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Note: This interview with Terry L. Grantham, president of Telegames, was taken on November 5th, 1996 by Patrick Holstine for Gamewire and Jag-@-Zine. We at Jag-@-Zine agreed not to put the interview online until it was published in the December edition of Gamewire.
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- Introduction -
- Just a few weeks ago, Telegames announced that they would be publishing four new titles
for the Atari Jaguar system, including Worms and Breakout 2000. While the Jaguar may
have been all but abandoned by Atari (which now exists solely as a brand name within JTS
Corporation), Telegames has "adopted" the Jag and given it new life by picking up the
four new titles.
Now, the release of a few new games for the Jaguar isn't going to vault the system back
into the 32/64-bit hardware wars. Still, it will come as a pre-holiday treat to tens of
thousands of Jag owners who haven't seen a new release in nearly eight months.
Telegames President Terry L. Grantham agreed to an interview with GameWire and Jag-@-Zine, and we
asked about everything from whether there will be more games published after these four
hit the market, to how effective the Petition to Telegames turned out to be. Here's what
we found out:
- The Interview -
- Patrick:
It has come to our attention that Telegames is planning to publish four new Atari Jaguar titles later this year. What are these titles, and who are they developed by?
- Terry: 1) Towers II developed by JV Enterprises
- 2) Breakout 2000 developed by MP Games
- 3) WORMS developed by Team 17
- 4) Zero 5 developed by Caspian Software
- Patrick:
Describe for me the process of getting the rights to publish these games. Where did the initiative come from? Atari/JTS, Telegames, the
developers, C-West? How did it all come about?
- Terry: The entire initiative came from Telegames. We felt that the loyal Jaguar owners
should be supported with new titles, not abandoned. We have an
extensive library of titles that could be brought to market if these loyal
Jaguar owners support us thru purchases of the four new titles.
- Patrick:
The Jaguar is a system basically no longer supported by Atari/JTS,
and virtually dead in the consumer market. Tell me about Telegames
efforts to reach both Jaguar consumers, and owners of other past systems
that Telegames still supports. How many Jaguar owners are out there by
your estimates?
- Patrick:
It was rumored for many months that "Towers II" would be published
by Telegames. When Atari merged with JTS and put all new releases on
hold, a "Petition to Telegames" movement was started to encourage your
company to publish other Jaguar titles. Are these additional three
titles at all due to that grass roots effort, or the result of something
else?
- Terry: The grass roots effort did not hurt. However, our decision to publish the additional
titles was based on other factors as well.
- Patrick:
Financially speaking, how much did it cost Telegames to acquire the
rights to these games? Are you working alone, or with C-West to
distribute the games?
- Terry: The financial terms are confidential. We have no distribution partners,
however, we do sell to a number of independent distributors and retailers.
- Patrick:
With the cost of acquiring the rights and distributing the games: a) how much will
each cartridge sell for?
b) will there be any special deals for consumers who want all 4 games? c) how many of
each cartridge will Telegames have to sell to make this deal profitable?
- Terry: The MSRP of each cartridge is $59.95. We are offering a prelease discount program
if a consumer orders and pays for a product by November 29th. Further details are
available on our web site at:
http://www.telegames.com/prerelease.htm
- Patrick:
With regards to the distribution of the games, will we see them on
store shelves at Electronics Boutique or other outlets that still carry
Jaguar stock? Or will they be available by mail order only?
- Terry: No national chains will stock Jaguar any longer. Local stores can and will stock the
new releases. Encourage your local store to stock these products! For that matter, an
organized effort requesting the products that is directed toward EB, or Babbages, etc.,
might cause these national chains to reconsider their opinion toward Jaguar.
- Patrick:
Are there any other deals on the horizon to publish new Jaguar games? If so, what
are they, and if not, will a successful effort with
these four games spur further development/publishing for the Jaguar?
I've heard rumors of a cricket game for a long time.
- Terry: These four releases are test cases to determine if additional publishing
effort is justified. We have a library of additional titles that could be
released if the financial incentive is apparent. Additionally, we could
pursue new development thru our own contract development division, Telegames
CDG.
- Patrick:
Will Telegames be involved with the publishing of 4-Play's title,
"Battlesphere"?
- Terry: We have not entered any deal at this time.
- Patrick:
Have you played any of the four games slated for release, and if
so, can you tell us your impression of them?
- Terry: All four products are very well done and extremely entertaining. More
importantly, the game themes and play mechanics are entirely different from
each of the other products.
- Terry L. Grantham
President of Telegames
- Epilogue -
- So to summarize, here's what we learned from Telegames. While it was their initiative
that made all this possible, the petition effort did not go unnoticed by the company. In
addition, they have other potential new games they could release for the Jaguar, but they
will not do so unless this crop of four goes over well with the buying public.
In fact, Grantham even mentions that new Jag development could occur if sales are
significant. Therefore if you are a Jaguar owner, and you would like to see your system
kept alive, it's possible to vote for more Jag games with your pocketbook. If these four
titles sell well, there could be four more, and so on.
Obviously, with PlayStation, Saturn and Nintendo 64 out there, and many Jaguar owners
now having purchased one or more of those systems, the prospect of spending $120.00 to
buy a couple of new games for the Jag could seem a bit twisted. The games must prove to
be high quality titles, with lots of replay value in order to merit a purchase. However, it's
not like buying a new PSX game at Electronics Boutique, deciding you don't like it after a
week and taking it back. If you send Telegames your money, don't expect to get it back if
you dislike Towers II or Breakout 2000.
Therefore, it turns into a dilemma: do you put blind faith in a new Jaguar game and send
in your order, or do you buy the latest Saturn offering at EB that you can exchange if you
think it's not worthy of your time? It's a tough one, that's for sure. But realize that if you
don't take a chance on the new Jag games, then, that will be the proverbial final nail for
the Jaguar. If on the other hand you look at the quality of later Jag releases like Rayman,
Defender 2000 and NBA Jam TE, you may decide that it's worth the risk. Certainly, the
Jaguar proved it could do many games just as well as a Saturn or PlayStation (with
Rayman and NBA Jam TE being prime examples).
Don't get me wrong here. I have a PlayStation, and if it came down to buying games for
just one system, then Sony would get my money right now. If all the new Jag games
coming out were 3D fighting games, I know they wouldn't stand a chance against Tekken
2, VF2 or KI. However, Breakout 2000 is unique to Jaguar, just like Zero Five and
Towers 2. As for Worms, while you could buy it for PSX or Saturn, if you have a Jag, why
not support Telegames gutsy effort and get the Jaguar version instead? If enough people
decide to do so, then Jag owners just might be looking forward to new titles for Christmas
'97 as well. And that sounds like a Merry Christmas to me.
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