Nuon Game System Talk & Discussion

[Austin]

 

Yeah, this was a used unit. I was tempted for a while, but I just couldn't justify it. Finally, someone else bought it, so I no longer had to worry about it.

 

Ahhh, I see. Thanks for clarifying! I must have missed it then.

[Rick Dangerous]

I'm interested in getting one at some point.

 

It looks like controllers are rarer than the consoles or games. Not a single one on ebay or with any of the consoles listed..

[Austin]

Yeah, and what's funny is you could barely even give away the controllers up to just three or four years ago.

 

I do think the NUON has the issue of collectors hoarding items. I know a few local guys that have way more duplicates of controllers and things like that than any one person would or should ever need. Less product out available to the public with a platform this niche is a bad thing and it's going to get to the point where the CD-i is, where it's cost prohibitive to even buy something as simple as a controller.

[Mayhem]

Yeah, I think the controllers dearth is an issue. When I sold my Nuon unit, someone asked me if I would sell the controller separately.

[eltoozero]

a platform this niche is a bad thing and it's going to get to the point where the CD-i is, where it's cost prohibitive to even buy something as simple as a controller.

 

 

Oh man don't remind me, and it's going to get even worse if we manage to unlock rotary control for Tempest 3000.

 

The Nuon controller situation is far worse than other consoles since there is an actual custom "Polyface" chip inside every gamepad which serves to abstract "peripherals" which never materialized like a Dreamcast VMU, serial adapters for debugging, etc.

 

Not to mention the controller port is a freak "usb-like" 4-pin monstrosity that *barely* mates with Firewire 4-pin.

[eltoozero]

Found a similar modem DVD player of its time to swap the drive out and into the Nuon with the same results, just doesn't want to read anything. It will load Tempest 3000 but that's about it and even then, the audio tends to skip which is definitely a huge part of the experience.

 

Zero luck with any burned images or games for me as the drive just either refuses to recognize it or doesn't load it.

 

 

Don't chuck it, we're discussing methods to bypass the DVD drive down the line.

 

Same ODE approach you're seeing on other consoles, but may not even need that since we've got SDK and BIOS documentation there are options being tossed around.

 

If only we could get our hands on a Streamster 5000! You'd think there's a warehouse somewhere with STACKS of those things we could turn into Tempest 3000 arcade machines.

[Thorsten Günther]

 

 

Oh man don't remind me, and it's going to get even worse if we manage to unlock rotary control for Tempest 3000.

 

The Nuon controller situation is far worse than other consoles since there is an actual custom "Polyface" chip inside every gamepad which serves to abstract "peripherals" which never materialized like a Dreamcast VMU, serial adapters for debugging, etc.

 

Not to mention the controller port is a freak "usb-like" 4-pin monstrosity that *barely* mates with Firewire 4-pin.

We guys in Europe are even worse off with most of the Nuons here being the Samsung DVD-N505 and thus lacking controller ports (so we have to cut off controller plugs on the joypad and add mini DIN connectors e.g. to both the system and the controller).

The controller connector issue is quite easy to resolve though, the main problem being the chip/protocol of the controller. If there is noone capable to teach the Nuon the protocol of a more common controller (USB or N64) by use of a FPGA or similar chip, we'll all be having to pay these ridiculous prices to the hoarders sooner or later.

[Clint Thompson]

 

 

Don't chuck it, we're discussing methods to bypass the DVD drive down the line.

 

Same ODE approach you're seeing on other consoles, but may not even need that since we've got SDK and BIOS documentation there are options being tossed around.

 

If only we could get our hands on a Streamster 5000! You'd think there's a warehouse somewhere with STACKS of those things we could turn into Tempest 3000 arcade machines.

 

I wasn't going to chuck it but instead rip it apart and sell it off in possible usable pieces but I may hold on to it now. Even though I already sold the controller and joypad a few weeks back...

[Rick Dangerous]

I can't find a single controller for sale on the internet? I also went thrifing this week looking for a stray Nuon (now that there are stacks of DVD players from the 98-08 era being discarded) but no luck just yet...lol

 

Certainly a barrier to entry on a console if you can't find a controller at any price. Surely there is a pallet of them in a warehouse somewhere?

 

The cart racing game looks cool, obviously borrows heavily from Diddy Kong Racing (a good thing as it's one of my favorite cart racers ever!)

[Rick Dangerous]

I found an interesting article about the Logitech Nuon controller. Couldn't find any of these either but apparently they were easy to come by for a while but required a mod to get the anolog working right.

 

http://www.8-bitcentral.com/miscellaneous/logitechNuon.html

[Thorsten Günther]

Yup, these were collecting dust for several years in some warehouses and were offered on amazon.com (among other places) for cheap. Three or four years ago some guys from nexgam.de even bought 10 of these controllers for 20 bucks.

