atari2600land's Blog

How many "bits" a system has is meaningless. DEC fabricated 64 bit server and workstation processors more than 20 years ago, but their total power was easily eclipsed by cheapo home desktop 32 bit processors just a few years later. The total number of "bits" of a processor are really only necessary for specific things, such as the width of a data bus or being able to address large amounts of memory. The Jag is no exception to this. It came out well before the N64, and isn't nearly as powerful as a result. Disregard the "64-bit" moniker and just enjoy the Jag for what it is - a stepping stone between the Genesis/SNES and PSX/N64 eras.

Furthermore, the Jaguar has two 32 bit DSP chips which Atari summed up as 32+32 = 64 bits, plus a 68000 which has been argued for decades whether it should be considered 16 bit or 32 bit, and some more chips. It seems to be the complex architecture of multiple chips cooperating that hindered Jaguar development for many years, compared to the more straightforward PS1. The Sega Saturn also has a bit of a hodge podge of chips, although I'm unsure if it fared better than the Jaguar.

With how hard it was to develop a game on the Jaguar back when it was released, you are lucky to find a game that actually looks 32 bit. Hell, most of them look more like 16 bit. Let alone ever getting close to looking like an N64 game. The 64 bit on the cover is technically a lie, due to the "math" used with the combination of processors they used to supposedly add up to 64 bit. This is just a glimpse into the "bit wars" era where people were wowed by anything that sounded more powerful than what they currently owned.

 

The Jaguar has a few great games and it's a fun blip in video game history, but don't get your hopes up regarding any sort of wonderful graphics or fast loadtimes.