Bandai Digital Entertainment

****Bandai Digital Entertainment** Company** (BDE or BDEC) refers to Japanese and American subsidiaries of Bandai that published software titles for the Pippin Atmark and Pippin @WORLD consoles, respectively.

## History

BDEC's parent company Bandai licensed the technology for the Pippin platform from Apple Computer in December 1994. Bandai promoted early Pippin development under the name of **Bandai Digital Software** at the 1995 Tokyo Toy Show in June. **Bandai Digital Entertainment Corporation** was established in October 1995 to support the platform and developers in the United States. **Bandai Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd.** was formed on January 9, 1996 to support the platform in Japan.

Bandai intended to have Pippin consoles ready for the 1995 Christmas shopping season, but fell behind schedule. $93 million was spent on marketing and development leading up to the launch of the Pippin Atmark console in Japan in March 1996. The American version of the console, the Pippin @WORLD, was unveiled on May 15, 1996, the day before the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. $50 million was budgeted to promote it in the United States. Bandai moved its rapidly expanding U.S. operations from Cerritos, California to a newly-built headquarters building in Cypress, California in October 1996. However, the Pippin @WORLD did not ship until the following December, also missing much of the 1996 holiday season.

Bandai Digital Entertainment held "Business Solution Seminars" on November 29, 1996 and February 20, 1997 to promote the Pippin Atmark to businesses in Japan, which included case studies of its use in hotels and as display kiosks. Yuji Hirano, president of Bandai Digital Entertainment USA, denied a report by *Nihon Keizai Shinbun* on May 11, 1997 that Bandai would withdraw the Pippin platform. On the next day, Bandai halted manufacturing of new consoles due to poor sales. Its software publishing unit was rorganized to publish cross-platform as well as standalone titles for Macintosh and Windows. To counter negative reports from consumer market, Bandai organized a Pippin @WORLD Business Unit in the United States to refocus the platform towards vertical markets such as corporate intranets. By September 1, 1996, Apple ceded control of Pippin developer support to Bandai Digital Entertainment.

### Closure

After only selling 30,000 and 12,000 units respectively in Japan and the United States, Bandai announced on February 27, 1998 that it would officially abandon the Pippin platform and close Bandai Digital Entertainment on March 13, 1998. Its facilities and staff were absorbed by other divisions of Bandai. A department at Bandai's development headquarters was assigned to continue providing support for Pippin users until December 31, 2002.

## List of games

### Released

*Main article: List of Pippin titles*
* Better Homes and Gardens Cool Crafts (1996, Pippin)
* CineNoir (1996, Pippin)
* Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia: @World Edition (1996, Pippin)
* EGWORD Pure for Pippin (1996, Pippin, Japan-only)
* Exotic Sushi (1996, Pippin)
* Gokigen Mama no Omakase Diary (1996, Pippin/Macintosh, Japan-only)
* Gundam 0079: The War for Earth (1996, Windows/Macintosh)
* Gundam Tactics: Mobility Fleet 0079 (1996, Pippin/Macintosh, Windows, Japan-only)
* Gundam Virtual Modeler Light (1996, Pippin/Macintosh, Windows, Japan-only)
* Gus Goes to Cyberopolis (1996, Pippin)
* Gus Goes to the Kooky Carnival in search of Rant (1996, Pippin)
* The Home Depot: Home Improvement 1-2-3 (1996, Pippin)
* The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime (1997, Macintosh)
* Mobile Suit Gundam: White Base - The 13th Independent Force (1997, Pippin/Macintosh, Windows, Japan-only)
* Mobile Suit Gundam: Zion Dukedom Military-File (1997, Pippin/Macintosh/Windows, Japan-only)
* Movioke (1997, Windows/Macintosh)
* Mr. Potato Head Saves Veggie Valley (1996, Pippin)
* Power Rangers Zeo Versus The Machine Empire (1996, Pippin, Windows/Macintosh)
* Playskool Puzzles (1996, Pippin)
* Racing Days (1996, Pippin, Macintosh)
* @Card SD Gundam Gaiden (1997, Pippin/Macintosh, Japan-only)
* SD Gundam Wars (1997, Pippin/Macintosh, Windows, Japan-only)
* Super Marathon (1996, Pippin)
* Tamagotchi CD-ROM (1997, Pippin/Macintosh, Windows)
* Tunin'Glue (1996, Pippin/Macintosh, Japan-only)
* Victorian Park (1996, Pippin/Macintosh, Windows, Japan-only)

