|
News & Rumors -
06/25/01
Know Your NUON
DVD Players
Since the N501 has begun
to hit stores, the question "Which player is better?" has begun popping
up from people looking to get the player that best suits their needs. In
order to (hopefully) assist in this matter, we've begun assembling a comparison
page which stands up the 3 current NUON decks side-by-side so you can
see what you get with each.
The page isn't totally
complete, so if you think of something that you'd like added to the list,
let me know!
Fast Forwarding
MP3s
An excellent little easter
egg that's been discovered in the VLM of the Samsung DVD-N501 is the ability
to fast-forward and reverse MP3 files! It requires a bit of controller trickery
(and an analog stick), but it's well worth the small effort! Get the scoop
on the Codes page.
Sale on NUON-Dome
Mousepads
Good news if you're looking
for a new mousepad :) From now till June 30, 2001 you can grab yourself
a NUON-Dome logo mousepad for only $6.99. Show your NUONism on your desktop!
Hit the N-D
Store to grab one for yourself.
News & Rumors -
06/21/01
NUON Store Launched
Not to be confused with
our very own NUON-Dome store, the official NUON
site now features its very own store, complete with games, peripherals,
hardware and even NUON t-shirts! The NUON Polo shirt looks especially cool.
Head over to the NUON.tv
Store and give it a look.
News & Rumors -
06/20/01
VML Speaks About
IS3 Bug(s)
Just caught this announcement
over on the Forums regarding Iron Soldier 3 and the compatibility issue
that seemed to be prevalent with the game on the older N2000 units. As a
result, the game is going to be delayed until the game gets up to 100% compatibility.
The complete message follows:
Immediately after
the release of “Iron Soldier 3”, VM Labs learned of a problem that affects
the performance of the game on a limited number of NUON enhanced DVD players.
It is important to VM Labs that issues of compatibility do not burden
consumers. Accordingly, VM Labs has temporarily blocked distribution of
“Iron Soldier 3” and they are working on plans to begin shipping as soon
as possible. In addition, VM Labs has commenced a more rigorous testing
program and enhanced their software release policy with their duplicators.
VM Labs will contact
the small number of “Iron Soldier 3” customers who received the product
before an error was found. Details related to replacing the software will
be provided to them at that time. Additional information related to a
new release date for “Iron Soldier 3” will be posted to the official NUON
web site at http://www.nuon.tv as soon as possible.
Australian NUON
Revisited
Just a quick (but important)
correction to yesterday's rumor about the possibility of an upcoming NUON
DVD player for Australia. The quote came from Samsung Australia, not TransACT.
TransACT is apparently working on a set-top-box similar to
the Motorola Streamaster, however. Look for more on both of these products
in the near future.
News & Rumors -
06/19/01
Inside the NUON
prototype controller
Out of curiosity and
perhaps thinking that the wiring up of an N64 controller to use on a NUON
DVD player may not be so difficult, I took to opening up the prototype
NUON controller that I picked up at E3. The controller itself is actually
an Interact Superpad 64 controller wired up internally to make it work for
NUON. This was used for demo purposes at past trade shows (check out this
picture to see it in action) and are generally one-of-a-kind items.
But enough about that.
Upon removing the back half of the casing, I found what looks to be either
a custom PCB or a highly modified one - there are even 2 tiny little NUON
chips on the board. So, while it seems that hooking up an N64 controller
to NUON requires a bit more than a simple re-wiring, the insides do make
for a cool picture or two, so I broke out my digital camera. Observe:
Inside
picture 1
Inside picture 2
NUON in Australia?
We'll file this in the
"rumor category" for the time being, a bit of info passed along from Skip
in regards to NUON in Australia. This apparently comes from TransACT, who
are bringing out a NUON set top box.
"Yes we will be releasing
a 'Nuon enhanced DVD player into the Australian market.
Unfortunately, I
do not have an exact date for this unit.
We are however,
looking to release it before the end of this year.
It will have similar
features to those sold in the current US market.
I'm sorry I cannot
be more accurate with dates on this, but this is all the information
I have at the present moment."
Something for the
Aussie NUONites out there. More on this as it becomes available.
N705 Finally Arrives!
Well, the first look
at the player is available at least. NUON World has a preview of the upcoming
European NUON DVD player, complete with multiple images. Unfortunately for
non-german speakers it will be unreadable, but an english translation should
be available shortly. For the time being, you can at least go check
out the pictures and enjoy. NUON is going worldwide!
DVD News - 06/19/01
StarWars Episode
I Confirmed!
 |
|
The Force is
with DVD
|
On October 16, Lucasfilm
Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will begin the worldwide
release of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace on DVD.
The highly anticipated arrival of Episode I marks the first film of the
Star Wars saga to debut on DVD.
Enthusiastic fans
of the film will be rewarded for their patience. Clocking in at about
480 minutes in length, it features over six hours of additional
bonus material, including brand new visual effects sequences executed
just for the DVD release.
Here's what the two-disc
set will feature:
- The Phantom
Menace, mastered by THX for superior sound and picture quality,
presented in Anamorphic Widescreen and Dolby 5.1 Surround EX (English),
Dolby 2.0 Surround (English and Spanish), and Dolby 2.0 Surround (French,
for Canadian release)
- Audio commentary
by Writer-Director George Lucas;
Producer Rick McCallum; Co-Editor
and Sound Designer Ben Burtt; Visual
Effects Supervisors Scott Squires,
John Knoll and Dennis
Muren; and Animation Supervisor Rob
Coleman, offering personal insights into the making of the film
- Seven never-before-seen
deleted scenes with full visual effects completed just for the DVD release
- "The Beginning"
-- an all-new hour-long documentary culled from over 600 hours of footage
offering unprecedented access inside Lucasfilm and ILM
during the making of Episode I
- Multi-angle storyboard
to animatic to finished film feature, that lets you flip through the
various phases of development of key action sequences
- Five behind-the-scenes
featurettes exploring The Phantom Menace's storyline, designs,
costumes, visual effects and fight scenes
- The popular "Duel
of the Fates" music video that debuted in 1999
- All 12 parts of
the Lynne's Diaries, the web documentaries that first appeared here
at starwars.com
- Galleries of theatrical
posters, print campaign, and never-before-scene production photos
- Downloaded by millions
from starwars.com, the original theatrical teaser and launch trailers,
plus seven TV spots including the "tone poems"
The two-disc set is
priced at $ 29.98 in the U.S. and $ 41.98 in Canada.
Dogma: SE Release Imminent
Good news for View Askew/Kevin Smith fans, the much-anticipated Special
Edition release of Dogma is just days away (June 26th to be exact), and
true to form for VA DVD's, this one is *packed*. Here's the specs:
• Color,
Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
• Commentary by director Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck and Jason Lee
• Commentary by producer Scott Mosier and Vincent Pereira
• Commentary by director Kevin Smith, Producer Scott Mosier and View
Askew Historian Vincent Pereira
• Complete Set of Storyboards from Three Major Scenes
• 100 Minutes of Deleted Scenes with View Askew Crew Intros
• Cast and Crew Outtakes
• Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash Spot
• Saints and Sinners Talent Files
• Bonus! Follow the Buddy Christ for More Hijinks with Kevin Smith,
Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes and More!
• Talent Files (Kevin Smith, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino,
Chris Rock, Alan Rickman, Jason Lee, Salma Hayek and Jason Mewes)
• Widescreen anamorphic format• Number of discs: 2
Amazon is taking
preorders on this title for $22.46 as of 6/19/01. Be sure to check
out the News
Askew review for the full scoop on this excellent DVD!
News & Rumors -
06/13/01
Amazon Adds New
NUON Goods
Amazon.com has updated
its NUON
Store with Iron
Soldier 3, Space
Invaders, Monopoly
and the Logitech
Gamepad. The N-D Store has also been updated
with the products as well. Be sure to head on over and show your support
for the latest NUON products!
IS3 Passwords
Added
The first 14 passwords
for the Easy difficulty of Iron Soldier 3 are now available over on the
Cheats page. Use these if you're getting frustrated
on a certain level :). More to come! If you've got more or some on a different
difficulty, feel free to contribute.
Special at DVD-4U
Got this in an email
a few days ago. Good deal if you're looking at getting any of DVD International's
other "DVD Games":
Two new games for
your Nuon DVD player!
Finally! Two new
games are ready to ship! Space Invaders XL and Iron Soldier 3 Check
them out at now. Also, for 1 week only, with the purchase of any Nuon
game or HPI Gamepad, you may purchase three other DVDs from our catalog
( Tender Loving Care, I'm Your Man and Elephant Parts) for only $2.99
each! What a deal!!!
http://www.dvd-4u.com/titles_nuon.htm
News & Rumors -
06/03/01
New Games at Online
Retailers
Per our report yesterday,
the new batch of NUON games has started shipping. Online stores such as
Amazon and DVD International have listed the games, with IS3 and SIXL set
for the 4th, and Monopoly being rumored to be available on the 19th.
Here are the listings
for Space
Invaders XL and Monopoly
at Amazon. DVD International
has IS3 and SIXL listed.
News & Rumors -
06/02/01
New NUON Games
are Shipping
As of this writing, Iron
Soldier 3 and Space Invaders XL are now shipping. The previous news of Monopoly
being ready by the end of the month was really a mix up where Monopoly should
have been IS3. Good news for everyone that has been waiting for this title
to finally arrive (and who hasn't?). Be sure to check out the reviews
of IS3 and SIXL if you haven't yet!
N501 and Best
Buy Revisited
While the N501 has started
rearing its MP3 and CDR playing head in select few Best Buy locations around
the country, the "New DVD Technologies" display which will feature NUON
and the N501 won't be rolled out across all stores in the US right away.
Stores featuring the display will be staggered and it won't be put up everywhere
until sometime next month.
Current Samsung N501
players that are in stores appear to be for display-only, though at least
one person was able to pick one
up on a fluke. Good news is that BB will be featuring older titles such
as T3K along with the new games like IS3 and SIXL. Should be a good showing
for NUON, especially considering the more prominent display of the technology
on the faceplate of the N501. Now the player says "NUON enhanced DVD player"
on the top left, a larger NUON logo on the top right, and the NUON ports
on the bottom.
Take the N-D Survey
In case you missed it,
the poll in the left-hand collumn of the page has changed to a mulitple-question
survey. Feel free to answer the questions...it'll be interesting to see
how things turn out!
The Latest - 06/01/01
Reviewed: Samsung
N-501
Just a very quick update
here to let you know of a review that's been posted by Michael Olshansky
@ http://logjammin.org/n501/. Enjoy
=)
The Latest - 5/29/01
Reviewed: Space
Invaders XL
You've seen RealVideo,
said "eh" over the screenshots, and now the full review is here to give
you the scoop on the latest game for NUON. Click
here to read, or head over to the Games Page.
The Latest - 5/25/01
RealVideo of SIXL
and IS3!
For those who've been
waiting to see Iron Soldier 3 and Space Invaders XL in motion, I've posted
up 2 new streaming RealVideos (one of each game). As always, find them over
on the Media Page, and look for a review of Space
Invaders in the coming days.
The Latest - 5/24/01
Space Invaders
XL Screenshots
The Space Invaders XL
review isn't quite ready to go yet, but in the meantime I've posted 11 new
screenshots over on the Media page. Hopefully these
will provide a bit more insight into gameplay before the review is set.
News from E3 about
AirPlay
Here's a bit of information
I got while at E3 but forgot to pass along. Eleven Engineering, makers of
the AirPlay controllers, had a booth at the show so I stopped to ask about
their controller for NUON. Unfortunately, the guy seemed suprised I was
even asking about NUON, and said that they were "focusing more on Xbox and
PS2." Apparently they've changed their entire business structure so AirPlay
for NUON, at least at this point, seems to be no more.
