Pippin @WORLD

An @WORLD console, keyboard, and controller.

The **Pippin @WORLD** (PW-10001) is a Pippin console that was marketed by Bandai Digital Entertainment in the United States. Its parent company Bandai announced a partnership with Apple Computer on December 13, 1994 to produce the consoles and later supplied an alternate version to Katz Media as an OEM.

## Hardware

Manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric, the @WORLD was nearly identical to Bandai's own Pippin Atmark, which had been released earlier in Japan. Minor internal changes included the reduction of venting in the electrical shielding and an updated PRAM battery socket to facilitate exchange of the backup battery. The U.S. model featured ROM revision 1.2, which added support for external SCSI drives. The ability to load non-authenticated discs would require ROM revision 1.3 from a Katz Media Player 2000.

@WORLD consoles were produced for the American market in black cases, while Atmarks from Japan were typically in platinum/white cases with a small number of black Atmarks. Some U.S. units have beige internal CD-ROM trays instead of black trays. A unique gold @WORLD console was produced for Gil Amelio, the CEO of Apple at the time.

## Peripherals

Matching black versions of AppleJack controllers, modems and keyboards were produced, but are rare. Wireless controllers, memory modules, and expansion docks could only be found in the platinum/white color scheme of Japanese consoles.

@WORLD AppleJack controller@WORLD 28.8 kbps modem@WORLD keyboard
## Marketing

The Pippin @WORLD console was first unveiled at a "Media Preview" event with Sheryl Crow at the Beverly Hills Hotel on May 15, 1996, the day before the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Bandai budgeted $50 million to promote it in the United States. Apple operated a "Developer Test Drive" program until September 1st. On September 23, 1996, Bandai announced that the consoles would ship with a 28,800 bps modem from Motorola.

In August 1996, PSINet announced that it was participating in a pilot program to provide internet access to guests at Holiday Inn hotels through @WORLD consoles.

## Release

The Pippin @WORLD was originally scheduled to ship in September 1996, but the release date soon slipped to November with the list price set at $599. The @WORLD was shown in November by Bandai at an "Internet Innovators Pavilion" at COMDEX '96 in Las Vegas. However, Bandai Digital Entertainment formally announced at COMDEX that the ship date would be delayed to December and that the price would be cut.

The @WORLD console and about 15 launch titles began shipping from Bandai the week of December 2, 1996. With the exception of a few Mac mail-order vendors, the shipments were too late for the holiday season and would not reach retail stores until January 1997, with peripherals to follow. The price of the basic system was reduced to $499. Atworld.Net internet service was available for $19.95 a month.

## Discontinuation

By May 1997, amid reports that the consoles were not selling well in the consumer market, Bandai Digital Entertainment organized a Pippin @WORLD Business Unit to refocus the platform towards vertical markets such as corporate intranets.

On February 27, 1998, Bandai announced that it would abandon the Pippin platform and close its subsidiary Bandai Digital Entertainment on March 13, 1998. Bandai had sold only 30,000 units in Japan and 12,000 units in the United States, missing its original sales targets of 200,000 and 300,000 units, respectively. DayStar Digital helped liquidate as many as 2,000 unsold units. The remaining inventory was repackaged for sale in Japan as the now-rare "black Atmark".

## Gallery

Pippin @WORLD 3-box set (PW-20000).Pippin @WORLD 2-box set (PW-20010).Pippin @WORLD box 1 (console).Back of an @WORLD console.Contents of Pippin @WORLD box 3.
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Apple's Pippin: A Pip--or a Pipsqueak? by Peter Burrows, BusinessWeek. 1996-04-01. Archived 2013-06-04.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 E3 and Other Adventures in Electronic Entertainment by Jake Richter, *PC Graphics Report*. 1996-05-21.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 @World: Pippin shippin' by David Morgenstern, *MacWEEK* vol.10-46. 1996-12-02. Archived 1996-12-20.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Options will make Pippin 2 a home, network computer by David Morgenstern, *MacWeek* vol.10-37. 1996-09-30. Archived 1996-12-20.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bandai Says Goodbye to Pippin by Chris Johnston, GameSpot. 1998-02-27. Archived 1998-12-05.
6. ↑ Bandai Pippin FAQ, *The Mac Geek*. Accessed 2017-04-15.
7. ↑ Bandai and Katz Media announce cooperation to develop European Pippin Market, Katz Media. Archived on 1997-07-13.
8. ↑ 内部その１ (Japanese) by Kankoba, MAISON PiPPiN, GeoCities. Archived 2002-11-15.
9. ↑ 内部その３ (Japanese) by Kankoba, MAISON PiPPiN, GeoCities. Archived 2009-08-05.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Hacking the Pippin by Phil Beesley, Vintage Macintosh. 2007-10-22. Archived 2017-08-17.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Bandai Pippin Image Archive by Bryan G. Villados, *The Mac Geek*. Accessed 2017-04-15.
12. ↑ Deux version de la Pippin @World américaine (French) by Pierre Dandumont, *La Journal du Lapin*. 2019-10-27.
13. ↑ Pippin game system, Computer History Museum. Accessed 2019-01-21.
14. ↑ Apple’s Pippin and Bandai’s @World: Missing the Mark(et), Low End Mac. 2006-09-22.
15. ↑ Bandai Digital Entertainment bundles Motorola 28.8 modem with Pippin @World Internet TV appliance., BusinessWire. 1996-09-23.
16. ↑ PSINet Inc. Announces In-Room Internet Pilot With Holiday Inn Worldwide by Brian Muys, Hospitality Net. 1996-08-19.
17. ↑ NC coalition frames plans for Net boxes by James Staten, *MacWeek* vol.10-21. 1996-05-27. Archived 1996-12-20.
18. ↑ The Comdex Crawler: Browser Box Wars by Mark Frauenfelder, *Wired*. 1996-11-19.
19. ↑ Bandai delays Pippin box, CNET. 1996-11-18.
20. ↑ Pippin @World gets Ethernet, *CNET News*. 1997-05-21. Archived 2004-11-25.
21. ↑ Background of BDE, Studio02. Accessed 2018-06-25.
22. ↑ Power Ranger - A Japanese Toymaker Invades Cyberspace by Cesar Bacani and Murakami Mutsuko, CNN. 1996-04-19.
23. ↑ *Video Game Bible 1985-2002*, p.59 by Andy Slaven, Trafford Publishing. 2002.

## External links

* Bandai Digital Entertainment's English page (archived 1998-01-24)
	+ Pippin @WORLD Technical Specifications (archived 1998-01-24)
* Bandai Pippin Museum & Archive at The Mac Geek
* Bandai Pippin @World at RF Generation
* Bandai @World: Underwhelming Pippin fails to impress by Roman Loyola at *MacUser* (1997-04, p.28)
* Brochure for Bandai Pippin @World at Imgur (2015-11-14)
* Pippin @World at Old-Computers.com
* Test de la Pippin @World américaine by Pierre Dandumont at *Le Journal du Lapin* (French, 2019-05-05)
* Apple Bandai Pippin at Wikipedia