The Atari Jaguar CD is a CD-ROM peripheral for the Jaguar

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...

. Atari announced a CD-ROM drive for the Jaguar before the console's November 1993 launch.

Codename A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...

d Jaguar II during development, the Jaguar CD was released on September 21, 1995 for . It was originally scheduled for launch during the 1994 holiday shopping season, with multiple delays. The drive fits into the ROM cartridge slot atop the console, with its own pass-through cartridge slot to optionally run software that uses cartridge only or that uses cartridge and CD in tandem. The Memory Track cartridge stores

saved game A saved game (also called a game save, savegame, savefile, save point, or simply save) is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. From the earliest games in the 1970s onward, game platform hardw ...

position and high scores. Several publications have criticized the Jaguar CD's design for resembling a

toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human urine and feces, and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting position popu ...

. The Jaguar CD has a double-speed (2×) drive and built-in VLM ( Virtual Light Machine) software by

Jeff Minter Jeff Minter (born 22 April 1962) is an independent English video game designer and programmer who often goes by the name Yak. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and has created dozens of games during his career, which began in 19 ...

, using a

spectrum analyzer A spectrum analyzer measures the magnitude of an input signal versus frequency within the full frequency range of the instrument. The primary use is to measure the power of the spectrum of known and unknown signals. The input signal that most co ...

for a sophisticated video light show for

audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named ...

s. It is bundled with '' Blue Lightning'', ''

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'', the ''

Tempest 2000 is a tube shooter video game originally developed by Llamasoft and published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar in North America on 13 April, 1994. It was released in Europe on 27 June and in Japan on 15 December of the same year, with ...

'' soundtrack CD, and a ''

Myst ''Myst'' is a graphic adventure/puzzle video game designed by the Miller brothers, Robyn and Rand. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and initially released for the Macintosh in 1993. In the game, the player's charact ...

'' demo disc. Every startup screen is unique, using the VLM for a random light show. Jaguar CDs can store up to 790 MB, more than conventional CD-ROMs. Its proprietary CD format is based on the

format, instead of standard CD-ROM data formats. It allows for more storage, and its incompatibility foils casual

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, at the expense of reduced error correction. Only 13 games were released for the Jaguar CD during its lifetime. However, previously unfinished and homebrew games have since been released. In mid-1994 Atari and

Sigma Designs Sigma Designs was an American public corporation that designed and built high-performance system-on-a-chip semiconductor technologies for Internet-based set-top boxes, DVD players/recorders, high-definition televisions, media processors, digital ...

signed an agreement to co-develop a

PC board A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a laminated sandwich struc ...

that would allow Jaguar CD games to be played on home computers, with a scheduled release by the end of 1994. However, it was never released.

Game library

References

{{Atari hardware Computer-related introductions in 1995 Jaguar CD CD-ROM-based consoles Video game console add-ons Fifth-generation video game consoles

Game library

See also

References