kev187
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Posts posted by kev187
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Interesting looking game on the Nintendo DS.
Funny.... looks a lot like iWar? Funny how things come around...
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Unfortunately for the Tramiels, they got seriously hosed on the Jaguar system by their developers who used the platform more as a learning tool, then to produce good quality games.
I always felt that was the major downfall of the Jaguar, more so than all the technical issues that us technical types like to harp on.
I was actually a teenage intern at a game company in the Jaguar's heyday and I perfectly matched your description! But thanks to good business leadership, I was prevented from working on the Jaguar. (Of course, I still play with it in my free time... I don't mind negative profits like those boring old suits...)
Back in 1994, I harassed my boss to start a Jaguar project, and after enough dodging, he took me aside and tried to gently introduce me to Business Reality. No well-managed company would partner with Atari, he explained. They were too small, too fragile, had too few marketing dollars to make any impact. Sega and Nintendo were actively courting partners, and Sony was rumored to be pouring billions of dollars on 3rd parties.
The other consoles promised C, they promised reusable assets, ease of development, cost-efficient multiplatform releases, PC-like file systems, virtually unlimited storage, etc... (Not all of them delivered, of course...)
Meanwhile, the Jaguar insanely boasted, 'Be a man! Devote yourself to weird non-standard tools, invest in thousands of lines of assembly for a RISC you will NEVER see again, tickle strange new registers in an architecture unlike anybody else's! And don't forget to design all your art for CRY, RGB is dead! Spend weeks counting bytes in ROM, like it's 1990 again! Design your own file system for our CD! This is what real men do!'
Seriously, I'm still a huge Jaguar fan, but it makes me shake my head to imagine the Jaguar in 1994 from the perspective of an experienced adult in the computer industry.
In my opinion, Atari ended up with young ambitious inexperienced students because people experienced in the industry knew better. I don't blame Atari. I don't think they knew much about the game industry in the 90s.
- KS
Folks, this comment from kskunk is the most insightful post in this entire thread. I doubt much more can be said.
+1
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You know, I'm sure the game is good and all... But, I can't justify owning 1 game for that amount of money. It's fine and dandy that proceeds go to charity, but still... I can't help but wonder if a lot of people's opinion of how great the game is isn't influenced by how much money they spent on it...
The price it gets is not justified in my mind. No video game should cost or be worth over $100. Just my opinion.Well your right.... nothing "should" cost over $100
But battlesphere does & since there are not a lot of them out there, its basically only worth $300_$400 because we the Jaguar community have made it so by really really wanting it :-)
Me... I have been playing games for years, I owned a Atari 2600 back when they were new, I wanted to play and enjoy this game, so I added to the community making it worth the money being asked for by paying for it.
Basically, it isnt worth $300+ unless you want it :-)
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maybe someone should sell me a copy on this anniversary day! then a new jaguar user can experience its glory
Do What I did, do a saved search on ebay & just be patient, they show up every few months. Then be prepared to big HIGH! I used auction sniper & got mine for just over $300 for Battlesphere gold. Lots of cash, but man its nice to have in the collection!
You got a steal on that!
I have not seen a BS Gold go under $400+ in years.
Was it incomplete or damaged?
It did not have the extra stuff that comes with gold (CD & stuff right?)
It was the box, game, manual, all complete & in mint condition, but none of the bonus stuff.
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maybe someone should sell me a copy on this anniversary day! then a new jaguar user can experience its glory
Do What I did, do a saved search on ebay & just be patient, they show up every few months. Then be prepared to big HIGH! I used auction sniper & got mine for just over $300 for Battlesphere gold. Lots of cash, but man its nice to have in the collection!
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Geez... Ten years!
I am loving Battlesphere, I purchased my Copy of Battleshpere Gold off ebay 2 years ago for $300+ & I am so happy & grateful that I own a copy! I play it often!
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In addition :
- RGB -> component converters normally don't change the frequency. If you input 60 Hz RGB, you get 60 Hz component.
- with the exception of Dragon's Lair, all games work both in 50 Hz and 60 Hz, but some play better in 60 Hz (smoother, no black borders, etc.)
Thanks everyone, my SCART cable is in transit & I am now ordering my RGB Scart to Ybrpr component converter. I am hoping the picture is nice.
