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JagFest 1999 event video now on YouTube


Songbird

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I was recently contacted by Hans (known as Cyberroach in the very, very old days) who asked if he could upload a conversion of the JagFest 1999 VHS tape to YouTube. It's been 21 years, so I think it's about time. ;) Check out some spry youngsters including yours truly as we celebrated Atari in Rochester, MN, when Songbird was just getting started!

 

 

Spot the fan: look for @K3V, @goatdan, @ZylonBane, @JagMod, and more! :)

 

Also, you can still buy a Jag CD compatible video of the event on the Songbird website. Along with many other Jaguar and Lynx games, of course; Biniax and Xump were just released for the Lynx last month!

 

Techie trivia: the intro graphic + music and all the title cards between segments were done with custom Jaguar programs I wrote, because back then I didn't have a simple way to edit videos using a computer! It was easier to write a Jag program and record the output. :)

 

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Wow this video reminds me of the early excitement of the Jaguar (and Atari scene) in 1999 when I first found out about the Jaguar.  

 

Now... is only there were great videos like this of the other JagFests that followed in the years after that. 

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Pretty interesting! Now, the Jag is retro of course, but what did it feel like back in '99 when it had been discontinued just a few years earlier? I mean, I have a hard time imagining people getting excited about PS3 now, but maybe 20 years from now. Did it feel "retro" (if such a word was even used back then, I remember starting to use that word myself about video games as late as 2005).

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It wasn't quite retro back then, but at the same time, it was commercially dead. Telegames had released a couple games in 1997 I believe, and I helped convince ICD to release Aircars too. Since I was a C programmer in my day job, I started tracking down former Jaguar devs in Usenet to see if they still had their unreleased games and would license them to me for publication. Mind you, we didn't even have the universal encryption discovered yet, so getting any new game out on cartridge was quite the challenge!

 

It was a fun time to be an Atari fan, and it still is now. I've really enjoyed supporting the Lynx and Jaguar for over 20 years. More games are on the way! :)

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2 hours ago, Songbird said:

It wasn't quite retro back then, but at the same time, it was commercially dead.

Even before that while it was still on the market and actively being supported, the Jaguar always seemed to me like a niche console with a cult-type following (i.e. not unlike today).  By 1999, even Atari itself was already gone.  The Jag never really being commercially viable coupled with it being the now-defunct Atari's last gasp pretty much instantly elevated it to "retro" status.

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Been so long, I don't even remember what year I attended.  I know Kevin and his wife were there, I think they also had a Nuon player hooked up.  Would have been in Ohio.  I attended Philly Classic 5 with Kevin which I think was March of 2004.

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1 hour ago, Stephen said:

Been so long, I don't even remember what year I attended.  I know Kevin and his wife were there, I think they also had a Nuon player hooked up.  Would have been in Ohio.  I attended Philly Classic 5 with Kevin which I think was March of 2004.

Man - it was later than I remembered. CCAG 2004, http://www.nuon-dome.com/ccag2004.html I'd had my Jag for 10 years by then.  Scary how time flies.

 

I see that I had BSGold at that point, also had my custom controller.

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14 hours ago, Cyprian_K said:

@Songbird thanks for sharing that video

You're quite welcome! :)

11 hours ago, JagChris said:

You still look the same Carl

Heh, I think my waistline would beg to differ. But I appreciate the sentiment. ;)

9 hours ago, tripled79 said:

Ah. 1999 JagFest. I would have been 20 that summer. Wish I had attended. I guess I figured there would always be next year. Minnesota wasn't too far from Manitoba too.

I suppose a JagFest 2020 is out of question these days...

Yeah, unfortunately not a good year to think about a reunion event. Maybe next year? Would people be crazy enough to come back to MN again? I'd be happy to have my full Lynx and Jaguar collection on display, show off a few hidden gems, and talk about what it's been like working with former Jag developers, the process of making new games, etc. You know, boring stuff unless you're a serious retro-nut like me. :D 

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9 hours ago, sirlynxalot said:

Is "Battlemorph the soundtrack" at 5:12 an official item or a fan made item?  Never heard of it before.

 

Fun to see the setup here, so much atari stuff in such good condition!  Who was to know it would all be worth 10x the value 20 years later.

It must have been a fan made item. However now that Songbird owns the rights to Battlemorph, it's something I could produce if people are interested. Let me know!

 

As for the value of stuff, yeah, back in the early 2000s I was selling new, boxed Jaguar units for $99 then eventually $129 I think before I sold out... even had a few brand new CD units that went for only $150! If only I would have bought out all those cheap consoles at KB Toys... :)

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1 hour ago, Songbird said:

What?!?  Any plans for a Battlemorph re-release then?  It's one of the games I've resorted to playing via a "backup" CD, but if there was a fresh run, perhaps a collector's edition with the soundtrack bundled in, I'd be happy to pick up a copy for the price it's going on eBay (~$80-100 from what I can tell).

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Battlemorph soundtrack sounds great, please keep me posted on that Songbird.  Cybermorph has become one of my regular games I play on the Jaguar.

 

So 1999, as I might have mentioned, was when I found the Jaguar and bought two Jaguars (for a friend and I) for $30 a piece at Kaybee Toys.   They could be found in pawn shops for discount prices since no one was buying them. 

 

I joined an Atari ST user group in Dallas that was still around (up till 2000).  :P   They had cool things to say about the Jaguar so getting back into Atari stuff (was an Atari user up to like 1991, then college, getting married, etc for about a decade).   So strange that only six years after release the Jaguar would be considered a "has been" console, but you all know how it is.  A few years past it's prime and you almost can't give stuff away.  And the prime for the Jaguar was about ... 1994-1995?

 

Battlesphere was still on it's way.  There was a feeling that the Jaguar still had a lot of untapped potential, and with games like Doom, Rayman, Tempest 2000, and Alien vs. Predator, there was still a lot of excitement for the Jag.

 

I guess what struck me as cool was "Go Atari" was still around selling Jaguar merchandise.  Got a Jaguar hat from them, they had hats, coats, all kinds of great stuff.  I asked the lady on the phone how things were going with Jaguar stuff selling in 1999.  She said "It is steady".  :P

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Yes, I do plan to do more with Battlemorph. I'll definitely keep the audio CD as an option too.

 

There were lots of fun Atari-only retailers to buy from back in the late 1990s / early 2000s... Go Atari, Run PC, one from Canada which I'm forgetting, and someone else in the USA I'm forgetting but mainly carried just Lynx games. 

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A BattleMorph re-release with an audio CD whether the game was on Cart or Jag CD would be a great idea as the original games seem to be hard to find... Maybe throw a "where did you learn to fly" remix in there. Or is that Cybermorph territory? Ha!

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