[Clint Thompson]

I sold mine for $35 just a little over a week ago on eBay. $40 after shipping... kind of hard to justify prices for controllers like this... just like I still grit my teeth over the $55 wireless PS4 controller and I'll never own a Jaguar Pro Controller, commanding prices in excess of $150+ because that's just pure insanity.

[Blazing Lazers]

Looks like this is the Nuon thread, I'll have to add some pics of my Nuon goods. I do have a few spares, though, particularly 5 brand new of the following:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222205694187?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 

...10% discount for any AA'ers here who are interested. They're these really cool magnetic piece sculptures where you can piece together the many little metal strips to make various shapes. Most of the pieces have the Nuon logo on them. I've never seen anything on these online.

[eltoozero]

In related news, having some fun today.

Edited August 1, 2016 by eltoozero

[doctorclu]

Interesting! So you trying to reverse engineer the chip? That is the controller that is in the Nuon controllers?

[eltoozero]

In brief, yes.

 

The Nuon is over-engineered which prevents controller clones, leading to a surge in the (already super niche) market.

 

No need to reverse the chip though, I've got reference documentation which includes verilog.

 

My goal is to get rotary input working, which is supposedly programmed into T3K even though there is no production controller with such a thing.

 

YaK had access to a prototype spinner for development, but what ever happened to it nobody knows.

[doctorclu]

Yak has been in contact with Atariage on a few occasions. Maybe we could try to ask him.

 

I would be interested in a USB to Nuon adaptor to open up more regular controllers. What do you think of that possibility?

[eltoozero]

I've been in contact with YaK and Gilesgoat and they're the effing best dudes, but don't have any helpful leads in this department.

 

I got my $20 worth donating to llamasoft, 'nuff said.

 

Though I'm kinda sad I don't seem to have backups of (all) the Minotaur project iOS stuff. Mega bummer.

 

Making an X controller adapter would be relatively easy compared to re-implementing the Polyface, basically you would need a real Nuon controller to adapt to the "other" controller...sort of defeats the purpose.

 

Right now the goal is to work with what we've got to "unlock" the rotary "prehiperal" to the Nuon BIOS, before SCRGE.

[doctorclu]

So what is going on in your avatar picture? Is that part of the rotary project?

 

Also, where can I get more information on the controller routines?

[eltoozero]

So what is going on in your avatar picture? Is that part of the rotary project?

 

Also, where can I get more information on the controller routines?

That's the "patient", a Logitech "Brumby".

 

What info about the nuon controller are you looking for specifically?

[doctorclu]

No need to reverse the chip though, I've got reference documentation which includes verilog.

 

Thought it would be interesting to look at the reference document you mentioned.

 

 

YaK had access to a prototype spinner for development, but what ever happened to it nobody knows.

 

This also got me curious seeing this again. Sounds like you've already been chasing the Nuon materials down. So from the best you've been able to determine, what did happen to the physical company known as VM Labs/Nuon in those final days?

[doctorclu]

This one is from a bit back, but I've been doing summer stuff and vacationing so bear with me.

 

Don't chuck it, we're discussing methods to bypass the DVD drive down the line.

 

"We're"? Is there another Nuon technical forum somewhere? Any way to replace optical media would be nice for many systems but I would love to see it for the Nuon and the Jaguar CD.

 

If only we could get our hands on a Streamster 5000! You'd think there's a warehouse somewhere with STACKS of those things we could turn into Tempest 3000 arcade machines.

 

I have heard of the Streammaster 500 and saw many other models here:

http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg00-nuon.htm#page=models

 

What were the advantages of the Streammaster?

[doctorclu]

Looks like this is the Nuon thread, I'll have to add some pics of my Nuon goods. I do have a few spares, though, particularly 5 brand new of the following:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/222205694187?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

 

...10% discount for any AA'ers here who are interested. They're these really cool magnetic piece sculptures where you can piece together the many little metal strips to make various shapes. Most of the pieces have the Nuon logo on them. I've never seen anything on these online.

 

Thanks for joining and just wanted to say these look like some cool inter-office swag at VM Labs. Thanks for sharing this and hopefully some people will pick those up.

[eltoozero]

"We're"? Is there another Nuon technical forum somewhere? Any way to replace optical media would be nice for many systems but I would love to see it for the Nuon and the Jaguar CD.

 

 

I have heard of the Streammaster 500 and saw many other models here:

http://www.videogameconsolelibrary.com/pg00-nuon.htm#page=models

 

What were the advantages of the Streammaster?

I'll trade you, find me the pulled iOS Minotaur Project games (cracked or not, I can re-sign and load them myself) and I'll provide the Polyface documentation.

 

There is not a Nuon technical forum, hardly anyone cares anymore, the only thing that will give this system any additional "news" is if we get this bullshit working.

 

Streammaster has a PCI slot, that's all I'll say.

[doctorclu]

I'll trade you, find me the pulled iOS Minotaur Project games (cracked or not, I can re-sign and load them myself) and I'll provide the Polyface documentation.

 

These games?

 

http://minotaurproject.co.uk/Minotaur/games.php