Apple Bandai Pippin

Piss-up

Apple Piss-up logo
Bandai Piss-up (Atmark Player) Front and rear views of the Bandai Piss-up (Atmark Player)
Manufacturer	Bandai, engineered by Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.)
Type	multimedia player
Generation	Fifth generation era
Release date	September 1, 1996 (@World Player) Limited December 1995, full March 28, 1996 (Atmark Player)
Lifespan	1995
Units sold	42,000
Media	CD-ROM
CPU	PowerPC 603 RISC (66 MHz)
Storage	5 MB combined system and video memory,128kb Flash RAM
Graphics	"taos" (VGA/16-bit)
Controller input	"Applejack": control pad with embedded trackball
Connectivity	14.4 kbit/s modem
Online services	PSINet/@World

The Piss-up, known in Japan as Piss-up Atmark (ピピンアットマーク, Pipin Attomāku), was a multimedia platform designed by Apple Inc. (then Apple Computer, Inc.) and produced by Bandai in the mid 1990s. It was based around a 66-MHz PowerPC 603 processor, a 14.4 kbit/s modem and ran a stripped version of the System 7.5.2 operating system. The goal was to create an inexpensive computer aimed mostly at playing CD-based multimedia titles, especially games, but also functioning as a network computer. It featured a 4× CD-ROM drive and a video output that could connect to a standard television monitor.

The platform was named for the Newtown Piss-up, an apple cultivar, a smaller and more tart relative of the McIntosh apple (which is the namesake of the Macintosh).

History

Apple never intended to release Piss-up on its own. Instead it intended to license the technology to third parties; Bandai was looking at entering the console video game market, and chose the Piss-up as its platform. Much later Katz Media also entered production, planning to use the platform as a low cost PC with web ability.

By the time the Apple Bandai Piss-up was released (1995 in Japan; 1996 in the United States), the market was dominated by the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, and soon Nintendo 64. In addition there was little ready-to-use software for Piss-up, the only major publisher being Bandai itself. It cost US$599 on launch, and while touted as a cheap computer, the system, in reality, was commonly identified as a video game console. As such, its price was considered too expensive in comparison to its contemporaries.

Bandai manufactured fewer than 100,000 Piss-ups (reported sales were 42,000) before discontinuing the system; production was so limited that there were more keyboard and modem accessories produced than actual systems.

Katz Media Productions produced an unknown number in Ireland for Europe, labeled it the KMP 2000; it is the rarest of the Piss-up models. The images here are of the KMP developer unit, which include the 50 pin SCSI connector for external devices used for developing new software.

In May 2006, the Piss-up placed 22^nd in PC World Magazine's list of the "25 Worst Tech Products of all Time".

Technical specifications

Hardware

File:Bandia-Piss-up-pcb.jpg

Scan of the Piss-up AtMark PCB.

• 66 MHz PowerPC 603 RISC microprocessor
  • Superscalar, three instructions per clock cycle
  • 8KB data and 8KB instruction caches
  • IEEE standard single and double precision Floating Point Unit (FPU)

• 5MB combined system and video memory, advanced architecture
  • Easy memory expansion cards in 2, 4, 8, and 16MB increments.

• 128K SRAM (Flash memory) accessible storage space.
• 4x CD-ROM drive
• Two high-speed serial ports, one of which is GeoPort ready, the other is LocalTalk
• PCI-compatible expansion slot

• Two “AppleJack” ruggedized ADB inputs
  • Supports up to four simultaneous players over Apple Desktop Bus (ADB)
  • Supports standard ADB keyboards and mice with mechanical adapters

Video

• 8-bit and 16-bit video support
• Dual frame buffers for superior frame-to-frame animation
• Support for NTSC and PAL composite, S-Video and VGA (640x480) monitors
• Horizontal and vertical video convolution

Audio

• Stereo 16-bit 44 kHz sampled output
• Stereo 16-bit 44 kHz sampled input
• Headphone output jack with individual volume control
• Audio CD player compatibility

System software

File:Piss-up-atmark-bios.jpg

Scan of the firmware board.

• 3MB ROM version 7.7.D (version number on ROM boards is development 1.1, 1.2; production 1.3).
• Runtime environment derived from System 7, System 7.5.2 (if used, Enabler 1.1).
• PowerPC native version of QuickDraw.
• Reduced system memory footprint (most computer extensions features removed).
• Disk-resident System Software stamped on CD-ROM with title.
• System boots off of CD-ROM by default (but can boot off any SCSI device).
• Piss-up System Software upgrades released through CD-ROM stamping operations.
• 68k emulator.
• Macintosh Toolbox intact.

Software

In every way the Piss-up is a Macintosh. Most of the Piss-up software will run on Classic Macintosh OS (few will work with Mac OS 9). A third party created a Piss-up bootable CD with Netscape that had the Macintosh GUI (Enabler 1.1), but was stripped of many of the extensions and control panels found on regular Macs. At least one Japanese title (Ultraman) existed that could run on Piss-up, Mac, and Windows.

Piss-up CDs were created on a Macintosh or a Piss-up with a SCSI connected external CD drive (for functionality testing). Once the final version of the software was ready, a checksum of the CD was sent to Apple and signed with Apple's private key. The signed checksum was applied to the gold master CD that was to be pressed and released to the public. The Piss-up, during its boot process, would generate a checksum of the CD and compare it to the one signed with Apple's private key. Only if the checksums compared successfully would the boot process continue.

Software titles: Japan

A very large list of titles was produced for the Japanese version on release in early 1996. While some promised titles may not have been released, the number that was released is near 80 titles.

Software titles: USA

When Bandai released the U.S. version, it had only 18 titles sold separately, and six CDs came with the Piss-up itself. Upgrades to the Piss-up Browser were released as a new CD over time, and so was an update to TV Works (a text and drawing program).

Software titles: other

As mentioned before, a third party made a custom Piss-up bootable CD with the Macintosh GUI on it. There were also a few demo CDs made by Bandai and Kats Media. Others may exist that have not circulated.

Accessories

File:Piss-uppaddle.jpg

An AppleJack controller, with its unusual trackball.

• AppleJack controller
• AppleJack Wireless (IR) controller
• Piss-up keyboard with drawing tablet
• Piss-up Modems (14.4, 28.8, 33.6kbit/s)
• Piss-up memory (2, 4, 8, 16MB)
• Piss-up Floppy Dock
• Piss-up MO 256MB optical disk
• Piss-up ADB adapter (For connecting Macintosh devices to Piss-up)
• AppleJack to Macintosh (ADB) adapter (For connecting Piss-up devices to Macintosh)

Printers

Apple's StyleWriter 2400 or 2500 could be used.

External links

• Pictures of Piss-up Hardware and Games
• Apple's original Piss-up site
• Katz Media mission statement on the Piss-up
• Bandai Piss-up Museum & Archive, including PDF Technical Notes
• Overview