The Latest - 5/22/01
Reviewed: Iron
Soldier 3
One of the most-anticipated
NUON game titles has finally arrived. Does it live up to expectations, or
should you throw your hands up in frustration? Read the Full
Review and see for yourself!
E3 Report - 5/18/01
Logitech Gamepad
Being Fixed
Just back from Day 2
of E3 2001, and we've got an update on the Logitech controller for NUON.
As mentioned yesterday, the controllers on display are a bit unresponsive
when controlling with the analog stick. After speaking with Peter Stern
from Logitech, he confirmed that they knew about the problem and were in
the process of fixing it before the controllers go into production. After
the controller is fixed and given the "thumbs up" from VM Labs, then it's
only a matter of days until they go into production and will be available
to the public.
Pictures of Some
NUON Goodies
Here's a few pictures
of some goodies that I picked up from E3. Included is a photo of a prototype
NUON controller which, if you've been following NUON for a while, you'll
recognize from photos taken at past E3 and CES shows. It's actually a modified
3rd party Nintendo 64 controller, which used to have a NUON logo smack in
the middle of it. Also, you'll see pictures of the Iron Soldier 3 and Space
Invaders XL disks, an up-close shot of one of the Atari water bottles, and
a look at the shirts that Logitech was giving away like mad that featured
the NUON logo on the back. Oh, and a few more booth babe pics by request
:) Enjoy:
E3 Report - 5/17/01
NUON Found!
That's right, although
VM Labs doesn't have their own booth at E3, they do have a setup in the
middle of the Logitech booth. Featuring Bedazzled, Tempest 3000, Ballistic
and Merlin Racing, the display has all Toshiba SD2300 players with (suprise!)
the Logitech controller for NUON. This controller is 100% quality, though
the analog seems to react slower than normal...I found it difficult to corner
properly in Merlin Racing. More playtime will prove how this effects other
games, but otherwise this is a great controller.
Here's some pictures
of the display, controllers, etc. Gratuitious booth babe pictures included
just for fun:
Note the Atari booth...giving
out bottles of water with the Atari logo on them.
Iron Soldier 3...
That's right folks, in
my hands now is a test disk of the near-finalized NUON version of Iron Soldier
3 (not to mention a copy of SIXL, which I haven't tried out yet). After
getting the game popped into one of the SD2300's, I proceeded to give it
a good run-through, and took a ton of screenshots. I'll reserve most comments
until I get home and give it a proper full preview, but from what I've seen
the game is better graphically than the PSX version, and with the "turbo"
active, the game is *fast*. The full intro from the PSX version is here
and looking great, as are all the menu screens. This game is polished up
nicely. Screenshots can be found on the Media page,
to keep load times on this page down.
N501 Ready, and
Best Buy...
The next-generation NUON
player from Samsung, the N501 has already begun shipping out to Best Buy
locations across the country. Not all locations have the machines yet, but
when they do arrive, expect them to get the *full* NUON treatment, as BB
has agreed to give a 4ft section of shelf space exclusively to NUON. The
display will feature NUON software, peripherals and information, and will
be showcased next to other DVD technology such as Progressive Scan. Iron
Soldier 3 and Space Invaders XL will be avaliable for purchase there as
well, and should start showing up within the next few weeks.
N2000 upgrade
to N501?
A bit of rumored information
that passed me by was the possibility of an upgrade for Samsung DVD-N2000
owners to get all the features of the N501. The process would require the
owner to open up their player and swap a ROM chip, thus voiding the warranty,
and availability would be limited to the "hardcore" NUON crowd. Keep in
mind this is not set in stone, but it would be great if it happened.
The "Big Announcement"
Well, unfortunately the
announcement from VM Labs that was supposed to take place during E3 is still
2-3 weeks off. While the deal is mostly set to go, some details still need
to be worked out. Hang in there folks ;-)
News & Rumors -
5/16/01
Live from LA...
Well, it's the day before
E3 and we're here in LA to dig any/all possible goodies relating to NUON
that can be found. Today, we went down to the LA Convention Center to register
and snapped a few cool photos. Later on, we met up with ECM and co. for
the GameGo pre-E3
get-together. Not much NUON-related news today, but I'll include some pictures
below for your viewing pleasure:
Sorry there's not
more to report, but the show hasn't officially started yet. There are
some news bits that came out of the pre-E3 conferences, such as Xbox launching
at $299 on November 8th, and that GameCube will hit on November 5th. Looks
like that will be a month that gamers will have to dig deep if they're
looking to get both consoles :-)
More tomorrow!
News & Rumors -
5/12/01
Reviewed: NUON
Port Replicator
Is the NUON Port Replicator
just what you're looking for? Or can you do without it? Or maybe you'll
need one in the future when the NUON modem comes around...
Either way, take a
look at the new Review and see some thoughts
on this interesting accessory for your NUON machines.
 |
This version's
lookin
good.
|
Details on NUON
Monopoly
Once again, the NUON.tv
site has been updated, this time with info on the upcoming version of Monopoly.
Screenshots look very promising (graphics appear to be nice and high-resolution),
as do the features (up to 6 players, 10 different versions, etc).
Be sure to give a
look to the updated preview for more, or
head over to the page on the nuon.tv
site.
New IS3 Screens
Also new on the official
site are a bunch of screenshots of the upcoming Iron Soldier game for NUON.
You can get to the page here,
or download a zip file of high-resolution images here.
News & Rumors -
5/10/01
 |
|
Go snag one now!
|
Logitech Gamepad
Now Available
The Logitech Gamepad
for NUON is now available for purchase over on Logitech's website, using
this
link (you'll need to select your country and language if you've never
been to the site before). The price is $29.95, and the finished product
looks *really* sharp. The case appears to be a semi-transparent blue/gray,
complete with Analog control. Expect a review here on N-D as soon as I get
my hands on one, but for now you can take a look at the updated
preview.
Thanks to Michael
Olshansky for the heads-up on this one.
Less than one week
'till E3...you can bet we'll be at the Logitech booth this time next week!
News & Rumors -
5/07/01
Monopoly & Space
Invaders May 29th
A bit of info regarding
2 upcoming NUON games, posted to the NUON Forum by Brett206:
DVD International
is proud to announce two new games for NUON enhanced DVD players
Monopoly
It's the world's
most popular board game brought to life!
Play the classic
Property Trading Game from Parker Brothers like never before. Follow
all the action as animated 3-D Monopoly tokens respond to dice rolls
and move around the board. With Monopoly for your NUON enhanced DVD
Player, you'll never have to worry about those lost pieces and who gets
to be banker.
Monopoly from Infogrames
features:
* Up to six players (human or computer) can play at once.
* Play one of 10 different city versions included or the classic board.
* Vivid animations lets you buy, trade and sell properties in a whole
new dimension.
*Play Classic Monopoly or use the quick game rules.
Street Date: May
29, 2001
SRP: $29.98
Space Invaders
Mankind is counting on you to save the world again!
The arcade classic,
Space Invaders, is back just the way you remember it! Battle wave after
wave of alien attack squadrons as they march down through the scary
sky. Play with or against your friend in special cooperative/competitive
modes, or go head to head in battle mode.
Space Invaders from
Taito features:
* Classic gameplay for one or two players.
* Special game modes such as; invisible aliens, zigzagging shots, moving
bunkers and more!
* Multiple classic versions such as; black and white and color.
* Two player Battle mode, a whole new type of head to head gameplay.
Street Date: May
29, 2001
SRP: $29.98
 |
The creators
of
TNT speak
|
Interview with
Don McClure
As you may or may not
know, Digital Element
was the development house behind the NUON version of The Next Tetris that
came as a mail-in freebie when a Toshiba SD2300 was purchased. Today, were
happy to present an interview with Don McClure, president of Digital Element.
He spills the beans on what went in (or didn't go in) to TNT, what's being
changed for the upcoming version, and what else DE has in store for NUON.
Head over to the Info
page to read it, or just click here.
New NUON Listings
at Amazon
A search for NUON over
at Amazon.com turns up 2 upcoming NUON products, the Samsung
DVD-N501, and the Logitech
Gamepad. While the N501 is currently listed as "out of stock," the Logitech
Gamepad lists as "On Order; usually ships within 1-2 weeks."
Hopefully these 2
items become readily available soon!
News & Rumors -
5/05/01
 |
Space Invaders
XL
by the end of May?
|
Space Invaders
XL Revealed!
Finally, some concrete
info about the NUON Version of Space Invaders has been made available, thanks
to a new page on the nuon.tv
site. Click
here to go directly to it.
Rumor has it that
the game is actually quite close to completion and could even be ready
to go by the end of May. But, we've seen release dates slip in the past,
so I wouldn't count on it. :-)
I've also put up a
new Space Invaders XL preview up over on the Games
page, with info from the official NUON site.
News & Rumors -
5/04/01
Updates at the
Zoo
Jeff Minter has updated
his site, Yak's Zoo, with quite a lengthy bit about what's new in his world.
NUON-wise, he discusses the upcoming VLM Editor:
"... work-wise I have
been working on the VLM Editor, a tool which allows one to more effectively
build and tweak VLM effects for the Nuon VLM. The editor is probably 90
percent functional now - it does pretty much everything it should do,
there are a couple of interface glitches and a bit of tweaking yet to
do, but it is actually useful. I used it to create some custom VLM effects
for a little outing to a club in Cardiff, where my mate Robin was doing
some video projections and invited me along to get in the mix. I didn't
have any audio direct into the VLM, so I made a bunch of effects that
could be "performed" in realtime using a couple of Nuon controllers. This
proved most effective, and when the bank of video projectors in the club
covered one entire wall with VLM, it was indeed a wicked buzz ;-).
I'm going to be
deploying the VLM again on the 16th of May, at the DNA
event - I should have even more effects this time out, because the
editor is closer to being finished than it was when I did the Cardiff
thang. Come along if you're in that part of the world at that time -
who knows, maybe I'll let you waggle my joysticks ;-)."
Click
here to visit Yak's Zoo and read the rest.
New T3K MP3
Over on the Media
Page, I've linked to the mp3.com listing for "Flash" the tune in T3K
by Andre' Meyer. Be sure to check that out!
News & Rumors -
5/02/01
Latest on the
DVD900
Just a quick snippet
of info from Oritron about the DVD900:
"We are still at the
stage fine-tuning the Oritron-Nuon DVD player and will annouce after everything
finalize."
Doesn't really reveal
a whole lot, but at least it looks as though things are still coming along
with one of the next round of NUON-enhanced DVD players.
News & Rumors -
5/01/01
NUON-Dome Heads
to E3
Though VM Labs won't
be attending this year's E3 in LA (May 17-19), I will be heading out west
to participate in the festivities. I'll scour the booths of all the companies
known to be developing for NUON (Nyko, Logitech, Eleven Engineering, etc...)
and will be digging all the latest dirt on NUON that I can possibly find.
We'll be updating from the road every night with pictures, reports and more,
so be sure to check back here starting on the 15th for all the latest.
Oh, and I've heard
some rumors about the "Big Announcement" that will be taking place during
E3 from VML and, let me assure you, that NOBODY will be dissapointed
with the news ;-)
NUON Newsletter
Returns
With the return of NUONica
comes the second issue of the NUON Newsletter, which you can find here.
If you'd like to subscribe to the newsletter, head on over to NUONica
and fill out the form right on the main page.
The Latest - 4/26/01
New Host
I'm happy to announce
that NUON-Dome is now up and running on a new, much faster and more reliable
server thanks to the kind generosity of cecilhelton.com.
I've been more than aware of the unavailability of the site recently, but
hopefully those problems will all be a thing of the past.
Also, now all the
Real Video clips over on the Media page are all
set up for real-time streaming...no more waiting to download the clip
to view it.
So if you've linked
to or bookmarked this site using an old URL such as jaguar.holyoak.com/nuon,
please update it to point right to www.nuon-dome.com. Thanks!
