Video game players were in luck in 1995, because they had numerous console choices. Nintendo and Sega dominated the market with their N64 and Saturn, respectively, and Sony was fast gaining ground with its first PlayStation.
The success of the new kid on the block did not go unnoticed by other consumer electronic manufacturers. Many saw it as proof that the market could sustain multiple gaming platforms.
Enter Apple, then struggling to re-establish itself as a force in the computer industry. To compensate for the loss of market share to companies such as Intel and Microsoft as well as PC manufacturers, Apple had adopted a business strategy of trying to enter the consumer electronics field, and Sony's success was a good enough reason for Apple to attempt its own gaming console. After several years of development, Apple launched the Pippin in 1995 and history was made. But not necessarily in a good way.
The Pippin never
saw the light of day in North America.
Click on image to enlarge. |
Apple had never intended for the system to be released under the Apple brand, but to license the hardware and software to third parties. Its first partner was Bandai, a Japanese maker known for bringing the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to North America.
The partnership was expected to be a match made in heaven, given Bandai's extensive experience marketing products to children. However, the product received a tepid response from software developers during early demos.
When the system was released in 1995 in Japan, its technical specs were very similar to those of an Apple Macintosh. In fact, Pippin software ran on the Classic Mac OS. A look inside reveals some of the problems that hindered its success.
The Pippin's "brain" was a Motorola 603 PowerPC processor. This 32-bit processor, designed by IBM and licensed to Apple and what is now Freescale Semiconductor (Motorola Semiconductor at the time), operated at 66 MHz and had the following features, according to Freescale's data sheet:
» High-performance, superscalar microprocessing;
» High instruction and data throughput; and
» Integrated power management (which explains the lack of a system fan for processor cooling).
