Mindscape: Difference between revisions

Content added Content deleted

Inline

Latest revision as of 14:00, 5 April 2024

Background

Mindscape Inc. was a game developer founded in 1983, which was bought by The Software Toolworks in 1990 and then relocated to California. In April 1994, Pearson purchased both companies under the name of Mindscape, and some other companies as their divisions, including Strategic Simulations, Inc. Bigger changes for Mindscape came in the late 1990s, when it was bought by The Learning Company in 1998. A year after, both were sold to Mattel and absorbed into Mattel Interactive. The Mindscape name would come back in 2001 as a French company, formed by former TLC-Edusoft executive Jean-Pierre Nordman after he acquired the brand and some other former TLC divisions from Gores.

1st Logo (September 1985-1994)

Visuals: There is a rectangular plate with three identical parts, each having a curve cut in the form of a hand-drawn letter "m". "M I N D S C A P E" is shown below. The later editions have the plate golden and relief.

Variants:

The in-credit logo can be seen on the title screen.
On Out to Lunch for SNES, the logo has a waving animation.
The last game, NCAA Football for SNES, uses a slightly altered version of the logo, where the lines are golden and their framing is gone.
The black and white logo is seen on early games.

Technique: Sprite-based animation.

Audio: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Appeared on Gods, Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o'Fun, Pierre le Chef Is... Out to Lunch and NCAA Football, among others.

2nd Logo (1994-2000)

Visuals: On a purple gradient background with stars, a 3D relief plate rotates as the camera zooms in. It has two "hills" on a surface, resembling the stylized letter "M". Then, it absorbs the stars from the background and sets rays down, where they create "M I N D S C A P E". Blue lines appear over the plate, and it also has a shadow.

Variant: There is a still version.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A majestic trumpet fanfare and seven synth notes with two drum notes and finally two horn notes go with it. A gong is heard along with a violin chord during the fanfare.

Audio Trivia: The logo jingle was originally used as the title theme for Chessmaster 5000.

Audio Variant: On The Chessmaster 3-D for the PlayStation, after the fanfare finished, a male burp sound plays.

