Trying to find Super Marathon for the Pippin

[Hippieman]

Hi,

I've been on a sort of insane quest to find a copy of the game Super Marathon for the Apple/Bandi Pippin.

Quick Backstory:

I made Marathon: Durandal for XBLA. I'm a huge Marathon fan. Ever since completing that project, I have wanted to play the only other Console version of Marathon. I've been on and off again checking eBay and Craigs List for postings.

Recently I've become to get worried I'll never find a copy. So I increased my efforts. I've already tried to get a copy from Bungie, but nobody there seems to have a copy anymore (other than the one on Bungie's shelf that they are not going to part with).

A few people told me to ask at Digital Press. So if anyone knows where I can buy a copy I would be very grateful.

[Marriott_Guy]

I have around 25 or so titles for the Pippin. Let me check for you when I get home and I'll update you in a new post later on.

[Marriott_Guy]

Drop me an email (MG @ videogameconsolelibrary.com) - I might be able to help you out.

[Hippieman]

Thank you, I appreciate the effort.

I ended up tracking down 2 of the guys who did a bulk of the work on the game. One is at Sony the other at Blizzard.

Edit: Email sent.

[Marriott_Guy]

Email responded to.

[Steve W]

I'm totally impressed that someone has 25 software titles for the Pippin. I've never even seen a Pippin in real life. I have however seen the keyboard and modem, but I never picked them up to my regret.

[Tupin]

I played this at the Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee this year. It was pretty fun, but I can only imagine the price.

[Bojay1997]

I'm totally impressed that someone has 25 software titles for the Pippin. I've never even seen a Pippin in real life. I have however seen the keyboard and modem, but I never picked them up to my regret.

Sadly, most of them aren't really games. A lot of edutainment type titles are in the Pippin mix and a lot of straight up MAC ports. Other than Marathon, Racing Days and a handful of others, there is not much on the system worth owning. I suppose Dazzeloids is a bit of a curiousity because of the Parappa connection, but even that is pretty readily available on the MAC.

[Ed Oscuro]

What's the story on this game? Was it mass-produced or what?

[Hippieman]

What's the story on this game? Was it mass-produced or what?

This is what I know about it.

Jason Regier from Bungie converted it from Mac to Pippin. After looking at the disc layout (I have a copy of the disc, just not the original thing) it's hardly changed from the Mac version. They did swap out the Marathon 2 map file for the Windows Marathon 2 map file.

The real problem is I think Bandi was responsible for production and distribution of the game. Bungie never had more than 2 copies of the game. They didn't sell it on their online store or anything.

From the lack of info on the game online, I think it's rather rare of a game. But I don't think it's highly sought after. Just us old Mac guys really remember it.

I did get a full dump of the game from Bungie. I don't think they would mind if people were to make it available online (they gave the Marathon community the entire game online for free).

Kind of related to all of this. When we were working on Marathon: Durandal for the 360, we were working from the original Marathon 2 source code (not the GPL'd code). We discovered a Playstation fork of the game. It was never completed but it was started. So there was almost a Marathon for Playstation. Cool eh?

[Bojay1997]

What's the story on this game? Was it mass-produced or what?

In the US, only a small handful of mail order retailers ever carried the Pippin and its games. I have a complete US software collection which was obtained directly from Bandai which sold games and accessories through its US Office in Orange County, California. The only other places I ever saw the software being sold were MacMall and MacZone and they only carried selected titles. The system itself had a similarly limited release and I actually got mine from some weird telemarketing company in Florida that was loosely affiliated with QVC. They were selling the Pippin to get you to buy some dial-up Internet service. I just bought the system and skipped the service.

[Marriott_Guy]

...I have a complete US software collection which was obtained directly from Bandai which sold games and accessories through its US Office in Orange County, California.

Would love to see a pic of them if you have one available. I am assuming they are all branded @WORLD in the blue boxes since they are the US releases?

[Bojay1997]

Would love to see a pic of them if you have one available. I am assuming they are all branded @WORLD in the blue boxes since they are the US releases?

Yep, everything in the standard blue US release boxes straight from Bandai.

[Hippieman]

I'd love to see a picture of the Disc. I'm curious as to what artwork is on it.

Also, on every Bungie game (for a while, I'm not sure about the 360 games) bungie has put an Acronym somewhere on the box. I don't if anyone's found an Acronym on the Super Marathon box. Is there one on the box?

[Night Driver]

This is what I know about it.Kind of related to all of this. When we were working on Marathon: Durandal for the 360, we were working from the original Marathon 2 source code (not the GPL'd code). We discovered a Playstation fork of the game. It was never completed but it was started. So there was almost a Marathon for Playstation. Cool eh?
Yes, very interesting.

Anyway, big Marathon fan here, as well. Always wondered what the story was on Super Marathon.

[blue lander]

Pippin games show up on auctions.yahoo.co.jp fairly frequently, but they're mostly Dragon Ball Z titles and not of much interest.

It'd be great if Super Marathon for the Pippin was dumped. I have a Pippin, and it'd be nice to have a game actually worth playing for it.

[Hippieman]

I don't know what the policy here is on links to abandoned games. But I have a rip of Super Marathon I got direct from Matt Soell. He left Bungie after Halo 1 and started Wideload. Bungie themselves give Marathon away for free. It should be ok to give the game out.

[Gamingking]

Pics of your pippin collection?

[Ed Oscuro]

Thanks for the info guys.

[Hippieman]

I just wanted to update this thread.

I finally found a copy of Super Marathon.

It's still in the shrink wrap, so I still don't know what the disc looks like. But my quest is over.

[thomj]

Can you post a pic? I'd love to see it!

[Hippieman]

http://dev.freeverse.com/~hip/SuperMarathon/boxfront.JPG

And

http://dev.freeverse.com/~hip/SuperMarathon/boxandconsole.JPG

And in Action

http://dev.freeverse.com/~hip/SuperMarathon/mara1screen.JPG

[Leo_A]

I'm glad you found a copy.

I enjoyed your XBLA game but it tended to make give me motion sickness after a while. Any suggestions on dealing with that like a setting that could be changed?

I wish the other two Marathon games had been ported to XBLA. Seems incomplete just having the second one on there.

[Hippieman]

I'm glad you found a copy.

I enjoyed your XBLA game but it tended to make give me motion sickness after a while. Any suggestions on dealing with that like a setting that could be changed?

I wish the other two Marathon games had been ported to XBLA. Seems incomplete just having the second one on there.

Not getting to do Mara 1 or Infinity kills me.

To reduce motion sickness:

1. In the settings turn the Classic View Angle off. This increases the field of view to that of a more modern FPS game.

2. Turn the Head Bob effect off.

3. Turn the weapon bob off.

Apart from that, the old Sprite based games can just cause some headache.

[Shou]

Apologies for bumping an old thread but I'm on the lookout for this as well. Would appreciate a PM if you can help.