Man in the Mall (Nov.23,1993)










From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)

Date: 02/20/94-01:45:53 AM Z









From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: Man in the Mall (Nov.23,1993)
Date: Sun Feb 20 01:45:53 1994


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 :: Volume 2 - Issue 20      ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE      23 November 1993 ::
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 |||   Man In The Mall
 |||   By: Tom McComb
/ | \  GEnie: T.MCCOMB
       -----------------------------------------------------------------

My fiancee Michele and I trekked out to the Newport Center Mall in NJ
on November 14th and saw the Jaguar/Lynx exposition. It was a hit.
LOTS of public interest and about a dozen Jags to play with.

Yes - they are real. We saw. We touched. We played. We want one.

Impressions: The unit itelf is bigger than it looks in the digitized
pictures that have been available online. It's longer and wider. It's
nice. Looks fast while it's standing still. Grrrrr. It's hot.

The controller is very nice. If you like the LYNX controls (I do!)
you'll LOVE the Jag controller. Light and form fitting. It takes two
hands to hold but is very comfortable and intuitive.

Games: Only two were available for display and _play_. I played
CyberMorph for about 15 minutes. Michele got a real kick out of
watching my head, arms, body sway to the motions of my spacecraft as I
flew at incredible speeds through varied terrain. It's _fast_, it's
_very_ fluid, very smooth. It was fun. I was sweating by the time my
three ships were destroyed.

I need to see more of it, but the graphics probably could have been a
bit more detailed, at least in comparison to the game playing next to
it: Crescent Galaxy. Very nice graphics, much of it looks photographic.
I didn't get a chance to play it (darn!). There are three levels of
parallax: Foreground, midground (playing area) and backdrop. Each
scroll along at a different speed.

There were about a dozen reps there, each outfitted in a black Jag
T-Shirt and Jag hat. They were knowledgeable and helpful. The display
area consisted of two groups of 4 kiosks each and a raised stage with
another six jags hooked up to 20" or 25" monitors. The stage also had
stereo speakers blasting away!

The host was named Ira and he would periodically get onstage and give
a short talk about the Jaguar. First he would remind everyone of
Atari's history (Pong to 2600) and then boast about the Jaguar's
specs. During the talk Sega, Nintendo and especially 3D0 would get
trashed. All during the talk, he would stop and ask questions of the
crowd - first one with the correct answer would get a Jag T-Shirt or
Cap tossed at them.

People were encouraged to sign-up for a chance to win a free Jaguar (a
total of 4 were given away over the four days). They didn't need much
encouragement to sign up. At any one time, I'd say there were about
50-75 people gathered around the display area.

To whet peoples appetites, Ira kept reminding people of what games
originally shipped with other systems (Sega/Nintendo/NEC) and what
programmers were eventually able to do with the systems once they
became adept at it. Just wait till they really master it!

Later in the day a local DJ from HOT97 came and helped Ira pump up the
crowd and toss out T-Shirts. Full color Jag brochures were also
available for people to bring home. People seemed very interested in
the machine and it was a big hit with the kids.

Most frequently asked questions that I could overhear were:

 1) How Much?
 2) Where can I buy it?
    and
 3) When will they have them for sale?

Oh yeah, people kept asking for the Jag shirts and hats too!

Best moment: When Michele caught a Jaguar T-Shirt for me! Yes folks,
_I_ have my very own Jaguar T-Shirt. Nyahhhh! Eat your heart out! It's
black, it's beautiful! Front: "Atari (and Fuji)" in small white
lettering, and the Jaguar name/logo in larger red printing. Back:
Large yellow Jag eyes above the big red Jag logo, underneath which is
the "64-BIT" & "Interactive Multimedia System" tag line.

Guess what Michele's going to get me for Christmas? The future's so
bright, I gotta wear shades.









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