I've always wanted a Jaguar, but have yet to acquire one. I've eyed them on eBay for years, but never bit. Aside from being brand new at retail years, and years ago, I've never seen one in the wild ready to be purchased. I've bought my SegaCD/32x and 3DO out in the wild at game shops around Gwinnett, but I never saw a Jaguar pop up. Until a few weeks ago.
The game shop Derek and I frequent finally had it and the CD attachment for sale. I wanted to just rip the thing out of the display and make a mad dash for the register. I refrained, as the previous weekend I had made a substantial purchase of a new DSLR camera and didn't want to commit to a fairly large purchase quite yet. I said to myself that I would wait a week and see if it was still around.
The subsequent weekends, I ended up not going back to the game shop. I ended up not going for a two weeks, until tonight. I waltz in the front door, only to find that he has sold the Jaguar. It didn't really bother me, as I considered the savings of $150 to be a victory for my wallet and proceeded to pick up a copy of Sonic CD to celebrate my savings.
We decided to go check out a game shop we had just recently heard about called Wizard's in Gainseville, GA. After my failed attempts to figure out how to get there, we arrived 20 minutes prior to their closing. We enter the store to be greeted with wall to wall games, which pleases us greatly. We quickly search the store for the retro section and make our way to see what the hub-bub is about. That is when I see it.
Sitting in the console case is the mythical beast, The Jaguar. I ask the guy behind the counter how much, and he responds "One hundred." I am literally stunned by this revelation as he continues to tell me that it includes a game and the two controllers. I immediately respond "I'll take it," to which he seems stunned. Someone has come into his game shop and asked to buy the Jaguar, which has been sitting in his case for ages.
This is great news for me, because his price is a whole $50 cheaper than the shop we frequent and it comes with an extra controller and a game. Talk about a deal. I can't really recall the last time I saw that great of a deal on the console, even on eBay! Generally the systems go for $100+, sometimes below $100 on occasion. Either way, $100 is a steal.
He gets the console up on the counter and can't quite seem to locate the AV and power cables to he calls his co-worked on the phone to inquire as to it's whereabouts. We wait around for about 15 minutes for his cohort to arrive to unfurl this great puzzle, only to find they lost the cables! No worries, as it simply uses an SNES RF switch and a power supply easily stolen from another console.
This is where the story takes it's tragic turn. As it turns out, the RF switch he has selected is correct, but the power supply may have been a bit too beefy for the poor old Jaguar. Upon pressing the power button, a mysterious odor poured from the console as a faint wisp of smoke wafted out from around the power button.
"That looks like smoke around the power button!" I said in horror.
"Oh shit!" he replied.
He yanked the power plug out of the console but it was too late, the console was toast. At this point the smoke was pouring out of every vent in the console and the odor of roasted electronics was everywhere. The stench of my defeat was great as I bowed my head and accepted my failure at acquiring the console of my dreams.
There is always next time, and hopefully the next time isn't years away. I'm not sure exactly why I want this console, but I just know that I do. There is something about owning these unique flops that gives me great joy. I smile everytime I look at my 3DO and say "When the fuck am I actually going to use this thing?"
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