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The Video Game Console Library - NUON Technology

NUON Technology

  HANDS ON REVIEW by Marriott_Guy            DW FACTS by Dark Watcher
 
Developer Manufacturer Release Date Country(s) Initial Price Model Number  Game Releases  Overall Rating
VM Labs Toshiba, RCA, Samsung Feb-00 USA, Europe, Korea $250 - $350 USD See Below 8 6.5
Ratings Reviews Pictures\Video Specs Games\Emulation Models Clones Links  
   

Ratings
Ratings are based on the available technology at the time of release.  Ratings based on a 10 point scale (10 being excellent\very rare).

Console Design (Appearance and overall functionality)

 05

Console Durability (Sturdy and hearty or frail and fragile)

 08

Controllers (Design, response, feel and ease of use)

 07

Graphics (Graphical capability and game presentation)

 06

Audio (Sound capabilities, including music, speech, effects)

 09

Media (Game media format, design, durability)

 09

Packaging (Appeal and durability of packaging)

 07

Game Library (Quality and quantity of game offerings)

 02

Innovations (Technological strides on the industry)

 06

Gamer Value (Is this a good investment for the gamer?)

 01

Collector Value (Is this a good investment for the collector?)

 07

Games Rarity (General availability of most games)

 07

Console Rarity (General availability of a functional system)

 05
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    Reviews

  DW FACTS
  - by Dark Watcher

VM Labs Inc. had developed a technology called NUON which transformed passive digital video products such as DVD players, digital satellite receivers and digital set-top boxes into complete interactive video game entertainment systems.

The powerful NUON processor provided the raw horsepower to decode digital video and audio, while delivering advanced trick modes and an enhanced user interface. At the same time, the NUON operating system provided a powerful platform for interactive content, enhanced movies, 3D videogames and many other applications.

The heart of NUON was the Aries 3 chip. The Aries 3 was based on a unique 128-bit, four-way-parallel very long instruction word processor architecture. In addition to the video and audio decoding and trick-play functions, the chip performs all system-management and CPU functions. More specifically, Aries 3 featured MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 program stream and video decode; MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 Layers 1 and 2 audio decode; 5.1-channel Dolby Digital audio decode; extended DVD trick modes; 32-voice wave table synthesizer; MP3 decode; an integrated Content Scrambling System descrambling module; video scaling, and 3D video gaming. A hardware block placed on-chip to assist MPEG video decoding was designed to free up the bulk of the VLIW device's programmable processing power: 3,024 MIPS at peak and 864 MIPS typical. OK...if your still with us, it was a powerful chip for its time.

The first NUON-enhanced DVD-Video software/movie title was Fox Home Video's Bedazzled, released on March 13, 2001. Samsung and Toshiba launched NUON DVD players soon after. Other studios and game publishers opted to wait until the installed base grew. Toshiba’s first released NUON powered DVD player was the Toshiba SD-2300. Samsung followed up with their own Samsung Extiva N-2000.

The concept of playing games on a DVD player was unique until the inevitable release of the Sony Playstation 2. Other next gen systems began to follow suit. Why get a DVD player that plays games when you could get a video game console that can play DVD? This began to hurt sales on NUON enhanced DVD players. The Playstation 2 and other systems offered a broader library of games, and were still far cheaper.

VM Labs eventually ran into financial troubles and filed for bankruptcy in December 2001. By March 2002, the company's assets were purchased by Genesis Microchip, and a new division, NUON Semiconductor, was formed to market NUON chips under the Aries name. On July 24, 2002, Genesis Microchip laid off the entire NUON division, and NUON became history.

The library of NUON-enhanced discs is not large but does include a handful of games as well as the movies. A few of the released titles were Bedazzled, Dr. Dolittle 2 and Planet of the Apes from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. Also MGM Home Entertainment's special edition re-release of the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension. Some NUON games can be seen below.
 


  HANDS ON REVIEW
  - by Marriott_Guy (23-Feb-08)

In late 1994, Richard Miller, the former VP of Technology at Atari from 1989 through 1994, created a company called VM Labs. Having gained extensive experience in hardware development (his team created the Atari Jaguar), Mr. Miller focused his company's energies on creating a new technology to renovate the passive experience delivered by DVD players and digital satellite receivers. In 2000 their efforts resulted in the release of the NUON, a powerful 128-bit processor that was to be embedded within these types of digital video products. This technology produced excellent results in processing complex 3D graphics and digital video that enabled the delivery of interactive content, enhanced DVD playback (smooth scanning and zoom features) and, the point of writing this review, video games.

NUON technology was released in a handful of DVD players (the first being the Toshiba SD-2300, pictured in this review). The general purpose was not unlike previous attempts at being an all-in-one multimedia playing machine (Memorex VIS, Philips CD-i, Pioneer LaserActive, et al). VM Labs also followed suit by planning to license the technology to various manufacturers (like the 3DO Company did in 1993). The reason that NUON technology was only released in select DVD players and not as a stand alone video game console was based on pure statistics. At the time, only 30% of the general public had embraced video game technology in their homes while the DVD player market was booming and was projected to have 100% penetration within 5-10 years. This was sound business planning, except for one key fact that they failed to give proper attention to - the release of a video game console that also played DVDs - the Sony Playstation 2.

