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Classic Games (Games) Entertainment Games

Atari Panther Prototype Explored 23

Posted by simoniker from the love-the-controller dept.
Thanks to Atari Explorer for their updated article revealing concept pictures of the Atari Panther, the 1991-era machine which "was going to be the first new Atari console since the launch of the 7800 by Atari Inc. in 1984", before the console "was shelved at the last minute as a parallel project within Atari showed much more promise and much more power - that project gave birth to the Atari Jaguar nearly 2 years later." The new pictures reveal that "The unit is much smaller than a stock Jaguar... [and] the cartridges would be inserted flat into the front of the Panther like a front-load VHS tape recorder."
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Atari Panther Prototype Explored More

Atari Panther Prototype Explored

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  • like a VHS? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by rritterson ( 588983 ) * on Monday November 24, 2003 @02:10AM (#7545936)
    the cartridges would be inserted flat into the front of the Panther like a front-load VHS tape recorder

    that's quite an odd analogy to use, since there is one in the video game industry that works better- the NES. It didn't work nearly as well as the top loading system did, mostly because you had to push the cartrige down after loading it, and after a while the little lock holding it down would wear out. It sometimes takes 10 or so tries to load NES games when i try to play them now. (Of course, it wasn't meant to last 15 years, i know)

    • Re:like a VHS? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      after a while the little lock holding it down would wear out.

      Connecting games through a Game Genie should fix that (the Game Genie is designed so that you don't need to push it down to play a game). A more common problem is worn-out connector pins, and that's not difficult to fix [classicgaming.com] either.

    • Nintendo will still service (that is, fix) a front loading NES if you're willing to pay S&H. Nintendo's product support is amazing.
      • Sorry, a correction. You do need to pay for the repair, but it's a nominal cost. See http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/nes/index .jsp for details.
    • Agreed! But we have to cater for all readers, even those who may never have had the pleasure of using the lovely NES. Good to hear that even Nintendo made mistakes with its hardware design! Karl at Atari Explorer Atari Historical Society

  • Similarities... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by E-prospero ( 30242 ) on Monday November 24, 2003 @02:20AM (#7545964) Homepage
    Jaguar... Panther...

    Am I the only one that is amused by the similarities between the product naming schemes of Atari and Apple?

    Russ Magee %-)
    • Since there was a release delay between the two systems of about 2 years, it seems like a pretty good timeframe. NES/SNES were several years apart, which game Nintendo time to build up a customer base, then develop their next generation system.

      Seems to me Atari could have easily done the same thing, especially since they were already established. I think the American habit of milking the cow til it runs dry got the best of them, just like it did our tv/electronics industry, auto industry, etc.

    • I, for one, am not amused at all: they (Atari) *totally* ripped off Apple's naming scheme! Apple should sue Atari! Die, Atari! :P
    • I honestly think it looks more like a Puma
  • Is it coincidence that Apple named the last two OS X releases Jaguar and Panther, or is Steve an old Atari fan?

    -Ster

  • What a painful analogy. (Score:4, Informative)

    by Inoshiro ( 71693 ) on Monday November 24, 2003 @02:41AM (#7546021) Homepage
    "The unit is much smaller than a stock Jaguar... [and] the cartridges would be inserted flat into the front of the Panther like a front-load VHS tape recorder."

    Don't you mean like a Nintendo Entertainment System? Come on, it's a video game system, this is a video game system.. it should be obvious! :p
  • here's a similar site about the Panther... http://www.homecomputer.de/pages/panther.html

  • article details (Score:2, Informative)

    by mzs ( 595629 )
    The article itself has very little technical details about the Panther console. By looking at the drawings and the tech specs linked from the article it is easy to conclude what the three mystery ports were for. The mini-DIN on the back, that is the S-VHS connector. The two ports on the side, that would be the two stero headphone jacks and most likely have nothing to do with COMLynx. Both these ports are listed as standard on the tech specs. The small panel on the back, that was most likely where a connecto

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