I am currently using a S-video to VGA scaler/deinterlacer. The picture is actually pretty good, but I want to try RGB to see just how nice I can get the Jag to look on the modern TV sets!!!!!
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It simply doesn´t matter. When you use a scart cable it will broadcast your Jaguars signal to your TV. If your Jaguar is NTSC, Signal is NTSC, if your Jaguar is PAL, Signal is PAL. I have a switch in my Jaguar to change between PAL and NTSC and always use the same cable... if you want have RGB converter behind that, you´ll get NTSC RGB in your case.
Hope I could help,
Chris
Chris, thanks, that answers my question.
The SCART RGB TO Component converter I am looking at does both NTSC and PAL. What he told me is.... if the RGB coming in is PAL, the Unit automatically converts it to PAL component, but if the RGB coming in is NTSC, it switches & outputs to NTSC component. So I am good if my USA Jag is putting out NTSC RGB via SCART.
You guys are the best!
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[quote name=Sub(Function(
)' date='Tue Mar 2, 2010 9:35 AM' timestamp='1267540541' post='1954165]I have a USA Jag. Now to my understanding.. all jags games are the same, but they change their NTSC/PAL vs, what model Jaguar they are loaded into?
I.E... I plug tempest into my USA Jag, its NTSC, I mail my tempest to you in the UK & You plug it into your Pal jag, its PAL, same game, different jags?
Is this statement true?
The reason I ask is that when the Jag first came out I got one and T2K my friend got one a few months later (when I told him I wanted my system back).
He got his from Telegames, when they had a shop in Leicester, UK.
We noticed that the power led on the front was a different colour. When we played T2K on his machine it seemed that the game ran faster and the sequence of the levels was different. We asked in the store and were told my friend had got a US import model.
Correct... the Jags in the different countries are different (hardware) but software is the same for all regions, the Jag hardware picks up the region for the game & outputs it accordingly, so yes, you friend could have got a USA Jag.
I purchased a copy of RAYMAN from the UK, but once it was in my USA Jag, it came out NTSC
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Ok.....
I have a USA Jag. Now to my understanding.. all jags games are the same, but they change their NTSC/PAL vs, what model Jaguar they are loaded into?
I.E... I plug tempest into my USA Jag, its NTSC, I mail my tempest to you in the UK & You plug it into your Pal jag, its PAL, same game, different jags?
Whats going to happen when I plug a SCART Cable into my USA Jaguar, is the RGB signal going to be PAL or NTSC via the RGB?
I know this is complex...
But one of the SCART RGB converters I found sold here in the USA says if the incoming is PAL, its sent back out PAL, or if the incoming signal is NTSC, its brodcast out NYSC?
I thought in the land of all things HD, the formats had pretty much gotten very similar these days?
THANKS EVERYONE
By the way... I was up till 1am last night playing battlesphere.. been a while.
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I know they're super-rare and stuff but I want one so bad! I live in the UK, theres one on eBay UK here brand new in the box, unopened selling for £200 (which is, I think, just over $300).
Its a bit out of my budget. Does anyone know where these things are most commonly found? Any particular websites?
Best Electronics has them brand new and refurbished. Good prices!
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I have been thinking for a while about purchasing a jaguar but is it worth it. were there many good games released for it or was there only the handful we have all heard about before?
I think for most gamers/collectors, the Jaguar offers at least a dozen games good enough to warrant a purchase (in addition to the standard Doom/AvP/Tempest).
There are some terrible games for sure, the system failed for a reason. But in retrospect, paying $15 or less for a majority of the games available (opposed to $50+ new 15 years ago), make it for a decent system for collectors and retro gamers looking for a new experience.
Bad boy.......
The system didnt die cuz of the games...It was Atari that killed it with some help from Sony.
Yeah.. a long list could me made of what "did in" the jag and atari...sadly probably everything on that list is accurate.
But... the jag is fun...
What gets it for me... is I remember those 1st basic polygon games & the jag took it another level with games that were 3D, but still played like 16-bit games, fun & basic, but challenging. Tempest alone is worth owning the jag!
