Nuon Games and Enhanced Movies (partially found unreleased games and special edition movies for the Nuon DVD/game system; 2000-2003)
Official box art of the unreleased Nuon port of Bust-a-Move-4.
Status: Partially Found
The Nuon-enhanced DVD players, originally known as “Project X”, were a series of DVD/video game combination units manufactured by Samsung, Toshiba and RCA during the early 2000s. The Nuon processors that differentiated these units from regular DVD players were produced by VM Labs. The idea behind this collaboration was that VM Labs would focus on developing and enhancing the Nuon processors and developing games while other companies would handle the manufacturing of the consoles. The intention was that the Nuon chip would become the new standard for video processing on DVD players and would greatly expand their capabilities. Later on in production, it was decided that special edition versions of movies would be released with special features such as smoothly zooming into and panning around the screen. These features would only be available on DVD players that used the Nuon chip.
Background
In mid to late 1990s, saw consoles switching from cartridges to CD discs. VM Labs wanted to make a system that could play both DVDs and video games. With that in mind, the Nuon was unveiled at E3 1998 under the name Project X.[1]
It would not be until October 27th, 1998, that VM Labs formally revealed Project X's final name, Nuon, to be released in 1999.[2]
However, due to a combination of the dot-com bubble burst, the 9/11 attacks, competition with other sixth-generation video game consoles (primarily the PlayStation 2 and Xbox), and simply running out of money due to low returns on licensing, the Nuon was a financial failure, with only eight games and four enhanced movies ever officially released. VM Labs declared bankruptcy and was bought out in 2002 by Genesis Microchip. Genesis Microchip then dropped the platform in 2003, and that was the end of the Nuon.[3]
Games
The following eight games comprise the entire official Nuon game library: Tempest 3000, Iron Soldier 3, Space Invaders XL, Ballistic, Merlin Racing, The Next Tetris, Freefall 3050 A.D., and Crayon-Shin-Chan 3 (South Korea only). [4]
However, multiple other projects were in development at VM Labs prior to the discontinuation of the Nuon. Enthusiast sites, such as Nuon-dome, list as many as 38 games that were discussed. However, the last working archive of the official Nuon website only features eight currently unreleased games marked work-in-progress [4]
The one existing unreleased Nuon game prototype, Bust-a-Move 4, is currently held by a member of the Nuon-dome fansite, who has posted a review of the game and two videos of the game in action. The user received the game in October 2001 from VM Labs to help with playtesting and claims the game is nearly 100% complete and working, though the two-player mode causes performance issues [5] However, the current holder does not want to release his prototype to the public.
No other Nuon game prototypes are known to exist. However, descriptions and cover art for some of the alleged 38 games are present on either Nuon-dome or archives of the original official site. The latest working archive of the official Nuon site lists aMaze, Myst, Monopoly, Bust-A-Move 4, The Game of Life, Speedball 2100, zCards, and Breakout as all being in development at the time. The site contains working links for pages specific to Bust-a-Move-4, Myst, Monopoly, and aMaze containing box art, descriptions, and even screenshots. Monopoly shows up in the archives of the VM Labs online store, though it is marked as coming soon [6]
Very little information remains for the other games. Prototype footage from the Nuon version of aMaze exists on YouTube, and two concept videos for Native for the Nuon have surfaced. The Nuon-dome fansite has descriptions for some other games, but no new box art is present and most screenshots are marked with disclaimers that they are from different systems.
Movies
While information on Nuon games is elusive, more information is available on the movies. The following four movies were given official Nuon-enhanced releases: Bedazzled (2000), Dr. DoLittle 2 (2001), Planet of the Apes (2001), and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984). [7]
The three movies that were known to have unreleased Nuon-enhanced editions were Galaxy Quest (1999), Stigmata (1999), and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie (1989). A prototype of a Nuon-enhanced version of Galaxy Quest was featured at the VM Labs booth at CES 2001 [8] According to a reporter, Dexter Davenport, this prototype contained “a feature that could show all the best lines from the movie, enabling the viewer to get an overview of the movie from different perspectives."[9] Not much else is known about this demonstration disc or any other planned or implemented features. Also, alleged Nuon-enhanced movie prototype discs for both Galaxy Quest and Stigmata appeared on an eBay auction. According to Nuon-dome, the auction was a former employee at VM Labs and was taken down because the contents were considered stolen property. The contents were then destroyed [10][11] All that remains of these auctions are the images of the two prototype discs.
