Infogrames

Credits

Descriptions by
DarkJester25

Captures by
DarkJester25 and EnormousRat

Editions by
KirbyGuy2001, iheartparamount and others

Video captures courtesy of
Napostriouf, seablue, EnormousRat, dimouseandzubik, Denskiewar, and pwilliardffxstar1

Background

Infogrames was a large French gaming company, famous for many titles, including Alone in the Dark, Shadow of the Comet, and Hogs of War. The company began in 1983. They made several major acquisitions in the late 90's, which included buying Ocean Software, Philips Interactive Media, Gremlin Interactive, Accolade, Beam Software, GT Interactive Software, Humongous Entertainment, Shiny Entertainment, Eden Games and Hasbro Interactive (with the MicroProse and Atari brands). The brand name of Atari, taken from Hasbro, was relaunched in October 2001 and replaced Infogrames' name in all games since 2003. In October 2008 the company fully assimilated the Atari name and eventually became the new Atari, Inc. in the following year, after many financial struggles.

1st Logo (1984-1995)

Nicknames: "The Armadillo", "The Rainbow Armadillo", "Ugly Armadillo"

Logo: Against a white background, we see a black armadillo with rainbow stripes. Below it is the word "INFOGRAMES". The logo usually fades in, stays a while, and fades out. The quality of the logo may very on different platforms.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Rare, but can still be found on copies of old games from the 80s.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1992)

Nicknames: "Armadillo In The Dark", "The Rotating Armadillo", "CGI Armadillo", "InfogrAGH!", "Rainbow Armadillo II"

Logo: We fade in to see a primitive version of the 90's gray Infogrames logo on a black background. After a brief flash of lightning and sudden clap of thunder, the armadillo becomes a very early CGI rendition of itself, and rotates in the same manner as an object from the game Alone in the Dark. The logo fades out after it makes one rotation.

Variant: On some American versions of Alone in the Dark, "INFOGRAMES" is replaced with "I*MOTION", which was Infogrames' trading name in the United States at the time. Some versions though have the regular logo.

FX/SFX: The thunder, the lightning flash, the armadillo turning into CGI and rotating. Produced by Olive Jar Animation.

Music/Sounds: Just the thunder.

Availability: This logo is only found on the game Alone in the Dark. This logo is not a variant of the third logo; it is a direct precursor to it, and was therefore only used once.

Editor's Note: The sudden thunderclap, accompanied by the dark background might scare some younger viewers.

3rd Logo (1991-1998)

Nicknames: "The Gray Armadillo", "Rainbow Armadillo III"

Logo: Same as the last logo, but the coloured stripes aren't as bright as the first logo.

Variant: Like with the last variant, on some North American released games, "I*MOTION" replaces "INFOGRAMES".

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Rare, found only on games of that period.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1995-2001)

Nicknames: "Spiral Armadillo", "Fancy Rainbow Armadillo"

Logo: On a white background, a more stylized version of the armadillo draws itself starting from the tail (while slightly rotating anticlockwise), then the text "INFOGRAMES" fades in below.

Variants:

• Sometimes only the fade-in was used, and the background can be black. This can be seen on Starshot: Space Circus Fever (with the Nintendo logo) and V-Rally Edition '99, both for Nintendo 64, and the PlayStation version of Mission: Impossible.
• A still version exists, which was spotted on pre-2000 Game Boy Color games and on such DOS versions of The Adventures of Tintin: Prisoners of the Sun, Tintin in Tibet, The Smurfs, Asterix and Obelix and Spirou.
• On Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time, the still logo is flat. Then it cuts to the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment logo.
• On Slave Zero, the words "PRESS START BUTTON" are seen under the still logo.
• On Test Drive Off-Road 3, after the logo finishes, copyright info appears below the logo. This logo is plastered by the next logo on the European version of the game, which was renamed 4X4 World Trophy.

FX/SFX: The drawing.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized note with the faint arpeggio and a whoosh in the background, then a 6-note trumpet melody with the last note being the orchestral hit and a synthesized buzz when the feet, rainbow "stripes" and the eye of the armadillo fade in. None for the still version.

