DMA Design

Partnerships with Nintendo and BMG Interactive (1994–1997)

DMA Design's first project for Nintendo was Unirally, a racing game featuring animated unicycles created using 2D sprites rendered from a 3D model. Following the game's 1994 release for the SNES, the animation studio Pixar sued Nintendo over perceived similarities between the game's characters and the unicycle protagonist from Pixar's 1987 animated short film Red's Dream. The judge ruled in Pixar's favour and the two companies agreed that Nintendo would cease the production of Unirally copies while Pixar was to receive a Nintendo 64 game development kit. Despite the ruling, the game sold 300,000 copies. DMA Design continued working with Nintendo on Kid Kirby, a spin-off in Nintendo's Kirby franchise made by Colgan after requesting a second chance from Jones. The game featured a young version of the title character, who would have been launched around levels using the Super NES Mouse. In November 1994, a team of five people commenced developing Body Harvest, scheduled to be a launch title for the Nintendo 64.