VM Labs Nuon Review (Toshiba SD-2300)

[@dave4shmups]

Great video, as always! Iron Soldier 3 did get released on the PS1, and is a really fun mech combat game.

[@ReplayRetro]

I do have the rom for the nuon, and yeah it's not a bad game at all

[@madcommodore]

I remember members on yakyak Llamasoft forum would seek out these machines just to play Jeff Minter's Tempest 3000, they were rare over a decade ago.

[@ReplayRetro]

It's a fantastic version of a great game, makes the expense of getting one seem a bit more worth it

[@GeneralVanRyberg]

Thanks for one of the best videos regarding Nuon that I encountered. Thanks for not yelling and shouting nonsense, but just creating a fascinating and informative video.

[@BubblegumCrash332]

Great video!!! Glad your back!

[@ReplayRetro]

Thanks, hope you enjoyed the video

[@christians.7599]

Nice shot! :-) I really liked your review of this interesting "console". Your analysis of the device is spot on. Have a happy new year!

[@awwrelic]

Excellent video. I remember when the Nuon was being hyped by Best Buy here in the US, but really didn't set the market on fire. I have a Toshiba Nuon remote around here somewhere; picked it up for 90 cents at a local thrift store (sadly, never found the system it went with). Funny thing about the Sony PS2 was that, when it launched in Japan, many buyers bought the system but no games. It wasn't a great DVD player but it was cheaper than other dedicated players on the market in 2000.

[@ReplayRetro]

I don't remember there being any hype over here at all or even any advertising in general which may be another explanation of the poor performance, I think for a product like this to work you need a big launch to make people see it as the superior choice. Yeah a lot of early ps2 sales were people who just wanted a dvd player, kinda funny really as that was exactly the market the nuon hoped to tap by being a premium dvd player, with the long term plan to introduce games on it as a future money maker

[@awwrelic]

@@ReplayRetro Here in the US Best Buy seemed to go overboard on the hype train with this kind of thing. But Sony I think was looking forward with the new DVD format. I mean, a number of their PS1 games were multi-disc (especially the Square RPGs) and they must have figured out that gamers generally don't like swapping out discs, interrupting their play. Plus, with the increased data one could have on a DVD that allowed for for expansive world-building and gameplay. And name-recognition certainly helped move the DVD format into more homes. During this time I worked at a department store which was beginning to get DVD players. The biggest negative response from potential buyers was "I already have a VHS player. Why would I get rid of my tapes to watch my movies on DVD?" Yeah, in retrospect that seems silly. But being able to play bigger and better-looking games on that format AND watch movies? Despite people's recitence to having a DVD player in the US (opposite to how it was in Japan), Sony's stranglehold on the game market had to have helped the format in the long run. Against that, Nuon just couldn't compete.

[@AdamCoate]

My friend just found a Samsung DVD-N2000 Nuon without a controller, I think he'd be very interested in trading for this remote although not sure if it would work on his. It's funny but I picked up Tempest 3000 at a game store in their DVD section for $3 like 4 or more years ago just because why not. I looked it up at the time and there were tons of copies on ebay for like $20 or something, tons of controllers. Nowadays the controllers are near impossible to find anywhere below 100 to 200 bucks. My friend actually had to program a universal remote just to be able to have some sort of archaic controller, which is literally just arrow buttons with the OK button in the middle which functions as fire for Tempest 3000. The other thing is we haven't been able to find the ISO files anywhere on the internet for some reason. Conjures of conspiracy theories of Jeff Minter buying up all the Nuon stuff while it was cheap and using copyright notices to get ROMs taken down. Probably not actually true though, ha. Just an incredibly obscure system. My assumption is that there are probably 10X as many Nuon players out there as controllers and games as most people probably only ever used it as a DVD player and may not have even known about its other features.

[@tHeWasTeDYouTh]

Great video on the history and specs of the system. Someone at videogameconsolelibrary needs to watch this so they can update the specs on their NUON page

[@Vitani168980]

January 2019, the game Freefall 3050 AD for the Nuon will be released on Steam. You can find the game currently listed there. Long live the Nuon!

[@JH-uh9zc]

As always enjoyed the video. Ive learned quite a bit from your videos over the years. Ive never heard of this console until now........Anyways great job a glad your back!!! Merry Christmas RR!

[@ReplayRetro]

Glad to hear you enjoy them, hope this one was no exception. Merry Christmas

[@Eragarev]

Just found one of these at goodwill for $2 and am hoping to flip it. This is really interesting info. Im glad I took the time to look up what it actually was.

[@Seke8888]

This is first time i hear about this system! And I tought Sega was desperate to try to sell Dreamcast bundled with DVD player.

[@ReplayRetro]

You learn something new every day i guess, hope it was an interesting lesson

[@MrDmoney156]

I think SEGA should've still released it since the Nuon proved it could've done well.

[@outpostorange9580]

Was there a portable version in the form of a portable DVD player?

[@themekon]

Those comedy inserts of you at the office really show a different side of your presenting style. You look really relaxed and animated. Have you considered sitting down to present? It’s an interesting vid. I’ve all way thought NUON was a good idea..