-
Store Additions
Added the Samsung DVD-N2000,
Toshiba SD2300, and Bedazzled to the NUON-Dome store. Check
it out.
News & Rumors -
4/25/01
Edge Awards T3K
The current issue of
Edge Magazine features
it's annual "Edge Awards," in which they pick their "Best of..." in various
categories. Tempest 3000 has a great showing, as seen from this message
from Jeff "YaK" Minter:
They give First, Second
and Third awards, and Honourable Mentions in a little bit of text at the
top, in several different categories. T3K is featured as follows:
Graphical Achievement:
1: Jet Set Radio
2: T3K
3: Metropolis Street Racer
What they say about
T3K:
"An unorthod-ox
game designed by an unorthod-ox programmer on an unorthod-ox 'gaming
platform'. T3K's vector psychedelia should enthrall the majority of
those discernible [I think they mean 'discerning' - Yak] enough to procure
themselves a copy of Jeff Minter's latest Red Bull-fuelled creation
- unquestionably one of the most visually stimulating experiences of
the year".
Audio Achievement:
1: Alien Resurrection
2: T3K
3: Jet Set Radio
What they said about
T3K:
"If you could feed
screenshots of Tempest into a stereo, and if you could combine it with
a trance compilation circa '92, and if you could output the results
to a single white tablet that would permanently alter your perception
of videogame music, then you still wouldn't be close to the beat-perfect
interplay between Jeff Minter's Nuon work and its beat-perfect soundtrack."
Respect and thanks
due to T(NT) there ;-).
T3K also got a couple
of "honourable mentions" - in the "Game of the Year" category: "Excellent
in significant areas and further comfounding the notion that this has
been a slump year for games were T3K, Deus Ex, Mr. Driller and Black
and White"; and in the "Technical Achievement" section: "T3K provided
a stunning demonstration of what the Nuon chip can do when put to good
use".
No outright wins,
but nonetheless, quite a decent overall showing. I must admit to being
a bit chuffed ;-).
/
(:-) - Yak
/
-
N-D Merch
My original 'news' about
the NUON-Dome merchandise got accidentally wiped, so just in case anyone
is interested, here is the link
again. Remember it'll always be available through the "Shop@NUON-Dome" link
on the left.
News & Rumors -
4/23/01
Extiva Gets Cheaper
Amazon is now offering
a great price on the Samsung DVD-N2000. Originaly launched at an MSRP of
$399, the Extiva can now be had for a low $219. They've got 'em in-stock
and usually ship within 24 hours. Check
it out.
And I thought I got
a deal getting mine for $350 ;-)
News & Rumors -
4/11/01
 |
No NUON
at E3
|
VML a No-Go at
E3
Yes, you read that right
- VM Labs will not be exibiting at E3 this year. Fearing being drown out
by news from the "big boys," Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc, NUON will not
have a display set up. But don't expect Mid-may to be totally silent for
new NUON announcements. According to the NUON Forum administrator:
"Our entire third-party
software team and marketing team will be at the show meeting privately
with developers and key contacts. We plan to have some major software
announcements around the time of the show, however we do not need to be
exhibiting at E3 in order to release them. I think once you see the scope
of the announcements (one of the most significant software announcement
to-date) you will realize why it wasn't important for us to exhibit at
the show this year."
So hope is not totally
lost...and we're left with some important news on a seemingly huge software
announcement coming our way. What could it be? Time will tell...
The Latest - 4/5/01
Speedball Preview
& Syzygy Scans
First up, over on the
Games page is a preview of Speedball 2100, including
screens and some details on gameplay and game features. Check it out here.
Also new are 5 scans
from the Spring 2001 issue of Syzygy Magazine, which feature reviews of
Tempest 3000 and FreeFall 3050 AD, and a 3 page interview with Tony Takoushi
from TAKS. Take a look at those on the Media page.
News & Rumors -
4/4/01
 |
Coming to a NUON
enhanced
DVD player near you
|
Spaceball=Speedball
2100
Yesterday's report which
included a new NUON game "Spaceball" was actually a typo on the nuon.tv
site. The game in question is actually Bitmap Brothers' futuristic sports
title, Speedball 2100. The game, a sequel to the original Speedball which
appeared on the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64 and others, features a top-down
perspective and full 3D graphics. The 'Brothers also developed such classics
as The Chaos Engine, GODS, and Xenon.
Look for a preview
soon, but for now you can either stare at the pretty logo or visit the
official Speedball
2100 site for more info on the game.
News & Rumors -
4/3/01
More NUON Games
Made 'Official'
The games
page of the official NUON site has updated release dates, which now include
an expanded list of upcoming games. Here's the latest list:
Q2 2001
Iron Soldier
aMaze
MYST
Space Invaders
Monopoly
Q3 2001
Bust-a-Move 4
Game of Life
Spaceball
Q4 2001
zCards
Break Out
Note the previously-unknown
title "Spaceball" in the lineup for Q3, and finally some official dates
for Monopoly, Bust-A-Move 4, Game of Life, zCards and Breakout. Looks
like Q2 will be a healthy set of months for NUON games. Of course, the
Release Dates have been updated accordingly
-
Good Guys Give
Away Bedazzled
Retail chain, The Good
Guys will be giving away copies of the NUON-Enhanced title "Bedazzled"
with any DVD Player purchased from their stores during the month of April.
Of course, a NUON-Enhanced
DVD player is recommended to get the most out of Bedazzled...check out
the official voucher for all
the details.
News & Rumors -
4/3/01
Hot Products Ships
Nuon Gear to Motorola
Hot
Products Inc. has announced that it has started shipping its Nuon-compatible
controllers to Motorola's
Austin, Texas-based Media Systems Division for use with its Streamaster
5000 set-top box. Motorola is offering the units, equipped with Hot's
Stealth control pad, to help it provide "broadband home entertainment" via
cable TV lines.
Thanks to ie
Magazine.
The Latest - 3/29/01
NUON Chat Tomorrow
Since we've yet to break
in the new NUON Chat with a scheduled meeting, we'll kick it off tomorrow,
Friday March 30th at 8:00 PM Eastern, 5:00 PM Pacific. Be sure to drop
by if you're around!
-
New Syzygy Mag
Hits
The latest issue of Syzygy
Magazine has begun shipping, and features Freefall on the cover and a full
5 pages of NUON coverage. So go snag
a copy already!
-
Bedazzling Egg
In case you missed it,
I snuck in an update the other day to include an Easter Egg for Bedazzled
on the Movies page. Give it a read if you're interested
in seeing an entire extra wish sequence that was not included in the final
cut of the movie (and for good reason).
The Latest - 3/26/01
New Cheat Codes!
After a bit of digging,
we're happy to have turned up 2 new cheat codes for NUON games, one for
FreeFall and one for Merlin Racing! Up first for FreeFall is a Mission
*and* level select password that allows you to start from exactly where
you left off, without having to start over from the skyfall every time
(on any level!).
On Merlin racing,
we've uncovered the password to make Merlin himself playable in-game!
He is, of course, one of the best characters to play with and will give
you an edge on your friends ;-).
Head over to the Cheats
& Codes section of the Games page to get
them both. Thanks to Tony and Phil for the cheats!
The Latest - 3/24/01
Site Maintainence
If you're a regular visitor
you've probably already noted the new header graphic up top...just something
I've been playing around with to make the site look better. If you feel
like sharing any thoughts/comments on the new look you can email
me and I'd be more than happy to take everyone's ideas into consideration.
Oh, and for kicks,
try hitting the little NUON button :-)
The Latest - 3/19/01
San Francisco
Chronicles NUON
An article in the San
Francisco Chronicle on Friday from Roger Yim brought a bit of light to the
NUON Features of Bedazzled to its readers. While speaking positively of
the N-hancements, Yin still seems unconvinced of NUON's future. Read
for yourself at the SF Gate website.
The Latest - 3/18/01
United Game NUON
The current issue of
the United Game Fanzine
features a 3 page spread on NUON, featuring (slightly dated) quotes from
yours truly. Please note. When the article went to press, the editor, a
Mr A.J. Mehta, didn't realise that VM Labs were in fact based in the US.
"What!?!" he exclaimed,
upon being corrected by us, here at NUON-Dome. "You mean something as
great as NUON isn't British?"
"Er...no." we replied. "It HASN'T been made by University boffins?"
"Erm...well, maybe people from Havard..."
"Harvard smarvrard!" cried the U.G. editor, beginning to get hysterical
"Cambridge is the...oh, bloomin' nora. I can't keep up this patriotism.
( it lasted for an amazing three lines people! Ed. ). So I goofed. At
least the machine's got potential and some decent games in the pipeline.
If only I hadn't written `Cambridge` in font size 24!"
"There, there..." consoled us kind, caring people at NUON-Dome "It's gonna
be okay!"
"Oi!" barked the editor, somewhat unexpectedly "I'll be havin' none of
your consolations my son! If I had just bought an Atari Jaguar Console
I would expect to be consoled. This is NUON. I expected to be DVDed.."
*insert rim-shot here*
Thanks to Andrew Mehta
for submitting that humorous disclaimer :-). If you still wish to check
out the article, despite a few erroneous facts, hit the Media
section. No horrible puns in the article, I promise.
-
New Poll
The N-D poll has been
updated with a new question, so look to your left and give it an answer!
Let everyone know what you think of the Bedazzled NUON Enhancements.
The Latest - 3/16/01
Inside the Extiva
Ever wondered what the
inside of the Samsung Extiva looks like? Or maybe just how big (or small)
the NUON processor actually is? Well head on over to the Media
secton and take a look Inside the Extiva, without having to take yours
apart.
-
Bedazzled In-Depth
A review of Bedazzled
has been posted to the Movies section. Rather
than analyzing the various aspects of the film itself, we dive into the
NUON Enhancements and dish the dirt (complete with video and screenshots)
to let you know just what NUON can offer DVD movies. Check
it out.
-
Bedazzled Issues
The Administrator of
the NUON Forum has recently posted a message regarding some issues with
Bedazzled on both the Toshiba and Samsung models of NUON DVD players. If
you're experiencing some irregularities while watching Bedazzled, be sure
to give
it a read.
-
GameGO! Magazine
From the former GameFan
editor that brought us coverage of FreeFall 3050AD and his crew comes GameGO!
Magazine. While just getting off the ground, this mag promises to have
the same unbiased and honest coverage of the widest variety of games, just
like GameFan used to. So show your support and grab a subscription, and
be sure to tell 'em you want NUON coverage in the comments field when sending
in your order!
The Latest - 3/12/01
NUON-Dome Store
Launches
In cooperation with
Hot Products, Inc, we're proud to launch the NUON-Dome
store! Now you can get all your NUON peripherals and games right here
on NUON-Dome. So think of N-D the next time your looking to pick up some
NUON goodies, or when the Pro Elite and IS3 arrive, they'll be here.
Thanks for your patronage!
-
Bedazzled Ships
Today was the ship date
for Bedazzled,
and most retailers (including Amazon.com) have the DVD in stock and have
begun shipping it out to customers. So go ahead and take a run down to the
local vid store if you want to try out some NUON DVD features.
-
Andreas Binner
Interview
NUONline.de has posted
up an English translation of its interview with Andreas Binner, a man responsible
for many audio-related NUON features. Click
here to get some insight into the inner workings at VM Labs.
News & Rumors -
3/8/01
 |
You know
you want it.
|
Syzygy Magazine
Showcases NUON
The latest issue of Syzygy
Magazine has a 2 page feature on Tempest 3000 and FreeFall 3050 AD,
and then a 3 page interview with Tony Takoushi from Total ArKade
Software.
