Jump to content
IGNORED

How Many Jaguar Players/Collectors Do You Think There Are "In The Wild"?


Rick Dangerous

How Many Jag Players Currently?  

36 members have voted

  1. 1. How Many Jaguar Players are there left "In the Wild"

    • 100-500
      11
    • 501-1000
      8
    • 1001-3000
      15
    • 3001-5000
      1
    • 5000 plus
      1

  • Please sign in to vote in this poll.

Recommended Posts

I've thought a lot about this recently; for various systems. How many players/collectors there are for certain niche systems must be a very finite number. Are there more than a few hundred CD-i gamers in the world currently? Or Virtual boy? To loosely define this; i would say anyone that has a working system, a few games, and hooks it up to play it at least once a year or so. And maybe this kind of person would post on online occasionally about the system, buy the odd game off eBay or an occasional homebrew were once to become available.

 

So i ask this about the Jag. It's a hard number to estimate. I'm guessing if a few hundred thousand were make, maybe somewhere between 800-2500 active users still exist in the wild? Not everyone will buy the latest homebrew for example, but if 350 do, and you get a 10% purchase rate, then maybe as high as 3500? But then you will have the folks that don't go on forums, aren't buying homebrews etc. but just have their original collection in the basement somewhere that they play a few times a year.

 

It's impossible to know for sure of course; but i wonder what everyones professional opinion is on this one. Maybe i'm way off; maybe there are 10k jaguar players out there in Japan, NA, and Europe. Looking forward to seeing peoples thoughts on this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always wondered about a different question: why has the Jag retained so much of its miniscule user base? I mean, c'mon -- this thing barely registered on the sales charts, and yet here we are, twenty-five years later, stressing and fretting and obsessing about the active user base of a system that sold 150,000 units. It's almost like everyone who used a Jag in 1994 is still here now! Okay, I bought my first one in 2002, but that's beside the point. I'd like to think that, somewhere in the universe, there's a rabid userbase for the Casio Loopy and Memorex VIS that reconstructs and analyses game sales stats of Bow-Wow Puppy Love Story and The Manhole, and pitch hypotheticals for frenzied discussions (could the Loopy handle Hannah Montana decals??? Discuss!) but I'm guessing not. Enduring, inexplicable popularity is the Jaggiest thing about the Jaguar.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are similar niche communities for Virtual Boy, TG-16, 3DO, CD-i, 32x, etc... I think the very nature of the low production runs leads people to find one another and make the group more "tight knit."

 

Systems like the NES, SNES, Genesis, etc, still have pretty broad fan-bases and are thus more dispersed throughout the interwebs and various forums/sites, etc.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is hard to say w/any system, I have friends who still have their old consoles from growing up but don't care enough to spend time on forums. I think people on forums are a fraction of the userbase, unless you are counting things like the Vectrex where I'd find it hard to believe there are many Vectrex casual users out there. But who knows, I guess?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

At this point, thanks to ebay, the average non-atari enthusiast would have to have more money than brains to start from scratch. This alone limits the number of potential players out there. Several years ago the moron factor (discussed in another thread) was still in action, with atari hardware being tossed in the garbage if it didn't work for any reason. I wonder how many ended up in a landfill that only needed a cartridge slot cleaning?

 

The surviving consoles are now "super rare" money making opportunities to the average disinterested seller.

 

This leaves a few hundred players with a genuine love for the console. I count myself as part of that group with my CIB Jaguar system, purchased new from Kay-Bee Toys back when the world was still a sane place. I voted 100-500, although it could be more. I hope it is, though I doubt that number would approach 1000.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, there are hundreds more who may not be active users, but will actively acquire certain Jag titles. Another World sold out both runs, after all. I think that the Jag has now somehow acquired the cool vibe that it never managed to create during its commercial life.

 

Al did runs of 350 for DOC and Treazure island dizzy.

 

I wonder what the average Piko game sells?

 

Still......this would only be a fraction of the market since there are some people that only play the original library, etc. etc.

 

I'd think if a run sells 350, you could safely say that's 10-25% of Jaguar gamers still playing/collecting. Or is that too low? I think it's reasonable given peoples budgetary constraints, timing, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Al did runs of 350 for DOC and Treazure island dizzy.

 

I wonder what the average Piko game sells?

 

Still......this would only be a fraction of the market since there are some people that only play the original library, etc. etc.

 

I'd think if a run sells 350, you could safely say that's 10-25% of Jaguar gamers still playing/collecting. Or is that too low? I think it's reasonable given peoples budgetary constraints, timing, etc.

