May 2002

Vote on the new poll! 5/28/2002 by K3V

Just in case you missed the brand new poll sitting atop the right-hand collumn on the front page here, be sure to place your vote if you'd be interested in purchasing a professionally produced NUON game in the $30-$50 price range. Thanks!

New Release - Atari / C64 Video Game Music Player 5/24/2002 by K3V

It's two in a row from Tim Prezzano, who is following up last week's Ambient Monsters release with a new NUON app - the Atari / C64 Video Game Music player! This disc plays a selection of old Atari & C64 video game music classics. Enter the song selection from the menu, and listen to the sounds you'd almost forgotten. Note - This is not a SID chip or Atari Sound emulator! It is simply an example of sound generation on the Nuon chip! You can download the file from http://www.nevsound.com/nuon_vg_music.zip or from the Video Game Music page here on N-D.

Ambient Monsters Box Art 5/18/2002 by K3V

Michael Tom Schmidt has put together a sharp-looking DVD cover art graphic for the recently-released Ambient Monsters program. Check it out at http://www.retokyo.de/nuon/ambientmonsterscover.jpg. Update: The Box art and CD label have been added to the Ambient Monsters Page, and I've begun adding box art links from each game's page in the games section.

99 Cent NUON Games 5/16/2002 by K3V

It must be the week for cheap NUON games, as Best Buy currently has Merlin Racing and Tempest 3000 for a DVD International-beating price of $.99! As of this writing, both games are listed as "On Order - Usually ships in 10-15 business days. Not available for store pickup." But, it couldn't hurt to place an order if you're looking for either or both of these titles. Update: It looks as though they're no longer taking orders for these games through their website, but you still may have a chance in-store - some stores still have a few games hanging around.

New NUON Release - Ambient Monsters 5/15/2002 by K3V

A suprise new NUON release from Tim Prezzano (of NUON Atari 2600 Pac Man fame) has hit today, in the form of "Ambient Monsters". Described as a relaxation disc, Tim says "It's a goofy disc, but a fun, occasional alternative to the VLM." Insert the Ambient Monsters disc into your Nuon player, and let it do it's thing. You'll take a nice long journey through a rather unusual ocean. You can download it from http://www.nevsound.com/ambientmonsters.zip or right here on NUON-Dome. And be sure to leave Tim some feedback over in the NUON Forum! Visit the Ambient Monsters Page for more info and screenshots.

NUON Games & Controllers on Sale 5/13/2002 by K3V

DVD International is running a sale on all of their NUON games and controllers. You can pick up Space Invaders XL, Tempest 3000, FreeFall and Merlin Racing for only $10 each, while the Warrior Controller is also $10 and the analog Stealth controller is $15. On top of that, any order of $50 or more will receive a 10% discount. Click here to head right to the sale!

Richard Miller Addresses State of NUON 5/13/2002 by K3V

Below is a message taken from the front page of VMLabs.com, which essentially states the end of any official NUON support from Genesis Microchip: Dear Friends and NUON supporters, VM Labs was founded with the goal of creating the world's leading entertainment platform. We wanted to open up what were traditionally closed consumer products through a new software platform, and a level of processing power previously reserved for PCs. If we could succeed, consumers would enjoy a new era of features and content in the living room. DVD would provide the perfect launch pad for our vision. We successfully developed a revolutionary media-processor, operating system, software tools and groundbreaking DVD features. We also launched the NUON brand and supported the release of four NUON-enhanced movie titles and six videogames. Our customers shipped several models of NUON branded DVD players and network set-top boxes. We know from your feedback and extensive media coverage that these products were well received. However, despite everyone's best efforts we could not achieve critical mass before running out of money. Having just shipped our first products, we desperately needed to invest in content and our next-generation lower-cost ICs. While struggling for funding, we lost momentum and gradually spiraled into bankruptcy. The NUON trademark, intellectual property and other assets of VM Labs were sold to Genesis Microchip in March 2002 (some links to Genesis are provided below). VM Labs has discontinued all operations and will shortly close its doors. We would like to thank everyone who has supported VM Labs, its people, and its technology over the years. Yours sincerely, Richard Miller CEO, VM Labs, Inc. Contact Information for former VM Labs' products: For sales information please contact: dvdsales@genesis-microchip.com For OEM support please contact: dvdsupport@genesis-microchip.com The Genesis Web-site is located at: www.genesis-microchip.com

NUON SDK is Back, NUON Sites Down 5/10/2002 by K3V

The NUON SDK files were too large for our current server, so we had to find a new place to host them. Thankfully that issue has been resolved and the files are once again available from the Games Page. In a related note, both nuon.tv and dev.nuon.tv have seemingly disappeared. Both sites simply say "This account has been disabled.. To have the account restored, contact Customer Service." As a result, the links here at NUON-Dome are the only place to currently download the NUON SDK, and all NUON Development information/discussion should now be directed to nuondev.com. We've also set up a Message Board here in case the official NUON Forums should mysteriously disappear as well. Feel free to register and get settled in just in case!

Samsung DVD-N504 for Sale in Switzerland 5/6/2002 by K3V

As some on-the-ball European NUON fans have discovered, the NUON-Enhanced Samsung DVD-N504 has finally hit stores in Europe - more specifically, Switzerland. Here is a translated version of the official N504 page on Samsung's website, and here is a link to purchase one from fust.ch for 598 Swiss Francs (about $360 or 250£). The page on fust says that the N504 does come with a demo disc, at least.