Atari Jaguar Vs. Panasonic 3DO: A Failed Console Comparison

Hardware:

Console Design:

If there’s one thing that Atari got right with the Jaguar console it’s the hardware design. The Atari Jaguar looks edgy as heck. The gunmetal black is sleek even today, and the red lettering paired with the Jaguar logo is downright iconic. The vents on the side made it look like something that was really powerful. The circular indent really adds to it as well. In my opinion the Atari Jaguar is one of the best looking home consoles of all time. That is, as long as you leave the CD attachment off of it because that just makes it look like a toilet on a stand.

As I mentioned earlier there are several different iterations of the Panasonic 3DO. Regardless of which you choose it’s clear that the design teams were all focused on making something that looked like a VCR, but more futuristic. The Goldstar version looks like an early DVD player, Panasonic’s edition looks like a basic CD player of the time, and the FZ10 looks more like a generic game console. The point is, they’re all pretty dated and fairly ugly. I do prefer the Goldstar version if we’re basing it entirely off of looks. Atari wins this subject hands down.

Winner: Atari Jaguar

System Durability:

This is where the Jaguar falls behind. I’ve owned two consoles, and both of them had their share of issues. While the console has no moving parts it’s clear that Atari went the cheap route with all of their connectors. I’ve had to clean the consoles multiple times and even blow into the cartridges. Furthermore, the Atari Jaguar runs hot. Moreso than I feel comfortable with keeping it plugged in even when not in use.

Meanwhile all three version of the 3DO I’ve had under my care have all worked without a charm with pretty much no regular maintenance. This is rather surprising considering the fact that Panasonic’s console uses discs and therefore has actual moving parts unlike the Jaguar. I also haven’t ever experienced the console, or it’s AC adapter heating up when not in use like I have with Atari’s hardware.

Winner: Atari Jaguar

Controller Design:

This is a sore topic among gamers. The Atari Jaguar uses the basic three button set up that the Sega Genesis did, but they weren’t quite ready to let go of the number pad from their previous consoles. It makes it’s not so triumphant return here. This results in an incredibly bulky and heavy controller. On the plus side several developers included overlays which you can place over the number pad with icons indicating what they do. Unfortunately these are hard to come by, and so the console loses this advantage in modern times. There’s a six button pad which also had shoulder buttons but it’s rare and expensive. It does however feel better in the hand and the extra face buttons are welcome.

You would think the Jaguar would lose in this category hands down, but that’s not the case. Panasonic went with a very standard controller style using a three button set up with a traditional directional pad and shoulder buttons. Unfortunately everything on this pad is too stiff. I thought it was my controller but I’ve tried others and it’s the same story. Capcom made a special controller just for Super Street Fighter II: Turbo but this suffers from the same issues. Honestly the game pad is a real chore to use and actually hurts my fingers. I never thought the Jaguar controller would beat any competitor what with it’s bulk, but here we are.

Winner: Atari Jaguar

Game Media:

By default the Jaguar uses cartridges for its media. That’s what was common back then. I do like the artwork for most games on the front sticker, and cartridge media always holds up better than discs regardless of system. My main issue is that each physical cartridge has a handle on it. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a problem grasping these and it seems Atari was just throwing ideas at a wall with this. The Jaguar did have it’s CD add-on and that’s pretty standard as far as that goes. Every disc I’ve purchased has worked, and so I don’t think the laser has any proprietary issues.

The 3DO uses discs in every model. The problem I have is that it seems developers all went with different manufacturers as far as cases go. Some of my 3DO games are in jewel cases while others are in cardboard boxes. Panasonic should have standardized some kind of format because my collection of games does NOT look good on the shelf. I mean, come on. At least because it’s discs I can put them all in jewel cases and print out the artwork I want. Still, it doesn’t hit the same notes as having a drawer full of cartridges. At least not in this collector’s mind.

Winner: Atari Jaguar

Graphical Capabilities:

64-bits versus 32-bits. The winner should be obvious, right? It’s not that easy unfortunately. Due to the complex hardware the Atari Jaguar was only 64-bit on paper. In reality it was much weaker. This is why the majority of 3D games for the platform feature low polygon count models with next to no textures. Worse yet the engines for all of these render at very low framerates. The Jaguar was at its best with 2D titles, but few developers were willing to make them for the platform. Honestly, most of the 3D games for the platform look like something that could have been done on the Super Nintendo using the FX chip.

The Panasonic 3DO fares quite a bit better in this regard. Most of its 3D games look like early PS1 and Sega Saturn titles. It’s still pretty rough with heavily pixelated textures (but at least the polygons are filled by more than basic colors) and warping environments. Even the two dimensional games look much better thanks to the CD format’s storage allowing for pre-rendered elements. Games on both platforms look better on the 3DO (except Doom). Even the FMV titles seem to render at higher resolution on the 3DO than the Jaguar CD.

Winner: Panasonic 3DO

Audio Capabilities:

This topic is almost unfair. Some developers had to completely eliminate music in their Atari Jaguar games in order to make full use of the hardware. This is why releases like Trevor Mcfur and Doom are completely silent. The games that do have audio really suffer though. It’s all ill defined bleeps and blips that sound sub-Genesis in my opinion. The CD releases have redbook audio, but considering how few of releases came out for the add-on it’s not even fair to mention them.

Panasonic 3DO titles were generally released with real music compositions that streamed off of the CD format. As such the games sound amazing, and many releases for the platform had their own arranged soundtracks which is amazing. Alone in the Dark is a prime example, and stands as one of my favorite of all time in that regard.

Winner: Panasonic 3DO