### Cancelled

*Main article: List of unreleased Pippin titles*
* Gundam 0079: The War for Earth (Pippin)
* The Journeyman Project: Pegasus Prime (Pippin)
* Movioke (Pippin)
* Play-Doh Creations (Pippin)
* Terror T.R.A.X.: Track of the Vampire (Pippin)

## References

1. ↑ Bandai Pippin FAQ, *The Mac Geek*.
2. ↑ 1995年東京おもちゃショー　オーレンジャー　ビーファイター (Japanese) by kbigstone, YouTube. 2013-01-19.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Background of BDE, Studio02. Accessed 2018-06-25.
4. ↑ （株）バンダイが日本法人の子会社設立 (Japanese), Apple/Mac Technology Lab. 1995-01-23.
5. ↑ 'Morphing' Into The Toy World's Top Ranks by Andrew Pollack, *The New York Times*. 1995-03-12.
6. ↑ Power Ranger - A Japanese Toymaker Invades Cyberspace by Cesar Bacani and Murakami Mutsuko, CNN. 1996-04-19.
7. ↑ E3 and Other Adventures in Electronic Entertainment by Jake Richter, *PC Graphics Report*. 1996-05-21.
8. ↑ Apple's Pippin: A Pip--or a Pipsqueak? by Peter Burrows, BusinessWeek. 1996-04-01. Archived 2013-06-04.
9. ↑ Power Rangers Maker Moving U.S. Office to Cypress by Greg Miller and Bill Billiter, *Los Angeles Times*. 1996-08-16.
10. ↑ @World: Pippin shippin' by David Morgenstern, *MacWEEK* vol.10-46. 1996-12-02. Archived 1996-12-20.
11. ↑ Developer News Letter No.8 (Japanese), Pippin ATMARK Developer Support Center. 1996-12-15.
12. ↑ Business Solution Seminor*(sic)* (Japanese), Bandai Digital Entertainment. 1997-02-17. Archived 1997-06-27.
13. ↑ What's New? 5月11日付け日本経済新聞 「バンダイピピン撤退」の記事について (Japanese), Atmark Channel Home Page. Archived 1997-06-29.
14. ↑ Bandai Stops Making Pippin Atmark Machines, *Wall Street Journal*. 1997-05-12.
15. ↑ Pippin @World gets Ethernet, *CNET News*. 1997-05-21. Archived 2004-11-25.
16. ↑ Pippin News: Bandai Takes Responsibility for Pippin Developer Support in the United States, The Apple Pippin Market Development Group. 1996-09-01. Archived 1997-04-14.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Bandai Says Goodbye to Pippin by Chris Johnston, GameSpot. 1998-02-27. Archived 1998-12-05.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 バンダイ・デジタル・エンタテインメント解散 by David Morgenstern, *MacWEEK / Japan* 1998-02-27. Archived 1999-04-29.
19. ↑ テレビワークスPOP その仕様差は・・・ (Japanese) by MAISON PiPPiN, GeoCities. Archived 2000-03-07.
20. ↑ On the Apple PiPP!N by Stephen Hackett, 512 Pixels. 2012-11-18.

## External links

* Bandai Digital Entertainment official English website (archived 1998-01-24)
* Bandai Digital Entertainment official Japanese website (archived 1997-10-25)
* Bandai Digital Entertainment at the Internet Movie Database
* Bandai Digital Entertainment (Company) at Giant Bomb
* Bandai Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. at MobyGames
* Bandai Digital Entertainment Corp. at MobyGames