crash killed the Astrocade prematurely. The problem is it, very much like the Jaguar, had TONS of unharnessed power that developers didn't get enough time to fully exploit. I've heard that there were betas of arcade perfect ports for the Bally/Midway games Burger Time and Spy Hunter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 The crash didn't hurt Astrocade any more or less than it did the other systems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Dangerous Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Common, the Jaguar not only has Gorf (which the Astrocade has) but also Doom 1 and 2 and Bubsy. I mean what more could you want? Jaguar has doom two? That I would like to see.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Doom 2 is no more advanced than Doom 1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Doom 2 is no more advanced than Doom 1. Some said/say the same thing about Pac vs. Ms. Pac. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Rightfully so. IIRC Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man both use single Z-80s running at around 2 or 3 MHz. The processing power for each game is essentially the same. You have different levels, sounds, characters. Just like Doom 1 vs. Doom 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felyx Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Just a YT video of 20 Astrocade games for those like me who don't know that system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi7bKtnYlaA After viewing that I wonder why comparing this system to the Jag: they have almost nothing in common. I would see the Astrocade more like an alternative to VCS and 8 bits computers: I played most of the shown games on VCS2600 and 7800 (Pinball, Surround, Air Sea Battle, a kind of Yars Revenge, Defender, Super Breakout, Space invaders, Indy 500, Phoenix...) and Apple II (Xonix, Ms Pac Man, Star Wars...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctorclu Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Jaguar has doom two? That I would like to see.. Yeh the Doom 2 maps were hacked into the Doom 1 source for some Jag-Fest a few years back. The rom is out there on the interwebs. Pretty fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Many people say the Astrocade is superior to the VCS. But yet everything on the Astrocade has less colors and is much slower moving.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) The thing is the video game crash killed the Astrocade prematurely. The problem is it, very much like the Jaguar, had TONS of unharnessed power that developers didn't get enough time to fully exploit. I've heard that there were betas of arcade perfect ports for the Bally/Midway games Burger Time and Spy Hunter. (EDIT: Never mind. I misread this. ) Edited May 29, 2015 by Bill Loguidice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Loguidice Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 In response to no one in particular... The Astrocade never gained momentum, and certainly wasn't going to pick up any once Bally dropped it. It was already irrelevant by the time the earliest part of the Crash started affecting companies. In that regard, it's very much like the Jaguar. What is true is that there were cool add-ons that were never released, or never release en masse, for the Astrocade, including some nifty looking computer stuff, but that's true of every platform, including the successful ones. All told I'd say the most unfortunate thing about the Astrocade was that it was never pushed to its limits back in the day, but it wasn't for lack of time on the market. Again, arguably similar to the Jaguar. As for any other relevance to the Jaguar, I assumed this was a joke thread since they're such completely different systems that I can't see how wanting one (collecting) would determine anything about the other. The only genuine similarity is that they're videogame consoles. As for "how do you justify the cost for a dead console," it's trite to say, but you either get it or you don't. As someone with a ridiculous number of systems in my collection (500+), my motivation is not the "deadness" of the platform, but getting to experience unique technology. That's the pleasure in it for me. Sure, the "hunt" is fun, the games are often fun, etc., but it all comes down to getting my hands on the real hardware and using it the way it was meant to be used. It's like a snapshot in time that you get to experience now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 The Astrocade felt like it had a lot of internal overhead, much like Intellivision. It had to burn through a lot of clock cycles to get 1 pixel on the screen. Even more to do something like move it around. In comparison the VCS was a free-wheeling efficiency machine. Each clock cycle did something important. The VCS was almost mechanical in nature. So simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagCD Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Do the Math! The Astrocade had a Zilog Z80. Nothing touches the Zilog -- seriously, it sounds like the ulitmate space alien coming down to destroy earth. 64 Bit-ness can't touch a Zilog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 (edited) Wazn't zaere a game zompany zalled ZiMag? Edited May 29, 2015 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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