Availability: Uncommon. Appears on the company's games from this period such as V-Rally and Test Drive Off-Road 3. The logo is surprisingly seen on the PS1 version and later copies of the PC version of Nicktoons Racing, even though the entire packaging and title screen have the next logo.

Editor's Note: TBA.

5th Logo (2000-2009, 2015)

Notice: this template has been replaced by {{Guidance}} and {{Guidance detail}}

Nicknames: "Crazy Armadillo", "Springy Armadillo", "Spiral Armadillo II", "Colour Hysteria", "The Armadillo With No Feet"

Logo: We cut from black to see a shiny black 3D line de-thickening itself on a flashing rainbow background. The line starts to wiggle and stretch (like a radio-wave), and then snap-compresses itself together like a spring. The line loosens itself to reveal a heavily spiral-stylised armadillo. The armadillo then becomes a 3D flat drawing, and the word "INFOGRAMES", in a black rectangle-like shape, fades in and zooms out in front of the logo. It lands on the logo as the background turns white. A shadow fades in below the logo, and then the entire thing cuts to black.

Variants:

• A still version exists. The latter appeared on Duck Dodgers. Sometimes, the logo is in the print style seen on game cases by this company, though this variant on some GBA games like Backyard Baseball 2003 could have its colors inverted, with a copyright notice below.
• Another variant has the armadillo standing on the left side of the name banner. The background can be black or white. The version with white background appeared on Nicktoons Racing for GBA. This variant was used on European game cases and later American cases as its print logo.
• On the PlayStation 2 version of Splashdown and Stuntman, only the banner appeared on the blue background. Then the Atari logo follows. The 2002 version of Le Mans 24 Hours uses a red background.
• On RollerCoaster Tycoon for Xbox, the logo is inverted, still and pans from bottom to top, plastering the Hasbro Interactive logo. RollerCoaster Tycoon 2 has the logo on a white square over a black background, and pans from top to bottom.
• For the Lyons House division, it uses the same animation, but when it ends, the armadillo fades out and "Lyons House" writes itself below the banner. It uses a droning synth after the usual music. It is followed by the Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment logo and is seen on Sheep, Dog, 'n' Wolf (or Looney Tunes: Sheep Raider in North America).
  • The logo can be seen on Ralph's TV screen in the game as an Easter egg.

FX/SFX: The zooming, the flashing colors, the springy line, the 3D effects, the fading.

Music/Sounds: Several weird whooshing and stretching sounds and a synthesised hit (most of them are from Hanna-Barbera's sound effects library), ending in a heavy synth chord reminiscent of several Cyan Worlds logos.

Music/Sounds variants:

• The still version is silent, or it may have the opening theme of the game play over it.
• On the 2015 iOS version of Pajama Sam: No Need To Hide When It's Dark Outside, the music is high pitched.
• Ghost Vibration has the music running faster and is also higher pitched.
• On Blue's Clues: Blue's Reading Time Activities, the still version has the tail end of the Humongous Entertainment drum roll playing over it.

Availability: Very common. Used on lots of games from this period, produced by Infogrames and/or its divisions. Games branded under the Atari name however (such as Enter the Matrix) do not have this logo (except for Ghost Vibration, which had the regular Infogrames logo and no Atari logo outside the packaging). The still version (white on black) made a surprise appearance on the 2015 iOS versions of Spy Fox 3: Operation Ozone and Freddi Fish and the Case of the Creature of Coral Cove, alongside the 1996-2002 Humongous logo, due to an editing mistake. The normal version also appeared on the 2015 iOS version of Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When it's Dark Outside, due to (yet) another editing mistake.

Editor's Note: TBA.

6th Logo (May 18, 2001)

Nickname: "Armadillo In The Dark II"

Logo: We fade in to see a still of the 2000s Infogrames logo, colored in white. The armadillo and the banner are lit up by a flashlight, and then the logo fades out.

FX/SFX: The flashlight panning through the logo.

Music/Sounds: Just the wind blowing.

Availability: It's only seen on Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare.

Editor's Note: None.