[@ReplayRetro]

hmmm, interesting, though i'm not sure i could really make the studio/games room work like that, i'd have to find a way to add a desk in front of the units, worth thinking about though, thanks for the feedback and i'm glad you enjoyed the video

[@Demonbfg]

Iron Soldier 3 Demos were given to Nuon-Dome to give free to members but it's not just a demo,it's the entire game.I have two N-501's.I just had a laser put in one of them By eStarland.I also have four controllers(3 HPI and one Logitech).If you want to hear hi-end sound on your cd player put one of these in your stereo system,it blows the xbox away in that dept.Thanks for the video.

[@sixersfan105.]

I'd love to buy one of your HPI controllers if you're willing to sell one. Any interest?

[@Demonbfg]

@@sixersfan105. Not at this time but i will sell the Logitech,which is in mint condition with box for 100.00 plus shipping.Thanks for asking.

[@sixersfan105.]

@@Demonbfg Hi, haven't heard from you just yet. Shoot me a note so we can finalize a deal. Thanks!

[@Demonbfg]

@@sixersfan105. Hi,i thought you only wanted an HPI pad.I didn't know you were interested in the Logitech one.How do i pm you on here?not sure that i can.

[@sixersfan105.]

@@Demonbfg Haven't seen an email from you yet. See above and below for my email address. Thanks!

[@johneygd]

That neon dvd game system did not look like a game console at all wich was also the reason why it failed,but it was indeed ahead of it’s time.

[@lancepelissier5510]

If i saw these games on the SNES back in the day I wound be jumping fur joy.

[@Boojakascha]

There is a korean Shin Chan game with a region other than 1.

[@ReplayRetro]

Ahhh of course Korea is region 3 isn't it? That makes sense, not sure if any of the movies were released in R3 though, as far as I'm aware they were R1 only

[@Boojakascha]

@@ReplayRetro very true. Awesome video nevertheless!! =) I guess sleepy me mixed up DVD regions with game regions :-S

[@thegearknob7161]

Merlin Racing looks like ATV Racers on the PS1. I think it's a port!

[@stewie17]

Dvd was invented in 95

[@ReplayRetro]

it was indeed, but it wasn't untill 1997 that the first DVD players became commercially available at over $600 and even then the market was tiny with a handful of manufacturers and very few releases, widespread adoption didn't occur until the turn of the millenium

[@darkx391]

New episode yes

[@ReplayRetro]

Hope you enjoyed it

[@SteveBenway]

Fascinating. The capability looks somewhere between PS1 and Dreamcast. After the way the CDTV and CDi were received, I'm kinda gobsmacked that they tried to go down this design path.

[@ReplayRetro]

Yeah and don't forget the only games we have are launch titles which never really show hardware capabilities, I'd like to see someone really push it to its limits but I think it's unlikely we'll ever see that unfortunately. I think the big difference is that VCD was never really a strong format to replace VHS whereas DVD was so I understand why they thought this would work, you know people are going to make the upgrade to DVD so you convince them they may as well buy a premium player that will last and give them the biggest upgrade for their money, then you've also snuck a new gaming format into their living room so you can make sustainable money on game licensing and presumably licensing for the enhanced DVDs too

[@plawson8577]

PS1 and Dreamcast were a Generation apart. What the hell are you talking about?

[@AdamCoate]

My friend just found a Samsung DVD-N2000 Nuon without a controller,, if anyone has one they're willing to sell or trade please let me know. It's funny but I picked up Tempest 3000 at a game store in their DVD section for $3 like 4 or more years ago just because why not. I looked it up at the time and there were tons of copies on ebay for like $20 or something, tons of controllers. Nowadays the controllers are near impossible to find anywhere below 100 to 200 bucks. My friend actually had to program a universal remote just to be able to have some sort of archaic controller, which is literally just arrow buttons with the OK button in the middle which functions as fire for Tempest 3000. The other thing is we haven't been able to find the ISO files anywhere on the internet for some reason. Conjures of conspiracy theories of Jeff Minter buying up all the Nuon stuff while it was cheap and using copyright notices to get ROMs taken down. Probably not actually true though, ha. Just an incredibly obscure system. My assumption is that there are probably 10X as many Nuon players out there as controllers and games as most people probably only ever used it as a DVD player and may not have even known about its other features. I read Freefall sold 10,000 copies which makes it as rare as an Adventure Vision system.

[@ararattempest-lingua]

omg am I alive? somebody just please tells me it's not a dream!

[@ReplayRetro]

Not unless I'm dreaming too?

[@ararattempest-lingua]

lol btw I supposed you could show us that Tempest cuz that's my real dream and reason about this console and you didn't... *sigh* extra info: Nuon actually has an emulator called Nuance but only one or two games works and it's been dead already...

[@ReplayRetro]

watch this space . . . . .

[@TheFrenchy82]

oh my God .... How can create an atrocious machine like this ?? ok years later it's pretty easy to mock the system, but frankly.... very bad games , very bad controller... wow !