Was not releasing with CD at launch the biggest mistake Atari made with the Jaguar?

[rayik]

2 hours ago, cubanismo said:

My summary of this thread: If the Jaguar launched as the JagDuo, it would have cost some under debate amount of money more, and may or may not have saved the console. About 4 or 5 people here care a lot. Like, a lot a lot.

I think at this point the OP is keeping it going to have lots of posts and page views.  Exchange of ideas died a long time ago.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

[phoenixdownita]

I think, I think we do have some example of CD based systems and launch prices:

 

Tandy VIS 1992-Dec 699US$

Amiga CD32 1993-Sep-14 399US$ (to be fair quite close but cheaper than the price of an A1200)

FM Towns Marty 1993-Feb-20 699US$

Sega CDX 1994-Apr 399US$

NEX PC-FX 1994-Dec-23 499US$

NeoGeo CD 1994-?? 599US$

Not sure but if even the old tech in the 1994 Sega CDX still amounts to a sale price of 399US$, I am afraid a Jag+CD combo is hard to imagine that it would have ended up being priced even just 300US$, maybe 329US$/349US$ not sure ... the actual JagCD ended up at 149US$ when it launched in 1995-Oct (so after all the discounts/price-reductions etc...) it is my opinion it would have added at least half of that (75US$) to the Jag launch 2 years earlier.

 

 

Again this is no longer a discussion on opinions but now we have links to tell everyone that in 1993 2x CD reader could be had for pennies!?!

 

According to this article (Nov. 23, 1993) :
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/23/science/personal-computers-faster-and-faster-more-data-on-cd-rom.html

"NEC offers three models of its Multi Spin 3X drives: an internal version (about $500) that can be installed in a vacant half-height drive bay; an external version (about $600) that sits on the desktop, and a personal version (about $450) that comes with a battery pack for use with or without a computer attached.

Each of the drives requires a separate connection kit, which costs $35 for Apple Macintosh computers, $125 for standard I.B.M.-style PC's, and $150 for a version that connects to a PS/2 Micro Channel computer.

These so-called 3X drives cost about twice as much as current 2X drives while offering a one-third increase in performance, a price-performance ratio that will initially confine their appeal to people who spend most of their time working on CD-ROM applications, or to the notorious "early adopters" who want to be the first on their block to have a new gadget."

 

So NEC in Nov 1993 was charging about 200US$ for their 2x ... this guy also did some historical research:
http://www.oldschooldaw.com/forums/index.php?topic=5028.0

 

Here:
https://www.cnet.com/news/cd-rom-prices-plummeting/

in 1998:
"Also, reports coming out of Taiwan say that country's CD-ROM drive makers are pricing their drives in Asia at about $54, while the production cost is about $40, according to a report in Nikkei Business Publications, citing a report in the Commercial Times of Taiwan."

The above in 1998 are for sure not 2x (16x likely) but the point stands, in 1992/1993 I'd be surprised if a 2x would be so cheap that it would be no-brainer to add it and keep the price they wanted. 

 

 

[sd32]

37 minutes ago, phoenixdownita said:

I think, I think we do have some example of CD based systems and launch prices:

 

Tandy VIS 1992-Dec 699US$

Amiga CD32 1993-Sep-14 399US$ (to be fair quite close but cheaper than the price of an A1200)

FM Towns Marty 1993-Feb-20 699US$

Sega CDX 1994-Apr 399US$

NEX PC-FX 1994-Dec-23 499US$

NeoGeo CD 1994-?? 599US$

 

 

There was also the Turbo Duo selling at 300 in 1993, being much older tech than the Jag... there is no way a CD based Jag would have costed less than 400 for a late 93 launch... if all the other companies couldn’t pull it off, then much less could freaking Atari.

[saboteur]

4 hours ago, rayik said:

I think at this point the OP is keeping it going to have lots of posts and page views.  Exchange of ideas died a long time ago.

 

 

I think we've been exchanging ideas with your men all morning

[Spider-Dan]

I don't understand how one could possibly argue that a CD addon that sold for $150 in 1995 somehow would have been cheaper than that to integrate into the system 2 years earlier.  Whatever arguments you're making about CD drive prices clearly weren't viable for Atari in 1995, and would have been less so in 1993; if you're saying that was (partially) due to poor management, it's the same management.

 

A JagDuo in 1993 would have been a $400 system, minimum.

