Fox Interactive: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 21:27, 14 February 2023

Background

Fox Interactive was a video game publisher and developer owned by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, formed in May 1994. It mainly focused on titles based on their properties, though they were also involved with original titles, including Croc: Legend of the Gobbos and No One Lives Forever. It was a loose successor to Fox Video Games, which was formed in 1982 but was soon shut down due the the video game crash of 1983. The company stopped publishing its own games in 2001, and gave their titles to other publishers. In 2003, Fox Interactive was acquired by Vivendi Universal Games for an undisclosed sum. After being purchased, the name was reduced to solely being a label for 20th Century Fox games published by Vivendi Universal Games. The label would be phased out by 2006, although Vivendi Universal continued to publish titles based on 20th Century Fox properties, with such examples including Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, Eragon, and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem. 20th Century Fox would later partner with other publishers to create games based on their properties, something which continues on to this day. New games based on 20th Century Studios titles are now in the hands of other publishers, and simply use the 20th Century Games logo instead. Today, most of Fox Interactive's game library, which was copyrighted to 20th Century Fox, is owned by The Walt Disney Company through 20th Century Studios, while current video games based on 20th Century properties (which is owned by and operated under Disney since 2019) have been licensed out to third-party publishers on console and mobile devices.

Contents

1st Logo (1992)	2nd Logo (November 23, 1994-1996)	3rd Logo (October 31, 1995)	4th Logo (February 29, 1996-June 30, 2003)	5th Logo (April 18, 2002-March 14, 2006)

1st Logo (1992)

Logo: A reproduction of the 1956-1967 20th Century Fox movie logo, with white searchlights and stormy blue clouds in the background. Then the copyright screen appears as the logo fades out.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: It was only used on Predator 2 for Sega Genesis.

2nd Logo (November 23, 1994-1996)

SNES version
Genesis version
Game Boy version

Logo: On a white background, we see a still image of the Fox Interactive logo, enclosed in a black rectangle. It consists of a blue globe on top of a black structure with two gold lines, with "FOX" curved across it in the movie logo's font, and four searchlights in the back forming an X-cross-like formation, all against a sky blue background. Below it is the white text "INTERACTIVE", and underneath the rectangle is the byline "A UNIT OF FOX, INC.".

Variants:

On the Genesis version of The Pagemaster, the logo has a white border on it, and the background is black.
On the Game Boy version of The Pagemaster, the print logo is shown instead, and it's seen on a black background (like the Genesis version).

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: A 16-bit (8-bit for Game Boy) rendition of the full 20th Century Fox fanfare. The fanfare sounds different on each game that uses this logo.

Availability: Rare. Can be only seen on The Pagemaster on Game Boy, SNES and Genesis, and The Tick on SNES and Genesis.

3rd Logo (October 31, 1995)

Icebreaker variant

Logo: Same as the domestic 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logo from the time, but with some differences. The logo starts with a very slow fade-in, and it's still before animating; then, after fully animating, it freezes before fading out. The logo is also darker and slower.

Trivia: The way this logo fades and freezes is rather similar to the version found on the Widescreen Series promo on some 1996 Fox tapes.

Variant: There's also a still bitmap of the end of the normal logo, found in the game's files in the menus directory.

Technique: Same as the 1995-2009 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: It was only used on Icebreaker for PC.

4th Logo (February 29, 1996-June 30, 2003)

Logo: On a black background, we see a globe floating in the center of a gold-bordered box, against a blue/purple/gold sky background from the theatrical logo. Four searchlights move behind the globe, causing it to rotate, and a huge explosion of gold fireworks to appear behind it. The gold-lined structure from the 2nd logo appears underneath the globe, and the glowing text "FOX", in the same font as the 2nd logo, flies in from the top of the globe and moves into its usual position. The searchlights also move into their normal crossed position, and after it does so, the globe stops moving. As the logo animates, the gold border slowly grows at the bottom to make room for the white text "INTERACTIVE", which flashes in as the logo completes. The "FOX" text, along with the gold border, then shines.

Trivia: On Die Hard Arcade on Sega Saturn and Die Hard Trilogy on Sega Saturn, PlayStation and PC, some of the soft drink health pickups you find in the game have the Fox Interactive logo on the can. Also, in Team Losi: R/C Racer on PlayStation, at some tracks, the Fox Interactive logo can be seen on some posters and walls.

