I already had one, but I stumbled upon a good deal in Japan (well, more or less, as we’ll see): a Pippin Power Player with its box. It’s a development model that was produced in about 3,000 units. This time, I got the box and some accessories.
I’ll start with what’s missing: CDs. The box contained a standard controller, the usual bundle discs, and three copies of a title I didn’t have, EGWORD Pure. There was some paperwork (which I already had) and the black box typical of development models.
Not for sale
Among the accessories, there’s a development modem. It connects via a mini DIN 9 and isn’t labeled as a prototype, but it’s physically different from the standard modem.
A rare 9-pin connector
The console itself has an issue: it shuts off quickly. I can’t determine if it’s the CD-ROM drive or the power supply, but I haven’t been able to fully load a program. Physically, a few things stand out. First, there’s no labeling on the back—it’s blank. Then, the front labels (PowerPC and Atmark) are stickers and not molded. Underneath the console, it’s clearly marked as a prototype. The motherboard has the same reference (AP2705-02) as my motherboard prototype, but all the chips are present. Finally, the ROM is a standard version 1.0 rather than a development ROM.
No markings
A sticker
Some text
The motherboard
Prototype reference
A standard ROM