[Leeroy ST]

No point in ignoring that Consumers already had access to sub $100 CD drives as early as 1994. Even for other CD electronics you could get sub $90 bundled with extras so the individual device is likely $50-70 with those taken off.

 

If those above prices were in 94 FOR CONSUMERS why would a company buying in bulk with connections pay a premium per unit even consumers didn't have? The company would and SHOULD have access to a lower price.

 

Yet some keep acting like Atari's $149 2x CD addon price in 1995 was the cheapest it could get, yet CONSUMERS HAD ACCESS TO CHEAPER PRICES THAN THAT. That's the part people are skipping over. Many 2x drives were in bins at that point (95) which was starting to occur around a year earlier (late 94). A 4x drive could be gotten cheaper or at similar price for CONSUMERS. Why is a company, Atari, exclusively getting this premium?

 

10 hours ago, phoenixdownita said:

The actual JagCD ended up at 149US$ when it launched in 1995-Oct (so after all the discounts/price-reductions etc...) it is my opinion it would have added at least half of that (75US$) to the Jag launch 2 years earlier.

But your opinion is based on ignoring information showing consumers were buying drives across various electronic devices in 1995 at sub $100 prices, in several cases by a good margin. Some devices this started in 94, both linked in the previous post.

 

There's clearly another reason or reasons the 2x JagCD launched at $149 and it is unlikely just because of the CD drive unless Atari got an exclusive premium even several consumer drives did not have or even several other electronic manufacturers. A 2x drive with poor build quality too. You could get quality built and faster drives for less. A corporation buying in bulk should get an even more significant discount than a consumer buying an individual unit. Period.

 

10 hours ago, phoenixdownita said:

These so-called 3X drives cost about twice as much as current 2X drives while offering a one-third increase in performance, a price-performance ratio that will initially confine their appeal to people who spend most of their time working on CD-ROM applications, or to the notorious "early adopters" who want to be the first on their block to have a new gadget."

Which proves my point. Consumers had access to 2x drives $200 from 92. You posted an article about multispin 3x drives in 1993. The Jag doesn't use a multispin 3x drive. Those also were overshadowed by 4x drives anyway, and sometimes costed more because they were harder to find. Your best bet for getting a decent priced 3x drive would have been mail order unless you were lucky, because 4x drives became the standard. Also linked previously.

 

Quote

So NEC in Nov 1993 was charging about 200US$ for their 2x ... 

Neither the link before or next to this statement shows a $200 NEC 2x drive in 93 I can find.

 

But even if they "did" whatever features or customizations NEC added, or even if they jacked the price for profit, doesn't invalidate this link:

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-11-15-9204130334-story.html

 

Which shows consumers having access to $200 drives in 92. But in either year a company buying units in bulk in a deal should get individual units cheaper either way. 

 

6 hours ago, Spider-Dan said:

I don't understand how one could possibly argue that a CD addon that sold for $150 in 1995 somehow would have been cheaper than that to integrate into the system 2 years earlier.  

Because almost every other device in 1995 had a cheaper drive.

 

It's interesting how the obvious well known partnership and judgement problems involved with the Jaguar suddenly stop being obvious for the JagCD. If consumers are having similar or better access to prices as a corporation buying in bulk, something is clearly wrong other than the disc drive.

 

9 hours ago, sd32 said:

There was also the Turbo Duo selling at 300 in 1993, 

The Turbo Duo was launched in Japan in, 1991 with little change for the US release which was 92, so your off. The changes in software, custom form factor, and additional ram didn't help either. 

 

They revised the system in 93 getting them around a $200 price drop. There's a large difference between 91-93 in CD drive prices.

 

The revision didn't make it to the US gaming market, but NEC had already been irrelevant for years there by the time the Duo launched, failing to breakthrough and succeed. It likely made more sense to make as much money as possible off a niche group of buyers than burn more money in a market they couldn't budge in. This is why context is important.

 

10 hours ago, phoenixdownita said:

 

in 1998:
"Also, reports coming out of Taiwan say that country's CD-ROM drive makers are pricing their drives in Asia at about $54, while the production cost is about $40, according to a report in Nikkei Business Publications, citing a report in the Commercial Times of Taiwan."

The above in 1998 are for sure not 2x (16x likely) but the point stands, in 1992/1993 I'd be surprised if a 2x would be so cheap that it would be no-brainer to add it and keep the price they wanted. 

