June 2002

PacMan v1.3 - Tourament Edition 6/20/2002 by K3V

Skah_T has just released an update to NUON PacMan, which this time features a Tournament mode amongst many other changes. Check it out: Arcade Random mode. Same as normal except levels are shuffled. Level select. Play a single level of your choosing. (You can change the various graphics with the C-buttons while on the level select screen.) Player select. Choose your avatar in the game. A few new graphics. We need more! If you have a desire to contribute please send me any graphics you create. Consecutive pill bonus. Eating many pills in a row activates the bonus. While the bonus is in effect Chomper speed is increased and points collected are increased by 50%. The bonus continues as long as you keep eating pills. Once you hit a significant break in pills the bonus stops. Warp tunnels and slow tiles. Warp tunnels let you wrap around from side to side. Slow tiles make the enemies reduce speed as they pass over. They are used primarily to simulate the slowing of enemies as they follow you through a warp tunnel (as in Pac-man), but really can be placed anywhere. Exit a game in progress by first pausing the game. Then instead of hitting A, hold down B and hit A. Tournament mode. You can download the new version from the Dragon Shadow Website or right here on NUON-Dome on the PacMan Page. Be sure to submit your scores for Tournament mode as well!

NUON Semiconductor, Inc 6/20/2002 by K3V

Genesis has finally made some information available regarding their plans for the NUON technology. A new website, nuonsemi.com/ has been launched which details their plans for the Aries 3 processor. As there is no mention of games, the focus seems to be on getting the Aries 3 processor into more DVD players, and not on the gaming software side of things. Give it a read for yourself!

NUON Feature in Tips & Tricks 6/11/2002 by K3V

The June 2002 issue of Tips & Tricks magazine (seen here) features an article about collecting NUON games. It's a full page spread and features box art for all the games (except for TNT which shows the disc itself), and gives a brief description of each game along with suggestions on where to find them. From a brief glance while at the store, it seemed well written and informative - so if you're looking at a quick collectors guide to NUON games, be sure to check it out!

More News on the DRC300N 6/5/2002 by K3V

Earlier on the NUON Forum it was revealed that all future NUON DVD players, including the DRC300N, will use the Aries 3 NUON processor - but they will not have any NUON ports. Chances are high that none of the future NUON DVD players will have NUON ports as well. However, the DRC300N will have a high-res VLM, back up from the lower resolution compromise for response made in the N501.

Songbird Shows Interest in NUON 6/5/2002 by K3V

Songbird Productions recently revealed to NUON-Dome their plans to puruse publication of unreleased NUON titles. Songbird has contacted several former developers, but nothing is firm at this time. Visit the Songbird page at http://songbird-productions.com to see what they've done for the Jaguar and Lynx! We need to be patient during this process, and also realize the bigger the license (e.g. Monopoly), the harder it will be to negotiate. So let's give Songbird a chance to go after these games, and hopefully a few will get published!

RCA NUON-Enhanced DVD! 6/5/2002 by K3V

The May issue of Sound and Vision magazine reveals that RCA has a NUON-Enhanced DVD player in the works, and that it will be available in June! DRC300N is the model number, and it will list for $199. Some more features include: Optical and Coaxial Digital Audio Outs Composite and S-Video Outputs Component Video Output CD-R/CD-RW Compatible MP3 Pro-compatible Plays DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW Discs JPEG Compatible Silver Finish The listing can be found on page 79 of the May 2002 issue of Sound & Vision, or online right here (you'll need Acrobat to view the file - scroll down to the RCA section). C-Net also has a listing for the DRC300N, but lists it for $150. Their description reads: "Plays MP3Pro files; Digital Photo View features lets users view JPEG files; watch JPEG files while listening to MP3s; Nuon chip allows 1X to 15X scalable zoom; new slow-motion features" Update: I was able to track down one retailer that has the machine listed on their website for sale. Schoolhouse Audio-Visual in Plano, TX has the DRC300N listed on this page as being available now for $255.00. More as it becomes available.

Samsung DVD-N505 Review Now Available 6/3/2002 by K3V

Ratko "Bolid" Jovicic was lucky enough to score a Samsung DVD-N505 recently, and has written up a review with a ton of photos of the packaging and of the machine - inside and out! As you may recall, there are 2 Samsung NUON DVD players that were released in Europe. The N505 is the version that does not have any NUON ports, while the N504 does. The review can be found right here or can be accessed via the hardware page. Thanks Ratko!

OMC Games Reviews T3K 6/2/2002 by K3V

There's a new review of Tempest 3000 available from the OMC Games website. Sauron takes a positive look at Minter's latest take on the Tempest series, which you can find here.