Should I buy a JagCD?

[Austin]

I have had my Jag CD since new (I bought it on release day) and never had any kind of problem with and its been well used.

 

Jag CD's break because people don't take care of them properly (pushing the spindle down is the most common thing). Look after it and it will serve you just as well as any other console of that age.

 

On the contrary, both of my brand-new units were defective out of the box (discs not spinning).. Judging by how quickly Atari was able to provide me a solution and judging by how many people I've read having the same issue in the past, I'm certain it's common. Yes, the units are perfectly fixable, but as much as I'd like to, I can't say that they are "rock-solid" units nor recommend them based on reliability.

 

The best comparison I can make with the Jaguar CD is putting it in the same league of reliability as the PS2 or XBOX 360, both being systems that have an abnormally high fail rate.. At least those platforms usually have the benefit of working for a little while right out of the box.

 

Regardless, an unusual fail rate doesn't mean you're going to get a unit with problems.. The risk is out there though and it should be known in case you do run into problems.

Edited May 29, 2010 by Austin

[ggn]

I can't believe - in a thread like this - that nobody pointed out how UNRELIABLE the JAG CD is, with age.

 

Read my post in the first page

[+CyranoJ]

I'd take a Skunkboard over a Jag CD any day. At least they work every time you plug them in

[The_Laird]

I'd take a Skunkboard over a Jag CD any day. At least they work every time you plug them in

 

Thats because you are a coder. The Jag CD is much better for a gamer.

[+CyranoJ]

Thats because you are a coder. The Jag CD is much better for a gamer.

 

I do play games as well you know, and know how to spot crappy ones

 

And IMHO there's nothing worth writing home about (or spending £200 on) for the Jag CD. Use the cash and get another system and several great games instead of a JagCD and a bucket of disappointment.

[ggn]

I'd take a Skunkboard over a Jag CD any day. At least they work every time you plug them in

 

Thats because you are a coder. The Jag CD is much better for a gamer.

 

Contrary to common beliefs, coders DO play games - hey, it's the only way to make playable ones

[The_Laird]

Did I say they didn't? I am one myself

 

I was saying that a Skunkboard is not as useful to a gamer as it is to a coder

[Gorf]

Did I say they didn't? I am one myself

 

I was saying that a Skunkboard is not as useful to a gamer as it is to a coder

 

 

Actually it is just as useful. The problem lies in the fact that a CD is much more obtainable than

an SB . That could be solved by someone investing in a run of skunks, since Tursi already said

he ans Kskunk would be willing to allow it. The SB is actually more useful and would solve a big

issue with cost of development materials. A developer could then charge a very reasonable download

fee or even for free if he so chooses with no cart or disc and packaging/shipping overhead to be

concerned with. There is also the beauty of the serialized units allowing personalized copies and

less fraud.

[thund3r]

Did I say they didn't? I am one myself

 

I was saying that a Skunkboard is not as useful to a gamer as it is to a coder

 

Reading through this thread seriously makes me wish i had kept my jag & jag CD, as i sold it a couple of years ago for £180...

I think its great if you have one and want to sell it off at a higher price, but i must admit when i did own it, it seemed like a bit of novelty, considering i only played Battlemorph on it...

[Karny]

Did I say they didn't? I am one myself

 

I was saying that a Skunkboard is not as useful to a gamer as it is to a coder

 

Reading through this thread seriously makes me wish i had kept my jag & jag CD, as i sold it a couple of years ago for £180...

I think its great if you have one and want to sell it off at a higher price, but i must admit when i did own it, it seemed like a bit of novelty, considering i only played Battlemorph on it...

 

The collector in me _really_ wants to own one, especially new! I have this crazy dream of owning every console (NES onwards*) and the top 5 or 10 games for each, all hooked up to individual screens, etc. Like my own personal gaming Museum.

 

Realistically I know that'll never happen as I'll never own a room big enough or want that many tv's and most of all a lot of the more obscure systems I don't yet own don't even have 5 or 10 games worth owning - and this is where the JagCD fits in.

