On occasion we have reported about NUON before, a technology that is supposed to become part of many standard DVD players if everything goes according to manufacturer VM Labs‘ plans. It is in essence a high end processor that would give DVD players additional capabilities such as the ability to dedicated play video games one a NOUN enhanced DVD player without the need for a dedicated video game console. Talk about the technoogy has been around for a long time and yet, no NUON enabled player is in sight, while Sony’s Playstation 2 is getting ready for launch, as is Microsoft’s XBox console.

Now, analysts predict a grim end to the technology that once had hope of sneaking gaming features into DVD players everywhere, indicating that consumers interested in gaming will be more likely to go with proven game technology, while those interested only in DVD will be hard to sell on the interactive features of Nuon, said Jeremy Schwartz, industry analyst with market watcher Forrester Research Inc. The $50 to $100 premium over regular DVD players will make these players less attractive to most consumers who do not see the benefit they may gain out of it.

“People are not going to know what to do with (the technology),” he said. “Unless (VM Labs) has made some major steps forward content-wise and technology-wise, they will be eclipsed by the PlayStation and the Xbox.”

Although representatives of VM Labs are still of the firm belief to have an edge over consoles like Playstation 2 or XBox, it now becomes vital for the company to have NUON enabled players in the market very soon. The first player by Samsung is currently expected to make it to market in April with a release from Toshiba scheduled this fall. But is it enough to go against a proven giant in the market like Sony? Hardly so, we suppose…