The Control-Vision (originally codenamed NEMO) is an unreleased

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...

developed by Tom Zito. It is notable for using VHS tapes rather than ROM cartridges, prompting the creation of game content which survived on into much more advanced CD-ROM platforms.

History

Originally codenamed "NEMO", initial development began in 1985 and was supported by

Nolan Bushnell Nolan Kay Bushnell (born February 5, 1943) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consu ...

's company Axlon. The team, which included Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak, created a prototype using a modified

ColecoVision ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer exp ...

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 a grid of multiple tracks of video and audio that can be toggled. To take the project beyond prototype status, they searched for a partner who would fund further development. The

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

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 "You Might Think" is a song by American rock band The Cars from their fifth studio album, ''Heartbeat City'' (1984). The track was written by Ric Ocasek and produced by Mutt Lange and the Cars, with Ocasek also providing the lead vocals. The s ...

" by

The Cars The Cars were an American rock band formed in Boston in 1976. Emerging from the new wave scene in the late 1970s, they consisted of Ric Ocasek ( rhythm guitar), Benjamin Orr (bass guitar), Elliot Easton (lead guitar), Greg Hawkes ( keyboard ...

. The next step was the interactive movie ''

Night Trap ''Night Trap'' is a 1992 interactive movie developed by Digital Pictures and published by Sega for the Sega CD. Presented primarily through full-motion video (FMV), ''Night Trap'' tasks the player to observe teenage girls having a sleepov ...

'', inspired by ''Scene of the Crime'', and filmed in December 1986 in Pawtucket,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

, the hometown of Hasbro. In 1987, Zito created the second full-size game named ''

Sewer Shark ''Sewer Shark'' is a first-person rail shooter video game, and is the first on a home video game console, console to use full motion video for its primary gameplay. It was originally slated to be the flagship product in Hasbro's Control-Vision v ...

'', in one month's filming time and at a cost of $3 million. After filming for ''Sewer Shark'' was completed, and two months prior to the 1989 release, Hasbro abandoned the project because the projected price was deemed uncompetitive against the well established and much cheaper Nintendo Entertainment System. Zito purchased the rights to the games and stored everything in a Rhode Island warehouse.

Legacy

It wasn't until the early 1990s that the CD-ROM became an affordable mass storage medium for video game consoles, enabling full motion video (FMV) games at home. Sega was looking for content for the 1992 introduction of the

Sega CD The Sega CD, released as the in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. It was released on December 12, 1991, in Japan ...

accessory for the

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

console. They contacted Zito, who created versions of ''

'' and ''

'' for Sega CD through his

Digital Pictures Digital Pictures was an American video game developer founded in 1991 by Lode Coen, Mark Klein, Ken Melville, Anne Flaut-Reed, Kevin Welsh and Tom Zito. The company originated from an attempt to produce a game for the failed VHS-based NEMO (vid ...

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 of ''Night Trap'' when entering a

cheat code Cheating in video games involves a video game player using various methods to create an advantage beyond normal gameplay, usually in order to make the game easier. Cheats may be activated from within the game itself (a cheat code implemented by ...

. Lawrence H. Bernstein, working for

Milton Bradley Company Milton Bradley Company or simply Milton Bradley (MB) was an American board game manufacturer established by Milton Bradley in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the ...

at that time, plays ''Scene of the Crime'', the prototype of ''Night Trap''. A playable version of ''Scene of the Crime'' can be found in '' Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition''.

Games

* ''Scene of the Crime'' (1986) * ''Bottom of the Ninth Inning'' (1986) * ''

'' (1986) * ''

'' (1987)

References

Bibliography

External links