Rockstar North

Background

Rockstar North, formerly DMA Design, is a Scottish video game developer owned by Rockstar Games. It was founded in 1988 by David Jones, Russell Kay, Steve Hammond, and Mike Dailly, and is best known for developing the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises.

DMA Design

1st Logo (1989)

Logo: On a blue grid background, we see the words "DMA DESIGN" in a futuristic sans-serif font. The words "A" and "GAME" are seen below.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: An announcer saying "a DMA Design game" in a dark voice.

Availability: Seen on Blood Money for the Atari ST.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (Lemmings variant) (February 14, 1991)

Nickname: "Mindstorm"

Logo: Over a red surface, two warriors are facing each other; one of them wears a helmet. The words "DMA Design" in a custom font are below, with two purple stripes to surround the warriors. There is a red strip to the right of "Design".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on the original Lemmings for Amiga.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (Hired Guns/Lemmings 2 variant) (April 1993-1994)

Nickname: "Red and Silver"

Logo: We see a gradient background, turning from coral pink to mauve. There is a stony plate, and a red stained column over it. The words "DMA DESIGN" in a chippy font are seen above the plates.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen occasionally on some Lemmings 2 and Hired Guns ports, sometimes with the Psygnosis logo. Clearly appears in fullscreen on Lemmings 2 for 3DO.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1994-May 15, 1999)

Logo: Just the DMA Man from the 5th logo, sometimes with "DMA Design" below.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: First seen on Lemmings Chronicles, then on Body Harvest and Tanktics. Also appears on Wild Metal Country after the animated logo, sharing the screen with the Gremlin Interactive logo and copyright info.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (GTA variant) (November 28, 1997)

Logo: On a white background, we see the DMA Man (a red "D", a green "M", and a blue "A", stacked on top of each other to look like a head, a body, and legs, respectively) walking along. All of a sudden, the DMA Man gets hit by a car, goes flying through the air, and lands flat on its back. The DMA Man then gets run over by the car, and twitches.

FX/SFX: The DMA Man walking along, getting hit by the car, getting run over, and twitching.

Music/Sounds: The DMA Man humming when he's walking along, the sound of a car revving up, the DMA Man screaming, two hit sounds when the DMA Man gets hit and lands, the sound of the same car zooming by when it runs over the DMA Man, and a cartoon-like sound when the DMA Man twitches.

Availability: Can be seen on Grand Theft Auto for PC and PlayStation.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (Body Harvest variant) (September 30, 1998)

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: TBA

Editor's Note: TBA

7th Logo (Space Station Silicon Valley variant) (October 21, 1998)

Logo: On a white background, we see the DMA Man stumbling and looking around. Suddenly, three robotic dogs swarm him, knock him over while colorful sparks fly, and then run away. Then, EVO (as a chip) eventually revives the DMA Man, causing him to move again.

Trivia: On earlier copies, the game would completely freeze at the end of the logo when the DMA Man is on the ground. This is due to an error involving incompatibility with the Nintendo 64's Expansion Pak; Silicon Valley was the only game in the console's library to be incompatible with it. While the opening can be skipped, the game would still freeze in several areas, including the opening cutscene. The game would only work properly if the standard Jumper Pak that the Nintendo 64 was initially launched with is inserted. This error was fixed on later versions of the game.

Variant: If the A or B button is held during the logo, a variant will play instead:

A button: The logo plays as usual, then a robotic bear juggling on a unicycle rides by and bounces over the DMA Man.
B button: The logo plays as usual, then two robotic dogs and a robotic sheep run up to the DMA Man and look around. They then run off.

FX/SFX: The DMA Man stumbling around, the dogs swarming him, and EVO reviving him.

Music/Sounds: Just some dogs barking and a bouncing sound when EVO Revives the DMA Man.

Availability: Can be seen only on Space Station Silicon Valley for the Nintendo 64. The later PlayStation port of this game, EVO's Space Adventures, does not have this logo as DMA had no involvement with it.

Editor's Note: None.

8th Logo (Wild Metal Country variant) (May 15, 1999)

Logo: Over a white background, we see the DMA Man standing on the surface. He looks around, as a rocket comes and blows up the DMA Man. The letters then fall back and the "A" disconnects.

FX/SFX: The DMA Man moving and the rocket flying.

Music/Sounds: The sound of a flying ball, then clapping and creaking sounds.

Availability: Can be seen on Wild Metal Country for PC and Dreamcast.

Editor's Note: None.

9th Logo (Tanktics variant) (September 30, 1999)

Logo: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: TBA

Editor's Note: TBA

10th Logo (GTA 2 variant) (October 22, 1999)

Logo: On a black background, we see the DMA Man looking around. Suddenly, red, white, and blue police lights zoom across the screen, and the DMA Man jumps forward. More police lights zoom across the screen, and the DMA Man's letters spin around several times. After the DMA Man stops spinning, he falls over. The camera then tilts over so that the DMA Man is facing the screen.

FX/SFX: The police lights zooming across the screen, the DMA Man looking around, jumping forward, spinning, and falling over, and the camera tilting over.

Music/Sounds: The sounds of cars zooming by and police sirens when the police lights zoom across the screen, cartoon-like sounds when the DMA Man is jumping forward and spinning around, and a "thump" when the DMA Man falls over.

