Here's a press release regarding developers for the Jaguar system.  As
the article indicates, additional developers will be releasing statements
of support in the coming weeks.


SUNNYVALE, CALIF. (SEPT. 24) BUSINESS WIRE - Atari Corp. (AMEX:ATC) Friday
announced its initial list of developers for the Atari Jaguar 64-bit Inter-
active Multimedia system.
   Since July, 20 developers have signed license agreements to publish game
titles for Jaguar.  Additional high-profile developers and publishers are
expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
   "Developer response to Jaguar has been overwhelming -- we've accomplished
what we set out to do by attracting the industry's top developers,"  said Sam
Tramiel, president of Atari.  "The tremendous power of Jaguar removes the
programming barriers that exist on all other gaming platforms, allowing
developers to focus their energy and imagination on creating truly revolution-
ary video games.  The technological prowess of our developers coupled with
Atari's aggressive marketing and comprehensive developer support program will
create a new industry standard for multimedia performance."

  The developer list includes:

  Anco Software Ltd.          Maxis Software          Telegames

  Beyond Games Inc.           Microids                Tiertex Ltd.

  Dimension Technologies      Midnight Software Inc.  Titus Eurosoft

  Ocean Software Ltd.         Tradewest               High Voltage Software

  Rebellion Software          Trimark Interactive     Krisalis Software Ltd.

  Retour 2048                 U.S. Gold Ltd.          Loriciel S.A.

  Silmarils


  The strength of the Jaguar platform has attracted the industry's premier
developers, allowing them to immediately begin programming the industry's first
64-bit video games.  Comments include:

  "We're excited about the reality of an advanced video game system retailing
for approximately $200 and delivering technology comparable or superior to
announced systems costing over three times as much. Atari pioneered the video
game industry -- it's good to see them at the forefront of innovation once
again."  -- Kelly Flock, executive vice president of Trimark Interactive
  
  "Kids, don't waste your Christmas money on something else, this Cat is the
new king of the video game jungle."  -- Terry Grantham, president of Telegames
Inc.  (Telegames will release "Ultimate Brain Games"  and "European Soccer
Challenge"  for Jaguar in the spring and summer of 1994.
  
  "The 64-bit power of the Atari Jaguar allows us to move light years beyond
today's game standards."  -- Kris N. Johnson, president of Beyond Games Inc.
(Beyond will release "Battlewheels" for Jaguar in the second quarter of 1994)

   The power of the Jaguar development environment allows  programmers to:

   -- Create the industry's first 64-bit video games
   -- Deliver unprecedented true-color graphics, stereo CD-quality sound and
      animation speed
   -- Enjoy unsurpassed ease in creating real-time 3-D virtual  worlds
   -- Unleash programming creativity previously hampered by the restrictions
   of all other gaming platforms

   Atari Corp. manufactures and markets video games and personal computers
for the home, office, and educational marketplaces.  The Sunnyvale-based
company manufactures Jaguar products in the United States and is publicly
traded on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol ATC.

              _    _  ____  _   _    _ ____
 |||   Atari | |  / |/ ___\| | | |  / |  _ \    Frequently Asked Questions
 |||         | | /  | |  __| | | | /  | |_| |
/ | \     /| | |/ / | | |_ | | | |/ / |  _ <
         | |_| / _  | |__| | |_| / _  | | \\\
          \___/_/ |_|\____/ \___/_/ |_|_|  \\\
                                            \\\
  Created by Robert Jung (rjung@netcom.com), because no one else wanted to.
      Dedicated to ASTEROIDS, for getting me hooked in the first place

Last update: 9/29/1993

==============================================================================

This file is not maintained by, overseen by, endorsed, or otherwise associated
with Atari Corp. or any of its subsidiaries. It's just a collection of
questions and answers, with a few news tidbits thrown in.

This file is posted on a monthly basis, usually around the first of the month.
It is maintained by Robert Jung at rjung@netcom.com on the Internet. Send
corrections, news, updates, comments, questions, or other stuff to that
address. All mail is welcome!

Updates since the last publically posted FAQ have a vertical bar in the first
column.

