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NUON As Open Source Gaming Platform

Posted by timothy on from the a-shipping-product-is-worth-two-in-development- dept.

jjustice writes: "About a month ago, Richard Miller, CEO of VM Labs, announced that "In the near future (I don't want to commit to a date until we are sure of it), we will release to the open development community the tools and documentation that were used to develop these titles - both the games and the movie enhancements. We will also release a few sample applications that can be freely downloaded from the Internet, burned onto CD-R discs, and run on NUON DVD players that can read CD-Rs. Currently only the N501 has this capability, but we anticipate that all future NUON based DVD players will read CD-R and DVD-R media." It's not Linux, but unlike Indrema, the boxes are available. And the technology may not rival PS2 or XBox, but he also says the latest version of the chip is 2-3 times the power of the existing model and cheaper to produce. Besides, I'll support any platform with games from Jeff Minter." No use for all those electronics going to waste, eh?

7 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Re:All I want for christmas... by derrickh · · Score: 3, Informative

    It already there, built into NUON DVD Players. It was written by Jeff Minter and called VLM(Video Light Machine). A hundred+ effects, synced to the music(and not just the beats). 'Trippy' doesnt even begin to describe it.
    D

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  2. A quick introduction to NUON by Ahchay · · Score: 5, Informative

    This has been a bit of an open-secret for a while but, unfortunately, it's not actually available _yet_

    NUON, for those who don't know, is an integrated DVD processor produced by VMLabs, currently available in the US in three consumer models Toshiba SD2300, Samsung Extiva and Samsung N501. There are european models due RSN. It provides advanced processing capable of at least N64 level games as well as enhanced DVD playback (>20x digital zoom, advanced frame management) and NUON specific DVD content. It also features Jeff Minter's VLM2 which is an update to the Jag VLM and, were VMLabs to realise it, is about the coolest thing on the planet at the moment.

    The NUON open SDK does exist, and _will_ be made available to the public RSN. But, it hasn't been released yet. There is a FAQ available at NuonDev.com which, although not official, does show the currently known state of open-NUON.

    Cheers
    Chris

    1. Re:A quick introduction to NUON by chengrob · · Score: 2, Informative

      I am an investor in VM Labs. I am also a 20 year veteran of the PC industry. Was in senior management at Gateway.

      The reason that I invested in VM Labs and Nuon was the potential to have an open computing platform for the living room. Just like a PC. Open like a PC, and software availability like a PC. Don't compare Nuon to a Playstation or a Nintendo, compare it to a PC.

      Although games are an interesting application of the Nuon, I honestly don't think it is the primary one. And it is certainly not the reason that I invested in this technology. Much more relevant and interesting are codec's such as JPEG, Quicktime, Divx;) etc. Basically, any digital file format will now be able to be displayed in your living room.

      This is one of the key reasons why the source is being opened up. Because it's not just for games, but to get as broad and diverse a development community as possible. That not just develops games, but all kinds of awesome applications that are better suited for viewing and use in the living room from 10 feet away, as opposed to a PC that is 2 feet away.

      Imagine subsequent generations of these products that include USB and a hard drive. The possibilities very quickly become very interesting. Now imagine the same system with an MPEG2 encoder, and a CD-RW, or a DVD-R. I think you get the idea.

      Rob

  3. Re:Maybe a reason to use that damn controller! by Ahchay · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, the Extiva N2000 predates the N501 by nearly a year, if you were sold one as being the successor then you woz robbed - the N501 is a much more advanced machine featuring >150 vlm effects, full VCD and CDR support (including MP3) - although the N2000 should play VCD's AFAIK.

    As for emulation on the NUON? I'm sure that will happen as soon as the SDK is publicly available...

    Oh yeah, and try Tempest 3000!

    Cheers
    Chris

  4. Re:First NUON is dead post by K3V · · Score: 2, Informative

    Actually, quite a few new NUON-enhanced DVD movies are coming out in the near future. Dr. Dolittle 2 on Tuesday, Planet of the Apes next month and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai in January. This, along with the Public SDK becoming available shortly should prove to be a breath of fresh air for NUON. I'm looking forward to seeing the NUON development community grow. -Kevin

  5. Re:Woah... woah... waitasec... back up. NUON? by K3V · · Score: 2, Informative

    NUON is a media processor that replaces the MPEG2 decoder in DVD players. Currently 3 are on the market, the Samsung DVD-N501, Samsung DVD-N2000 and the Toshiba SD2300.

    I've got the N501...I had the N2000 but I eBayed it in favor of the N501 because of it's CDR and MP3 capabilities, and improved VLM (a super-trippy on-screen light show when you play CD's). Easily the most feature-filled DVD player I've ever seen.

  6. Save me from NUON by DumbSwede · · Score: 2, Informative
    My father has a nuon enhanced DVD player (which I tried advising him not to get).

    It is a piece of crap, that takes forever to start up movies, and has a tendency to stall for seconds at a time between tracks (like its catching up on some computations of some sort).

    Now they want to release enhanced-nuon-boxes, so buying the original nuon is even more of a joke.

    This thing has been out for 2 or so years now, and it has less than 10 titles for it. Shut up and sit down, this thing is dead.

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