Most people know Apple as one of the largest hardware companies in the world, known for their smartphone and notebook products. But they have also tried their hand at consoles in the past.
In spring 2022, rumors circulated in the gaming industry about a new product from smartphone giant Apple (via Gamerant). An internal source allegedly revealed that Apple is considering the possibilities of its own console.
Since the initial reports, nothing has changed on the front, and whether Apple will actually release its own console remains uncertain. However, it wouldn’t be their first experience in the console market. They already had that in 1996 with Apple Pippin.
Pippin – Joint product of Apple and Bandai
How did it come about? The plan to bring an Apple console to market arose around 1994 and originally came from Bandai. The CEO of Namco Bandai’s subsidiary approached Apple with the proposal to jointly produce a console.
During the 90s, up to 6 new consoles from various companies were released each year. The industry was much more diverse back then than it became around 2005, after Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft established themselves as undisputed market leaders. Consequently, Apple decided to pick up the idea and make it happen.
This was Apple Pippin: The original design was based on the Macintosh Classic II, a PC from Apple that was released in October 1991. The console had a massive resolution of 640×480 and ran on the Macintosh system software.
While Apple developed the actual hardware of Pippin, the partner Bandai provided the casing and packaging. The goal was to develop a more compact and affordable version of the PC, which could play games and other CD-based multimedia products but was also internet-capable.
Although Bandai was also responsible for distribution and marketing, the console was named by Apple. In typical Apple fashion, the console was named after an apple variety, the Newton Pippin, which is, by the way, a relative of the Macintosh apple.
Pippin was launched in March 1996 in Japan and later in June in the USA. It cost 64,800 yen, which would be about €465 today.
These games were available: The list of released games for Pippin is actually not that short. It includes over 100 titles, some of which are proper ‘games’ in the classical sense, while others fall into the category of ‘edutainment.’
Most of the games for Pippin were released in Japan, with only 20 releases in the USA. Many of the games were also based on Bandai’s franchises like Dragon Ball, Gundam, Power Rangers, and Ultraman, to which the company had already released numerous action figures back then.
This includes, for example:
- Ultraman Quiz King
- Anime Designer: Dragon Ball Z
- Gundam 0079: The War for Earth
- Power Rangers Zeo Versus The Machine Empire
The downfall of Pippin
This is how it ended: The then CEO of Bandai, Makoto Yamashita, estimated that about 200,000 units of Pippin would be sold in Japan within a year. Upon launch in the USA, another 300,000 units were expected in the first year at a price of $599 (Inflation-adjusted, it would be about $1,131 today).
Bandai invested over $93 million (today $175,633,671) in marketing, but it didn’t help. The joint console from Apple and Bandai flopped hard and only sold 42,000 units worldwide.
Pippin failed to compete against the freshly released PlayStation, which had been dominating the console market since 1994. Additionally, on June 23, 1996, the Nintendo 64 was released, which also swept console gamers away.
Both giants not only fell victim to Pippin but also to various other consoles released during that period, such as Playdia from Bandai and Toshiba, or Casio Loopy from Casio.
The poor sales figures eventually led to Pippin being discontinued in December 1997, less than 2 years after its release, and it has since become almost forgotten.
What do you think of the failed console from Apple and Bandai? Did you know about it or have you never heard of it before? Tell us in your comments.