==============================================================================

Q. What is the Atari Jaguar?

A. The world's first 64-bit home console video game system. Developed after
   three years of research, manufactured by IBM, the Jaguar offers high-speed
   action, spectacular graphic effects, and CD-quality sound for $200.

==============================================================================

Q. How does IBM fit into this?

A. IBM has a $500 million contract with Atari Corp. to assemble, test,
   package, and distribute Jaguar units. Manufacturing is done at IBM's
   Charlotte, NC facility, and the Jaguar is IBM's first attempt at production
   for an outside vendor.

   IBM has no known participation in the design of the Jaguar. IBM has no
   plans to create games for the Jaguar.

===========================================================================

Q. Okay, who did designed the Jaguar?

A. Details are murky. Atari claims that the Jaguar took over three years to
   develop, and was released because work was progressing faster than
   expected. Seeing an opportunity to leapfrog the new systems from Nintendo
   and Sega, they decided to bring the machine to light.

|  The Jaguar chipset is reportedly co-developed by Flare, a British company
|  with ties to Atari, according to Jez San of Argonaut Software. The
   proprietary chips are believed to be manufactured by Motorola.

==============================================================================

Q. What are the specifications of the Jaguar?

A. Physical dimensions:

       Size: ?" x ?" x ?"
|  Controls: Power on/off
    Display: Resolution 720 x 526 pixels
             32-bit "True Color" display with 16,777,216 colors on-screen
               simultaneously
      Ports: Cartridge slot
             ComLynx connection
             High-speed synchronous serial port
             Video outputs -- S-Video, RF, Composite, RGB
               (supports NTSC and PAL)
             Two controller ports
             32-bit expansion port
             Digital Signal Processor port
Controllers: Eight-directional joypad
             Three fire buttons (A, B, C)
             Pause and Option buttons
             12-key keypad (accepts game-specific overlays)

  The Jaguar has five processors, which are contained in three chips. Two of
  the chips are proprietary designs, nicknamed "Tom" and "Jerry". The third
| chip is a standard Motorola 68000 used as a coprocessor. Tom and Jerry are
| built using an 0.5 micron silicon process.

  - "Tom"
|   - 750,000 transistors, 208 pins
    - Graphics Processing Unit (processor #1)
      - 64-bit RISC architecture
      - Rated at 26.6 MIPS (million instructions per second)
      - 4K bytes of zero wait-state internal SRAM
      - Performs a wide range of high-speed graphic effects
      - Programmable
    - Object processor (processor #2)
      - 64-bit RISC architecture
      - Programmable processor that can act as a variety of different video
        architectures, such as a sprite engine, a pixel-mapped display, a
        character-mapped system, and others.
    - Blitter (processor #3)
|     - 64 bits
      - Performs high-speed logical operations
      - Hardware support for Z-buffering and Goudraud shading
    - DRAM memory controller

  - "Jerry"
|   - 600,000 transistors, 144 pins
    - Digital Signal Processor (processor #4)
|     - 32 bits
      - Rated at 26.6 MIPS (million instructions per second)
      - 8K bytes of zero wait-state internal SRAM
      - CD-quality sound
      - Full stereo capabilities
|     - Wavetable synthesis, FM synthesis, FM Sample synthesis, and AM
|       synthesis
    - A clock control block, incorporating timers, and a UART
    - Joystick control

  - Motorola 68000 (processor #5)
    - Rated at 13.3MHz
    - General purpose control processor
    - Accesses the DRAM, cartridge port, and optional CD-ROM drive

   Communication is performed with a high speed 64-bit data bus, rated at
   106.4 megabytes/second. The 68000 is only able to access the lowest 16
   bits of this bus.

   The Jaguar contains two megabytes (16 megabits) of fast page-mode DRAM.
   Game cartridges can support up to six megabytes (48 megabits) of
   uncompressed or compressed information. Compressed data can be uncompressed
   in real-time, and can be equivalent to almost 50 megabytes (400 megabits).
   Compression is performed with JagPEG, an enhanced JPEG image decompression
   mechanism.

