Along with the Voice Modem, the VR headset was Jaguar's most publicized
vaporware item. In association with Virtuality, the company responsible
for coin-op virtual reality games, Jaguar was to add a new dimension to
gaming.
Atari first unveiled the Jaguar VR headset at the Winter 1995 CES show,
but word quickly spread that the Missile Command VR demo at the show was
the actual Virtuality arcade machine and that Atari and Virtuality
were still working on a low-cost version for the Jaguar console.
Rumor has it that the VR version in Missile Command 3D was programmed
with the headset in mind and, with the VR, it's completely playable.
Whether a prototype working Jaguar VR headset exists is a mystery, so
we may never know for certain.
What is certain, however, is that Jaguar's installed user base in
1996 was still in the thousands, not millions, and a $200-300 VR add-on
would never have caught on, never mind being a savior for the fast-sinking
machine.
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