Lobotomy Software

Background

Lobotomy Software (later "Lobotomy Studios" after being purchased by Crave Entertainment) was founded in Redmond, Washington by former employees of Nintendo of America (with engineers being hired from the former Manley & Associates, which became EA Seattle). After starting small with several tech demos, the team released their first major title on the DOS, Powerslave (known as Exhumed in European countries and made with 3D Realms' Build engine). The game's strong sales set the way for ports to the Sega Saturn and Sony PlayStation with their own in-house engine entitled SlaveDriver, with their work impressing Sega to the extent they had the team port Quake and Duke Nukem 3D to the Saturn console with said engine.

In 1998, the studio was brought out by Crave Entertainment and was closed down, resulting in the cancellation of their final projects: a sequel to Powerslave and a Nintendo 64 "casino simulator" game set within Caesar's Palace.

Logo (September 26, 1996-October 31, 1997)

Visuals: On a brown worn-out wall background, there is a red grungy box. Inside, there is an abstract face of a man with googly eyes, a really large mouth, a plump nose, and crudely-drawn hair with a large cowlick. Under the picture is the text in a scribbly-like font reading:

LOBOTOMY
SOFTWARE INC.

Variants:

On Duke Nukem 3D, the logo takes place on a white background.
On Quake, the logo is carved onto a wooden porta-potty, which then emits a glowing light inside. The attract mode features a semi-inverted version on a panel along with the Sega and id Software logo.

Technique: A still, computerized graphic. The Quake variant contains panning effects.

Audio: A snickering, menacing laugh.

Audio:

On the PAL version of Powerslave (titled Exhumed), it is silent.
On Quake, crickets can be heard chirping, along with a clicking sound when the light comes on, followed by the laugh.

Availability: Seen on Powerslave (or Exhumed in Europe) and the Sega Saturn ports of Quake and Duke Nukem 3D.