   Other Jaguar features:
   - Support for ComLynx I/O for communications with the Atari Lynx hand-held
     game system and networked multiconsole games
   - The two controller ports can be expanded to support "dozens" of
     controllers
     - Digital and analog interfaces
     - Keyboards, mice, and light guns are possible
   - Expansion port allows connection to cable TV and other networks
   - Digital Signal Processor port allows connection to modems and digital
     audio peripherals (such as DAT players)

==============================================================================

Q. Is the Jaguar really a 64-bit system?

A. Atari's position is that the Jaguar uses a 64-bit distributed RISC
   architecture, a 64-bit data bus, and a 64-bit graphics RISC processor as
   the primary CPU (central processing unit). The 16-bit Motorola 68000
   serves as a subordinate coprocessor, and can only access the lowest 16
   bits of the bus. The situation has been described as similar to the 16-bit
   ISA bus present in 32-bit personal computers.

===========================================================================

Q. How can a graphics processor be the CPU?

A. The 64 bit custom graphics chip is a good general purpose RISC unit, but
   it has been optimized for graphics work.

===========================================================================

Q. What kind of special effects can the Jaguar do?

A. The Jaguar is capable of doing the following visual effects:

   - High-speed scrolling
   - Texture mapping on two- and three-dimensional objects
   - Morphing one object into another object
   - Scaling, rotation, distortion, and skewing of sprites and images
   - Lighting and shading from single and multiple light sources
   - Transparency
|  - "Rendering" up to 850 million one-bit pixels/second (35 million 24-bit
|      pixels/second, 26 million 32-bit pixels/second), or 50 million Goroud
       shaded pixels/second. "Rendering" is believed to mean transferring a
       pixel from a frame buffer to the screen.

===========================================================================

Q. How come the Jaguar claims to have "32-bit" graphics, when 16 million
   colors only need 24 bits for rendering?

A. It is widely believed that the additional 8-bits is used for Z-buffering
   and/or an alpha channel, to allow the Jaguar to perform some of its
   special effects.

===========================================================================

Q. Okay, get to the meat -- which is better, the Jaguar or the 3DO?

A. Ye Gods, the eternal question. The popular consensus is that the biggest
   strength of the Jaguar is that it deliveres performance comparable to the
   3DO for a lower price ($200 Jaguar vs. $500-$700 3DO units). The same
   consensus say the biggest strength of the 3DO is the corporate strength
   behind it: over 300 developers, a consortium of multibillion dollar
   companies, more reliable advertising and promotion, etc. Whether or not
   this makes the games or the machines any better is (hotly) debatable.

|  Best bet, as always, is to try the two machines, see what games you like,
|  which system offers them, then decide.

==============================================================================

Q. What's the information on the CD-ROM drive?

A. A double-speed CD-ROM drive has been announced for release in 1994, with
   an estimated price of $200. It is reported that the CD-ROM drive is
   capable of transferring data continuously at 350K per second, or run at
   normal audio rates of 175K per second. Storage on a disc is expected to be
|  around 700 megabytes (5,600 megabits). The CD-ROM drive plugs into the
|  Jaguar's cartridge slot on top of the machine, and offers a cartridge
|  slot to permit playing cartridge or CD games.

   The Jaguar CD-ROM drive allows delivery of full-screen, full-motion video.
   The CinePak video decompression system has been licensed from SuperMac
   Technologies, and permits over sixty minutes of video to be stored on a
   single compact disc at 30 frames a second. Movie quality pictures can then
   be overlaid on the screen with computer generated graphics if the game
   demands it. Time-Warner has licensed a library of film clips from its
   movies to Atari for use in Jaguar games.

   The Jaguar CD-ROM is also designed to interface with audio CD, Karaoke CD,
   CD+Graphics and optional Kodak Photo CD. The system will not be 3DO
   compatible or CD-I compatible. An optional MPEG2 (Motion Picture Experts
   Group) compression cartridge may also be available, to allow users to play
   full length motion pictures from CD.

===========================================================================

Q. What's this "Panther" I hear about?

A. Quick history lesson: Sometime in the late 1980s, Atari Corp. was doing
   research and development on "next generation" video game consoles. There
   were two systems, a 32-bit machine called the Panther, and a 64-bit
   machine called the Jaguar. It is reported that work on the Jaguar was
   progressing better/faster than expected, so Atari abandoned the Panther to
   focus their energies on the Jaguar instead.