 

Why are you bringing up 16x drives from 98? Yes, I would expect 16x drives 4 YEARS later to be in that price range, just like how 4x drives were those prices 4 years earlier with 6x drives on their tails. 2x drives were EVEN CHEAPER than that.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Leeroy ST

[Bill Loguidice]

5 hours ago, Spider-Dan said:

I don't understand how one could possibly argue that a CD addon that sold for $150 in 1995 somehow would have been cheaper than that to integrate into the system 2 years earlier.  Whatever arguments you're making about CD drive prices clearly weren't viable for Atari in 1995, and would have been less so in 1993; if you're saying that was (partially) due to poor management, it's the same management.

 

A JagDuo in 1993 would have been a $400 system, minimum.

Since speculation is easy, let's assume that Atari released a unified (i.e., single unit, not a console with an add-on in the same box) JagDuo at $399 instead of a Jaguar at $249. I'd argue it's reasonable to think they could do - at least in theory - a unibody design with a 2X CD-ROM drive for $150 more than the console-only launch price. It would still be a cartridge-based system with an add-on like the original design, but transparent to the end user.

Top of my head, some advantages:

• Atari would have the first console released designed to take both cartridges and CDs from day 1 (another unique selling proposition)
• They could release cartridges for games that needed the benefits of that format and/or were guaranteed to be big sellers
• They could release FMV-heavy games and other content like the competition and also make smaller runs of games that were not necessarily thought to be big sellers (i.e., more games available even with a small user base)
• The higher price *might* indicate a more premium product and *might* also sell the 64-bit marketing better
• Still cheaper than the 3DO at launch by $300, so still the least expensive next gen console
• (nothing else quickly comes to mind)

Disadvantages:

• More expensive
• The overlapping formats might be confusing to *some* consumers
• (nothing else quickly comes to mind other than maybe reliability issues)

Considering we know that the Jaguar sold in historically low numbers for a mainstream console, would it have REALLY sold worse than it already did, especially with some of the other advantages mentioned above? Probably not, and I think it's easy to assume it would have sold at least a little better (and we'd instead be arguing "should Jaguar have been a cartridge- or CD-based console ONLY" today). None of that of course would have changed all of the other well-known issues Atari had at the time and ultimately even with more sales the end result would have been the same, even if it the end was possibly delayed by a few more months and with at least a dozen more titles in the original library thanks to the availability of the CD option from day 1. 

[Leeroy ST]

As linked before, in 1994 and 1995 CONSUMERS had access to sub-$100 disc drives. Around even or marginally more than that in 93, meaning a company buying in bulk in 1993 should have had a major sub $100 discount per unit. So this would of course apply to 92 as well (but cost slightly more). 

 

Almost every relevant electronic device or player was dirt cheap or modestly cheap on the lower-mid consumer end in 94-95. Several of these products were designed 1-2 years ahead.

 

The only device that didn't have as low prices on the affordable consumer end were other game consoles and specialized electronic devices who's costs involved more than the disc drive.

 

Example, the Saturn was created to be able to handle ports from arcade hardware, with costly parts. Later on Sega would make the price jump higher due to reactive last minute adjustments.

 

The CD32 was launched from C= standing in a grave needing a last second turn around to stay alive, and I mean literally last second. It was based on a still somewhat expensive computer with custom chips that also were costly. They also needed to stay alive. 

 

The PCFX was mismanaged, and even though they dropped the marketed 3D chipset it still launched with expensive internals. They likely would want to make back some of the dev costs too. 

 

Even the cheapest CDI player was $199 in 95, I know this because I brought one and it was basically all but dead the year after, and a CDI drive is more costly than a regular CD drive. In addition, those players have a lot more to them than a drive, with a pile of hardware and software features, and Philips generally sold them at cost, taking those unprecedented losses.

 

But even then, outside of those exceptions almost every other electronic device was sub-$100 on the affordable consumer end, unless you brought a feature rich premium drive, a high priced brand, or it was bundled with hardware or software of higher cost. Like a computer or productivity software.

 

Atari should have been able to produce CD drives at low prices 1-2 years earlier like the others if the drive was built in. And the JagCD addon we ended up getting should not have been $149 in 1995. Period.

 

Especially with it's 2x drive and poor build quality. Which cost similar or more than better made 4x drives? Huh?

 

( And no it wouldn't make the JAG $400-500. Also $300 from the user below would be in range of "possible marginal bump" which is what I've been arguing so I guess he agrees in part.)

