It also offered the potential for CD gaming with a future add-on that seamlessly docked right on top of the main system. The controller revisited gaming ideals of a previous gaming generation with its keypad and game specific overlays, something familiar to those that grew up on the Intellivision, Atari 5200 or Colecovision. Marketing speak aside, the system was, indeed, a capable piece of hardware when compared to the generation it was intended to compete with: it definitely surpassed the Genesis and Super NES in 2D and 3D capabilities. The company decided to focus on the numbers game in attracting the gamer: where the Super NES and Genesis were touting the cutting edge of 16-bit technology, the Atari Jaguar surpassed this with whopping 64-bits of raw processing power, the first of its kind in the home market! With the failure of the Atari 7800, and with the Atari Lynx on the losing side of the fight against Nintendo's Game Boy, Atari gave the videogame console market one last shot with the Atari Jaguar. But when it finally did come up on-screen, I could only imagine what kind of revolution this must have looked like in 1972." It took me a while to get the Ody hooked up to an older, fickle television. However, I can only imagine what my face must have looked like when I recently found one in mint condition in the original box with all screen overlays still packed with parchment paper between them - and for only $38.
"I wasn't even a zygote when the Odyssey first came out, but played around with one years later found at a garage sale. But the precedent established by the Odyssey paved the way for subsequent systems - a legacy that has secured the console a place in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Due to the simplicity of the console, there weren’t any third-party games designed for it. The games for the Odyssey consisted of straightforward, single-function titles like Baseball, Basketball, Ski, and more. The Odyssey also launched the very first home light gun ever produced, called the Shooting Gallery. The controllers were essentially boxes with horizontal and vertical axis knobs on both sides with very dense wires between them and the base console. The Odyssey used a cartridge system, although the games more closely resembled computer chips than actual games. Although lacking color video output or sound, the Magnavox still managed to sell over 300,000 units. A hybrid of both analog and digital circuitry, the Odyssey is the absolute starting point for all subsequent gaming platforms. The Magnavox was the very first videogame console ever released, predating even the Atari Pong. David Clayman, Editor-in-Chief, IGN Shared Content Team I was both dismayed that I'd never complete the game in time and astounded that a cartridge could contain such a large adventure." When I advanced to the part of the game where you blast off and unlock the solar system my mind was blown.
"I remember renting Phantasy Star IV and getting up extremely early on a Saturday morning to attempt to beat the game before having to bring it back to the rental store. – Chris Carle, Entertainment Editorial Director, IGN.com NHL was my favorite game on the system, and I played '96 so much that I actually took every single team in the NHL through a season and won the Stanley Cup each time." "In college, my then-girlfriend bought me what stands as one of the best presents I have ever gotten: a Sega Genesis. This meant for a time, the Genesis was the most popular game console in the world and for a good reason. There were brief moments when the SEGA Genesis overtook Nintendo in terms of market share and at the time they were the only two players in town.
The Phantasy Star and Shining Force series combined to offer role playing options that were equal to, if not better than anything available from the competition and titles like Ecco the Dolphin and Comix Zone offered dashes of edgy action that were highly original at the time. Just tick down the list and you'll find a bundle of absolutely brilliant games.
It isn't difficult to prove why the software lineup was so successful considering the recent release and success of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. The Genesis was known for having classics in nearly every genre with support from Electronic Arts giving it the edge in the sports category (go NHL ’94!), the bloodier Mortal Kombat, and what some consider to be the greatest controller ever created: the six button.