Availability: The still version can be seen on Alien Olympics, Chessmaster 5000, and Pac-in-Time. Later games, such as Lego Island, have the animated variant.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-''Logo descriptions and captures by EnormousRat''
+{{PageCredits|compiled=EnormousRat}}
+===Background===
-Background: Mindscape Inc. was a game developer founded in 1983, which was bought by Software Toolworks in 1990 and then relocated to California. In April 1994, Pearson purchased both companies under the name of Mindscape, and some other companies as their divisions, including Strategic Simulations, Inc. The changes for Mindscape came in the late 1990s, when it was bought by The Learning Company in 1998. A year after, both were sold to Mattel, and then to Gores Group. In 2001, French businessman Jean-Pierre Nordman retrieved the non-American assets of TLC, along with Mindscape from Gores, and incorporated it with former divisions of TLC and Broderbund as Mindscape SA. The new company focused mainly on family and educational titles, and its newer acquisitions included Montparnasse Multimedia (2002) and Coktel Vision (2005). In 2011, the studio was closed down.
+'''Mindscape Inc.''' was a game developer founded in 1983, which was bought by [[The Software Toolworks]] in 1990 and then relocated to California. In April 1994, Pearson purchased both companies under the name of Mindscape, and some other companies as their divisions, including [[SSI|Strategic Simulations, Inc.]] Bigger changes for Mindscape came in the late 1990s, when it was bought by [[The Learning Company]] in 1998. A year after, both were sold to [[Mattel]] and absorbed into [[Mattel Interactive]]. The Mindscape name would come back in 2001 as [[Mindscape (France)|a French company]], formed by former TLC-Edusoft executive Jean-Pierre Nordman after he acquired the brand and some other former TLC divisions from Gores.
-st Logo
+===1st Logo (September 1985-1994)===
+<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
+Mindscape (1980s).png
+Mindscape (1991).jpeg
+Mindscape (1994).png
+Mindscape (1990s) (Taken from Pierre le Chef Is... Out to Lunch, GB).png
+Mindscape (1992) (Taken from Gods, SNES).png
+Imagitec Design + Mindscape (1989) (Taken from Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o'Fun, C64).png
+Imagitec Design + Mindscape (1989) (Taken from Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o'Fun, CPC).png
+Imagitec Design + Mindscape (1989) (Taken from Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o'Fun, ZX).png
+</gallery>
+'''Visuals:''' There is a rectangular plate with three identical parts, each having a curve cut in the form of a hand-drawn letter "m". "'''M I N D S C A P E'''" is shown below. The later editions have the plate {{color|gold|golden}} and relief.
-(September 1985-1994)
+'''Variants:'''
-<br />Logo: We see the rectangular plate with three identical parts, each having curve cut in the form of hand-drawn letter "m". The later editions have the plate golden and relief.<br />Variants: <br />
+*The in-credit logo can be seen on the title screen.
+* On <u>''Out to Lunch'' for SNES</u>, the logo has a waving animation.
+*The last game, <u>''NCAA Football'' for SNES</u>, uses a slightly altered version of the logo, where the lines are golden and their framing is gone.
+*The black and white logo is seen on early games.
-* On ''Out to Lunch'' for SNES, the logo has waving animation.
+'''Technique:''' Sprite-based animation.
-* The last game, ''NCAA Football'' for SNES, used the slightly altered version of the logo, where the lines became golden and their framing was gone.
-* The black and white logo was seen on early games.<br />FX/SFX: Late 80s CGI, if any exists.<br />Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the game.<br />Availability: Common.<br />Editor's Note: TBA.<br />2nd Logo
+'''Audio:''' None or the opening theme of the game.
-(1994-2000)
+'''Availability:''' Appeared on ''Gods'', ''Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o'Fun'', ''Pierre le Chef Is... Out to Lunch'' and ''NCAA Football'', among others.
-Logo: On a purple gradient background with stars, a 3D relief plate rotates. It has two "hills" on a surface. Then, it absorbs the stars from background and sets rays down, where they create "MINDSCAPE". We can then see blue lines over the plate, and it also has a shadow.<br />Variant: There is a still version.<br />FX/SFX: The relief plate rotating, the company name appearing. Not bad for 1994!<br />Music/Sounds: A majestic trumpet fanfare and seven synth notes with two drum notes and finally two horn notes goes with it. A gong is heard along with a violin chord during the fanfare.<br />Availability: Uncommon. The still version can be seen on ''Alien Olympics'', ''Chessmaster 5000'', and ''Pac-in-Time.'' Later games have the animated variant, such as ''Lego Island''.<br />Editor's Note: TBA.<br />3rd Logo
+===2nd Logo (1994-2000)===
-(2001-2011)
+[[File:Mindscape (1997).png|center|350px]]
+{{YouTube|id=ddoLigMms24}}
+'''Visuals:''' On a {{color|darkviolet|purple}} gradient background with stars, a 3D relief plate rotates as the camera zooms in. It has two "hills" on a surface, resembling the stylized letter "M". Then, it absorbs the stars from the background and sets rays down, where they create "'''M I N D S C A P E'''". {{color|Blue}} lines appear over the plate, and it also has a shadow.
-Logo: There are four white curves making it on the screen and folding into an outline of big red arc which has white letter "M" on it, and other letters are red outside to the right, together making the word Mindscape.<br />FX/SFX: The logo forming from white curves. Some games have it still.<br />Music/Sounds: None.<br />Availability: Uncommon, as many of the games are not widely known. It appears on the ''ER'' game (based on the NBC series), some DS titles, and the trailer for ''The Ship''.<br />Editor's Note: TBA.<br />4th Logo
+'''Variant:''' There is a <u>still version</u>.
-(2011)
+'''Technique:''' CGI.
-Logo: There is a redesigned version of the previous logo. The red arc is now to the left and the word ''MINDSCAPE'' is in a different font. The whole logo shines.<br />FX/SFX: None.<br />Music/Sounds: None.<br />Availability: Seen on the company's last Wii titles.<br />Editor's Note: TBA.<br />
+'''Audio:''' A majestic trumpet fanfare and seven synth notes with two drum notes and finally two horn notes go with it. A gong is heard along with a violin chord during the fanfare.
+'''Audio Trivia:''' The logo jingle was originally used as the title theme for ''Chessmaster 5000''.
+'''Audio Variant:''' On <u>''The Chessmaster 3-D''</u> for the PlayStation, after the fanfare finished, a male burp sound plays.
+'''Availability:''' The still version can be seen on ''Alien Olympics'', ''Chessmaster 5000'', and ''Pac-in-Time''. Later games, such as ''Lego Island'', have the animated variant.
+[[Category:American video game logos]]
+[[Category:United States]]
+[[Category:Video game logos]]
+[[Category:Mindscape]]
+[[Category:Logos with computer and console music]]