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by Leeroy ST

[agradeneu]

 

I remember CD drives to be very pricey in 1993. (Like any new PC hardware)

 

In this example from the UK, CD Rom drives were sold for around 400-600 pounds.

 

http://www.sunnyside.homelinux.org/subpages/old_PC_prices/old_pc_prices_february_1993.html

 

 

The Jaguar was designed as a pure games console, and Atari probably thought consumers are not willing to spend more than 300 dollars for a system just to play games.

 

That is why the Playstation for 299 was such a shocker, Atari even wanted to sue them for price dumping,  but in 1995!

 

That means Atari was very unlikely ready to produce a CD based console in 1993 for a 300-400 price range. I mean this assumption is absoltely far fetched, even in hindsight.

 

 

If Atari was not able to sell a cheap cart based system in reasonable numbers, most likely they would have done even worse with a more pricey system.

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by agradeneu

[Bill Loguidice]

Maybe, but you don't usually create a console around what you can afford around the time you're designing, but what you expect pricing to be at time of release. Otherwise, you'd always be pretty out of date at launch and/or not making the best long-term decisions. 

 

I also think it's important to keep in mind that the CD add-on as envisioned and released by Atari was a pretty simple device. Basically just a drive with no extra technology in it. Again, keeping it hypothetical here, nothing would have to change in the Jaguar design in any way in theory. It would just be a single unit instead of the CD squatting on top of the console with a pass-through cartridge port. And again, that would keep it a cartridge-first device, but give it the flexibility to use CD content when it made sense and/or there was a need to showcase FMV content.

 

Of course, that's the last I'll comment on it because it obviously didn't happen and making the Jaguar cooler wouldn't have resulted in enough sales to have made enough of a difference. It was many factors away from being a realistic contender.

[Leeroy ST]

26 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

• None of that of course would have changed all of the other well-known issues Atari had at the time 

 

31 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

• Still cheaper than the 3DO at launch by $300, so still the least expensive next gen console

The reason why the disc drive price is important, is because by the time Jag was fully available in 1994 the 3DO would be the same price ($400) and Atari gaining that off a drive alone doesn't make much sense when drives could be gotten at reasonable prices by other consumer electronic companies.

 

It's not like Atari was aiming for the high-end with the JagCD addon for example, and Jag did not have the same baggage inflating it's price like 3DO, there were no aggressive loss leading price cuts yet for it yet either. The price dropped due to primarily, more models releasing.

 

But back to Jag, yes, in this case you're talking about a hybrid design instead of a CD only console but that jump still seems a bit steep. 

 

Side note: I dont think the 64-bit marketing could ever pass (consumers minds) with Need for Speed launching the same year. An earlier 3DO release. Atari never had a counter for that and the next set of consoles made it worse. They needed a strong third party 3D game and they didn't have it on a similar scale as NFS. As good as AVP is to many Jaguar fans, it's not all that impressive technically or in play in comparison to games on competing consoles.

 

Anyway a lot of your points otherwise are interesting. Especially your first two. Switching formats on demand may be mixed with consumers but may be an incentive for devs of varying goals and sizes.

 

 

[+Stephen]

Let's ignore the price of the CD completely.  The point is, the CD as hardware crippled the Jaguar.  As released, it cannot stream redbook audio, so we don't get better music for free.  As released, it limits the RAM.  If the argument was release it as a CD and cart system, this isn't a factor but it would be rather strange to have a console that used two different media from release.

[toiletunes]

Has anyone mentioned cd drive prices yet? I think maybe that's been overlooked. How much was, let's say, a consumer 2x cd drive in 1994, does anyone know?

[Leeroy ST]

3 minutes ago, toiletunes said:

Has anyone mentioned cd drive prices yet? I think maybe that's been overlooked. How much was, let's say, a consumer 2x cd drive in 1994, does anyone know?

Hmm, seems it was indeed.

 

Seems consumers had some access to sub $100 drives in some cases in 94. But many of those were the rising 4x standard. Some 2x drives were even cheaper. Especially later in the year, 4x was hot in the market.

 

 

[+GoldLeader]

25 minutes ago, toiletunes said:

Has anyone mentioned cd drive prices yet? I think maybe that's been overlooked. How much was, let's say, a consumer 2x cd drive in 1994, does anyone know?

 

I  don't know but was Atari's Biggest mistake the one of Not Launching with a CD?  That's what I'd like to know.

