Any info on the Apple/Bandai Pippin?

[diskoboy]

I just found out about this thing today, for the first time. Yet, I've been gaming almost 30 years now, and have never heard of the Pippin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Pippin
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Pippinfront.jpg/800px-Pippinfront.jpg

Anyone got any info, besides whats on wikipedia? List of games? etc?

Thanks! :)

[agbulls]

At the height of his success, perenial NBA All Star Scottie Pippen decided to personally design his own game console. I believe this was first conceived of in 1992. Pippen's total lack of knowledge of the gaming industry didn't deter him from making a system that he created in his own image as he personally strove to make it is as ugly and overated as possible.

Just like its namesake, the Apple Pippen faded into memory never to be heard from again.

[digitalpress]

I've owned one for about 10 years. I didn't get in on it until it started to get hard to collect for, but I've got about 15 games for it. There isn't much to rave about as a game system. It compares to early PS1 titles at its best. There's more info in our online guide, always check there first! :)

http://www.digitpress.com/DP/cmf/listing.cmf?system=47

[TurboGenesis]

here is my Pippin. I've had it since 2002. I received it from a friend of my fathers.

http://myspace-831.vo.llnwd.net/01264/13/83/1264763831_l.jpg

I don't have any games for it, just the pack in application software. I do have a replica of Shockwave Assult though.

I think there were only 16 US software titles released for it. Most of them "edutainment" titles, though one of the games is Bungie's Super Marathon.

What is cool is that it can be hooked up via s-video or composite for both PAL and NTSC and also has a VGA hook up as well.

[Steve W]

I always wanted one, but I have never seen one in person before. I've always loved the controller, with a trackball built in. Too bad the system's underpowered. It uses a 66Mhz PPC 603e, if I recall, which was probably the slowest Power PC chip made. It was a slightly modified Macintosh, and there weren't a whole lot of games for the Mac that would really sell a console anyway. It was doomed from the start. Something like the Amiga CD32 could do decently because the computer it was based on had loads of games for it to port. Thanks to Apple discouraging game developers throughout the Mac's life, there wasn't anything to play on the Pippin, and not too many companies were going to develop for it.

Making game consoles based on old computers has never really worked out. Commodore Max, GS, CDTV, and CD32, Amstrad GX-4000, Atari XEGS, FM Towns Marty, The Phantom, The ApexTreme, and others.... all doomed to failure.

[Japan-Games.com]

I use the Pippin as my example for why the PS3 will struggle. Too expensive as a gaming console, not enough power as a computing console, so in the end the base of potential buyers shrinks.

[Japan-Games.com]

This is where I got my info when I first learned about it:

http://www.macgeek.org/museum/pippin/index.html

It's a great site. His photo archives show the different types of systems and accessories with some information about each. They were also released in Japan.

I have some pics of the systems and accessories here:

http://www.japan-games.com/database/#Bandai

[ShenmueFan]

I first learned about the Pippin back in 2000 I believe...maybe '99....it was years ago.

However, in all that time I've never been able to bring myself to spending hundreds upon hundreds of dollars for it, the few accessories it has or any one of the dozen or so games out for it.

It's truly a collector's system and if I ever did buy one it's have to be the US version, complete in box and all that fancy stuff.


You said you didn't know of the Pippin...do you know about the M2 as well? The M2 was the successor to the 3DO but got cancelled back in the late 90s. D2 (which wa slater released on the Dreamcast) was actually very close to being finished on it, I believe.

Look that system up too - very interesting.

[fishsandwich]

I use the Pippin as my example for why the PS3 will struggle. Too expensive as a gaming console, not enough power as a computing console, so in the end the base of potential buyers shrinks.


Ouch. Bad example. The Pippin had no name recognition and no marketing.

[Steve W]

I know of a store that still sells the @World modems for the Pippin. Wish they had the actual console in stock too, but since they completely overcharge for pretty much everything, I could never afford one from them.