Any Pippin owners in here?

[robivy64]

Just picked one of these up, although I don't know what I will do with it!

I am a hardware collector, and have always wanted one of these, just for the novelty if anything.

Anyone else have one?

[havokalien]

Totally forgot about those. Never actually seen one. What do they play?

[robivy64]

The games pretty much suck, but there are a handful of *decent* titles.

I guess these things aren't too common.

Here is a link to the wiki article for those who are not familiar with this system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Bandai_Pippin

I'd be surprised if nobody here has one.

[mixel]

I'd never realised it has a trackball in the middle of the controller. That's kind of genius. Or insane. I want to try one out now! I'd want to see what happens if someone replaced the analogue stick location on a PS3/360 pad with a balls instead. I wonder if we'd get more or less accuracy, or if it would just kill thumbs.

Pippin was a funny looking machine. I'd love one. Closest thing I have is a Commodore CD32.

[mkjj]

I have 3 machines, 2 White, and fully boxed and a black version plus a chassis and additional plastics. Have a look here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mac-col...7623547637210/

Also have a look at Seb's page, think he has one the best collections anywhere.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/25048571/Sit...n/Welcome.html

[mixel]

Originally Posted by mkjj

I have 3 machines, 2 White, and fully boxed and a black version plus a chassis and additional plastics. Have a look here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mac-col...7623547637210/

Woah! What does the dpad feel like? It looks seriously strange. The controllers coloured buttons are very 360ish too. Shame it didn't take off.

[mkjj]

Originally Posted by mixel

Woah! What does the dpad feel like? It looks seriously strange. The controllers coloured buttons are very 360ish too. Shame it didn't take off.

Pad feels good, fits in the hand very comfortable, easy to use (for me anyway)

I got the last version ROM chip (1.3) and some case plastics and a chassis from KatzMedia who looked after the European end of things but never got to launch it. I have a wireless controller and a floppy disk dock as well (not shown)

Games are very expensive, I have only bought a few over the years.

[Lil Chillbil]

Originally Posted by mixel

Woah! What does the dpad feel like? It looks seriously strange. The controllers coloured buttons are very 360ish too. Shame it didn't take off.

Actually these machines have a cult following years after main stream cut-off and total market failure
I know this because before I was Lil Chillbil on here I was Lil Chillbil on classic game room forum before it was shut down and I knew basically everything there was to know about the pippin and general retro gaming.

[NZed]

Originally Posted by Lil Chillbil

Actually these machines have a cult following years after main stream cut-off and total market failure
I know this because before I was Lil Chillbil on here I was Lil Chillbil on classic game room forum before it was shut down and I knew basically everything there was to know about the pippin and general retro gaming.

Ok ok calm down, we believe you since the first sentence. No need for explanation or background.

[robivy64]

Well, been playing with the Pippin for a little while now, and I must say...

It's complete *****.

Kinda what I expected honestly. I dig it for the novelty!

Before I bought it, the seller said "Are you sure you want this white turd?"

[Macman45]

Originally Posted by robivy64

Well, been playing with the Pippin for a little while now, and I must say...

It's complete *****.

Kinda what I expected honestly. I dig it for the novelty!

Before I bought it, the seller said "Are you sure you want this white turd?"

You have to be a true collector, but it looks to be in great condition...I'd forgotten them too....I'd keep it boxed up and safe, it was never going to be a stunner in performance...It wasn't when it came out..A little like Apple's Newton but still a great find..I doubt many are still in such good fettle after all these years!

[robivy64]

The hardware is really cool. It's a quality built machine. It's really a shame that it never took off.

Been playing Shockwave and Racing Days. What's funny is seeing the extensions being loaded on the screen, then fades to black and starts the game.

Shockwave is decent, including the cheesy acting clips!

Racing Days had potential, but the controls are a fookin' mess.

[lowbelly]

How did you come by it? I never see them on craigslist, or at garage sales... just the Japanese version on eBay for $600.

[robivy64]

Originally Posted by lowbelly

How did you come by it? I never see them on craigslist, or at garage sales... just the Japanese version on eBay for $600.

I bought it from a friend. Got it for a great price.

I'll admit I do not use it much, but it is a cool little machine.

Made a quick video about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g1nCLpdVew

[tdiaz]

I've got a disc that boots into MacOS 7.6 and has OpenTransport, Netscape and some other stuff on it for the PiPPiN, requires the max RAM, I believe I have 13MB total in the unit, with the EtherDock.

[robivy64]

I have a similar disc that seems to work OK with 7MB, but some of the applications will not launch (not enough memory)

[Yujenisis]

Originally Posted by robivy64

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g1nCLpdVew

Awesome! Thank you for sharing. I have always been curious about this odd little footnote in Apple's history.

[mkjj]

Originally Posted by robivy64

I have a similar disc that seems to work OK with 7MB, but some of the applications will not launch (not enough memory)

I managed to snag a 16mb memory module a few years ago.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mac-col...57623547637210

[tdiaz]

Did the authentication system for mastering discs to boot without a dongle ever get reverse engineered, I know I've read about how it worked, but can a new disc be made today, on legacy hardware I'd have to figure, at least..

[intelvn]

Totally forgot about those. Never actually seen one. What do they play?
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[Lil Chillbil]

I didn't think that this thread would last this long, Last summer is starting to sound like a long time ago. Oh the joys of sitting hunched over your powerbook gawking at the new retina macbook pros and listening to bob dylan all summer long

[tekboi]

whoa, when did these come out? I missed them totally.

[Lil Chillbil]

Originally Posted by tekboi

whoa, when did these come out? I missed them totally.

As James Rolfe would say


"You might think your living under a rock, But trust me its a rock worth living under!"

[macalec]

I have one. A developer unit. I have not been able to play around with it because I don't have any of the disks. Have you by chance found a source that provides the games??

Originally Posted by robivy64

Image
Image

Just picked one of these up, although I don't know what I will do with it!

I am a hardware collector, and have always wanted one of these, just for the novelty if anything.

Anyone else have one?

[tdiaz]

A "developer" unit, in what way?

My understanding was they were the same unit, though they would have a ribbon cable with centronics 50 hanging out the back, and you'd get a Rainbow ADB dongle with an adapter to ruggedized ADB that would allow the PiPPiN to boot anything, and boot from a hard drive as well.

I've got a few of those dongles, and I want to say one of each actual PiPPiN title, as well as some bootable CDs I had mastered/authenticated that boot into 7.5.3 and 7.6 to Finder. Those will boot w/o a dongle, but the system needs the rarer, larger RAM card.