[Reaperman]

I think there's so much 'stereotypical Jaguar forum' in this thread that even the Jaguar forum is pushing back.

This is roughly how I assume every thread in here still goes, but apparently that hasn't been the case for some time. 

 

At least I'm having a good read, and have been slightly tempted to dust off the jag. For sure 'dust it off' with a rag, but maybe also even turn it on! I think one of its power supplies is running my turbografx...

 

All the 'alternate history' early-90's Atari moves I can think of probably would have been even bigger missteps than what happened with jag. Consolized lynx, consolized ST ("XEGS2"), etc. Really Atari didn't play their jaguar hand too poorly--it was only two-pair to start with, but they again became a household name with it. Not too shabby. Even when I think about how much I disliked their insulting marketing campaign--well, that's what got people talking more than anything. Maybe 64 really is a higher number than some of the numbers lower than 64...

Edited August 16, 2021 by Reaperman

[Seedy1812]

Reading Leeroy's post earlier Link he did not work for Atari or Imagitec but for a support team we knew nothing about. So I guess Leeroy was related to Accolade.
 

We were told the logic behind Bubsy was the same as the previous game so we kept the same animation and game logic but started the graphics so straight away we had an artist touch up the frames.

I got the maps working  (drawing )  with  basic block graphics and had Bubsy running about the first level. I came back from Christmas and was told we were not doing a port but make something original and we had to come up with the idea.

At the same time the Raiden map editor was updated to make a bubsy map editor.

Halfway through making the game  Atari came up with the ide of using a nerfgun - we said no as we had made 3 of the 5 worlds ( each with 3 levels ) and time would be against us to go back and redesign them. I do not remember being asked for bonus levels -  again we would not have had time to a write 3d engine . We did add a simple one for I-War ( going down a tunnel collecting things  - the idea of the tunnel was sort of stardust + tempest ). The voices at the beginning of the levels I asked if we could have some new ones and that was turned down ( money ), we had to use what we had.
 

At the start of the game I only received a set of disc with source code for snes and genesis  and some artwork. There was no documentation explaining what Bubsy was about . As there was not a cart we did not even have access to the games manual. So we had to work with what we had received.

 

  

Edited August 16, 2021 by Seedy1812

[phoenixdownita]

3 hours ago, Leeroy ST said:

...

Why are you bringing up 16x drives from 98? Yes, I would expect 16x drives 4 YEARS later to be in that price range, just like how 4x drives were those prices 4 years earlier with 6x drives on their tails. 2x drives were EVEN CHEAPER than that.

 

Because in 1998 the price to cost was only 30%:
"Also, reports coming out of Taiwan say that country's CD-ROM drive makers are pricing their drives in Asia at about $54, while the production cost is about $40, according to a report in Nikkei Business Publications, citing a report in the Commercial Times of Taiwan."

 

So in 1998 at the high of the craze where everything was dirt cheap, making a CD-ROM reader was 40US$ and they were selling it for 54US$ .... I have to believe that in 1993 a 2x was likely in that ballpark wrt manufacturing cost maybe 50US$ but it was NOT a 1US$ deal. It would have pushed the Jag to >300US$. 
Atari likely already struggled with the 249US$, if they could they would have launched at 199US$.

[Leeroy ST]

9 minutes ago, phoenixdownita said:

Because in 1998 the price to cost was only 30%:
""lso, reports coming out of Taiwan say that country's CD-ROM drive makers are pricing their drives in Asia at about $54, while the production cost is about $40, according to a report in Nikkei Business Publications, citing a report in the Commercial Times of Taiwan."

 

So in 1998 at the high of the craze where everything was dirt cheap, making a CD-ROM reader was 40US$ and they were selling it for 54US$ .... I have to believe that in 1993 a 2x was likely in that ballpark wrt manufacturing cost maybe 50US$ but it was NOT a 1US$ deal. It would have pushed the Jag to >300US$. 
Atari likely already struggled with the 249US$, if they could they would have launched at 199US$.

In 1993 2x drives were quickly being phased out by 4x drives, and they were NOT just the same drives with 4x speed either, the tech was newer and the features were better. In many cases so was the build quality

 

Dont forget also, you could get drives and CD electronics for sub $100 in 1994. That was in July, so it wouldn't have been that much more in July 1993. Assuming we are looking at $50-70 depending on device or drive in 1994, how much would the consumer pay a year earlier? Just $80-120 (makes sense since you saw $200> in 92-93)? 