Availability: Can be seen on Grand Theft Auto 2 for PC, PlayStation, and Dreamcast.

Editor's Note: None.

11th Logo (GTA III variant) (October 22, 2001)

Logo: On a black background, we see a different DMA logo; here, the "D", "M", and "A" are arranged side-by-side and are surrounded by a box that says "DMA DESIGN LIMITED" at the bottom. After less than a second, the DMA logo flickers and appears closer towards the screen, with the DMA logo's original position still present. The DMA logo flickers a few more times, and then disappears.

FX/SFX: The DMA logo flickering, appearing closer to the screen, and disappearing.

Music/Sounds: A weird, unintelligible computerized voice.

Availability: Can be seen only on the PlayStation 2 version of Grand Theft Auto III.

Editor's Note: None.

Rockstar North

1st Logo (GTA III variant) (October 22, 2001/2002)

Logo: On a black background, we see the Rockstar Games logo (an "R" with a star attached to it) in a light blue color with a bunch of white dots surrounding the logo's outline. It spins around two times, then zooms back. A blue box appears around the logo, the "R" turns black (with a white outline), and the star turns white (with a black outline). This logo comes directly after the Rockstar Games animation.

FX/SFX: Pretty good computer animation.

Music/Sounds: The background energy humming, continuing from the Rockstar Games logo animation.

Availability: Can be seen on the PC, Xbox and iOS versions of Grand Theft Auto III. Additionally, a widescreen version exists in Grand Theft Auto III: The Definitive Edition.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (GTA Vice City variant) (October 27, 2002)

Logo: We see the famous Commodore 64 menu, with "**** ROCKSTAR NORTH ****" at the top, "READY." below it, and a blinking insertion point below that. The insertion point types "LOAD "VICE CITY"" and "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE" appears. The menu disappears for a brief moment, and then reappears, with "OK" below "PRESS PLAY ON TAPE" and the text "SEARCHING" and "FOUND VICE CITY". The menu disappears again, and the background changes to a bunch of rapidly changing multicolored lines. A white rectangle with the Rockstar North logo and a black oval reading "NORTH" below it then appears, and stays on screen for about 6 seconds.

Trivia: The use of the Commodore 64 interface fits really well considering that it helps fit the game being set in the year 1986 and especially on how Commodore 64 was more popular across Europe (including the UK; where this game was made) than the US.

FX/SFX: Familiar Commodore 64 effects and the rapidly changing lines.

Music/Sounds: Typing sounds when "LOAD "VICE CITY"" is typed, the sound of something being inserted when the menu disappears the first time, the sound of a key being typed when the menu disappears the second time, and an 8-bit tune based on the original GTA theme played on a 8580 SID chip when the Rockstar North logo is on screen.

Music/Sounds Trivia: If you listen closely, the song "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles plays faintly throughout. It can also be heard in full when listening to one of the game's radio stations, Flash FM.

Availability: Can be seen on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Once again, a remastered version can be seen on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: The Definitive Edition.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (Manhunt variant) (November 18, 2003)

Logo: Superimposed over the opening of the game, we see the Rockstar North logo with white magnets above and below it. "A", in black, is on the top magnet, while "ROCKSTAR NORTH GAME", also in black, is on the bottom magnets. The logo "flickers" a few times, and then fades out.

FX/SFX: The "flickering".

Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the game, accompanied by static sounds.

Availability: Can be seen on Manhunt for PC, PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (GTA San Andreas variant) (October 26, 2004)

Logo: On a black background, we see the Rockstar North logo being drawn onto the screen with an invisible marker, along with a registered trademark. "rockstar north" in the "San Andreas" font appears below, a white outline appears around the "R", and the star turns white. After a few seconds, the outline of the "R", the star and the name fade out, leaving the blue part intact.

FX/SFX: Simple animation.

Music/Sounds: The sound of a marker's lid "popping" off, and a few "scribble" sounds.

Availability: Can be seen on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. Yet again, a widescreen version can be seen on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: The Definitive Edition.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (GTA Liberty City Stories variant) (October 24, 2005)

Logo: A couple of police cars come right, with a siren sound, coming through the logo-shaped hole. They leave the Rockstar North logo behind with the words "ROCKSTAR NORTH" below. A registered trademark is displayed at the bottom-right of the logo.

FX/SFX: The police cars coming to the right, the sound of engines.

Music/Sounds: Engine sounds, siren sound from police cars.

Availability: Seen on Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PS2, PSP and iOS.

Editor's Note: None.

6th Logo (GTA Vice City Stories variant) (October 31, 2006)

Logo: The Rockstar North logo appears on a black background, with the company's name displayed below the logo.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Ambient music that comes from the game's intro.

Availability: Seen on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories for the PS2 and PSP.

Editor's Note: None.

7th Logo (GTA IV and Episodes from Liberty City variant) (April 29, 2008-October 29, 2009)

Logo: On a black background, the Rockstar North logo zooms out and fades out.

FX/SFX: The logo zooming out.

Music/Sounds: The music used on the game's respective intro.

Availability: Seen on Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City.

Editor's Note: None.