Atari Jaguar
The Atari Jaguar launched in November 1993 at $249.95 with a bold claim: the world's first 64-bit home console. Critics immediately cried foul — its two 32-bit chips didn't quite add up. The PowerPad controller, bristling with 17 buttons including a phone-style keypad, didn't help. It became Atari's last console.
The Atari Jaguar arrived in late 1993 with real marketing muscle. Atari's "Do the math!" campaign promised the world's first 64-bit gaming system, though critics argued the system's dual 32-bit processors (nicknamed Tom and Jerry) didn't actually add up to a 64-bit architecture. It launched in North America on November 23, 1993, at $249.95 with Cybermorph as the pack-in game.
The hardware's other Achilles' heel was the PowerPad controller, a complex beast with 17 buttons built around a 12-button phone-style keypad, widely criticized as cumbersome and unintuitive. The system's best-selling title, Alien vs Predator, managed only 52,223 copies — not the numbers a third console contender needed.
By 1996 the Jaguar was discontinued, having sold fewer than 150,000 consoles by Atari's own SEC filing. The company merged with hard-drive maker JTS that year, and the Atari name was sold to Hasbro Interactive in 1998. The Jaguar stands as the last console Atari Corporation ever produced — a high-profile exit from the console wars.
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