   Reports of development work on the Panther have been whispered since 1988;
   some people have erroneously mistaken those rumors to be about the Jaguar.

|  The Panther reportedly was considered a "32-bit" machine by Atari, though
|  for reasons unknown. It featured three chips, consisting of a Motorola
|  68000 running at 16Mhz, an object processor called the Panther, and an
|  Ensoniq sound processor called Otis, featuring 32 sound channels. The
|  Panther could supposedly display 8,384 colors from a palette of 262,144
|  colors, and could display 83,840 sprites of any size simultaneously.

==============================================================================

Q. What do I get when I buy a Jaguar?

A. The Jaguar package costs $199.95, and contains the Jaguar itself, one
   controller, an AC adaptor, and one game cartridge (currently unknown).
   There are rumors that a lower-priced package will be made available,
   without the free game, but that information has not yet been confirmed.

==============================================================================

Q. How does the ComLynx port on the Jaguar work? Can I connect my Lynx to it?

A. The ComLynx port allows communication between Jaguar units and Lynx units.
   In theory, it would be possible to daisy-chain multiple units of either
   machine type for multiplayer games. At the current time, however, no such
   plans are in the works. Instead, it is seen as allowing Lynxes to be used
   as peripherals: software can be developed to allow Lynxes to be part of a
   Jaguar game as controllers.

==============================================================================

Q. What are the upcoming Jaguar games?

A: Note: These lists are hardly definitive. It's based on many sources, and in
         some cases, it just might be dead wrong. Games also often change from
         pre-release to production.

|  Upcoming Jaguar cartridge games:

   Title              Players  Description
   -----------------  -------  ------------------------------------------
   Alien vs. Predator    1     Be the Marine, the Alien, or the Predator...
   Batman: The           1?    The protector of Gotham rises again
     Animated Series
|  Battlewheels         1-6?   Build it, arm it, drive it, shoot it
   Battlezone 2000       1     The tank wars continue!
   Checkered Flag II     1?    Formula 1 racing with fully rendered 3D
|  Cisco Heat            1     Race through the streets of San Fran!
   Club Drive            1?    Relax at a fantasy driving vacation resort
|  Cresent Galaxy       1-2    Side-scrolling shooting over five planets
   Cybermorph            1     Rescue survivors in a shape-changing ship
|  Cyberpunk City        1     William Gibson's futureview on a cartridge
    Dracula the Undead   1     Escape from the Count's castle
|  Dino Dudes:Evolution  1?    Guide humans to survive prehistoric dangers
   Kasume Ninja         1-2    Hone your fighting skills with 91 moves
   Raiden               1-2    Destroy the enemy's military might
   Steel Talons          1     Tai4 =$ 	   	៟ 	 	    	៟      	       
     Adventures

|  Upcoming Jaguar CD-ROM games:
|
|  Title              Players  Description
|  -----------------  -------  ------------------------------------------
|  Dracula               1     Bram Stoker's creature stalks the Jaguar
|  Space Pirates         1?    Scabbards, swashbuckling, and space

==============================================================================
 
Q. How can I reach Atari Corp.?
 
A. Customer Service:         (408) 745-2000
   Mailing Address:          Atari Corp.
                             1196 Borregas Avenue
                             Sunnyvale, CA  94089-1302

|  Interested developers should contact Bill Rehbock at (408) 745-2082.

==============================================================================

Q. How is development for the Jaguar done?

A. Jaguar game development environments exists for the Atari TT030 computer
   or an IBM PC/compatable. Art development can be performed on any machine,
   whether a low-end Apple Macintosh or commercial rendering software such as
   SoftImage.

   Estimated price for a developer's package is $9,000 for the TT030 setup,
   and $7,500 for the PC/compatable platform. The package includes a Jaguar
   development unit, documentation, and development/debugging software. The
   PC development system is reported to have inferior debugging tools.

|  The centerpiece of the TT030 deveopment platform is DB, an assembly-
|  language level debugging tool. The Jaguar and the TT030 are connected with
|  a parallel cable, and software can be debugged interactively without
|  interfering with the Jaguar's screen display. DB supports the use of
|  scripts and aliases, which simplifies the use of complex or common
|  functions.

==============================================================================