 

You also have to consider these drives whether individual or in hardware, or CD electronics, all would have had been planned, designed, developed, etc, 6 months to 2 years ahead of time. Which is exactly when the JagCD would have started the first stages of production......

..

 

IF Atari actually had anything going on with the JagCD in 93 when they announced it. They announced it at the same time as the Jag before launch, not ready in 94, and released LATE 1995 close to the holiday months.

 

I think it's probable Atari just had something thrown together, while paying the bare minimum for development, which would explain why it was basic, with poor reliability and frequent malfunctions, then tried to snatch some extra cash on top.

 

 

 

[phoenixdownita]

12 minutes ago, Leeroy ST said:

In 1993 2x drives were quickly being phased out by 4x drives, and they were NOT just the same drives with 4x speed either, the tech was newer and the features were better. In many cases so was the build quality ...

 

In Byte Nov 1993 edition there's a CDW advert:

 

I cannot find anything in there <200US$, the Sony CDU31A is a 2x IDE unit but it appears it's 238US$ ... granted it's a Sony, so maybe you can find something "much" cheaper.

Here is the link to the actual magazine:

https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1993-11/page/n385/mode/2up

 

 

then again this (a Sony CDU31A $189 still not cheap):

a few pages later:
https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1993-11/page/n411/mode/2up

 

And one advertising cheap multi media (at 200US$ and it appears a 1x [150/175 KB/sec]) :

 

page link:
https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1993-11/page/n421/mode/2up

[agradeneu]

15 minutes ago, phoenixdownita said:

 

In Byte Nov 1993 edition there's a CDW advert:

 

I cannot find anything in there <200US$, the Sony CDU31A is a 2x IDE unit but it appears it's 238US$ ... granted it's a Sony, so maybe you can find something "much" cheaper.

Here is the link to the actual magazine:

https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1993-11/page/n385/mode/2up

 

 

then again this (a Sony CDU31A $189 still not cheap):

a few pages later:
https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1993-11/page/n411/mode/2up

 

And one advertising cheap multi media (at 200US$ and it appears a 1x [150/175 KB/sec]) :

 

page link:
https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1993-11/page/n421/mode/2up

 

No doubt, 100$ for a CD ROM drive in 1993 is pure fantasy.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bill Loguidice]

The 1X Sega CD, with additional hardware/smarts, was $299 in the US at launch in late 1992. There's no reason to think that Atari couldn't produce an integrated "dumb" drive for release one year later other than Atari not being able to come out with their actual CD drive add-on until September 1995.

 

I guess to put things further into perspective, the Sega CD by itself outsold the Jaguar console's lifetime sales (including liquidation) in less than six months, and that was not exactly considered a smashing success. Of course, the Sega CD itself also had over 200 releases (across Genesis and 32X), while the Jaguar and Jaguar CD combined had just over 60. So again, it's probably unfair to treat the Atari of this era as contenders in any way for anything, even with these "what if?" scenarios. The "what if?" probably has to go back quite a bit further.

[phoenixdownita]

OK Byte Jun 1994 seems to have proof of 2x drives at 179US$/189US$:

 

and

 

 

 

pages:
https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1994-06_OCR/page/n371/mode/2up

even CDW had some:

 

 

[phoenixdownita]

28 minutes ago, Bill Loguidice said:

The 1X Sega CD, with additional hardware/smarts, was $299 in the US at launch in late 1992. There's no reason to think that Atari couldn't produce an integrated "dumb" drive for release one year later other than Atari not being able to come out with their actual CD drive add-on until September 1995.

 

I guess to put things further into perspective, the Sega CD by itself outsold the Jaguar console's lifetime sales (including liquidation) in less than six months, and that was not exactly considered a smashing success. Of course, the Sega CD itself also had over 200 releases (across Genesis and 32X), while the Jaguar and Jaguar CD combined had just over 60. So again, it's probably unfair to treat the Atari of this era as contenders in any way for anything, even with these "what if?" scenarios. The "what if?" probably has to go back quite a bit further.

and yet Sega couldn't launch the CDX for <399US$ in Apr 1994, and even the Sega CD2 in late 1993 was 229US$ ... 

In this case I just don't think Atari could have pulled a Jag+CD combo at <300US$ or imho hardly at 349US$ to launch in Nov 1993.
And yes it is just my opinion!