Neo Software

Credits

Captures by
Chow Woon Gan

Editions by
Chow Woon Gan

Background

Neo Software Produktions was an Austrian PC game development studio based in Vienna. Founded in 1993 by Peter Baustädter, Niki Laber, and Hannes Seifert, the company was best known for its two best-sellers, The Clue! (1994) and Alien Nations (1999). After a succession of acquisitions by Computec Media and Gameplay.com, it was acquired by Take-Two Interactive Software in 2001 for €18.1 million, while working on the Xbox port of Max Payne.

In 2003, Neo Software was brought under Take-Two's Rockstar brand as "Rockstar Vienna", and continued making Xbox ports of their games. They also began development on a sequel to Manhunt, however in 2006, Rockstar closed the studio abruptly during development (when the game was completed by Rockstar London, all Vienna studio credits were removed).

1st Logo (February 1993; December 12, 2001)

• 

Visuals: A simple gold and black banner is seen, with "neo" inside.

Technique: A still, computerized graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Originally used on Whale's Voyage for the Amiga CD32. Strangely, the black background version appeared on the Xbox port of Max Payne, this being the logo's last appearance before the studio was renamed.

2nd Logo (1994-1996)

• 
• 

Visuals: The gold-black "neo" shield is seen, crossed with light stripes.

Variant: In 1995, the logo was redone with more accurate 3D effects.

Technique: A still, sprite-based graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on a handful of games published and developed by Neo Software, such as The Clue! (also known as Der Clou in Europe).

3rd Logo (November 1998-July 19, 2001)

• 

Visuals: There is the shield from before redone in 3D, lit from below and with a byline reading "...online with the future...".

Technique: A still, CGI graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Appeared on Alien Nations and The Sting! (also known as Der Clou 2 in Europe).