Franky Online is a CD-ROM-based web portal which was bundled with Pippin Atmark consoles in Japan.[1][2]
Features[]
Users navigated in an RPG style to access online features, such as:[2][3]
- Bulletin board system
- Entertainment / online newsmagazines
- Network gaming
- Online shopping
- Internet gateway services
- Homepage hosting
Up to 2 hours of service were included with the base fee of JP¥500 per month, after which there was a surcharge of ¥10 per additional minute. Dial-up connection speeds of 9,600 to 28,800 baud (bps) were supported.[4]
Releases[]
Franky Online was developed by Future Pirates and first released on June 21, 1995 as a hybrid disc for Macintosh, Windows 3.1 and Windows 95.[3]
The Pippin version was released by Bandai Digital Entertainment on March 28, 1996 with the launch of the special "Network set" (「ネットワークセット」) in Japan. When a lower-priced base "Pippin Atmark body set" (「ピピン＠アットマーク」「本体セット」) was introduced on June 15, 1996, Franky Online became available separately as part of an "optional Internet Kit" (「別売インターネットキット」).[5]
Users observed that features appeared to be "under construction" unless the latest software release was being used.[6] The Franky Online webpage was taken down by April 2002.[7]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Apple Pippin scans by DFJustin, The Internet Archive. 2013-08-10.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Franky Online for Pippin (Japanese), Third Stage. Archived 1999-09-15.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Franky Online (English), Future Pirates. Archived 2000-12-10.
- ↑ Franky Online (Japanese), Future Pirates. Archived 1999-11-11.
- ↑ Spec. by chemy cano, Pipp!n@Archive (Japanese). Archived 2007-02-05.
- ↑ General Trouble (Japanese), PIP-TIPS. Archived 1999-02-03.
- ↑ Franky Online, Future Pirates. Archived 2002-04-18.
See also[]
External links[]
- Franky Online at Future Pirates (archived 1998-01-17)
- Swashbuckling in Cyberspace by Bob Johnstone, Tokyo Journal
- Japogames & Japaneseimation (German) by Volker Grassmuck, Telepolis (archived 1998-05-13)