On the non-NUON side,
the issue features interviews with Ed Logg, creator of Asteroids, Centipede,
Gauntlet, etc, as well as Dave Akers, creator of Atari's Klax, Road Riot,
CA Speed, etc. And many more surprises, such as a quick interview with
one of the fighters featured in Crave's UFC game for the Dreamcast and
PS2, Jeremey Horn. Look for it to begin shipping in about a week, and
you can place an order at the Syzygy
Magazine website.
Bedazzled Reviews
Abound
The NUON-Enhanced DVD
of "Bedazzled"
continues to impress reviewers, as DVD
Authority and DVD
File both review the title quite favorably. Be sure to check those out
if you're still on the fence about this movie.
News & Rumors -
2/27/01
 |
Bedazzled arrives
March 13th
|
More Bedazzled
Buzz
A few more tidbits in
regards to the upcoming NUON-Enhanced "Bedazzled."
First up is a review of the disk over on DVDreview.com. The review speaks
very positively of the movie, and briefly explores some of the NUON-exclusive
features. Check it out here.
NUON.tv, the official
NUON site, has put up their synopsis of the NUON features on Bedazzled.
This page presents much more in-depth coverage of the NUON features than
anything else that has been previously available. You can hop right to
the page here.
Site News
As you can tell by some
new graphical touches, N-D has undergone some changes. Starting with the
most obvious, a new Graphical Menu was implemented today, thanks to Wes.
Along with that, you'll notice the new Movies Section, the new home of the
Bedazzled preview, and future home of Reviews, Previews, and Release Lists
for future NUON-Enhanced DVD Movies.
Finally, if you click
on the Forum or Chat links, they now lead to the VM Labs-hosted chat and
forums. The Forum did have some good threads going now and again, but
it really can't compete with the new forums, which simply rock. And, the
new chat room is essentially the same as the old N-D one, so much won't
be missed. Now we've all got a universal place to meet and talk NUON so
let's do it!
News & Rumors -
2/27/01
Fox's Bedazzled
Site
Fox has launched the
official site for the DVD release of Bedazzled, the first-ever NUON enhanced
DVD movie. The
site offers a trailer, desktop images, email postcards and plenty
of pictures of Elizabeth Hurley ;-).
There doesn't appear
to be any mention of NUON on the site, but you can get the lowdown on
the NUON features in Bedazzled in our Bedazzled
Preview.
News & Rumors -
2/25/01
NUONtalk
VM Labs has put up
a new Forum and Chat room that is available over at www.nuontalk.tv.
The message
board is a UBB (Ultimate Bulletin Board) so the format should be familiar
to most. There are a number of topics for all ranges of NUON discussion,
from Hardware to Software and everything in-between.
The Chat
Room is a java applet which appears to run off of IRC, so it should
function similar to the chat room here on NUON-Dome.
As a result, the forum/chat
here on N-D may be changing around to avoid an overabundance of forums
and chats for the NUON community. There really only needs to be one main
forum and chat room for us all, and it makes sense for a VM Labs hosted
version to be "the one." And with the news that the origial NUON
Forum will be going down soon, it couldn't have come at a better time.
Thanks VML!
DVD News - 2/20/01
Clerks: Uncensored
 |
|
Snoogens
|
Welcome to a new little
addition to NUON-Dome, the DVD News. I'll toss an update on the latest DVD
releases whenever something especially cool hits the market, based on personal
preference and bias ;-). Hope you enjoy.
Today's DVD News
will feature Clerks The Animated Series: Uncensored. Hitting stores
today, this disk contains all 6 episodes of the show (only 2 were ever
aired on TV) along with a slew of extras. The content spans 2 DVD's in
this collectors edition and sports yet another infamous Kevin Smith audio
comentary. For those who've never watched Mallrats with the audio commentary,
you're missing out. If the Clerks: Uncensored commentary is half as good
you'll be rolling on the floor.
Clerks: Uncensored
will definitely bide your time nicely while waiting for the Special Edition
of Dogma to hit.
The Latest - 2/16/01
Logitech GamePad
Revealed!
Head over to the Hardware
page to check out an updated Oritron DVD900 preview (new images and
player details), and to see the first picture of the Logitech WingMan
gamepad for NUON, along with details on the controller.
News & Rumors -
2/15/01
Samsung and NUON
in Europe
Here's some info about
Samsung's plans from Thomas Ferrero, an independent sales agent for Samsung
Switzerland. It gives some insight into Samsung's plans in Switzerland,
but not necessarily in other European countries.
"This is to give you
a brief comment on the "European NUON Controversy":
It is to say that
there must be a lot of feelings of some people involved - the discussion
is far away from objective in a certain way.
Even if some manufacturers
might have decided not to launch NUON enhanced products in Europe for
a certain time, there will be at least one product ready to launch in
May/June 2001 time frame - no doubt that the SAMSUNG DVD-N705, a.k.a.
Exitva II, will gain lots of interest from movie enthusiasts all over
Europe.
It is for sure that
within the mentioned time frame, SAMSUNG will launch the new NUON enhanced
DVD player - at a very interesting price tag for end users. The design
of the new machine should be known to the NUON community - so all you
have to do is wait - and maybe place an order right now to be one of
the first adopters of NUON in Europe.
Regards,
DICOM SEDICO AG
General Agencies
SAMSUNG Consumer
Electronics
ENERGY Loudspeakers
Thomas Ferrero
Product Marketing & Services"
-
The Final T3K
Passwords
Wasted is at it again,
finishing off all the "standard" levels of T3K and passing along the passwords
for the rest of us to use. Now you can get to the "algo" levels and even
try out the first cheat code. Check 'em out over on the Cheats
& Codes page.
News & Rumors -
2/8/01
European NUON
Controversy
Earlier today, an email
arrived from M.Neihs from NUON World, stating that the Toshiba SD2300 wouldn't
be launched in Europe. The full message follows:
"Ladies and Gentlemen,
we got an official
statement from Thomas Eschholz (TOSHIBA Germany) that they cancelled
the SD2300 for Europe.
Mr. Eschholz told us that business would be a big risk because no distributor
of NUON enhanced Software is known in Germany and furthermore the number
in published software is too low. The same applies to the accessory
area.
For about one year
our mailorder division NUON WORLD contacted VM-LABS by e-mail and snail-post
that we would like to do some business and take over the part of software
imports.
Until now we get no answer from VM-LABS and it seems, they are not interested
in it. Their efforts to get in touch with retail partners are limited
to USA. SAMSUNG has announced the Extiva 705 for Germany to be launched
in May/June 2001 - SAMSUNG Germany will discuss the problem now, whether
the release has actually a sense.
GAME OVER?"
Well, apparently
the game *isn't* over. Here's the official reply to Mr. Neihs from VM
Labs:
"Mr. Neihs,
Toshiba traditionally
publicizes their product announcements through official communication
from Japan. VM Labs cannot comment on our manufacturing partner's plans.
As only one of many
features NUON offers to movie fans, the availability of proprietary
NUON software, though important, is generally not viewed as the most
critical element. Our office in Germany is equipped to take the appropriate
actions to ensure distribution throughout Europe.
We work very closely
with our partners so it is important that we develop relationships based
on mutual respect and common goals. Some of the most primary areas of
cooperation are the mutual protection of intellectual properties, product
reputation, and corporate identities. In consideration of issues such
as your refusal to desist upon using a modification of our NUON logo
on your web site, we cannot in good conscience consider your company
as a candidate for partnership.
Thanks for your
inquiry,
Greg LaBrec
VP, Marketing
VM Labs, Inc."
So the bottom line
is that NUON will still definitely be happening in Europe, which is good
news. Thanks to VM Labs for clearing things up, in a round-about way :-).
-
TAKS Chat This
Saturday!
Don't forget, if you
want to chat with Tony Takoushi, the man behind the madness at TAKS, be
here on Saturday the 10th (that's this Saturday) at 12 Noon, Eastern time.
Get those questions ready!
News & Rumors -
2/3/01
NUON on EDGE
Another article up on
the EDGE website discusses NUON, Tempest 3000 and how the game relates to
the current state of videogames. Very well-written and insightful, be sure
to give it a read here.
News & Rumors -
2/2/01
 |
Japanese Arcade
version
of Power Excavator
|
Details on Power
Excavator
Thanks to Sal over at
NUONline,
some details on the upcoming NUON game, Power Excavator has been uncovered.
This link
takes you to the Taito Japan website and shows some details and plenty of
screenshots from the arcade version of the game. PE appears to be a construction
simulation game of sorts (think a cross between Sega's 18-Wheeler American
Pro Trucker and Rare's Blast Corps...sorta), and the site states it's "The
First Power Shovel Simulator in The Coin-op Industry!!"
These real-life simulations
definitely target a niche audience, but with luck Power Excator could
turn out to be a fun one. Who ever thought a Farming Simulation could
be any fun, but Harvest Moon has garnered quite a following on various
platforms. Keep your fingers crossed :-).
-
EDGE Drops Into
the Zone
EDGE magazine, the UK
version of Next-Generation, has put up some Impressions of Tempest 3000
on their site. Though the online article doesn't mention NUON, there is
going to be a full review of T3K in the March issue of the magazine, along
with a piece on NUON.
In the meantime, you
can check out their online Impressions here.
News & Rumors -
1/31/01
Upgrade Your SD2300
Toshiba SD2300 owners
can now get a firmware upgrade CD via mail if their player meets certain
criteria. Noone is really sure what the upgrade does, but rumors have it
that it fixes some NUON-related issues.
*UPDATE* The upgrade
is NOT needed to play The Next Tetris, but aside from that we're still
not sure what it does exactly.
Here's
the link to Toshiba's site with all the details and the form to fill
out to get the software update.
-
Sample Some FF
Goodies
Through some major negotiatons
(well, not really) a few sample items from the FreeFall Contest CD are now
available here at NUON-Dome. They're over on the Media
section so get over there and check out a video clip and some cool preliminary
screens from the game. Thanks Tony!
News & Rumors -
1/29/01
 |
|
FreeFall Contest
Prize
|
FreeFall Goodies
A few days ago the contest
prize from the FreeFall 3050 A.D. competition arrived, as you can see here.
Basically, it's a personalized CDR burned by Tony T. that includes a whole
ton of media from the game including video clips of high-res renderings
of the models and scenes used in FreeFall on NUON.
 |
Backside of
the
custom case
|
In the Images folder
there are a selection of (again) high-resolution pictures and artwork used
in the game, and some that wasn't. For example, the "Global Times" newspaper
used in the opening FMV of the game is there (which has some pretty funny
reading), early variations on various static screens (options, mission briefings),
and still shots of in-game locales that show off some different design elements
that got changed around before the final release. I like the Frosty Spells
cereal man billboard the best (High in Sugar! it proclaims).
Unfortunately due
to the nature of the material on the disk, I cannot share it here on N-D
without written permission from TAKS. But maybe with a bit of persuasion
I can get some goodies up here too 'cause let me tell you, this high-res
DVD box art looks *really* nice on the 'ol desktop.
The Latest - 1/27/01
Interview with
Miracle Designs
Phil and Peter were kind
enough to field a few of our questions in an e-mail interview.
A lot of cool information was shared. Scope it out for sure =)
The Latest - 1/23/01
Q&A with TT
Just in case you didn't
notice the banner up top, the news is that we're having a Q&A chat with
Tony T. from Total ArKade Software on Saturday, February 10th at 12 noon
EST. Tony will be answering all your questions about his company, FreeFall
and TAKS upcoming game "Morphin Machines," so get ready and be here on the
10th!
New Game Rumors
Some info has been floating
around on the Net that includes a couple of new games for NUON, Bugdom (a
3D platformer) and Power Escavator [sic] (a contruction sim), along with
news of a retail release for Ballistic and The Next Tetris.
Sal over at NUONline
found an
article at Video Business that mentions the retail release of TNT
and Ballistic as well, so this looks like it definitely will happen. If
you're looking to check out Bugdom, have a look at the preview
here on N-D.
