Cax box

[walter2050]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>have any one try to make CatBox clone?

>>We do it all the time with P.C.s

>>I know we'll never get any more for ICD!

[The Helper]

The only problem with devoting time to making a cat box clone is the functionality of it. It is really something that has very limited use do to the very few games that are available to be networked. Also, very few people try to use external monitors or need all the outputs that it provides.

 

Sure, the cat box is cool, but it seems it just is not useful enough to have a large amount of time devoted to cloning it.

[Albert]

quote:

---

Originally posted by The Helper:

Sure, the cat box is cool, but it seems it just is not useful enough to have a large amount of time devoted to cloning it.

---

 

This is a good point. Given the fact that the Jaguar is basically a dead system that never had a huge installed base, it's difficult to justify the creation of any unique hardware at this point. Yeah, I know games are still being produced for the Jaguar, but the market for hardware and software is extremely limited. It would likley only be done by a hobbyist who would hopefully be able to make back any money he or she sunk into it. And the justification at this point is pretty weak, given there aren't many networkable games, and those that do support more than two players (Air Cars, BattleSphere, any others?) are hard enough to come by as it is. And then to get enough Jaguar enthusiasts in the same room with all the hardware and software required to play these networked games, well, it's just not something that happens too often.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath for a CatBox revival. I remember being pretty excited when it was in development, but then, the Jaguar was still alive and kicking. But times have changed... That's not to say I wouldn't like to have one, but even if I did I'm not sure I'd ever take full advantage of it.

 

..Al

[Tempest]

I passed up on a Catbox for $170 or so because I just couldn't see a use for it. Other than to have it in my collection, it would probably collect dust (especially since I don't have a copy of Battlesphere or Aircars to network it with).

 

Does Doom work with it, or does it require that funny Atari cable?

 

Tempest

[Albert]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Tempest:

Does Doom work with it, or does it require that funny Atari cable?

---

 

Yes, you can network two Jags together with the CatBox to play Doom..

 

..Al

[Gunstar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Albert:

Cool, I didn't know this! If it's a simpler device, hopefully he can sell it for a reasonable cost while still making back his development/manufacturing costs. I'd love to get my hands on one and someday try some networked Jaguar games.

 

Now if we could just get some of those guys from the

Jaguar Interactive II

forum over here, that'd be great. I'm not too crazy about the way that site's setup, since messages scroll off after a few days and are lost forever. Plus it's sometimes difficult to keep track of threads and figure out who's saying what.

 

..Al

---

 

yeah, it's not real user friendly, but you can get used to it. What I usually do with a thread is look for the original post and then at the bottom of that, it has all the replies to it, and if you then goto a reply, it may have replies of it's own at the bottom and it branches out in that way. Anywho, it's not the setup of the board that bothers me any more, it's a lot of the people. If we could just get about 10 of the cool people there to come hear, that would be great! I go there less and less because everytime I do there is either another flame war in progress or some jerk trying to start one by making rude and snide comments to other peoples' posts. Mostly it is only about half a dozen individuals who instigate it all, but it's enough to ruin the whole experience. It's actually starting to get very rare to see anything on the Jaguar that is even slightly relevent anymore. Just go there now, and then tell me how many posts actually interested you or that are even really jaguar related. I doubt you'll find too many...If we can get T-bird, Carl and the couple others who actually do something for the community over there to come here, that's really all we need...there are a few other fans over there that are cool, but nearly half of them already hang here too anyway. Luckily it seems that none of the Bozos have found this site, if they have, they're using a different handle and are much more respectful of the people here. So I guess the moral is be careful what you ask for, getting the cool people may have the side effect of a lot of jerks starting to come here too.

[The Helper]

I prefer the UBB Style though so all the threads are together. Unfortunately I don't think that Jaguar Interactive II will ever change forum style.

[Gunstar]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Albert:

Yes, you can network two Jags together with the CatBox to play Doom..

 

..Al

---

 

Are you sure about that? I've been told by many people who generally know what they are talking about that it works only with the Jaglink or custom Jagdoom cables that are made. I used to own a catbox and it is a neat device, I loved using the mini headphone jacks on it; I plugged in a mini din to RCA jack that I got at RadioShack and hooked my Jag up to my stereo through it. This gives the advantage of being pre-amped by the catbot(with volume control), and make the end result much crisper anc clearer in sound and volume (the Jag itself, if it has any pre-amping at all is sad). That is about the only thing I ever used the Catbox for though, as at the time I only had the one, so I couldn't network any games (although I only have 2 copies of DOOM). I traded it away...

On another note, I heard from T-bird at Scatalogic himself (a conversation I had with him personally on JI2), that he is working on or at least mulling the idea of creating a new catbox like device to work with Battlesphere and of course Aircars (DOOM too, if it's true that it works networked that way). So there is actually a small chance that he will follow through on this, and if anyone would, it would be him. This device would have ONLY the networking possibilities of the Catbox though, and nothing else, but it would be 100% compatible in case you have a Catbox and one of these, theyed work together. Cross your fingers...

[Albert]

quote

Are you sure about that? I've been told by many people who generally know what they are talking about that it works only with the Jaglink or custom Jagdoom cables that are made.

 

Well, all I did was search for "catbox doom" on Deja.com and came up with a ton of search results where people described how Doom works with the CatBox. Some people even claimed it works better with the CatBox, although who knows if that's true or not. I don't have a CatBox or two copies of Doom (I do have two Jaguars!) so I can't personally attest to this working.

 

quote

On another note, I heard from T-bird at Scatalogic himself (a conversation I had with him personally on JI2), that he is working on or at least mulling the idea of creating a new catbox like device to work with Battlesphere and of course Aircars (DOOM too, if it's true that it works networked that way). So there is actually a small chance that he will follow through on this, and if anyone would, it would be him. This device would have ONLY the networking possibilities of the Catbox though, and nothing else, but it would be 100% compatible in case you have a Catbox and one of these, theyed work together. Cross your fingers...  

 

Cool, I didn't know this! If it's a simpler device, hopefully he can sell it for a reasonable cost while still making back his development/manufacturing costs. I'd love to get my hands on one and someday try some networked Jaguar games.

 

Now if we could just get some of those guys from the Jaguar Interactive II forum over here, that'd be great. I'm not too crazy about the way that site's setup, since messages scroll off after a few days and are lost forever. Plus it's sometimes difficult to keep track of threads and figure out who's saying what.

 

..Al