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| Manufacturer | Hasbro |
|---|---|
| Type | Home video game console |
| Generation | Third generation |
| Release date | 1989 (projected) |
| Media | VHS tape,ROM cartridges |
TheControl-Vision (codenamedNEMO)[1] is an unreleasedvideo game console developed byTom Zito. It is notable for usingVHS tapes rather thanROM cartridges, prompting the creation of game content which survived on into much more advancedCD-ROM platforms.
Originally codenamed "NEMO", initial development began in 1985 and was supported byNolan Bushnell's companyAxlon. The team, which includedApple Computer co-founderSteve Wozniak,[2] created a prototype using a modifiedColecoVision console to combine interactive images with a video stream transmitted through a cable. As a storage medium, NEMO employs VHS tapes that contain computer data alongside interleaved tracks of video and audio that can be toggled.[3]
To take the project beyond prototype status, they searched for a partner who would fund further development. TheHasbro toy company agreed to invest $7 million in exchange for the video game rights to the technology.
Three short trial games were finished by the middle of 1986:Scene of the Crime, a four-minute interactive mystery;Bottom of the Ninth Inning, a baseball game; and an interactive music video for the song "You Might Think" byThe Cars. The next step was the interactive movieNight Trap, inspired byScene of the Crime, and filmed in December 1986 inPawtucket,Rhode Island, the hometown of Hasbro. In 1987, Zito created the second full-size game namedSewer Shark, in one month's filming time and at a cost of $3 million.[3]
After filming forSewer Shark was completed, and two months prior to the 1989 release, Hasbro abandoned the project because the projectedUS$299 (equivalent to $760 in 2024) price was deemed uncompetitive against the well established and much cheaperNintendo Entertainment System.[3] Zito purchased the rights to the games and stored everything in a Rhode Island warehouse. In the late 1980s, Zito hired Mark Turmell, who go on to createNBA Jam andSmash T.V., to develop two more interactive games,Citizen X, and a licensed tie-in game ofPolice Academy.[4]
It was not until the early 1990s that the CD-ROM became an affordable mass storage medium for video game consoles, enablingfull-motion video (FMV) games at home. Sega was looking for content for the 1992 introduction of theSega CD accessory for theGenesis console.[5] They contacted Zito, who created versions ofSewer Shark andNight Trap for Sega CD through hisDigital Pictures company. Ports to other systems would soon follow.
Footage of a presentation of a NEMO prototype to Hasbro executives can be found in the Sega CD version ofNight Trap when entering acheat code. Lawrence H. Bernstein, working forMilton Bradley Company at that time, playsScene of the Crime, the prototype ofNight Trap. A playable version ofScene of the Crime can be found inNight Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition.