News & Rumors -
1/20/01
HPI News
Good stuff is happening
over at the HPI website. First up is news about the Pro Elite controller.
New specs and a new picture are up (see right). The most interesting of
the new features is the "Innovative Joy-Ball™ 360° Analog Joystick" which
appears to be a small trac-ball style device built in next to the D-Pad
where the analog joystick used to be. This is an interesting innovation
which should provide even more accurate control over games. The Pro-Elite
is scheduled to ship 2nd Quarter 2000 for $39.99 and is available for pre-order
now over on the HPI
Website.
The first picture of
the HPI NUON Memory Card is now up as well, as seen here. The Standard
Memory Card will come in a range of storage capacities and will also be
available in Q2 2000. "Pocket size, Stackable and transportable to any other
NUON™ memory compatible peripheral."
Last but not least,
the Port
Replicator is finally in-stock for $19.99. This device allows
you to relocate your NUON ports to wherever you'd like (in a different
area of your entertainment center perhaps) in order to fit your Home Theater
setup best.
Thanks to Ted for
the heads-up!
Cheap Exitva
If you're still in the
market for a Samsung Extiva, Amazon.com
now has them in stock for a low $279, which is actually lower than what
they're charging for the Toshiba SD2300. Check
it out.
The Latest - 1/16/01
NUON-Dome Chat
I just put up a java-based
chat room for the site. Please let
me know if you have any issues or problems with it. Hopefully all will
work out well but it's hard to test out all possible configurations.
Go
to the chat!
-
Review: FreeFall
3050 A.D.
The action/arcade game
FreeFall is upon us. Is it too difficult? Is it truly innovative? Find out
in the full review.
If you need a bit
of assistance, the level passwords for FF have been posted over on the
Cheats & Codes page.
-
FreeFall Contest
Over
Well, I hate to gloat
but I beat FreeFall on Difficult last night so that makes me the winner
of the contest that was announced by Tony Takoushi yesterday. Sorry guys
;-). Look for info on the CD from TAKS once the mailman drops it off.
-
IGN DVD Shows
the Love
In a suprising turn of
events, IGN DVD has semi-appologized for its anti-NUON answer to a recent
Q&A question. Check it out here
and here. Thanks,
IGN DVD.
-
Vote NUON in 2001
A poll on DVD.com asking
"What Innovation Are You Looking Forward To In 2001?" has NUON currently
in the lead over More HDTV units in the market, DVD/MP3 Combo Units, DVD-RAM
Video Cameras and even Recordable DVD. Go cast
your vote!
News & Rumors -
1/15/01
FreeFall Contest
This just in from Tony
T. from TAKS:
"I really would like
to see FF cracked on hard difficulty so here's a little incentive, whoever
finishes the game and tells me what the endsequence is will be sent a
goody CD with a selection of the hi-res renders we created for the cities
models,posters etc.
This art is absolutely
stunning and has not been released outside of the company so it really
is as exclusive as it gets.."
This is great news
to whoever gets to beating the Hard levels first, you can bet I'll be
in the running as well ;-). Look for a FreeFall review soon!
News & Rumors -
1/11/01
More from CES
A CES report posted over
on the NUON
Forum revealed some more interesting information from the show. Here's
some highlights:
Galaxy Quest NUON-Enhanced
DVD was shown in the VM Labs Suite, along with a Streamaster 5000 system
showing online games and multicast IP video, a Samsung N501 showing movies
or the VLM, and an Oritron player showing the VLM.
Check
out the full report
-
Mixed Media
DVD
File reported on the NUON-Enhanced version of Bedazzled very positively,
citing the extras on the disk as a bonus to NUON owners, while non-NUON
owners will still get a lot out of the disk. Here's
the report.
The slightly less-informed
ign.dvd discounted NUON
to an inquiring reader in it's 1/2/01 Q&A stating:
"I wouldn't spend
the extra money. NUON is just an enhancement to the DVD experience...but
from everything I've seen, it's a fairly useless one. There are interesting
bells and whistles added to the navigation of DVD's (fast-forwarding,
rewinding, pause, etc etc etc), and in theory, there will be games put
out for it. But the problem is, that it doesn't have the processing power
to do anything beyond what a Super Nintendo might have been able to do...but
of course with much greater storage capacity."
All reports from CES
seem to suggest otherwise, as the Oritron player will be good for those
looking for a low price, DVD Movies will do much more than fast-forward,
rewind, pause, etc etc etc (NUON-Enhanced machines already do), and I'd
love to see Tempest 3000 on a SNES. *editorial mode off*
Send your thoughts
on this to the fine folks at IGN DVD
The Latest - 1/9/01
FreeFall Media
Fresh off the video capture
card is a boatload of new videos and screenshots of the final version of
FreeFall 3050 A.D...give it a look in the Media section.
Be sure to check out the super-cool FreeFall 3050
Box Art too!
News & Rumors -
1/8/01
 |
The Grand Lobby
At CES
|
News from the
CES Floor
There’s a new Samsung
NUON player in town and it’s known as the N501. Being displayed on
four stations at CES, the N501 has a completely new look, 152 total VLM
effects, the ability to choose between classical, jazz, techno, rock/pop
and other modes for optimum VLM response, and even works with MP3 disks.
Which means, yes, the N501 will officially support the CDR medium. Aside
from these new features, it is similar to the Extiva but will not bear the
“Extiva” name anymore – it’s just NUON to avoid confusion. No official word
on whether or not a game and/or controller will be packed-in.
The targeted release
date is March with an MSRP of $249, and expect a slightly lower street
price. It will be sold in the US as well as Europe, and will eventually
replace the DVD-N2000.
-
The Oritron DVD900
is being shown at the VM Labs booth, and will also have MP3/CDR capabilities.
Unlike the pic here on N-D, the player on
display features 2 NUON ports on the front but is otherwise very similar.
Release is set for mid-2000 with an anticipated MSRP of under $200
-
Iron Soldier 3
has suffered a slight delay and will now be available in February.
-
The NUON-Enhanced
version of Bedazzled is being shown at the NUON booth, and Logitech's
controller is being demoed at the VM Labs booth. The Logitech controller
has both analog and digital and reportedly looks great and is very high-quality.
But unfortunately, the first gamepad will not have memory card support.
-
Toshiba will
continue to push its SD2300 NUON player, as it has not made any
official announcements of a replacement or of any additional NUON decks.
Though that does not mean they won’t have one.
The Latest - 1/7/01
New Previews
Check out the Games
page for new previews of Bust-A-Move 4 and RC de GO!
Also, check out the
new previews for Breakout, Monopoly and The Game of Life.
TNT Cover Art
I've just uploaded some
homebrew coverart for The Next Tetris (since it comes in a paper sleeve).
Print it out and slip it into a DVD case for a proper addition to your rack
of DVD's and NUON games :-) Hit the Media section
or the link below.
TNT
Cover Art
eBay Auction
Just throwing a cheap
plug for an eBay auction up here. If you're looking for an extra Warrior
NUON gamepad, click
here. Thanks!
News & Rumors -
1/7/01
The First NUON-Enhanced
Movie
Twentieth Century Fox
Home Entertainment's "Bedazzled" Special Edition DVD, starring Brendan Fraser
and Elizabeth Hurley will be the first movie ever to feature NUON enhancements.
It will be available on March 13, 2001 at a suggested retail price of US$26.98/C$41.98
Canada. Extra features on the "Bedazzled" DVD made possible by NUON include:
- Dynamic book marking
of scenes from the film along thematic lines. Examples include digest
versions of commentaries by director Harold Ramis and Hurley, character
studies of the supporting actors and a fashion show of Hurley's wardrobe.
- Pre-selected close-up
zooms of interesting scene elements combined with background text highlighting
the story behind the scenes.
- An enhanced gallery
of concept art and set design stills displayed in contrast with their
counterpart clips in the film.
- A dynamic chapter
select feature that displays a full motion video thumbnail view of a
chapter combined with a written scene description so users can easily
determine where they want to enter the movie.
"NUON allows a
studio to offer extra assets to movie viewers with minimal additional
production time. Powerful NUON assets are programmed to require little
memory on a DVD. All of the NUON enhanced content on "Bedazzled" takes
up less than four megabytes of memory and won't slow the player down."
"Fox's "Bedazzled"
is a standard DVD that will play on any DVD player. The NUON content
can be accessed by using any NUON compatible hardware. The first NUON
enhanced DVD players from Samsung and Toshiba made their debut in
fall of 2000 and additional manufacturers including Orient Power Multimedia
and LGE Corp. have also announced plans for NUON DVD players."
View
the full Press Release
The Latest - 1/7/01
Review: The Next
Tetris
Owners of the NUON-Enhanced
Toshiba SD2300 get this game for free, and it's a good thing they do. Check
out the review in the Games
section to learn why.
The Latest - 1/6/01
LGE to Incorporate
NUON
Yet another announcement
from a hardware manufacturer planning to use NUON in future DVD players.
This time it's LG
Electronics who plan to incorporate NUON in select DVD Players to be
manufactured for launch in 2001.
"There seem to be limitless
possibilities with NUON technology as a compelling value added feature
set for the next generation of DVD players," said J. H. Choi, Senior General
Manager, Engineering Design Department/Digital Display & Media Company
at LGE. "In addition to driving the existing DVD market with its expansive
functionality, NUON creates an extra enticement for consumers considering
the migration to the benefits of digital video products. We are currently
deciding which DVD models will incorporate the NUON technology and will
announce specific products that will be launched in 2001 shortly."
View
the full Press Release
Hardware Updates
Thanks to all the recent
news, major updates have occured over in the Hardware
section, including an Oritron DVD900 Preview
(including a picture of the player), an updated Streamaster Preview, and
Hardware Specs added to the DVD-N2000 and Toshiba SD2300 pages.
News & Rumors -
1/5/01
More NUON Games
 |
PSX Version
of RC de GO!
|
Well, CES was rumored
to have some good announcements for NUON and it's certainly starting off
with a bang! New games from Hasbro Interactive and Taito have
been announced in a press release today:
"Initial Hasbro Interactive
NUON titles will include MONOPOLY, THE GAME OF LIFE and BREAKOUT video
games, all scheduled for release in Q2 of 2001. Taito also has at least
three NUON games planned, including "RC de GO!" "BUST-A-MOVE 4" and "SPACE
INVADERS 2001" scheduled for release in the second and third quarters.
These games join a number of other NUON software and peripherals on shelves
now, as well as previously announced titles slated to ship in the coming
weeks. Similar to NUON software now on shelves, all games currently in
the works are anticipated to ship with an MSRP of $29.95."
 |
PSX Version of
Bust-A-Move 4
|
Monopoly and The Game
of Life are based on the popular Hasbro board games, while Breakout will
likely be an updated version of the classic Atari game in true Hasbro Interactive
fashion. RC de GO! (pictured to the right) has received positive reviews
on the PSX revision, and even received the IGN.com
editor's choice award. Bust-A-Move 4, possibly the best/most addicting
puzzle game ever has been featured on many game consoles and in arcades,
while Space Invaders 2001 is likely to be another update of a classic arcade
game.
View
the full Press Release
Another NUON DVD
Player
NUON needed an attractively-priced
DVD player to penetrate the mass-market, and that's exactly what it's
going to do with the Oritron DVD900 (which will be on display at CES).
With an MSRP of $200, you'll most likely be seeing these players for around
$150 street price. The DVD900 will be available in both North America
and Europe. From the Press Release:
"VM Labs, Inc. and
Orient Power Multimedia, Ltd. announced today that they have signed an
agreement aimed at delivering NUONÔ enhanced DVD players into the key
US and European markets throughout the year 2001 and beyond. Orient Power
Multimedia, Ltd, a major supplier to virtually all the major national
United States consumer electronics retail outlets, has established a respectable
market position and share in DVD players in the last 18 months. The first
Oritron branded NUON enhanced DVD player is scheduled for shipment in
mid 2001 with a target retail price below US$200."