Enthusiasts within the respective DVD and video game market are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but it is safe to say that there are many more video game devotees that also are DVD fans than vice versa (especially in 2000). The decision to market a DVD player that could play games ultimately proved to be incorrect - the DVD aficionado did not necessarily play video games nor cared about them. Sure, the smooth scrolling zoom and scan features that a NUON DVD player offered were cool, but would the public pay the extra $100 or so for these features? The answer to this question is rather obvious, but first let's take a look at the NUON in more detail.

The NUON chip (which was previously known as Merlin and then Project X) was truly a powerful piece of hardware at the time. The technology is based on the Aries 3 chip. Please check out Dark Watcher's description of the technical details in his DW FACTS on this page.


This processing power described produced games graphically equivalent to early Playstation 2 games. A total of eight games were released for the system, the most notable being Iron Soldier 3 and Tempest 3000 (developed by Jeff Minter, renowned classic home computer and Atari programmer). Though the developers varied on these releases, the majority waited to see if NUON could grab a significant hold of the DVD player market share prior to investing into this technology. In the end, it did not and third party support (both from the hardware and software fields) quickly dissipated, adding to one of the final nails in the coffin.


The NUON essential failed due to incorrectly identifying the needs of the ever increasing DVD player buying market. DVD enthusiasts were just that - not necessarily video game driven buyers. VM Labs went bankrupt in 2001 and sold off the NUON technology to Genesis Microchip, which in turn retired further development of the NUON in July, 2002.

NUON-enabled systems can be acquired easily from eBay and other like sources. A loose system is cheap - right around $20-$40 or so (USD). There is not necessarily a highly desirable unit, though the Toshiba SD-2300 and Samsung Extiva N-2000 (first system released). For a hardware CIB unit, expect to pay $75-$100 (USD). Some of the games for the system are hard to come by and will run you a few bucks - most notably the Next Tetris (only included in the Toshiba system) and Tempest 3000 (the best game). These will run you around $70 or so - the more common games around $20-$30. This is a recommended purchase for the hardware collector (video game or DVD), but not necessarily for the general gamer.
 

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     Pictures & Video


Toshiba SD-2300 - Front
NUON - Games Collection
Toshiba SD-2300 - Back
 
NUON General Review

Video courtesy of Dark0ps.
  		 
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    Specs
Processor Type Processor Speed

Other Processor Information

 RAM \ Video RAM

Aries 3 (128-bit)

  Unknown Unknown  Unknown

Screen Resolution

Color Palette

Polygons \ Sprites

Audio
360 x 240 (for most games) Unknown Unknown  Full Digital Audio \ Enhancements

Media Format

Media Capacity

Games Released

Supported Formats

DVD

 4.7 Gig  8 DVD, CDR (some), MP3 (some)

Internal Storage

External \ Removable Storage

Game Controllers

Other Game \ Peripheral Devices
 None (password continue/save)  None  Standard game pad and/or
 TV-style  remote		  Network, Mixers, et. al.
Controller Ports Network Ports

Other Ports

Audio \ Video
 Uses NUON ports (1 or 2) None (requires optional device)  Varied (headphone with some) Varied (all with the standard,
some with optical ports)

Power Supply

Other Outputs

 Other Details \ Notes
Standard 110w/220w
 Built-In Power Supply		  Varied None at this time 
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    Games & Emulation

The following lists the games released for this system.

Ballistic
Release Date: 2000
Developer: Mitchell Corporation
Crayon Shin-Chan
Release Date: 2001 (Korea)
Developer: Okiyasu
FreeFall 3050 A.D.
Release Date: 2000
Developer: Total Arkade Software
Iron Soldier 3
Release Date: 2001
Developer: Eclipse Software Design


Video courtesy of studio3do.
 

Merlin Racing
Release Date: 2000
Developer: Miracle Designs
Space Invaders XL
Release Date: 2001
Developer: Taito
The Next Tetris
Release Date: 2001
Developer: Hasbro Interactive
Tempest 3000
Release Date: 2000
Developer: Llamasoft


Video courtesy of studio3do.
  
The following lists links to third party sponsored game emulators   
Program Website Description
NUANCE http://www.nuon-dome.com/download.html

This NUON emulator for WIN32 plays a few commercial games. The emulator was developed by Mike Perry
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    Models

The following lists additional authorized releases for this console.
 
Extiva DVD-N2000
Release Date: 2000
Developer: Samsung
SD2300
Release Date: 2000
Developer: Toshiba
DVD-N501
Release Date: 2001
Developer: Samsung
DVD-N504
Release Date: 2001 (Europe)
Developer: Samsung


 
DVD-N505
Release Date: 2001 (Europe)
Developer: Samsung


  		DVD-N591
Release Date: 2001 (Korea)
Developer: Samsung

 DRC300N
Release Date: 2002
Developer: RCA

 DRC480N
Release Date: 2003
Developer: RCA
Model information confirmed and all pictures of the above models courtesy of the NUON-Dome.

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    Clones

The following lists non-licensed additional releases.
No clones were released for this system.
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    Links

The following sites\resources are highly recommended for this system.  References utilized in compiling this data are denoted with an (#).
Name Website

The NUON-Dome (the best internet resource for everything NUON)

 http://www.nuon-dome.com
   
   
   
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visitors since 01-Apr-2008
System page last updated 11-Oct-2008
 

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