Logos of Katz Media SARL (top) and AS (bottom).
Katz Media was a French-Norwegian company that was founded in 1996 to market the Pippin-compatible Katz Media Player 2000 console in Europe.[1] Katz Media SARL was based in Boulogne-Billancourt, France and was focused on hardware. Its parent company, Katz Media Holding Limited, was founded on March 28, 1996 and based in Dublin, Ireland.[2] Katz Media AS was a subsidiary of Olympia Finans AS of Oslo, Norway and was focused on software.[3][4]
History[]
A Katz Media Player 2000 (KMP 2000) console with Pippin Expansion Unit.
On June 4, 1996, Katz Media became the second company to sign a license agreement with Apple Computer to distribute Pippin systems.[5][6] Katz Media had projected sales of about NOK 35 million kr (approx. US$ 5,350,000 in June 1996).[7][8] Bandai supplied initial consoles as an OEM.[9] Katz Media partnered with Alps Electric to carry out final assembly and warehousing of future units in Ireland.[10] The Katz Media Player 2000 began shipping in Europe on March 17, 1997 with a focus on industry segments such as hotels, health care, travel, government, and education.[11] Accétéra handled distribution in the French mass retail market.[10]
During Marché international des Inforoutes et du Multimédia in May 1997, Groupe Arborescence announced a partnership with Katz Media to develop and market the Arborescence Network Centric computer for the Canadian market.[12] It was to have been based on the KMP 2000 with a custom Pippin Expansion Unit as part of a "Arborescence/Katz Media Pippin package" to be targeted towards Canadian consumers who did not have internet access. Though prototyped by Primetech Electronics,[13] it was not publicly released.[14]
Titles[]
A Katz Pippin Demo CD being loaded into a KMP 2000.
- See also: Category: Katz Media titles
Katz Media SARL announced in September 1996 that leading publishers had committed to Pippinizing their existing multimedia titles, including:[15]
- Hachette Filipacchi Multimedia: ELLE Cooking.
- Headbone Interactive: Elroy Goes Bugzerk, Elroy Hits the Pavement.
- Microfolie's: Commander Blood series.
- Montparnasse Multimedia SARL: Le Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, and Michel Ange series.
- Navigo Multimedia GmbH: Janosch series.
- Organa: Le Livre de Lulu, P.A.W.S.: Personal Automated Wagging System.
- 3ème Vague: Katz Pippin Demo CD.[10]
- 7th Level GmbH: Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time''.
A german demo disc of unreleased software for the Katz Media Player 2000.
Katz Media AS stated in 1997 that it had acquired publishing rights to about 40-50 CD-ROM titles, including:[7]
- DigiZINE (Win/Mac)[16]
- Interpose (DOS)[17]
- Grandpa & Me! (DOS)[18]
- Seaside Sam (Win 3.1/Mac)[19]
- Twigger (DOS/Win 95)[20]
- Whitworth's Planet Earth (Win 3.1/Mac)[21]
However, only a small number were being developed for the Pippin platform, due to cost.[22] It is uncertain which titles had ever been ported or released as Katz Media was also seeking distribution partners at the time.[23]
“We had rights to about four or five titles, but it turned out to be very expensive to get companies to develop games for the console. I remember I was in touch with LucasArts at the time.”[22] — Pål Høiås
General Manager, Katz Media
Closure[]
With the return of Steve Jobs at Apple in 1997, further development on the platform was cancelled.[24] A department was opened in Paris in an attempt to salvage the KMP 2000 business by utilizing the consoles in kiosks, but Katz Media went bankrupt in 1998.[22] Only about 1,000 units are believed to have been sold by the time Katz Media's websites went down in 1999,[25] Remaining inventory was sold off to DayStar Digital.[26] Katz Media Holding Limited has since been liquidated and is not affiliated with other companies presently operating under similar names.[2]
References[]
- ↑ Company Backgrounder, Katz Media SARL. Archived 1997-07-01.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Profile: Katz Media Holding Limited, Kompany. Accessed 2018-01-21.
- ↑ Katz Media continues with Pippin, Telecom.paper. 1997-07-25.
- ↑ Apple Grants Katz License To Use Pippin Technology by Richard Hudson, The Wall Street Journal. 1996-06-05.
- ↑ Katz Media Signs Worldwide Licensing Agreement for Apple's Pippin Technology, Katz Media SARL. 1996-06-04. Archived 1997-07-13.
- ↑ Katz Media AS Signs Worldwide Licensing Agreement of Apple's Pippin Technology to make the world's best multimedia technology available to "the rest of us.", Apple Computer. 1996-06-05. Archived 1999-02-20.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 About Katz Media AS, Katz Media AS. Archived 1997-10-23.
- ↑ U.S. Dollar to Norwegian Krone Spot Exchange Rates for 1996 from the Bank of England, PoundSterling LIVE. Accessed 2018-06-18.
- ↑ Bandai and Katz Media announce cooperation to develop European Pippin Market, Katz Media SARL. 1997-01-29. Archived 1997-07-13.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Katz Media Announces Product Strategy and Cooperation with Strategic Partners for Pippin Platform, Katz Media SARL. 1996-09-18. Archived 1997-07-13.
- ↑ Katz Media Begins Shipping Pippins in Europe, Katz Media SARL. 1997-03-17. Archived 1997-07-13.
- ↑ Press: Arborescence launches the first Canadian-content Network Centric computer, Katz Media. 1997-05-22. Archived 1997-07-13.
- ↑ Arborescence Launches KMP 2000 with New Peripherals, The Arborescence Group. 1997-05-22. Archived 1998-01-29.
- ↑ Arborescence introduce the first COMBO Pippin doc/base module! by Joe Kudrna, O'Grady's PowerPage: Pippin NewsPage. 1997-08-03. Archived 1998-02-07.
- ↑ Katz Media Announces Partnerships with Multimedia Developers and Publishers for Pippin Platform, Katz Media SARL. 1996-09-18. Archived 1997-07-13.
- ↑ DigiZINE, Katz Media AS. Archived 1997-10-23.
- ↑ Interpose, Katz Media AS. Archived 1997-10-23.
- ↑ Grandpa & me!, Katz Media AS. Archived 1997-10-23.
- ↑ Seaside Sam, Katz Media AS. Archived 1997-10-23.
- ↑ Twigger/Win95, Katz Media AS. Archived 1998-07-02.
- ↑ Whitworth's Planet Earth, Katz Media AS. Archived 1997-10-23.
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 This is a Norwegian game console developed for Apple (Norwegian) by Martin Gramnæs, PressFire. 2015-03-11.
- ↑ Distributors Wanted, Katz Media AS. Archived 1997-10-23.
- ↑ For the good of the company? Five Apple products Steve Jobs killed by Casey Johnston, Ars Technica. 2011-08-25.
- ↑ The Ultimate Guide to Classic Game Consoles (p.64-66) by Kevin Baker, Google Books. 2013-05-23.
- ↑ Apple's Folly by Adam Volk, The Gameological Society. 2013-06.
See also[]
External links[]
- Katz Media AS (archived 1998-07-02)
- Katz Media AS at MobyGames
- In The News at Katz Media SARL (archived 1998-04-15)
- The PIPPIN from Katz Media (archived 1998-04-15)
- Norwegian game console (Polish) at MojaNorwegia (2015-03-14)
- Apple Pippin: Katz Media Player 2000 at Wikipedia