Editing Control-Vision

{{Short description|Unreleased video game console}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}}
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{{Refimprove|date=January 2008}}
{{Inline citations|date=December 2015}}
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{{Infobox information appliance
| title = 
| image = 
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| caption = 
| manufacturer = [[Hasbro]]
| type = [[Home video game console]]
| generation = [[Third generation of video game consoles|Third generation]]
| releasedate = 1989 (projected)
| media = [[VHS]] tape, [[ROM cartridge]]s
}}
The '''Control-Vision''' (codenamed '''NEMO''')<ref>{{cite web|last=Vinciguerra|first=Rev. Robert A.|date=|title=Where are they now? Nolan Bushnell's Axlon|url=http://revrob.com/sci-a-tech-topmenu-52/112-where-are-they-now-nolan-bushnells-axlon|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108151003/http://revrob.com/sci-a-tech-topmenu-52/112-where-are-they-now-nolan-bushnells-axlon|archive-date=January 8, 2015|accessdate=November 9, 2015|work=The Rev. Rob Times}}</ref> is an unreleased [[video game console]] developed by [[Tom Zito]]. It is notable for using [[VHS]] tapes rather than [[ROM cartridge]]s, 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]]'s company [[Axlon]]. The team, which included [[Apple Inc.|Apple Computer]] co-founder [[Steve Wozniak]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-05-14-vw-5389-story.html|title=A UC Berkeley Degree Is Now the Apple of Steve Wozniak's Eye|date=1986-05-14|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=2019-04-02|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref> created a prototype using a modified [[ColecoVision]] 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.<ref name="Only In the 80s">{{cite web | title=Only In The 80's Would They Put Video Games On A VHS Tape | first=Luke | last=Plunkett| date=March 28, 2011 | publisher=Kotaku | url=https://kotaku.com/only-in-the-80s-would-they-put-video-games-on-a-vhs-tap-5786220 | accessdate=December 26, 2015}}</ref>

To take the project beyond prototype status, they searched for a partner who would fund further development. The [[Hasbro]] 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]]" by [[The Cars]]. The next step was the interactive movie ''[[Night Trap]]'', inspired by ''Scene of the Crime'', and filmed in December 1986 in [[Pawtucket, Rhode Island|Pawtucket]], [[Rhode Island]], the hometown of Hasbro. In 1987, Zito created the second full-size game named ''[[Sewer Shark]]'', in one month's filming time and at a cost of $3 million.<ref name="Only In the 80s"/>

After filming for ''Sewer Shark'' was completed, and two months prior to the 1989 release, Hasbro abandoned the project because the projected {{US$|299|1989|round=-1}} price was deemed uncompetitive against the well established and much cheaper [[Nintendo Entertainment System]].<ref name="Only In the 80s"/> 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 create ''[[NBA Jam (1993 video game)|NBA Jam]]'' and [[Smash TV|''Smash T.V.'']], to develop two more interactive games, ''Citizen X'', and a licensed tie-in game of ''[[Police Academy (franchise)|Police Academy]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parish |first=Jeremy |date=2018-10-31 |title=The story of NEMO, Hasbro's console that never was |url=https://www.polygon.com/features/2018/10/31/17997106/nemo-hasbro-vhs-console-mark-turmell |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=Polygon |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
It was not 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]] accessory for the [[Sega Genesis|Genesis]] console.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fahs |first=Travis |date=2008-03-04 |title=The Lives and Deaths of the Interactive Movie |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/03/04/the-lives-and-deaths-of-the-interactive-movie |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=IGN |language=en}}</ref> They contacted Zito, who created versions of ''[[Sewer Shark]]'' and ''[[Night Trap]]'' for Sega CD through his [[Digital 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 of ''Night Trap'' when entering a [[Cheating in video games#Cheat codes|cheat code]]. Lawrence H. Bernstein, working for [[Milton Bradley Company]] 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#Re-release|Night Trap: 25th Anniversary Edition]]''.

== Games ==
* ''Scene of the Crime'' (1986)
* ''Bottom of the Ninth Inning'' (1986)
* ''[[You Might Think]]'' (1986)
* ''[[Night Trap]]'' (1986)
* ''[[Sewer Shark]]'' (1987)
* ''Citizen X'' (1988)
* ''[[Police Academy (franchise)|Police Academy]]'' (1988)

== See also ==
* [[Action Max]], a VHS-based game console
* [[View-Master Interactive Vision]], VHS based game console 

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book | last=Kent | first=Steven L. | authorlink=Steven L. Kent | title=The Ultimate History of Video Games: The Story Behind the Craze that Touched our Lives and Changed the World | date=2002 | publisher=Random House International | location=New York | isbn=978-0-7615-3643-7 | oclc=59416169 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PTrcTeAqeaEC}}{{rp|271-276,453-455}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120812022704/http://archive.gamespy.com/articles/june03/dumbestmoments/index6.shtml VHS: The Future of Gaming] at [[GameSpy]]
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZY7_rsAGg YouTube video of the hidden scene in the Sega CD game ''Night Trap''] (Read 2011-10-27)

{{Third generation game consoles}}
{{Home video game consoles}}
{{Digital Pictures}}
{{Hasbro}}

[[Category:Third-generation video game consoles]]
[[Category:Hasbro products]]
[[Category:Digital Pictures games]]
[[Category:VHS]]
[[Category:Vaporware game consoles]]