View
the full Press Release
YaK and a Near-Death
Experience
Jeff "YaK" Minter
updated his site
today which, aside from a link back to the N-D review of T3K (thanks!!),
also chronicles his near-death experience in a recent trip to Barbados.
Check
it out.
The Next Tetris
Arrives
Toshiba SD2300 owners
rejoice! Your copies of The Next Tetris/NUON Demo Disks are finished and
have begun shipping. Head on over to the Media section
to check out screenshots and a video clip of the nifty opening FMV sequence.
Early CES Reports
- 1/4/01
Press releases have already
started to roll in thanks to CES this weekend. First up is news from Motorola
about its Streamaster set-top-box. Blockbuster Inc. and Enron Broadband
Services announced that they are using Motorola's Streamaster(TM) 5000 advanced
set top box to provide access to the Blockbuster Entertainment On-Demand
service, which is providing subscribers access to movies on-demand. Currently,
consumers are able to start, stop, pause, rewind, and view movies on-demand
with VHS visual and sound quality.
"The software-enabled
Streamaster 5000 serves as an in-home ``gateway'' to a wide-range of interactive
multimedia services. The Streamaster system is designed to give broadband
distribution providers the ability to offer additional services to consumers
such as digital-quality broadcast television services, web access, email,
3D and network games, karaoke, music on-demand, on-line shopping and more.
Streamaster 5000 gains its intelligence, like the ability to add new features
through remote software upgrades, through DigitalDNA(TM) technology."
View
the full Press Release
-
Canadians hoping for
on-demand broadband content aren't left out in the cold, thanks to Aliant
Telecom, choosing Motorola's Streamaster(TM) 5000 advanced set-top box
to deliver a wide range of broadband interactive television services.
"Aliant plans an aggressive
market expansion of its comprehensive Advanced Digital Subscriber Line
(ADSL)-based VibeVision suite of services, launched in January 2000, which
offers digital-quality television, Interactive program guide, ``infotainment''
services, Web browsing and e-mail."
"NUON technology
enables many of Streamaster 5000's capabilities, such as 2D/3D games
graphics, General MIDI music, Dolby Digital(TM) audio, Spatializer(TM),
MPEG1/2 with video trick modes and MP3 playback. Motorola and VM Labs
have a multi-year alliance, which includes games development and content
publishing assistance."
View
the full Press Release
-
Finally, Australians
are in luck when it comes to Streamaster as well, TransACT Capital Communications
Pty Limited, signed an agreement to purchase Motorola's Streamaster(TM)
5000 advanced set-top box.
"Streamaster 5000 is
designed to make it possible for TransACT to deliver full-service broadband
interactive television services like digital-quality broadcast television,
Web access, e-mail services, 3-D games, and video and music-on-demand
to living rooms across the nation's capital, Canberra, through VDSL (Very
High Speed Digital Subscriber Line) services."
View
the full Press Release
-
Next up in NUON news
is an announcement of Logitech signing on to develop NUON peripherals.
From the Press Release:
"The initial product,
a Logitech gamepad for NUON, is expected to be launched in the
first quarter of this year. The company will have more specific product
information and other announcements available at the VM Labs booth (No.
N223) at CES, January 6-9.
``We are continuing
to move our products 'beyond the PC' and into the living room,'' said
Ted Hoff, vice president and general manager of Logitech's Interactive
Entertainment Division. ``Our partnership with VM Labs gives us the
opportunity to add additional functionality, in the form of a high-quality
peripheral, to any entertainment device that incorporates NUON technology.''
For Logitech, NUON
provides an opportunity to expand the company's customer base into mainstream
game products, going beyond an audience of hardcore gamers currently
playing games on dedicated consoles and PCs. VM Labs is currently teaming
with a number of hardware and software partners to deliver cutting edge
interactive home entertainment. Motorola is launching NUON-enhanced
Streamaster set-top boxes that will deliver the first broadband gaming.
Toshiba and Samsung have both released NUON enhanced DVD players offering
consumers a wide variety of new movie viewing features, as well as the
ability to play games and display visual light shows while listening
to music CDs.
Previously, ``Ballistic''
software came packed in with the Samsung DVD N2000 player and ``The
Next Tetris'' game is part of the Toshiba SD2300 DVD player package.
Initial NUON software titles began shipping in December, 2000. Numerous
additional titles from Hasbro Interactive, Taito Corp., Sunsoft
and others are expected to become available throughout 2001."
View
the full Press Release
The Latest - 01/01/01
Capped and uploaded a
few high-res shots from the options & goodies menu of T3K - suitable for
desktop usage! Available in 1024 X 768 & 800 X 600 resolutions. Media
Section
-W3Z
The Latest - 12/29/00
Thanks to Wasted, all
of the T3K level passwords up to 115 (missing only 113) are now available
on the Cheats & Codes page in the Games
section. It was good of him to take the time to write down every password
so the rest of us don't have to leave the zone :-)
-
The Extiva was featured
in a huge, full-page ad in today's USA Today on page 5E in the Weekend
section. The full color ad reads as follows:
"Everyone knows, galaxies
far, far away tend to be more advanced. That's why, considering the level
of entertainment you get through a Samsung DVD Player, you have to wonder
where they come from. But, then again, all that matters is that you're
floored every time you watch a movie or play a video game. So sit back
and revel in the full glory of Samsung DVD. For example, the Samsung DVD-N2000
comes with features like a virtual surround sound system that replicates
movie theater acoustics. On-screen displays that give you simple control
of Samsung's elaborate DVD features. And Motion zoom that lets you zoom
into part of the scene. Samsung DVD Players. The technology you need for
the fun you want."
Look for a scan of
the ad to grace the Media section as soon as I get the time.
Tempest 3000 - The
Review
After hours of watering
eyes and blistering thumbs comes the Tempest 3000
review. Read, learn, then go buy.
-
Congratulations to
Wes on his engagement to his girlfriend the day after I got engaged! Great
minds truly do think alike!
The Latest - 12/25/00
Greetings readers. Just
a quick note to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, etc, etc.
Thanks for checking out N-D - Wes and I both truly appreciate it!
On a personal note,
I just got engaged to my long-time girlfriend Kati and I'm pretty excited.
It was her dream to get engaged on Christmas Eve so I figured I'd make
it happen for her. Hey, any girl that'll support me in my Web antics and
race against me in Merlin Racing (not to mention Ballistic) can't be all
be all bad, right? Here's to the future :-)
-
As for NUON-Related
news, FreeFall is already spinning on a lucky few NUON players already.
With luck I should have my copy on the 4th - here's hoping. I should get
my T3K review up fairly soon too - probably after the holiday festivites
are over.
News & Rumors -
12/20/00
FreeFall ships! That's
right, the news from David Goodman at DVD International is that those who've
ordered can expect their copies to begin showing up as early as tomorrow
if you live in the US. Those outside of the US should begin looking in their
mailboxes in a few days.
-
For those who have
ordered their NUON games from online retailers such as Amazon,
the good news is that Merlin Racing and Tempest 3000 are both showing
as "on hand," and while many people have already received Merlin and are
waiting for T3K, it should be arriving soon.
-
Hot Products Inc,
creators of NUON peripherals has started carrying NUON games as well.
In their new DVD's
& Games section they have Merlin and Tempest on hand to ship, with
FreeFall, IS3, MYST and aMaze as "coming soon." Another source for NUON
games is always good.
-
If you're looking
for a neat trick to try with your Toshiba SD2300, try out its custom screensaver
abilities. By using the snapshot feature, you can save a captured image
to appear as the player's screensaver instead of the standard one. The
image even remains after the unit is powered off. Very nice.
-
Speaking of screensavers,
if you're looking for a neat screensaver for your PC, check out the NUON
Screensaver over in the Media section.
It's very similar to the "What is NUON?" Flash presentation over on the
official NUON site, but it goes nicely with the T3K sounds for turning
your PC into NUON heaven.
The Latest - 12/17/00
I have uploaded the entire
collection of Tempest 3000 sound effects in a space saving zip file of MP3s.
You'll find that and a helpful .txt file for decompressing them to wavs
(for your windows events!) on the Media page.
-W3Z
The YaK Has Llanded
Tempest 3000 is here.
To welcome it's arrival, belold a bevy of new Media,
including screenshots (many, many screenshots),
box art, and a nice big RealVideo file.
More to come - enjoy!
Merlin Racing Review
Now Available
A review
of Merlin Racing has just been added to the Games
page - head on over and check it out. Learn the ins and outs of this fun
karting game.
The Latest - 12/13/00
Tempest 3000 is ready
to go! Word has it that DVD International has started sending out orders
for those who've ordered directly through them, while Amazon.com
should start sending out pre-ordered copies later this week.
-
In an addendum to
what Tony Takoushi from TAKS reported earlier, "Freefall was released
to replication on Friday and should hit retail by December 18th at the
latest."
December is turning
out to be quite the month for NUON gaming.
-
Be sure to swing by
the Games page to check out the new Cheats
& Codes section, now featuring all the level passwords for Merlin
Racing. Learn how to unlock the boss characters for play, and where to
find a secret key too!
The Latest - 12/9/00
If you're one of the
unlucky ones who are stuck waiting for Merlin Racing to ship from Amazon.com
even though you've set your order to ship as items become available, try
doing what Adam posted over on the NUON Forum:
"I figured out why
I didn't see the option for 'ship on hand items now' at Amazon. If you
were like me an switched your option to 'Ship as ordered items become
available', you have to switch back to 'ship when all are available' then
the option will be there to ship on hand items now."
-
A review of the HPI
Stealth controller is now available. Find out whether you should jump
in head first and pick up this controller or whether it'd be better to
wait for the Pro Elite. Check it out in the Hardware
section or by clicking here.
The Latest - 12/8/00
Merlin Racing and the
Stealth Controller have landed! Initally Merlin wasn't overly impressive,
but with some playtime it's starting to grow on me. The HPI controller that
came was the black Stealth and it's very well done, but is not without a
few quirks. Reviews are upcoming, but in the meantime be sure to check out
the Media section for lots of new scans and video
captures from the first round of NUON goodies.
-
Regarding the release
date of FreeFall, Tony Takoushi (of TAKS) has reported that "Today is
its last day in test, subject to there being no problems (and there have
been virtually none all week) it will go into replication over the weekend
and go to distribution next Monday (December 11th). It should then hit
retail shelves on Monday 18th December at the latest."
That's good news considering
the previous estimated release was in January. Thanks to Tony for passing
the word along.
-
This info was just
passed along from Michael Olshansky - the Toshiba VLM alows user interactivity
via the Stealth controller's analog stick! Here's what he had to say:
"I got my Stealth controller
today and decided to see if it would allow me to manipulate DVD movie
menus, since the Toshiba requires the use of the remote. Unfortunately,
it doesn't. I DID try popping in CD and firing up the VLM. And guess what?
The analog stick modifies, in real time, the VLM output!
Up and down seem
to do a zooming effect, while left and right modify the colors.
Again, this only
works with the analog stick.. not the d-pad. So Samsung users are probably
out of luck considering that the included warrior controller lacks an
analog stick.
I played around
with the controller and vlm a bit more and found that the buttons and
analog controller modify different vlm effects in different ways. With
some, the small grey direction buttons on the right of the pad control
vlm effect complexity and/or speed, while they had little or no effect
with other vlm effect sequences.
It seems that for
most vlm effects though that the left and right on the analog stick
controls video feedback and overdrive."
Thanks for the info
Mike! Out of curiosity, I tried the analog stick on my Extiva in "Random
Energy" mode and there was no user-interactivity. I guess it's either
more effects, or user-interactivity - whichever you prefer! :-)
-
The next NUON player?
