Apple pippin
| Pippin | |||
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| Manufacturer | Apple | ||
| Type | stationary game console | ||
| generation | 5th generation of consoles | ||
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| Main processor | 603e (66 MHz) | ||
| Graphics processor | taos | ||
| Storage media | CD-ROMs | ||
| Online service | PSINet / @ World | ||
| Units sold | approx. 42,000 | ||
The Apple Pippin is a stationary game console of the fifth generation of consoles developed by the Apple computer company and sold under license by Bandai under the name Atmark from 1995 onwards . The device sold very poorly in view of the competition and is considered a flop.
description
The Pippin was based on a PowerPC -603e processor clocked at around 66 MHz and a slimmed-down Mac OS -operated system. The goal was a low-cost computer for CD-based multimedia titles, especially games, but which should also be network-compatible. The console was therefore equipped with a 4x CD-ROM drive and TV out. The device was able to establish an Internet connection via a 14.4 kbit / s modem.
Apple did not want to market its Pippin itself, instead it should be produced and marketed by other manufacturers under license (a similar marketing model had already been sought for the 3DO ). The Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai ultimately remained the only licensee.
By the time Bandai brought out the Pippin (1996 in Japan , 1996 in the US), the market was already dominated by the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn . These devices were more powerful than the Pippin as game consoles. In addition, only Bandai itself offered software for the Pippin. Although advertised as a cheap computer, the system was mostly viewed as a video game console and, with an initial price of US $ 599, was too expensive for this market segment. Bandai was only able to sell 42,000 devices before the Pippin was withdrawn from the range in 1997.
From a technical point of view, the Pippin concept as a simple game console without a 3D graphics processor was no longer new and as a game or personal computer was too weak. Bandai's version quickly disappeared from the Japanese and American markets. In Europe, the device was launched on the market by KATZ-Media. The Graz company Media-Designer tried the distribution for Austria. One of the few devices was on view in 2006 in the Vienna Economic Museum as part of the exhibition "30 Years of Apple".
Games
Only a few games have appeared for Pippin; Super marathon is one of the most famous. This was a port of the Marathon series known on the Mac , which was programmed by the later Halo developer Bungie Software .
reception
The American computer magazine PC World named the Pippin in 2006 as one of the 25 worst tech products of all time:
"Underpowered, overpriced, and underutilized - that pretty much describes everything that came out of Apple in the mid-90s."
“Inadequate performance, overpriced and inadequately equipped - that describes pretty much everything that Apple released in the mid-1990s.”
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time ( Memento of May 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Blake Snow: The 10 Worst-Selling Consoles of All Time . In: GamePro .com . May 4, 2007. Archived from the original on May 8, 2007. Retrieved November 25, 2007.