Pippin by Apple

Credit: Evan-Amos

Console Name: Pippin Original Name: ピピンアットマーク Release Date: March 28, 1996 Original Price: US$599 / ¥64,800 Unit Sold: 42,000 - 100,000 Country of Origin: Japan / United States Manufacturer: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Publisher: Bandai / Katz Media Developer: Apple Staff(s): Shin’ichi Taira Discontinued In: 1997

 

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History
In 1993, Bandai was looking to get back into the video game console business. At the time, CD-ROM was slowly being introduced as a medium in video games, and Bandai thought it could capitalize on that to create an affordable video game console. It started working on the Playdia, a video game console for kids designed as a cheaper alternative to other video game consoles. But Bandai also wanted to release a console version of a computer. Microsoft had just given up on embedding its operating system in a gaming console after the failed Tandy Visual Information System (VIS), and FM Towns had just released its own console version of its computer, so Apple was the only logical choice.

Bandai reached out to Apple in early 1994 with the idea of a gaming console. Apple was really open to the idea. To speed up the development and share the risk between the two partners, Apple was put in charge of the design while Bandai would produce the hardware. Apple would remain the owner of the technology and would have the possibility to license it to whomever it chose. Bandai would get the exclusive right to distribute a video game console based on this technology in Japan and the U.S. Apart from the licensing rights for the rest of the world, Apple could also license the technology worldwide for other non-gaming devices, such as telecommunication equipment.

The console was based on the Macintosh Classic II running System 7. This would ensure easy porting of Macintosh software. Just as it had done for the Macintosh, Apple took the name Pippin from the Newtown Pippin, a kind of apple. On December 13, 1994, Apple announced the Pippin platform in Tokyo, as well as the partnership with Bandai. After this date, Apple and Bandai started working together on the Pippin. Through focus groups, the design was refined, including the addition of a modem for Internet capabilities.

In October 1995, the Nikkei reported that Mitsubishi Electric Corporation would follow Bandai as a licensee of the Pippin technology. Although Mitsubishi didn’t actually sign a license agreement with Apple, it did manufacture the systems for Bandai (and effectively, Katz Media) on an original equipment manufacturer basis.

Release
After a delay of a few months, the Pippin was finally released in Japan under the name Pippin ATMARK. Makoto Yamashina, CEO and President of Bandai, predicted that 200,000 units would be sold in Japan within a year, but after the release, the console’s sales weren’t very convincing. Bandai was not too worried, and in June 1996 it released the Pippin in the U.S. under the name Pippin @WORLD. Since the Pippin was based on the Macintosh, a computer very popular in the U.S., Bandai predicted that it would outsell the Japanese release and that more than 300,000 units would be sold in the first year. Both units are virtually the same, except that the Japanese release was white and came with a Japanese version of System 7, while the U.S. release was black and came with an English operating system. Black Japanese ATMARK systems do exist, but they are rare.

On June 4, 1996, Katz Media, a Norway-based software company, announced that it had become the second licensee of the Pippin technology. Katz Media signed the rights for Europe and Canada and planned to release two configurations of the Pippin by November of the same year. However, the unit would not be delivered before March 1997.

Demise
Less than a year after its release, the console was already dead in the water. The sales figures were disastrous, with U.S. sales actually being worse than Japanese ones. Many factors contributed to the console’s demise, including the high price point. Like most hybrid consoles of this time, the Pippin, which was part Internet PC and part video console, didn’t excel at either of its primary tasks. With no killer title and slow access times, the video game aspect of the console was very limited. From a computer perspective, things were better, as the console was based on a Macintosh, although browsing the menus and the Internet on a television turned out to be less enjoyable than advertised. While perfect on a VGA monitor, the font used in System 7 was less than ideal for a CRT television. One of the biggest problems was that, as part of the licensing agreement, Bandai and Katz Media were not allowed to use the term “computer”, which made it difficult for potential customers to realize that this was in fact a computer. Another problem was that the system only supported PSINet as an Internet provider. The console did come bundled with six months of free Internet access, but after this period, customers had to pay $24.99 a month.

The final nail in the coffin came from Steve Jobs. Upon returning to Apple in early 1997, Jobs stopped all Macintosh clone efforts, which included the Apple Pippin. Soon after, Bandai announced that it would stop the production of all models of the Pippin on May 12, 1997. Katz Media, which had just started to sell its own version of the Pippin, vowed to remain committed to the Pippin and to continue supporting the console. The company had around 100,000 orders for the Pippin from all over the world and couldn’t afford to back down at this point. It tried to survive but had to file for bankruptcy less than a year later.

Bandai also took a loss on the Pippin, with more than 93 million spent on marketing alone.

In the end, Bandai had sold only 30,000 units in Japan and 12,000 units in the United States. Unsold U.S. inventory was returned to Japan to be repackaged and sold as the now-rare “Black Atmark”. On February 27, 1998, DayStar Digital purchased all of the remaining hardware inventory from Bandai. At this point, Bandai had manufactured around 100,000 units. It is unknown how many were sold by third parties and how many were destroyed.

The project ended up costing Bandai 26.8 billion yen in losses, bringing the company to the brink of bankruptcy.

Console Variation
Three major console and box variations exist for the Pippin.

 

Pippin ATMARK Japan		Pippin @World United States		Pippin Katz Media Canada, Europe
Pippin Power Player¹

 

¹ The Pippin Power Player (also known as the Pre-release Sample) was a development console sent to developers in both Japan and the U.S. in December 1995. Only 3,000 Power Players were manufactured.

Games
Japan saw more than its fair share of Pippin titles, with more than 90 discs released if you include non-game software such as edutainment, utility and internet discs. This list covers the 59 games and game-like titles. A Japanese database counts 55 Japanese releases. Of the 59 titles, 53 were released only in Japan, 4 only in North America, and 2 in both regions. In the U.S., only about 20 titles were available, and in Europe, fewer than five were released. The European releases were non-game discs, such as a medical title (Histoires d’Urologie), a Katz Media demo disc and the SurfEZ! internet CD.

Technical Specifications

• Processor: PowerPC 603 running at 66 MHz
• Memory: 6 MB of combined system and video memory (ATMARK and @WORLD), and 8 MB on the Katz Media model
• Memory upgrades: RAM is upgradable in 2, 4, 8 and 16 MB increments (through a proprietary memory module)
• Non-volatile memory: 128 KB of NVRAM
• Operating system: Pippin OS, based on System 7.5.2
• Graphics: 640 × 480 resolution with 8-bit and 16-bit color
• Video output: VGA, S-Video and RCA composite video (NTSC/PAL switchable)
• Sound: 16-bit stereo, 44 kHz sampled
• Media: 4× speed CD-ROM drive
• Modem: 14.4 kbps
• Controller ports: Two AppleJack ports, two high-speed serial ports and a modem port
• Controller: AppleJack controller (a game controller and trackball hybrid)
• Expansion: PCI-compatible expansion slot
• Power supply: Internal universal switching power supply, 100–240 V, 25 W
• Model numbers: PA-82001 (Pippin ATMARK), PW-10001 (Pippin @WORLD), KMP 2000 (Katz Media Pippin)