Check out the display on this
Onkyo progressive-scan DVD Player - see the NUON light? On the Onkyo Japan
website it's listed as the DV-S939(N). N for NUON perhaps? Either
way, at $1800 it's only for the most serious technophile.
News & Rumors -
12/7/00
While Merlin Racing has
just become available, Tempest and FreeFall suffer yet another slip in release
dates to December 19 and January 2, respectively. It'd be nice to have just
ONE set date (even if it's further off) and know when to really expect the
games to arrive, rather than play the delay game.
-
On a semi-related
note, Hasbro Interactive has been bought out by Infogrames. As you may
or may not know, Infogrames had a hand in the Extiva pack-in game, Ballistic,
while The Next Tetris is a HI game, and the HI/Atari logos grace the cover
of T3K. How this will affect NUON has yet to be seen, but Infogrames could
theoretically use HI's properties to provide more interactive content
for NUON.
-
If you thought the
side nav bar of NUON-Dome looks a bit different today, you're not seeing
things. The new graphic interface is courtesy of my longtime webmastering
partner, Wes Powell, who is now officially jumping onboard the NUON-Dome
machine. We've got some good stuff brewing behind-the-scenes, so look
forward to more content (and cooler graphics) from Wes and myself in the
future!
News & Rumors -
12/6/00
Believe it or not, Merlin
Racing is *finally* beginning to get in-stock at retailers around the 'net.
Amazon
lists it as "on hand" and DVD International says it's "now available." Definitely
good news. T3K and FreeFall are still on tap for a mid-December release.
-
Best Buy is stepping
up their NUON stock. Now, in addition to the SD2300, they've begun selling
the Samsung DVD-N2000 on their website. It has yet to be seen if the Extiva
will wind up on actual store shelves, but if it does you can bet there
will be a nice spark of interest for the player.
-
The N64 look-alike
controller for NUON, the Stealth, is now available (in limited stock)
from Hot Products
Inc. It's the first third-party NUON controller available, and comes
in black or transparent blue. It'll run you a cool $35. Expect a review
here as soon as it arrives to NUON-Dome central ;-).
-
Just in case you missed
it, Yak has updated his site with a pretty amusing story of his (and T[NT]'s)
journey to the Sheep Shop, complete with photographs and a sheep's head-on-a-stick.
Check it out.
-
Recent NUON Coverage:
- Time Magazine,
December 4 2000 issue (ad and mention in the Tech section)
- Stereophile - Guide
to Home Theater (Extiva Review)
- Daily Record (Morristown,
NJ) Newspaper (Extiva article)
- eTown.com Toshiba
SD2300 review
-
And, for fellow NUON
webmasters out there, N-D is now offering nuon-dome.com subdomain urls.
There are no ads and no hooks, you just have to:
a) Run a NUON-related
website
b) Want a short (and way-cool) URL
That's all there is to
it. For now, if you're interested just email
me what you'd like your subdomain to be (yournamehere.nuon-dome.com),
and where you want that URL to point. Hopefully soon I will have a proper
form to fill out to request your URL. Thanks!
News & Rumors -
11/28/00
Well, as you probably
have found out by now, Tempest 3000 and Merlin Racing have yet to ship.
The word from DVD International is that Merlin will ship on Thursday, T3K
sometime next week and FreeFall in "about two weeks." Unfortunately delays
are a part of the games/technology industry whether we like it or not. Let's
just hope these dates don't slip again.
-
T3K and Merlin have
both been re-posted to BestBuy.com,
now with pictures of the acutal boxes. Also on the site (but not yet available)
are the HPI "Stealth" controller and the Extension Cable. Here's hoping
those items will be available at Best Buy stores as well.
-
According to Jeff
"YaK" Minter, Europeans are in for a nice suprise in regards to the VLM
in their NUON players. In a recent post to the NUON forum, Minter stated
that there are "some new effects that may get into Euro VLM; Andreas has
done some great work improving things like beat detection; and there is
more possibility for VLM to co-exist with other functions." He went on
to say that there was new beat-acquistion stuff, user-interactivity is
restored, and that there are about 25 new effects in already, with even
more in the works.
-
CES,
the Consumer Electronics Show, is approching fast, and VM Labs is set
to showcase
NUON there. Rumor has it that we can expect some nice suprises from
VML there, and that there are a number of games under wraps that are unknown
as of now. I'd also expect to hear more about NUON-Enhanced movies from
and after the event as well. Then comes E3...
Extiva for Under
$200
Hope everyone had a great
Thanksgiving and ate tons of Turkey and Pumpkin pie. In case you missed
it, Marshall has posted in the NUON-Dome forum a method to get a Samsung
DVD-N2000 for under $200. Check out the thread here.
Also, head over to
the Media page to check out scans from the December 2000 J&R Electronics
Catalog of the DVD-N2000 and the SD-2300. Interestingly, the Toshiba is
labeled as a NUON player but there's no mention of it in the Samsung listing.
It's only a matter
of days until T3K and Merlin Karting hit! If all goes well, those that
have the games set to ship overnight (including myself) will have them
on Tuesday. Be sure to hop
on over and order yours if you haven't yet.
GameFan FreeFall
Review
The December issue of
GameFan is on newsstands now and features a review of the final version
of FreeFall 3050 AD for NUON. For a sneak peek check out the Misc section
of the Media page here at N-D (or just click here),
but be sure to go pick up a copy and support the only gaming mag with the
conhones to cover NUON.
Delays, delays...
Well apparently we didn't
cross our fingers tight enough, because the launch of the first three NUON
games have been delayed. Tempest 3000 and Merlin Racing are now set to hit
stores November 28th, while FreeFall has been pushed back to December 12th.
The good news is that
the finished T3K is getting a major "thumbs up" from those lucky few who've
gotten copies already. ECM from GameFan calls it a "killer app," and that
anyone who hasn't done so yet should go out and get a NUON DVD Player
and T3K as soon as it's available. The game will also be featured in an
upcoming issue of GameFan (as FreeFall is again this month), so don't
forget to subscribe :-)
Toshiba SD2300 Review
Contest!
I'm just a lowly fan-site
webmaster so I can't really justify going out to buy another $300 DVD player
just for the sake of reviewing it for the site. So, for a limited time only,
the first person to submit a good (well-written, etc), review of the SD2300
will get their very own, elusive NUON-Dome.com email address! Hey, it's
not much but you can brag to your friends! Send entries to kevin@nuon-dome.com.
Thanks and good luck!
NUON at buy.com
In the continuing trend
of online retailers picking up NUON software, buy.com
now has Tempest 3000 available for purchase at the lowest price yet - $19.99!
Just hit the link and do a quick search for NUON and it'll pop right up.
Gotta love these NUON game prices!
FreeFall Blowout!
Thanks to Tony Takoushi
at TAKS, we're able to bring you an Interview with Tony about FreeFall which
includes many new images, Wallpaper, development notes and even news of
a potential NUON game in development! Check out the interview for the scoop.
First Batch Delayed
According to recent reports
and the DVD International
site (the distributors of the NUON games), the first batch of NUON games
has been delayed from the previous release date of November 14th to November
28th. Apparently the problems stem from replication and packaging due to
the busy holiday season.
Looks like we'll have
to practice up on that Demo disk just a *bit* longer.
More NUON Game Retailers
More online retailers
are picking up NUON Interactive software. This round it's Best Buy and DVD
Planet. DVD Planet has the same $20.99 price as Amazon.com, while the games
at Best Buy are $24.99 with free shipping.
Tempest X000 Minter
Interview
A new interview with
Jeff Minter has been completed and posted over at Tempest X000. Not to be
confused by the recent interview that Adam at Castle NUON conducted, this
one is all new and consists of 37+ questions of Yakly goodness.
NUON - TromaDance
Sponsor
Lloyd Kaufmann Welcomes
you to TromaDance 2001. NUON has been announced as asponsor of the second
annual TromaDance Festival to be held in Salt Lake City, and Park City
UT, January 25 and 26, 2001 respectively.
TromaDance is the
first film festival wholeheartedly devoted to filmmakers and fans. Unlike
every other film festival, TromaDance does not charge filmmakers to submit
their films. Entrance to all screenings is free and open to the public.
Also, there are no VIP reservations or preferential treatment regarding
films, panels, or parties of any kind given. The organizers of TromaDance
believe films are meant to be seen, especially when it comes to new filmmakers.
Art…in all its forms… is for the people!
Along with the unique
film festival, get a first hand look at why NUON is total video entertainment
with live demonstrations of NUON Interactive DVD.
NUON-Specific Page
at Amazon.com
Brett, the Managing Editor
at the Amazon.com Game Store has plans to set up a NUON Section in the "more
platforms" section of Amazon. The page is said be going live on Sunday the
29th, so be sure to swing by and give it a look.
Toshiba Virtual
Tour
NUON.tv has added a "Virtual
Tour" of the Toshiba SD2300 remote control, much like the Samsung Extiva
tour it had posted a few weeks ago. Check it out at nuon.tv
(of course).
Extiva Poses for
Home Theater
On the cover of this
month's Home Theater Magazine you'll find the DVD-N2000 Extiva from Samsung.
Inside you'll find a very positive review from a reviewer who obviously
appreciates NUON's capabilities and features. Be sure to give that a look!
Pro Elite Delayed
Contrary to what was
previously posted to their site, Hot Products Inc has updated their page
for the NUON Pro Elite controller. The updated product information includes
a new release date - Q1 2000 instead of December 1st. Guess you'll have
to go with the pack-in or the N64 style controller for now.
T3K Strategy Guide
Now Online
Jeff "Yak" Minter has
written a pretty comprehensive strategy guide to T3K and posted it up at
Yak's Zoo at this URL.
Reading that is sure to get you even more psyched up for the game (as if
that were possible). Look out for those Frank Zappers!
Preorder Peripherals
Hot Products Inc is now
taking pre-orders on three of its NUON controllers. Get them at the following
links:
$299 Extiva For
Good
Jason at homebyfive.com
has reported that the Samsung DVD-N2000 will remain at the $299 price (with
free shipping) indefinitely. Check
it out.
Toshiba SD2300 and
New Game Now Available
According to recent reports,
the Toshiba SD2300 is now on display at Best Buy stores across the US. The
2300 model carries the NUON processor, but does not come with a controller
or game packed in. Though, the player does come with a mail-in card to get
a demo disk with the full version of Hasbro Interactive's "The Next Tetris"
on it.
No word yet on if
The Next Tetris will become available for retail sale (for those who already
have the DVD-N2000 Samsung), or if it will remain a pack-in only as Ballistic
has been. Chalk up another game for our NUON players, at least.
YaKly Interview
Castle NUON has posted
a good review with Jeff "Yak" Minter today over on their site. Be sure to
stop in and check it out.
Amazon.com to Carry
NUON Software
In a nice move for both
VM Labs and NUON fans, the Internet superstore Amazon.com
has already listed Merlin Racing, Tempest 3000, and FreeFall 3050 AD up
for pre-order on their site. Find the games at the following links:
They're set for the
same release date as DVD
International, November 14th. And to top it all off, the titles will
only cost you $20.99 each at Amazon. Cheap!
Extiva at dvdreview.com
Though the review recently
posted to dvdreview.com on the Samsung DVD-N2000 suffers from a bit of misinformation
(the $399 MSRP for example) they do rate the machine "good" overall. Check
out the review here.
Forum Added
As you may see from the
"forum" link on the left, I've added a pretty good Message Board here at
NUON-Dome. It allows emoticons, signatures, etc and you don't have to "sign
up," which makes the forum open to all. Please, feel free to make use of
the forum and enjoy!
