Ascaron Entertainment

Credits

Captures by
Chow Woon Gan

Video captures courtesy of
EnormousRat

Background

Ascaron was a game company headquartered in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1991 under the name Ascon by Holger Flöttmann. In August 2001, the company went into administration for the first time, but managed to survive and continued its operations. In April 2009, Ascaron Entertainment went bankrupt again, due to the financial losses on Sacred 2: Fallen Angel. The company was closed. In June 2009, Kalypso Media acquired the majority of licenses and assets of company. On June 18, 2009, it was announced that fifteen former employees of Ascaron would be part of Kalypso's newly founded studio Gaming Minds.

1st Logo (1991-Late 90's)

Visuals: There is a heraldic picture of the red dragon and the name "ASCON" or "ASCARON" (in later years) over it. Details change between games.

Technique: A still, sprite-based graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on their earliest games. ^[Examples?]

2nd Logo (Late 90's-2009)

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Visuals: There is a heraldic red dragon is drawn by a white outline, which becomes red as it proceeds. The outline glows, making the picture white for a second, then explodes into a white background with the red dragon, and the name "ASCARON" in its corporate font over it.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An uprising humming premise, followed by majestic horn fanfares.

Availability: Appeared on Ballerburg, Patrician III and Port Royale 2.

3rd Logo (July 16, 2004-2009)

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Visuals: On a black background, there are three spikes slowly projecting, followed by other parts of the name, sending red light. When the name is complete, the red dragon flashes in a flame behind.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A dramatic soundtrack consisting of an orchestrated windy sound and two piano passes.

Availability: Seen on Arena Wars. A still version can be seen on Darkstar One.