 

Add to that the unreliability others have mentioned here, the other (arguably better) systems I could get instead (for less) and the fact that I probably have more important things to spend/waste my money on, I'm going to pass.

 

*NES was the beginning of gaming for me and everything prior to that is just old (to me) and lacks any of the nostalgia needed to enjoy a lot of older games.

 

PS. Nothing here was meant to offend anyone, I'm sure the JagCD IS a great system and I'd treasure one if I owned it, but it's just prohibitively expensive for what it is.

[The_Laird]

You might change your mind come Jagfest . . . . .

 

[+CyranoJ]

There is also the beauty of the serialized units allowing personalized copies......

 

No longer a valid concern with Jaguar ULS being freely available - serialized units are trivial now :-)

[Gorf]

There is also the beauty of the serialized units allowing personalized copies......

 

No longer a valid concern with Jaguar ULS being freely available - serialized units are trivial now :-)

 

 

I dont see how ULS makes serialized units invalid.

[+CyranoJ]

I dont see how ULS makes serialized units invalid.

 

It doesnt. It makes creating serialized units trivial.

[Gorf]

I dont see how ULS makes serialized units invalid.

 

It doesnt. It makes creating serialized units trivial.

 

 

Um right.. Now ...... I dont see how ULS(a means to make an encrypted CD image) trivializes

the Skunkboard (a very powerful and versatile developer device)?

 

I'm sure Tursi and KSkunk would love an explaination for this statement. ULS may be fine for

a final product but with out the SkunkBoard or some other developer device it would be rather

useless now would'nt it?

[+rdemming]

I dont see how ULS makes serialized units invalid.

 

Making serialised units invalid?

ULS is a tool to insert (program) data in session 0 of a pre-encrypted CD image without affecting the encryption. So what CJ means is that with ULS you can easily create personalised CDs without re-encrypting each personalised copy. Just as you can make personalised ROM images for the SkunkBoard.

 

But the SkunkBoard has a build-in serial number (So the SkunkBoard is the "serialised unit" here, not the software). So what Gorf means is that you can make a personalised ROM image for the SkunkBoard that only runs on a SkunkBoard with a certain serial number. This is something ULS can't do because CD units don't have a build-in serial number.

 

Robert

Edited June 4, 2010 by rdemming

[Gorf]

I dont see how ULS makes serialized units invalid.

 

Making serialised units invalid?

ULS is a tool to insert (program) data in session 0 of a pre-encrypted CD image without affecting the encryption. So what CJ means is that with ULS you can easily create personalised CDs without re-encrypting each personalised copy. Just as you can make personalised ROM images for the SkunkBoard.

 

But the SkunkBoard has a build-in serial number (So the SkunkBoard is the "serialised unit" here, not the software). So what Gorf means is that you can make a personalised ROM image for the SkunkBoard that only runs on a SkunkBoard with a certain serial number. This is something ULS can't do because CD units don't have a build-in serial number.

 

Robert

 

 

Bravo Mr. Demming. Well said!

 

You can always burn an unauthorized CD that will still run on a Jag CD.... it would take a serious amount of work

to deal with a properly prepared Skunk specific app.

[+CyranoJ]

But the SkunkBoard has a build-in serial number (So the SkunkBoard is the "serialised unit" here, not the software)

 

move.l	$800808,d0		; serial
cmp.l   #some_serial_value,d0
bne     not_this_one

 

Tursi and Kskunk did an amazing job with the skunkboard. By using that to lock an app to a specific skunk and/or ULS to serialise a CD making unique bootable versions is beyond trivial. You could even automate it via a download script whereby the webserver injects the correct key into the file before allowing a download.

Edited June 5, 2010 by CyranoJ

[Gorf]

But the SkunkBoard has a build-in serial number (So the SkunkBoard is the "serialised unit" here, not the software)

 

move.l	$800808,d0		; serial
cmp.l   #some_serial_value,d0
bne     not_this_one

 

Tursi and Kskunk did an amazing job with the skunkboard. By using that to lock an app to a specific skunk and/or ULS to serialise a CD making unique bootable versions is beyond trivial. You could even automate it via a download script whereby the webserver injects the correct key into the file before allowing a download.