NUON Games Price
Drop
While NUON games are
still not yet available, they've already undergone a price drop at DVD
International. While the MSRP for NUON games is set at a low $29.99,
DVD International has set their sell price to a paltry $23.99. This price
applies to all games set to launch on November 14th, which includes Tempest
3000, FreeFall 3050 A.D. and Merlin Racing.
Dissappointing Toshiba
VLM
According to Yak, the
version of the VLM to be included in the Toshiba SD2300 model DVD player
will only have 8 different VLM effects. Yak states "You can blame Pokemon
for that. TPTB in Tosh are playing it cautious WRT VLM effects, after the
infamous "epilepsy episode" that occurred a couple of years back, when stroboscopic
effects in a Pokemon cartoon caused a reaction in some Japanese children.
So, if the VLM is a high priority for you, the Sammy's the player to go
for."
Exploring Extiva
Extras
A new feature on the
Official NUON Website allows you to take a virtual tour of the remote-accessible
features of the Samsung DVD-N2000. Check it out at http://www.nuon.tv/producthelp.html.
FreeFall Featured
in GameFan
As promised, the November
2000 issue of GameFan magazine features
a three page preview of FreeFall 3050 A.D. by TAKS for NUON. The spread
gives the game a fair look and is very well done. Do yourself a favor and
check out the issue...it's good to know someone actually has the guts (read
balls) to cover NUON objectively. Bravo ECM.
Extiva Extravaganza
Extended
The homebyfive.com Extiva
Extravaganza promotion was so successful that they're extending the deal
until Friday, September 29th. So hop on over to their Extiva
listing and pick up a DVD-N2000 for $299 with free shipping.
Extiva Makes CNET
Top Ten
A recent article at CNET
picking the top ten electronic gadgets for 2000 finds the Samsung DVD-N2000
at number ten on the list. Not bad. Check out the article here.
HomeByFive Extiva
Extravaganza!
Good news for anyone
who has yet to pick up a Samsung Extiva NUON DVD Player, Jason from homebyfive.com
just sent me "a heads up for you and your loyal site gatherers. Homebyfive.com
will be have an Extiva Extravaganza this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This
means for those 3 days, the price goes to $299.95 and there's free shipping.
No pre-orders - it has to be done those three days."
So get your orders
in this weekend to take advantage of this very nice low price. :-)
Hot Products Press
Release
A press release, made
public a few days ago, shows Hot Products, Inc (makers of NUON peripherals)
turning a profit this year, as opposed to a $988,823 loss for the same period
fiscal 2000. Check out the entire press release here.
Release Dates Cleared
Up
The official NUON site
has been updated with the correct release dates for the first round of NUON
games. Set to hit the 14th of November are FreeFall 3050 AD, Tempest 3000
and Merlin Racing. January 2001 brings Iron Soldier, with aMaze and MYST
following in February and May, respectively. In honor of the upcoming releases,
enjoy the box art for the games:
NUON In The Mags
The October 2000 issue
of Popular Mechanics features
an article which includes the Samsung Extiva DVD-N2000. The TDVD (Truly
Digitial Versatile Disk) article features a number of players and discusses
DVD technology in general. Pick it up at a newsstand near you.
Also be on the lookout
for the next issue of GameFan Magazine,
which is said to feature an in-depth look at NUON and it's games.
Gamers.com Reports
on NUON
Gamers.com
posted a NUON article on 9/13/00, which seems to be fairly positive. Or
is it really a semi-well-hidden jab at NUON technology? You decide. Check
out the article here.
IGN64 Takes Offense
to NUON Controller
It's no news to NUON
fans that one of Hot Products, Inc (a third-party NUON peripheral developer)'s
controllers, the Cobra
Gamepad is an obvious N64 controller look-alike. But, a slightly mis-informed
IGN64 recently posted a news article,
stating that this controller is the "official" NUON gamepad, which it obviously
is not. The Digital
Controller is the Samsung Extiva pack-in, and the Toshiba SD2300 is
not even scheduled to have a controller packed-in. They also report that
NUON DVD players are not yet avaiable, while they obviously
are. View the misinformation.
This has, of course,
caused a bit of a stir in the Nintendo community as can be witnessed here.
Enter at your own risk.
Release Dates Get
More Specific
According to the Coming
Soon page on DVD International, Tempest 3000, FreeFall and Merlin Racing
are all set to be released on the 14th of November. This clears up the little
misinformation about the release of FreeFall and aMaze, which seemed to
be mixed up a bit on the nuon.tv website.
A release table has been added to the games page
with all the latest dates.
Take a Closer Look
at NUON.tv
VM Labs has overhauled
the official NUON website, www.nuon.tv
with a load of new info, including release dates, MSRP's and box shots
of all the games, among other info. Also included are multiple pictures
of Hot Product's Cobra controller showing it in different colors. Be sure
to check that out, and I've updated the appropriate pages here on NUON-Dome
accordingly. See the what's new page for details.
Though there are a
few discrepencies (which I've noted), here's the official release list
from the nuon.tv website:
November
aMaze
Merlin Racing
Tempest 3000
(Freefall 3050AD?)
January 2001
Iron Soldier
February 2001
Freefall 3050AD
(aMaze?)
May 2001
MYST
Toshiba SD2300 to
Include N-2-2
A press release was
published today noting that the NUON-Enhanced Toshiba SD2300 will include
Spatializer N-2-2 virtual surround sound software, as the Samsung DVD-N2000
does. View the entire press release here.
Plenty of Extivas
Latest word in from Homebyfive.com
is that they've recieved yet another shipment, and now have plenty in stock.
Maybe Samsung is finally pumping up production a bit.
What's better is that
there's a place through Yahoo! Shopping that's selling the DVD-N2000 Extiva
for even less than HomeByFive, if you can believe it. PriceShock.com
has it for $305.24 with free shipping. That's the lowest price yet!
Informative Forum
The NUON Forum has had
quite a few interesting posts lately. From Jeff Minter (Tempest 3000), to
Phil from Miracle Designs (Merlin Racing), to Tony at TAKS (FreeFall), fans
of NUON are finally getting some of the info we've been starving for. Head
on over and check it out!
- NUON
Forum
HomeByFive.com
Update
I've been informed
that the new $318.95 price for the Exitva is here to stay at Homebyfive.com.
The demand for the unit was so high that some orders had to be put on
backorder, but that problem has been resolved and the units are on the
way. Even better news, they received a shipment of 60 new DVD-N2000s
today, have 50 ready to be shipped as soon as an order is placed, and
even more on order. So if you've been weary of picking up an Extiva
due to the price, now may be the time to go ahead and get it!
Any questions
can be directed to Jason at 877-676-7100. Tell 'em NUON-Dome sent
ya :-).
Hop to their listing
for the Extiva right here.
NUON on the
Cheap
Apparently since
the Extiva is on backorder at Homebyfive.com
they've lowered their already under-MSRP price to $318.95. Whether this
applies to all orders or just those who've already ordered the machine
is yet to be seen, though the lower price is definitely a good thing
either way. The email they sent out to customers follows:
Dear HomeByFive
Customer,
Because of the
extended delay, we have lowered the price of the Samsung DVDN2000.
It is now going for $318.95, which is the amount your card will
be charged when we are ready to ship your DVD player out to you.
Thank you for your patience, we are truly sorry for any inconvience
this delay has caused you. If you have any other questions or concerns
you can contact Tiffany or Jason at 877-676-7100 between the hours
of 8AM and 11PM Pacific Standard Time. Thank you again for your
understanding.
The HomeByFive
Customer service team.
Thanks to Jay
Silverheels for passing along the info.
YaKly Tidbits
None other than Jeff
"YaK" Minter stopped by the NUON
Forum today and left some interesting posts in his wake. Feast your
eyes upon this:
T3K hi-score
Thursday, 17-Aug-2000 14:10:17
204.31.130.56 writes:
Just so's you know :-).
I just got my first score over a million. 1,200,949 points, to be
precise. Just dropped right into the zone and caned it all the way
up to level 63 :-).
Pulled off a major optimization yesterday, too. Nice framerate increase,
play is more fluid. Cool.
I'm out at VM finishing this off. It'll be done within the next week
or two, so I can go home to Flossie!
Re: Re: T3K
hi-score
Thursday, 17-Aug-2000 14:44:27
204.31.130.56 writes:
No problem :-). I hope you enjoy it.
I'm changing level 63 though - all those Super Spikers make it just
waaaay too hard.
Other levels you are gonna hate me for:
Level 32 (hey, Level 32 *has* to be a bastard, it's kinda trad after
T2K :-) - "Occam's Mirror". You thought the pointy star in T2K was
bad ;-)....
Level 60 "Now You Hate Me". Appropriately named :-).
Re: Re: T3K
hi-score
Thursday, 17-Aug-2000 15:04:05
204.31.130.56 writes:
Well completion of T3K should occur in the next week or two. Dunno
how long it'll take to get through manufacture and out to retail,
hopefully not too long!
I'm certainly hoping to take back a couple of prelim burns that can
play on the Extiva, one for me and one for T(NT), at the end of this
trip.
I'll keep you appraised of my hiscores, give you lot something to
aim at!
Although I reckon it won't be long before some of you start beating
me at my own game ;-).
Re: Re: Re:
Re: T3K hi-score
Thursday, 17-Aug-2000 15:45:31
204.31.130.56 writes:
I'm currently using one of the old-stylee in-house development sticks,
which is a hacked stick from... er... another console ;-). It has
analog as well as d-pad; you can use either, although analog obviously
gives you a bit more control.
Of course I would love to support rotary, but whether that happens
basically depends on someone coming up with a prototype some time
in the next couple of weeks, so I can test with it, and I don't know
if that will happen.
BTW, if anyone fancies a chat, I am currently logged in at chat.iongames.org,
#nuon...
/
(:-) - Yak
/
Extiva Selling
Like Mad
Samsung's DVD-N2000
seems to be doing remarkably well. Reports out from homebyfive.com reveal
that they've received over 100 orders for the NUON-enhanced machine
already, and that they cannot believe how successful the machine has
been so far. I'm sure their under MSRP Price of $338.92 has something
to do with that.
Visit the homebyfive.com
page for the Extiva.
Extiva Tops
Popularity Chart
Atop CNET's
list of most popular DVD players on the site sits the Samsung DVD-N2000.
This is great news for Samsung, VM Labs and NUONites alike, since it
shows NUON is gaining a stronger presence in the public eye. Also of
note is the Toshiba SD2200 in the #2 spot below it, which will be replaced
by Toshiba's NUON-enhanced DVD player, the SD2300, when it's released.
Samsung Extiva
DVD-N2000 Hits Stores
That's right - the
first NUON-enhanced DVD player, the Samsung DVD-N2000 (aka "Extiva")
has started trickling into stores, both online and retail. Check out
the Info Section for a list of locations carrying
the Extiva currently, and to find out a little more about just what
NUON is and what it can do for your DVD player. Check out the NUON-Dome
review right here!
Toshiba SD-2300
to Arrive at $299
According to a news
story at etown, Toshiba's NUON-Enhanced
DVD player, the SD-2300 is set to launch this Fall at a MSRP of $299
- $50 less than Samsung's Extiva. It's supposed to launch with a demo
disk and "may or may not contain a well-known game," according to VM
Lab Executive VP Paul Culberg. Also, unlike the Extiva, the Toshiba
SD-2300 will not come with a game controller packed-in.
Extiva Receives
CNET Editors Choice
CNET recently reviewed
the DVD-N2000 model Samsung and spoke very higly of it, giving it an
8 out of 10. Citing the player's cool special-effects capabilities extensive
audio/video outputs; good remote control, they say "Nuon technology
gives this DVD player some of the coolest features we've seen to date."
You can read the
review for yourself here.
CNET also did
a video bit on the Extiva, and while the host seems a bit "in the
dark" about NUON, it does provide a good glimpse at some of the features
NUON provides. The streaming video can be seen here.
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