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Did you know? Grand Theft Auto could've been a Nintendo exclusive!

DMA Design, a studio from Dundee (Scotland), signed up with Nintendo to make a game called Unirally which was a SNES exclusive. It was a success and Nintendo offered to publish another DMA Design game for their upcoming Nintendo 64 console. This game was called Body Harvest and was meant to be a launch title for the N64 but there were various delays so Nintendo put it on hold (it eventually released in 1998). DMA Design were set to be a main developer for Nintendo but the issues with Body Harvest put an end to that.

After the fallout with Nintendo, DMA Design went on to develop a game called Race'n'Chase. This ended up being renamed as Grand Theft Auto and was released for PC in 1997. DMA Design were eventually bought by Take Two. Rockstar Games were created and DMA Design was renamed as Rockstar North. Very early copies of GTA III have the original DMA Design developer logo on the cover:

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Before PS1, almost every major publisher had a very close working relationship with Nintendo, if not fully making all their games Nintendo exclusives.

But, Nintendo burnt a lot of bridges transitioning from the SNES to N64. Almost all their close partners like Squaresoft, Konami, Capcom, Enix, etc all moved to making PlayStation games because of the more friendly licensing deals and the CD format.

It was here where people shifted to mainly using the term "play videogames". Before this it was more common to say "play Nintendo" even when speaking of other consoles, simply because of Nintendo's dominance and total mindshare on the industry.
 

jufonuk

not tag worthy
Also the PlayStation would have been a Nintendo exclusive if only Nintendo were not being silly boys back then thank god they haven’t tried to not adopt their own media format est time and stuck with what is most widely used. I mean can you imagine?!?

also I’m a Nintendo fan so I’m not console warring
 

ManaByte

Member
Also the PlayStation would have been a Nintendo exclusive if only Nintendo were not being silly boys back then thank god they haven’t tried to not adopt their own media format est time and stuck with what is most widely used. I mean can you imagine?!?

also I’m a Nintendo fan so I’m not console warring

C'mon, that wasn't entirely on Nintendo. Sony was kind of dumb there and tried to wrestle FULL control of the Super CD games away from Yamauchi. They're lucky he didn't put a Yakuza hit out on them for attempting that.

Basically the SNES/CD combo machine (the Play Station) would've played SNES games and Super CD games. Nintendo would have their iron grip on the SNES carts, but Sony would fully and 100% control the Super CD software. Yamauchi killed the deal when he realized that.
 
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6502

Member
They had a version of gta 1 running on the silicon valley engine from reports back in the day. It was listed as a future release in n64 magazine but alas it never materialised.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
Before PS1, almost every major publisher had a very close working relationship with Nintendo, if not fully making all their games Nintendo exclusives.

But, Nintendo burnt a lot of bridges transitioning from the SNES to N64. Almost all their close partners like Squaresoft, Konami, Capcom, Enix, etc all moved to making PlayStation games because of the more friendly licensing deals and the CD format.

It was here where people shifted to mainly using the term "play videogames". Before this it was more common to say "play Nintendo" even when speaking of other consoles, simply because of Nintendo's dominance and total mindshare on the industry.
Nintendo's stance prior to PlayStation was "have a close relationship with us, or else." They set those bridges on fire with the NES and Sony gave them all a super powered middle finger when PlayStation released. PlayStation killed Nintendo's dominance overnight. It was actually a beautiful thing.
 

Marty-McFly

Banned
Also the PlayStation would have been a Nintendo exclusive if only Nintendo were not being silly boys back then thank god they haven’t tried to not adopt their own media format est time and stuck with what is most widely used. I mean can you imagine?!?

also I’m a Nintendo fan so I’m not console warring
Looking at Nintendo's current position in the market, I'm sure they're quite glad they never teamed up with Sony.
 

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
Remember having so much fun playing GTA 1 on the PC back then.
You were literally the only one to enjoy GTA 1. (or even 2)

The rest of us were waiting for the series to transition to 3D. This is why Rockstar has fully neglected those early GTA games.
 

amigastar

Member
You were literally the only one to enjoy GTA 1. (or even 2)

The rest of us were waiting for the series to transition to 3D. This is why Rockstar has fully neglected those early GTA games.
The rest of us, what? Who is this supposed to be?
 
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Marty-McFly

Banned
Rockstar's talent left them after RDR2

They are pretty much just a microtransactions house now, which totally sucks.

I used to love their games.
 

bad guy

as bad as Danny Zuko in gym knickers
Development of GTA1 started on the Amiga, but then moved to PC because the Amiga was quickly loosing popularity and the hardware was at its limit.
 
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