The Most Obscure Console Ever: The Nuon - Rare Obscure or Retro - Rerez

Everyone knows about failed

console

s,

console

s that just didn't make the cut, didn't sell enough units, maybe didn't have a great app, but there are plenty of failed consoles that we can remember. Things like Dreamcast, N-Gage, Atari's Jaguar. All of these systems are consoles that basically failed in the public's eyes but are remembered in some unique way. But... What happens when a console fails so quickly and SO hard that no one noticed when it came out? Well, I think I found one. Ladies and gentlemen, the Nuon. Nuon was developed by a company called VM Labs and released in the early 2000s.

The company was founded by a guy named Richard Miller, who at one time was vice president of Atari Corporation. In fact, some of the people who worked on VM Labs were also from Atari, and this is really important. If you remember your gaming history, Atari was responsible for the "Jaguar," a failed console that was marketed as the first "64-bit" system. Not to be left behind and to replicate the obvious success of the Jaguar, VM Labs claimed that the Nuon was a 128-bit system. How

ever

, unlike the Jaguar, this system had a MUCH better plan. You see, years before the first Noun system was released.

A guy named Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts, released a console called 3DO. Another failed system but not for lack of trying. The idea behind 3DO was to allow third parties to produce its console while the 3DO company would develop and publish games. This concept, while unique and really interesting, turned out to be a horrible idea. The companies that would build the 3DO, such as Panasonic, Sanyo, and Goldstar, would make no profit from game sales. That meant they would have to sell their consoles at very high prices. The launch price was initially said to be $599 in the United States, which hindered the system from making a real impact on the market, because it was really expensive.

So why do I mention the 3DO? Well, the Nuon was marketed in much the same way. To be honest, the way they did it was incredibly cool. Nuon technology was integrated into a selection of DVD players produced by Samsung, Toshiba and RCA. And in the early 2000s, DVDs were quite a popular item. So unlike the 3DO, it was easier to mass produce a system with a strange video game playback capability because someone who needed a DVD player could still buy it without having any interest in playing video games. The model you see here is the first Nuon

ever

produced.

It's called Extivia DVD-N2000. It was released in July 2000 at a retail price of approximately $349. But several Nuon compatible DVD players were released. However, they are all different and some don't even play, but why would they throw this technology into a DVD player without the ability to play? Well, there's a reason for that. Four DVD movies were produced that had special menus that could only be accessed by watching them on a Nuon-compatible DVD player. These films included Dr. Dolittle 2, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, Bedazzled, and Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes" remake. Oh. I managed to get my hands on the last two movies on the list because I seriously didn't need those others.

And friends, it's nothing special. Virtually all of Nuon's features are limited to a special section that can be accessed from the DVD's basic menu. Features range from the ability to zoom in on footage, view storyboards and slide art while a movie plays, and even an early attempt at chapter selection with video playback to help identify a scene. While it's true that regular DVDs of the time were not capable of these features, Nuon has difficulty loading these sequences, sometimes making you wait up to a full minute before the sequences can actually happen. Since the advent of Blu-rays, the special features of Nuon DVD movies have all but vanished, as Blu-rays could produce better, more interesting experiences, with less of a loading screen.

As I am a bit of a film buff, the selection of these four titles seems really strange to me. I mean, if they had any hope of this technology really taking off, why would they use such unwanted films? It seemed that 20th Century Fox had some interest in this technology, even announcing its use at CES in 2001. So why not use a movie like X-Men or Independence Day, Die Hard, Alien or even Fight Club as Home video release was much more popular and sought after than its initial theatrical release. There were a lot of movies to choose from.

I mean, guys! It's 20th Century Fox! It's not that they lack it. Well then! Who runs out and buys a new DVD player loaded with all this amazing technology to watch some special features from Dr. Dolittle 2? Yuck! Well, if you weren't going to get this for the movies, what would the games be like? Well, this is where the story gets really sad. Only eight Nuon games were released. Ballistic, which is an adaptation of a puzzle game available on PlayStation. The game was packaged with one of Nuon's models. The Next Tetris is another game included, also available on PlayStation, and Iron Soldier 3, the third part of a series of games that emerged for the Atari Jaguar.

However, like the last two games, this one is also available on PlayStation. But then we get to Space Invaders XL. Finally a game that is not available on any other platform. However, this does not have to be the case. The game is practically a slightly more colorful Space Invaders. Really pushing that 128-bit chip to its limits with this game, why bother? Now the next game is fun. Technically, Nuon only has eight games released, but one of them was released on a region-locked Korean Nuon system. So unless you care enough, you won't be able to play this game on any other Nuon on the planet.

As if that wasn't difficult enough, if you own the specific Korean Nuon system, you won't be able to play the game. any of the other Nuon games due to regional blocking. That means this Nuon system exists solely to play this game. What an epic fail! That leaves us with 3 games. All of which are exclusive to Nuon. So let's start with Merlin Racing. Merlin Racing is exactly what it sounds like. A copy of Diddy Kong Racing and Mario Kart 64. To start, let's look at the Arcade mode. He uses several vehicles, but they all drive exactly the same.

