ASCII Productions

This article is about ASCII Corporation's video game logos. For their motion logos as seen on commercials and promos, see ASCII Corporation.

Background

ASCII Corporation was originally founded by Kazuhiko Nishi on May 24, 1977, and it was developed in cooperation with Microsoft to create the MSX home computer system. During that time, in the mid 1980s, the company entered the gaming market to develop game consoles. In 1989, it established an American subsidiary Nexoft, but it was renamed in 1991 to ASCII Entertainment and spun off in 1998 as Agetec. In 2002, it was sold to Unison Media Partners, and the old ASCII unit was renamed to MediaLeaves, and the company was sold to Kadokawa Media Holdings. In 2008, it was merged with Mediaworks to form ASCII Media Works.

1st Logo (1980s)

Visuals: On a green starfield, red bars slide in from the slides and bring up the red ASCII wordmark. The yellow byline "HOME SOFTWARE PRODUCTS" slides in below. After another second, the ASCII logo transitions into the green "HSP".

Technique: Real-time computer animation.

Audio: None, but the opening theme would also play on a few games.

Availability: Can be seen on various Sharp X1 games such as Arion, X1.

2nd Logo (Still variants) (November 28, 1986-November 15, 2001)

Visuals: Just an "ASCII" in white font on a black BG.

Variants:

On early games, the logo appears within the game's title screen.
On several early Game Boy games, like Wizardry Gaiden I and the Japanese version of Ishido, the lines made the transition from the Nintendo logo.
On RPGMaker 2000, the logo would fade through black to the ASCII Tsukuru Series logo, then to the Digital Famitsu logo.
On some games like AeroGauge, the logo is blue.

Technique: A sprite-based graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Appeared on the game making software RPGMaker 2000, when you press the Test button. It also appeared on several console games from the period, like the Famicom games of Cosmo Genesis, Castlequest and Wizardry, the FDS game of Otocky, and many Game Boy/Game Boy Color games.

3rd Logo (Penguin-kun Wars VS custom variant 1) (March 30, 1990)

Visuals: On a white background, there is the stacked words, "PRESENTED BY", followed by the ASCII logo on a black rectangle, scrolling up, and stops the center. After a second, it scrolls up again, leaving just the white background.

Technique: 8-bit sprite animation.

Audio: None.

Availability: Only known to be seen on Penguin-kun Wars VS, another variation of Penguin Wars.

4th Logo (Penguin-kun Wars VS custom variant 2) (March 30, 1990)

Visuals: There is a blank white background. After the ascending series of beeps, the ASCII logo on a gray rectangle, slides down slowly, while a scared penguin is seen running around and then it goes away. The logo shakes when it is stopped, then the whole logo flashes rapidly with the color inversion effect.

Technique: 8-bit sprite animation.

Audio: A loud menacing square-wave chord, an ascending series of chiptune beeps, then another series of loud, high pitched chiptune beeps that sounds like an alarm when the penguin runs around. When the logo shakes, a "Dong!" sound is heard, followed by a loud thunderclap sound when the logo flashes rapidly.

Availability: Same as the third logo.

5th Logo (Daisenryaku Expert custom variant) (September 25, 1992)

Visuals: On a wallpaper full of ASCII logos, a blue ASCII logo trails in, and then the background turns white.

Technique: 2D sprite animation.

Audio: A chime theme.

Availability: Seen on the Super Famicom game of Daisenryaku Expert.

6th Logo (November 20, 1992-September 29, 1995)

Visuals: On a black background, copies of the ASCII logo appear via a trailing effect, and a single copy forms the ASCII logo in white.

Technique: 2D sprite animation.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on a handful of Super Famicom games, like Wizardry V: Heart of the Maelstorm and Ardy Lightfoot, among others, as well as early Saturn, PlyStation and 3DO games.

7th Logo (January 31, 1996-November 25, 1999)

Visuals: On a black background is a picture of a silver knight on horseback carrying a sharp sword that is raised up. The knight can be seen standing on a dark yellow-ish surface, with a dark blue sky. The text "ASCII SOFT" in a futuristic font appears below the logo. A light passes to the top of the sword, as well as the horse, both for a second.

Variants:

On SNES games, the logo is still, and the text wipes in below the logo.
On SGB games, only the text "ASCII SOFT" is shown.

Technique: Analog computer effects.

Audio: A shining synth with a Japanese male voice saying "ASCII!"

Availability: Seen on various SNES, PS1 and SGB games from the company (mostly in Japanese releases). Also seen on the PlayStation game of Galerians.

8th Logo (Animated variants) (December 16, 1999-2001)

Visuals: On a white or black background, the blue ASCII logo appears in different animated versions.

Technique: Depends on the variant.

Audio: Depends on the variant.

Availability: Seen on Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage for the Dreamcast and several other ASCII games from the period.