 

Wasn't the original Battlesphere somewhere around the ultra low 1,000 mark sometime in 2000? that has probably been the most demanded game of all time for a post Atari Jaguar game. I would be surprised if there are 800 active Jaguar owners currently. I know a few who have complete systems at their parents house or just in storage that hasn't been touched in 10+ years but can't say those count if they're sitting idle and forgotten about.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am an active Jag player/collector and play it all the time. But also can lump myself into the OP's first post about the Virtual Boy as well, since I have 2 systems, and a complete US game collection and some of the Japanese ones as well. Aside from the Jaguar, the Virtual Boy was my other favorite as I had them both as a kid. I have multiple 3DO consoles and games, multiple Saturn consoles and games as well. My current main jams to play are the Game Gear and Sega CD. I agree with the comments about those who post about it online as well, as the only forums I post on are this one and PlanetVB (Virtual boy forum). When you bring up the CD-I that's one of those systems that despite knowing it's for the most part a terrible system I still am trying to acquire one to play!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you bring up the CD-I that's one of those systems that despite knowing it's for the most part a terrible system I still am trying to acquire one to play!

Even if you buy a CDi, good luck "playing" the "games" on it. You'd be better off with a cd32 than that pile of junk.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even if you buy a CDi, good luck "playing" the "games" on it. You'd be better off with a cd32 than that pile of junk.

 

I have a CDi and a few of the best 3 button style controllers for it. The library is about as deep as the Jaguar's, especially when you include european titles, with more of a 3DO flavor. It's another one people love to hate because they've never played it and it wasn't successful.

 

It looks like we are landing on a consensus estimate for remaining Jaguar players... About 500-800 "active" and probably 3-4k total including people with them in the closet that haven't played them in years. Granted the 500-800 probably own 2-3 apiece. I for example have two black jags, a white, and two CD units. :) Some probably have far more.

 

I've also proselytized for Jaguar; converting two local gamers into system owner here in Vermont; haha.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had 3 Jaguars but actually last week just traded one, well swapped it, through the mail to a fellow Virtual Boy member who had a bunch of Virtual Boys and wanted to get into the Jag. I was happy to help and sent him my sole loose Jag, controller, brick, the actual AV cable, and Cybermorph (my only duplicate game currently) for a solder fixed Virtual Boy and a game. It actually felt good tho to be able to help someone else who likes one of the reject consoles like the VB be able to dip their feet into the waters of another rejected console in the Jag.

 

As for the mentioning on the CD-I yeah I keep hearing it sucks, the library likely is not that good from all I've read up on. But I like the oddball consoles that no one seems to like (Jag, VB, 3DO, Lynx, hell even the R-Zone) I'll likely regret getting the CD-I but just kind of want to try something else out, even if it's terrible

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always wondered about a different question: why has the Jag retained so much of its miniscule user base?

 

The best point about the Jaguar community is that a lot of its members are insanely attached to the console.

 

The worst point about the Jaguar community is that a lot of its members are insane, period.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

*raises hand* I've been a Jag loyalist since '94. :D

 

Ditto this! Got my Jag from a small Atari computer store in Denver, CO (or it might have been one of the suburbs) as soon as it became available to buy (and was able to save up the money from my job working up in Summit County at Keystone).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So there are 1977 members of this Jag FB group:

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/jaguarfans/

 

Everyone** is on facebook, but not me and a few others, so maybe 10%. So i'm thinking 2500-3500 is a fair estimate for remaining jaguar gamers worldwide (active.)

 

If you made a run of 350 games, it makes sense as a percentage of 3500, that 10% of people would be willing and able to pony up $60-$90 for a title at any given time.

 

Even though it's the most popular choice, i think 1-500 is just too low to be realistic.

Edited by travistouchdown
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1500 would be generous but Songburd sold 400 Robinson Requiems on CD.

 

It seems to be the Calibre of the games that pulls sales.

 

So Piko stating they will ramp things up after they sell x amount might be putting the cart before the horse.

 

Wow, more veiled insults from the guy who has literally contributed nothing.

 

If you just want to hate on everything and everyone except your mythical will never happen super push the system bullshit vision, why do you even bother logging in?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So there are 1977 members of this Jag FB group:

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/jaguarfans/

 

Everyone** is on facebook, but not me and a few others, so maybe 10%. So i'm thinking 2500-3500 is a fair estimate for remaining jaguar gamers worldwide (active.)

 

If you made a run of 350 games, it makes sense as a percentage of 3500, that 10% of people would be willing and able to pony up $60-$90 for a title at any given time.

 

Even though it's the most popular choice, i think 1-500 is just too low to be realistic.

 

Ditto - that would mean 250-300 average and that means perfect 100% attach rate for titles like Xenon 2 or Another World. Me thinks an average attach rate of 33% for homebrew games would be quite optimistic - most (new)Jaguar owners/collectors are focusing on the commercial titles of the 90's, prices are very high. >1000 sounds right.

Edited by agradeneu
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...