Nothing like the variety that Diddy Kong Racing offers. It's easy to see the similarities between these two games, but gameplay-wise, it feels more like an unpolished Mario Kart 64. Everything from the controls, the elements you use, and the layout of the track is just basic. Running feels like an arduous and incredibly difficult task. The main runner will always be faster than you. I imagine they did this because they want to make you feel like you have competition on the track, but it just doesn't work. In

most

races, it seems impossible to win. Although you will win some races just by fluke, you will always feel like it was a fluke.

There is not even a gradual climb and difficulty. It seems that the game increases the difficulty after the first level. I couldn't get very far in this game mode and, frankly, I didn't want to. It's pretty terrible. Believe it or not, this game actually has an Adventure Mode with a plot, and here it is. The wizard Merlin is captured by the evil witch Prava, who has stolen four "Zystral Crystals" that give Merlin his powers. Without his power, he is defenseless against Prava, who hides all the crystals behind locked doors. Your job as one of the creatures in this universe is to participate in some kind of race and win all the races, get all the keys, open all the doors and collect all the sister crystals to free Merlin.

There. See what I did? I explained the plot in about 20 seconds. The game, however, lasts five minutes! It is a looping animation of a 3D model of Merlin captured in the cage with Prava riding around on her broom. It's surprising how boring this is, and what's worse is that once you get into the game, it seems al

most

impossible to win! All the problems of the normal Arcade mode are replicated here. Only in this mode do you have access to a sort of manageable world that feels like a very simplified version of the world of Diddy Kong Racing.

There are also two other modes, Time Trial and Tournament. But you should know that they are just as bad as everything else in this game. Next up is Freefall 3050AD, which has an introduction outlining the story and, like Merlin Racing, is also around five minutes long. However, unlike Merlin Racing, things actually happen. The plot of this game is that a C virus of some kind threatens humanity, so everyone is going to live in the skies and cities that are floating I guess or something, they don't really go into detail about that. You are a member of the Police Drop Corps, a police agency that fights crime syndicates trying to take over these "sky cities." And how do you fight crime?

Jumping off a building and fighting criminals on your way down. First Impression: This game is freaking terrible. The controls are confusing, rigid, and don't seem to do anything. That's when I discovered Nuon. There are eight games for this console. And although the original system I have came out with this controller, called the "Warrior Digital Gamepad", including this controller, there are a total of four controllers for the Nuon. Four! Each one appears to feature a different layout and a different set of buttons. One looks exactly like a Nintendo 64 controller, complete with joystick. Another looks like a variation of the original PlayStation controller, and another third-party controller made by Logitech offers a different layout, apparently with the same button options as the copied N64 version.

But why does that matter? Well, Freefall 3050AD seems to require the use of one of the controllers with additional buttons and stick. That's right folks, this console, with a limited library of games, couldn't even give you the ability to play all the games with the basic controller included with the original unit. God. Other than the fact that this game is unplayable, I have no idea what to do with it. Even for the time it was released, these graphics are not that attractive. Overall, I'm pretty sure that if I had the right controller to play this, I probably wouldn't have liked it.

So if you are looking to buy this console and want to play Freefall 3050AD, you will need to find an

obscure

and really hard to find controller. Good luck on that. So, that leaves one last game. The latest Nuon exclusive game, which has never been released outside of this system. Tempest 3000. On the Atari Jaguar, there was a Tempest 2000, which was based on the original Tempest game, which was an arcade game years and years ago. This is really important, because Tempest 3000 may well be Nuon's best game. Is it worth purchasing a system? Did you know? Maybe. This game is not that bad.

It takes many of the features of Tempest 2000 and gives it a more...visual advantage. It feels a little slow compared to Tempest 2000, not as fast in gameplay, but it has a very addictive premise, which is pretty much Tempest. If you are a fan of the original Tempest arcade game, you will probably love this game. But, if you're a fan of Tempest 2000 for the Atari Jaguar, this game is totally the next step in its evolution. The funny thing about this is that Tempest 2000 is one of the key titles for Atari Jaguar. Ask anyone who has the system, they'll probably tell you that the best game to come out on the platform was Tempest 2000.

So I find it funny that the exact same group that created that system managed to create another system, and the best game they could having on the system was a sequel to Tempest 2000. This version of the game only exists on Nuon. You won't find it anywhere else, which is amazing. Maybe it's a collector's item, I really don't know. It's not that hard to find, I mean, you can order it on Amazon, and well, it's just a simple game, but it shows some kind of proof that this console was capable of doing some pretty cool things. Like Tempest 2000, Tempest 3000 has its own soundtrack and it's pretty solid.

Now, while you can have a lot of fun playing those other games I mentioned, torturing yourself, Tempest 3000 is the game you'll probably come back to over and over again. Is it better than Tempest 2000? Well, that depends on perspective. Personally, I prefer this version, but that's just me. And there you have it, the story of Nuon, a system so epically flawed that when it came out no one paid attention to it. And I'm pretty sure most people don't even know it exists. I recommend that the next time you go to pawn shops or something, keep an eye out for one of these systems, because if you can find one, it's a great system to try.

Hi everyone, thank you so much for watching, and I just want to give a quick shout out to Cambridge Pawn Shop, who actually lent me the system for free, and a big thank you to Lazy Game Reviews, for sending me the games, because I couldn't get them where I live . ReallyI hope you all enjoyed this episode and there will be more later so be sure to stay tuned for more episodes in the future.