 

 

 

Ok and just what hardware on the Jaguar CD do you use to check a serial number against to prevent a copy?

If you say use a Skunk in conjunction with a Jag CD, fine but you still need to have a Skunk. However, as

far as I remember, unless Tursi or KSkunk updated a recent version of the bios, I do not belive the Skunk

works with a CD unit very well...or at all. Not exactly trivializing, would'nt you say?

 

So, though ULS is good for trivializing the encryption process, it hardly trivializes a serialized unit as

is the case with the Skunk Board.

[otaku]

maybe, if you have money to burn. They have a tendency to die. And not much to play either and they're expensive, I learned all this the hard expensive way...

[Gorf]

maybe, if you have money to burn. They have a tendency to die. And not much to play either and they're expensive, I learned all this the hard expensive way...

 

What has a tendency to die? The Skunk or the CD player? I will assume you mean the CD player.

In that case, you only bolster my argument further. I've never heard of an unreliable Skunk.

CD Players are mechanical and are bound, like all things mechanical, to break eventually.

As long as you dont 'brick' your skunk by some unorthodox use of it, it should run long

after we are all dead.

 

A Skunk does not require any medium. A simple download will do the trick. The Jag CD needs a

blank disc to burn at very least. The Skunk can also communicate with a PC so you could in

theory have an unlimited amount a game data space with a careful coding system between the

Skunk and the PC...you could even use the PC's DVD player as a storage medium and transfer the

needed content to the skunk....in this respect is is far superior to an CD based game. The only

trouble here is someone needs to write the needed software for the Jaguar and the PC to communicate

automatically between each other. YOu can fill the Jag memory from a PC in a matter of seconds.

So every level could easily use up the entire 2 megs of RAM in the JAg , possibly making for a

seriously involed app. Try that with a Jag CD unit with out never ending disc swapping.

[BuddyBuddies]

maybe, if you have money to burn. They have a tendency to die. And not much to play either and they're expensive, I learned all this the hard expensive way...

 

Thats starting to change though and we are getting more to play on the Jag CD as of late... Do the Same, Beebris, Superfly DX are all new cd titles for the Jaguar CD and many more are in the works

 

Lets not forget Robinson's Requiem and Impulse X

Edited June 7, 2010 by BuddyBuddies

[BuddyBuddies]

maybe, if you have money to burn. They have a tendency to die. And not much to play either and they're expensive, I learned all this the hard expensive way...

 

EDIT: DOUBLE POST

Edited June 7, 2010 by BuddyBuddies

[Gorf]

maybe, if you have money to burn. They have a tendency to die. And not much to play either and they're expensive, I learned all this the hard expensive way...

 

Thats starting to change though and we are getting more to play on the Jag CD as of late... Do the Same, Beebris, Superfly DX are all new cd titles for the Jaguar CD and many more are in the works

 

Lets not forget Robinson's Requiem and Impulse X

 

 

All of those new titles can fit on ONE Cd along with many more Im sure. The skunk would be just as good at handling

any of these games.....even RR with the coding system between the PC and Jag as I had mentioned.

[BuddyBuddies]

maybe, if you have money to burn. They have a tendency to die. And not much to play either and they're expensive, I learned all this the hard expensive way...

 

Thats starting to change though and we are getting more to play on the Jag CD as of late... Do the Same, Beebris, Superfly DX are all new cd titles for the Jaguar CD and many more are in the works

 

Lets not forget Robinson's Requiem and Impulse X

 

 

All of those new titles can fit on ONE Cd along with many more Im sure. The skunk would be just as good at handling

any of these games.....even RR with the coding system between the PC and Jag as I had mentioned.

 

where have you been buddy?

 

Does that mean you are still excited about playing Impulse X ?