If your a collector, its worth collecting, as you can nab a jag & some of the good games loose with no bx & spend about the same as One PS3 game! Not bad for game collecting
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I think they mean while you are in one of the repair docks...
Never tried those cheats but SkyHammer is a pretty good game and a good showcase of the Jaguar.
I have not read the instructions yet, just been blasting around, did not realize there was a repair dock
Ill have to try some things out today! I am enjoying the new games! -
Maybe this is what I used...
All weapons, 50,000 credits, and advance to the next city.
Enter code while docked
Press *, 0, 9, 1, 0, 1, 9, 9, 3, # All weapons, 50,000 credits, and advance to the next city. What exactly is considered "while docked?" when you pause the came, or 1st start out?
This would be a nice bonus
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Skyhammer is fun. Very Bladerunner. For the most fun, activate the cheat codes sometime.
Iron Soldier 2 is a lot better, just slightly harder.
Where can I find these cheat codes for Skyhammer?
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Just picked up two new games.
I went to songbird to oder Skyhammer & Carl had a Cartridge version of IS2 in stock!!!! I sold my Jag CD a while back (never used it really) But i have been hunting down a copy of IS2 in cartridge for for a while now. The last copy went on ebay for $125. Although, it was still an expensive purchase I grabbed it!
Skyhammer is so very impressive, I cannot believe how smooth the framerate is for the jag in a 360 free floating 3-D shooter. I am very impressed, the music is great. I wish the Jag had games like this when I got my original Jag back in 1995. I had the music turned up & was really into it.
Iron Soldier 2 is a great improvement over the original, would be nice to have the CD redbook soundtrack, but its fun none the less... little on the hard side, but I need to spend more time with it to get used to the controls again!
Been grabbing a lot of stuff lately, just in the last couple months, been snagging things up. Spent some big money on these two games... but what the hell!!!
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http://moeroshop.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=282_283_286&products_id=14146
I cant see much diff. between the stnd'd controller and the Pro one apart from extra buttons
The Pro controller is much higher quality. You can tell form the pictures you actually have to hold it. Anyone who has one will confirm this. Its not as fat and fits in your hands much more comfortably. Also the Dpad on it is much better than the standard controllers. The button have more of a sprint and less of a hard plastic feel to them as well.
The Pro controller is worth every penny. Plus there price isnt so bad. If you keep an eye on ebay they pop up from time to time I picked up a CIB one off ebay last month for $28 including shipping.
The Pro Controllers are the only one's I use. I have a huge box of standard controllers just collecting dust because all I use is the pro which are always plugged in controller port 1 and 2 at all times ready to play.
There really is no comparison.
+1 the Pro Controller feels more well built & has a better feel in your hand than the standard, I never use the stock controller any more.
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I was going to do this: (a RGB converter/scaler from Ambery corp to use with my VGA CRT computer monitor using the RGB db9 output port from the Catbox) However, the specialized db9(Catbox) to db15(VGA) cable included with the Ambery device is for the Amiga Computers and I have not made a cable as per the Jaguar needed cableing pinouts Zerosquare posted for me, so that this could work.
Kev187: DID YOU MAKE A NEEDED CUSTOM CABLE YET FOR YOUR AMBERY VGA RGB/SCALER -THE REQUIRED CATBOX TO AMBERY CONVERTER/SCALER CONNECTION??
I never got the cable.. not soo good a precision soldering. I sent it back to Ambery, & traded it for a S-video to VGA scaler. It actually works not too bad & I was able to make the Jaguar wide-screen to match my LCD (Tempest round tubes are still round? Go figure) It was a good improvement over direct S-video in, but some colors are a big saturated, but its a good effect & nice improvement over the regular S-video!
But.... I think I can do better? I have all my vintage Game Systems run through the S-video to VGA converter (Turbo-Duo, Dreamcast, PSX, N64 & Jag)
Doing a little more reading & watching some youtube videos. It seems running scart through the component converter is the cleanest way to get detail to the screen. All the scalers seem to get some wash in the colors in the conversion, even though the overall picture is cleaner. I would imagine the HDMI converter would do the same as my VGA scaler.
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I came across this device. Does not look bad.Seems a bit pricey. Mine looks like this one. You have to pay attention though as many of these things come with 220V power supplies.