No known prototype disc of The Toxic Avenger has surfaced, and the only evidence is discussions from The 2001 Chiller Theatre Expo. The Tox Box, a box set containing part 1, 2 and 3 was intended to have a fourth disc containing Nuon-enhanced features. Toxic Avenger Part III was also supposed to have Nuon-enhanced features. [12] The Tox Box was released in 2002, but the Nuon-enhanced features were not present. It is not known why these features were cut, though the Tox Box was also slated for a Summer 2001 release at the time of the expo.
Availability
It is unknown if any other footage of Nuon prototype games or movies exists. In addition to CES 2001, the 2001 TromaDance festival apparently included Nuon DVD demonstrations, as VM Labs was a sponsor, though any footage of unreleased Nuon games from either has yet to surface [13]
Status Summary
Special Edition Enhanced Movies
| Title | Status |
|---|---|
| Galaxy Quest | Lost |
| Stigmata | Lost |
| Toxic Avenger III | Existence Unconfirmed |
Games
| Title | Status |
|---|---|
| aMaze | Lost |
| Atari's Greatest Hits | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Battleship: Surface Thunder | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Boggle | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Breakout | Lost |
| Bugdom | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Bust-A-Move-4 | Lost |
| Dragon's Lair | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Hoyle Card Games | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Jeopardy | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Knockout Kings | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Madden NFL Football | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Monopoly | Lost |
| Myst | Lost |
| Native II | Lost |
| Need for Speed III | Existence Unconfirmed |
| New Scrabble | Existence Unconfirmed |
| NUON Board Games | Existence Unconfirmed |
| NUON Casino | Existence Unconfirmed |
| NUON R.C. Racing | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Pong | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Power Excavator | Existence Unconfirmed |
| RC de Go! | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Risk 2 | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Riven | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Shanghai: Mahjongg Essentials | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Sorry! | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Space Ace | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Speedball 2100 | Lost |
| Spider-Man | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Star Trek: Invasion | Existence Unconfirmed |
| The Game of Life | Lost |
| Tiger Woods PGA Golf | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Wheel of Fortune | Existence Unconfirmed |
| Yahtzee | Existence Unconfirmed |
| zCards | Lost |
Gallery
Official boxart for the unreleased Nuon port of Monopoly (via Internet Archive of nuon.tv).
Official box art for the unreleased Nuon port of Myst (via Internet Archive of nuon.tv).
Official box art for the unreleased Nuon game, aMaze (via Internet Archive of nuon.tv).
Alleged prototype disc of the Nuon-enhanced version of Galaxy Quest (Courtesy of Nuon-dome).
Alleged prototype disc of the Nuon-enhanced version of Stigmata (Courtesy of Nuon-dome).
See Also
- AMaze (lost build of unreleased Nuon game; 2001)
- Crayon Shin-Chan 3 (lost South Korean Nuon port of PC platformer; 2000-2003)
References
- ↑ A blog post that covers the development of the Nuon. Retrieved 03 Oct '18
- ↑ A scan of a PDF of the announcement of Nuon. Retrieved 03 Oct '18
- ↑ Ars Technica retrospective on the Nuon. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Games List from Nuon-dome. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ Nuon-dome review of the Bust-A-Move-4 prototype. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ Official Nuon.tv store page showing Monopoly as coming soon. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ Movies List from Nuon-dome. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ Alive SE report from CES 2001. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ Davenport report from CES 2001. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ Nuon-dome page discussing the alleged Galaxy Quest prototype. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ Nuon-dome page discussing the alleged Stigmata prototype. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ DVDTalk article on the Nuon-enhanced Toxic Avenger. Retrieved 20 Jan '18
- ↑ Nuon-dome new archive regarding TromaDance. Retrieved 20 Jan '18