Variants:

On Die Hard Arcade for Sega Saturn, the logo zooms-out and is already formed.
On some games, such as Croc: Legend of the Gobbos for Sega Saturn (the PlayStation and PC versions of the said game have the normal logo), the logo is still.
On the PC version of Croc: Legend of the Gobbos and The Simpsons Wrestling, the logo is slowed down.
On the PlayStation version of Die Hard Trilogy, the logo is sped-up a little, then freezes. However, the European PlayStation version of Die Hard Trilogy has the logo at normal speed.
On some games, there is a still artwork version of the logo similar to the 2nd logo, but with some differences. The sky color is the same as the animated logo instead of blue and the searchlights are a bit skinnier like in the animated logo.
On Planet of the Apes for Game Boy Advance, a spaceship flies past the logo, along with the Ubi Soft Entertainment logo.
On The X-Files Game, a flying saucer flies by at the end of the logo.
On The Simpsons Cartoon Studio, the logo cuts to the title screen. Also, the logo's color is a bit revised.
On a trailer for the game Independence Day, the logo appears over the background of the game.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: The second half of the 1994 20th Century Fox fanfare composed by Bruce Broughton, with rumbling, an explosion, and some whooshes (which pans from the right to left speaker if listened in stereo). The fanfare abruptly ends as the logo shines. Also, an extra cymbal is added.

Music/Sounds Variants:

The still variants are silent or use the opening theme of the game.
On the trailer for ID4: The Game, the second half of the 1981 20th Century Fox fanfare without any sound effects is heard.
On The X-Files Game, the explosion sound effect is different.
On Alien vs. Predator, Alien vs. Predator 2 and Alien vs. Predator: Classic 2000 Edition, the 20th Century Fox fanfare that plays during the logo segues ominously into the score from Alien.
The second half of the 1997 Fox fanfare (with the same sound effects intact) is rumored to be heard in a few releases, though this remains unconfirmed.

Availability: Common.

Debuted on Alien Trilogy, and went on to appear on games such as Die Hard Trilogy, ID4: The Game, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, Croc 2, The Simpsons Wrestling, Anastasia: Adventures with Pooka and Bartok, World's Scariest Chase Scenes, Team Losi: R/C Racer, the PC version of The Operative: No One Lives Forever, and Alien vs. Predator, among other games.
The still versions can be seen on some other games like The Simpsons: Road Rage and Ice Age.

5th Logo (April 18, 2002-March 14, 2006)

Part 1
Part 2
Prototype version
Corporate version

Corporate version

Logo: We see the 20th Century Fox logo in its 1994 form. Then, the camera turns around the structure. Smoke appears in the leftmost and rightmost searchlights as we slowly see the structure transform into the stacked text "FOX INTERACTIVE", separated by two lines and in the Fox font. We can also see that the structure is now perched next to and upon several circular, futuristic buildings with colorful lights, which illuminate once the camera settles down. We can also see some pods or small spaceships moving around in the buildings on a monorail.

Variants:

A still variant exists, which is brighter than the animated variant, and the sky looks to be more clearly during a sunset.
There is another still version, where the logo is a still shot. This was only seen on Robots for Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS, and Ice Age 2: The Meltdown for Game Boy Advance, set over the games' respective intros.

Technique: CGI animation. This was designed and animated by Christine Hermsmeyer at Herms Terms Studios.

Music/Sounds: The 1997 Fox fanfare composed by David Newman. Some titles used the 1994 Fox fanfare composed by Bruce Broughton.

Music/Sounds Variant: Like before, none or the opening theme of the game for the still variants.

Availability: Uncommon, appeared on titles from the time.

The 1997 fanfare was first used on Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza (the debut of this logo overall), and then appeared the PlayStation 2 port of The Operative: No One Lives Forever, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens Versus Predator: Extinction, Futurama, The Simpsons: Hit and Run, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds, the console and PC versions of Robots, and made its final appearance on Predator: Concrete Jungle.
The 1994 fanfare appears on No One Lives Forever 2: A Spy in H.A.R.M's Way, Die Hard: Vendetta, The Simpsons Skateboarding, Minority Report: Everybody Runs, and The X-Files: Resist or Serve.
The first still variant can be found on a prototype build of The Simpsons Skateboarding meant for exhibition at the 2002 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) dated May 10, 2002, and the second still variant can be found on the GBA and DS versions of Robots.
The last game to use this logo was on Ice Age 2: The Meltdown for Game Boy Advance; in the other versions, it skips right to the Blue Sky Studios logo of the era.

Final Note

Starting with all versions of Fantastic Four, Eragon and Family Guy Video Game!, all Fox video games began using the 20th Century Fox theatrical or television logos.

@@ Line 106: / Line 106: @@
 '''Technique:''' CGI animation.
-'''Music/Sounds:''' The second half of the 1994 20th Century Fox fanfare composed by Bruce Broughton, with rumbling, an explosion, and some whooshes (which pans from the right to left speaker if listened in stereo). The fanfare abruptly ends as the logo shines.
+'''Music/Sounds:''' The second half of the 1994 20th Century Fox fanfare composed by Bruce Broughton, with rumbling, an explosion, and some whooshes (which pans from the right to left speaker if listened in stereo). The fanfare abruptly ends as the logo shines. Also, an extra cymbal is added.
 '''Music/Sounds Variants:'''