Generally you'll need to break out the audio from the SCART connector as well (since the conversion boxes just do video). Many of us use SCART switchboxes that have separate audio outs on them.
Yeah... thats a better deal, too bad I would spend at least $30 at Radio Shack getting a proper power supply. I ordered a Scart Cable that had a break out cable for Audio for the jag. Should be good to go on the Audio :-)
I am going to see if I can find a 110v power supply to meet the specs of that one, if not, Ill just go for the $99 one
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A RGB -> YPbPr converter shouldn't (in theory) cause any loss of quality.I use a SCART RGB > Component converter for quite a few classic consoles and the results are fantastic.
Thats very good to hear
What model component converter are you using? I came across this device. Does not look bad. Scart to Component
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I do understand to watch out for the cheap scart. The official Jaguar Scart cable is RGB only correct? That's the one I would buy!
Once I got a scart cable, what about this device?
http://www.shinybowonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=116
It converts scart RGB to ybrpr analog component. Think its worth trying out?
Thanks everyone!
There are both official and non-official Jaguar SCART cables but I think either are full RGB. I was actually warning about the cheap cables that advertise SCART->15 pin VGA or the SCART switchboxes on ebay.uk since many aren't wired for RGB.
Don't know anything about that converter box... it might work, but I wonder if you'd lose some picture quality in the conversion?
Thanks, good to know most of the scart cables are RGB, I have found a few different jag Scart Cables out there.
Yeah, who knows what the scaler will do. My S-video to VGA scaler definitely looks better than plugging the S-video directly to the LCD monitor, so I figure Scart RGB being superior, hooking that up to some sort of scaler should be an improvement over the S-video?
I guess I am the test dummy on this one
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I've got an RGB monitor that accepts either RGB or s-video and SCART RGB looks much better for all the older consoles. But, as everyone mentioned, I don't think that adapter is going to work for you because old consoles output separate sync, not sync on green. If your scaler or LCD has a standard 15-pin VGA type input, you could connect your old consoles into a SCART switchbox then build a custom SCART to 15-pin cable to get RGB into your LCD. Beware though that it does take some basic wiring/soldering skills to modify cables. If your LCD won't sync on composite video you'll either need to re-route the Jaguar's sync output to the appropriate monitor input pin or build a sync separator to strip sync from the composite video line. There's a lot of info on wiring RGB cables at gamesx.com.
Beware that a lot of the cheap SCART cables and switchboxes sold on ebay.uk are NOT RGB. SCART connectors can handle composite, s-video, or RGB depending on how they're wired. Most of the cheap parts are wired for composite only... if you need suggestions, just PM and I can let you know where I got my full RGB SCART cables/switchboxes.
SCART may have 'had it's day', but for older consoles from 'back in the day' it's the best display quality you can get.
Thanks so much. I want to get the best out of my Jaguar on the Modern TV's. I don't think buying a TV and importing it is the best idea, waranty issues ect. I already own two nice LCD's do not need another
I do understand to watch out for the cheap scart. The official Jaguar Scart cable is RGB only correct? That's the one I would buy!
Once I got a scart cable, what about this device?
http://www.shinybowonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=68&Itemid=116
It converts scart RGB to ybrpr analog component. Think its worth trying out?
Thanks everyone!
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A question for my friends across the pond using this technology.
How much of an improvement from S-video to SCart RGB?
I ask.... as I am using a S-video to VGA scaler here on my LCD & it looks good, better than using the regular S-video in on my Monitor.
My Scaler also as input for 3-wire RGsB (scart?)
I was going to get a JAG scart cable & one of these Scart to RGB adapter
And hook it into my VGA scaler.
I know thats a lot, but if the RGB from the scart is an improved picture, can only get better right?
Thanks
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I am selling my Jaguar ICD Catbox on ebay.
But I am willing to take any reasonable offers from my friends here on the forum!
Take a look Catbox on ebay
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What is the probablity of ever finding a Battlesphere gold?
in Atari Jaguar
Posted
I paid $369 for my copy of Battlesphere Gold about 3+ years ago. I love it, going to keep it forever
Well... I dunno, getting $1100+ for it is tempting 
Have not played it in a while, might have to play some tonight