The Nuon is a sixth-generation home console released by VM Labs in 2000, built into DVD players manufactured under license by Samsung, RCA, Toshiba, and Motorola.
Spec Table
| Spec | Value |
|---|---|
| Maker | VM Labs (developer), Motorola, RCA, Samsung, Toshiba (manufacturers) |
| Type | Home console |
| Generation | 6th generation |
| Release Date | 2000 (North America, Europe, Japan) |
| Launch Price | Not documented |
| Units Sold | Not documented |
| Media | DVD, CD |
| CPU | Four 128-bit 54 MHz or 108 MHz Nuon MPE (Media Processing Element) processors with parallel computing and vector operations |
| Predecessor / Successor | Not documented |
History
VM Labs was founded in January 1995 by Richard Miller, previously known for designing the Sinclair Z88 laptop, and began work that same year on the chip that would eventually become Nuon under the internal codename “Project-X.” Notably, five of the six hardware designers on the project had come from 3DO, another company that had tried and failed to break into the console market with unconventional hardware. VM Labs reportedly considered hundreds of possible brand names over roughly eighteen months before settling on “Nuon.”
The company demonstrated its chip to developers at the 1998 Consumer Electronics Show and began shipping $7,500 development systems to studios by the end of that year. The pitch was unusual: rather than sell a standalone game console, VM Labs licensed its chip design to consumer electronics manufacturers, who would embed it inside ordinary-looking DVD players. A software development kit went out to several dozen studios at roughly one-third the cost of Sony’s PlayStation SDK, an attempt to lower the barrier for third-party support before hardware even shipped.
By the time Nuon-equipped players actually launched in 2000, the plan had slipped two years past its original 1998 holiday target. Samsung led the charge with the DVD-N501 and DVD-N2000 in North America, alongside European and Korean models, while Toshiba shipped the SD-2300 and RCA offered the DRC300N and DRC480N. Motorola even built a Nuon chip into its Streamaster 5000 set-top box. Each unit doubled as a conventional DVD player with added gaming and enhanced-navigation features, so most shoppers who bought one never realized it had game hardware inside at all.
That obscurity became the platform’s defining problem. Only eight officially licensed games ever reached retail, including Tempest 3000 and Iron Soldier 3, and just four movies from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment used any Nuon-enhanced DVD features at all. Dozens of other titles, including planned versions of Myst, Dragon’s Lair, and Madden NFL, were announced by publishers but never shipped. Meanwhile the console market itself had moved on: Sony’s PlayStation 2 launched the same year and quickly dominated shelf space and marketing budgets, while Sega’s Dreamcast was already competing for the attention of the smaller pool of enthusiasts interested in something outside the mainstream. Nuon had neither the exclusive killer app nor the publisher backing to carve out room between them, and it belongs to the wider story of the sixth console generation, one of the most crowded in gaming history.
VM Labs’ fortunes did not improve. The company sold its remaining assets to Genesis Microchip in April 2002, effectively ending official Nuon development. A late-2001 SDK release let independent programmers build homebrew software, and a small community kept producing CD-R games loadable on select Samsung and RCA models for a few more years, but no commercial software followed. By November 2004, no Nuon-enabled DVD players were still shipping and no new titles were in production, closing the book on one of the more inventive, if commercially unsuccessful, hybrid-media experiments of its generation.
Library Highlights
With only eight officially released games, Nuon’s library is among the smallest of any home console, but several entries showcased the chip’s parallel-processing strengths in enhanced remakes of arcade classics.
- Tempest 3000
- Space Invaders X.L.
- Iron Soldier 3
- Freefall 3050 A.D.
- Merlin Racing
- The Next Tetris DLX
- Ballistic
- Crayon Shin-chan 3
Variants
Nuon was never sold as a dedicated console; it existed only as a chipset embedded inside DVD players from multiple manufacturers, each with its own model number and region. Samsung’s DVD-N501 and DVD-N2000 served North America, with the DVD-N504 and N505 for Europe and the DVD-N591 for Korea. Toshiba offered the SD-2300, RCA sold the DRC300N and DRC480N, and Motorola built Nuon into its Streamaster 5000 set-top box. These differences reflect manufacturer branding and regional DVD-player lineups rather than distinct hardware revisions of a single console, and no separate “Nuon console” model was ever produced independently of a DVD player. See the full VM Labs manufacturer hub for related systems.
Collector Value
Nuon-equipped DVD players are a niche but recognized target for collectors specifically because of how few official games exist; complete, working units from Samsung and RCA tend to command the most interest since those models support the homebrew CD-R scene. Because Nuon hardware was sold as a DVD player rather than a marketed console, working examples in good cosmetic condition with original remotes are less common than the underlying sales volume of DVD players alone would suggest, and cartridges are irrelevant since all software loads from disc. Sealed, boxed units are rare, and functional testing of the disc tray and remote is essential before buying, since replacement parts for these specific models are scarce.
Buying Guide
Before buying a Nuon-equipped DVD player, confirm exactly which model it is (Samsung DVD-N501/N2000, Toshiba SD-2300, or RCA DRC300N/DRC480N), since compatibility with the homebrew game library varies by model. Check that the original power cable and remote are included, since Nuon-specific remote functions are needed to access the platform’s game menu on some units. Test the disc tray and laser thoroughly, as these are standard DVD-player mechanisms prone to wear, and ask the seller to confirm the unit boots to the Nuon interface rather than functioning only as a plain DVD player.
FAQs
When did the Nuon come out?
Nuon-equipped DVD players launched in 2000 in North America, Europe, and Japan.
How many games were released for the Nuon?
Only eight officially licensed games were released for Nuon, making it one of the most software-starved gaming platforms ever produced.
How many units did the Nuon sell?
Unit sales figures for Nuon-equipped DVD players are not documented.
What companies made Nuon hardware?
VM Labs developed the Nuon technology, and it was manufactured into DVD players by Motorola, RCA, Samsung, and Toshiba.
Why did the Nuon fail?
Nuon struggled against limited third-party software support, competition from the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast, and lukewarm adoption of Nuon-enhanced DVD features by the movie industry, leading VM Labs to sell its assets to Genesis Microchip in 2002 and the platform to fade out by 2003-2004.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuon_(DVD_technology)
- https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/History_of_video_games/Platforms/Nuon
Facts on this page last verified 2026-07-15.