Paramount Digital Entertainment

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

Background

Paramount Digital Entertainment, Inc. (formerly known as Paramount Interactive) was a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures that developed and distributed movies and video games digitally via various platforms including online, mobile, virtual reality and portable devices. The company was founded on April 25, 1993.



1st Logo (placeholder logo) (January 7, 1991)

Visuals: A simplified 8-bit version of the bylineless 1986 movie logo with a copyright banner below.

Technique: A still image.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on The Hunt for Red October (NES).

2nd Logo (Still variants) (September 8, 1992-)

Visuals: Over a white background is the post-1968 Paramount print logo with a byline below, previously colored in blue.

Bylines:

  • September 8, 1992: "A Gulf+Western Company".
  • September 7, 1993-January 16, 1995: "A Paramount Communications Company".
  • February 20, 1995-March 28, 2010: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (in the 1990 "Wigga-Wigga" font).
  • May 10, 2010-November 11, 2019: "A VIACOM COMPANY" (in the 2006 font).
  • January 13, 2020-February 14, 2022: "A VIACOMCBS COMPANY".
  • March 28, 2022-: Bylineless.

Variants:

  • On the Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum versions of The Addams Family, the logo is in white with the Gulf+Western byline in gold and the registered trademark symbol "®", along with the Ocean Software logo above the Paramount logo.
  • On some games, the logo is on a black background.
  • On Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - The Fallen, the logo has a silver gradient and a space background.
  • On the DS version of Transformers: The Game, the logo is on a red (Autobots) or purple (Decepticons) background with a robotic frame around it. The logo also glows.
  • Since 2010, the entire logo and byline are colored in black.
  • A glowing blue version exists, which is seen on Indian in the Cupboard, with the moon in the background. The circle is also arranged right to fit the moon.
  • On Bébé's Kids for the Super NES, the logo (without byline) appears in a white box on a black background with the copyright info "LICENSED TO MANDINGO ENTERTAINMENT INC." on top and on bottom.
  • From 2011-2012 only, the 100th Anniversary Paramount print logo was used. In 2013, the 2010 logo was reinstated.

Technique: Either a still image or fading effects.

Audio: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: This is a banner used on Paramount-owned licensees, including Mission: Impossible for PlayStation, Top Gun: Fire Storm for Game Boy Color, Top Gun: Combat Zones for Game Boy Advance, and The Spiderwick Chronicles for Nintendo DS, among others.

  • Most of the Transformers titles also have it.
  • First seen on The Addams Family for Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum.

3rd Logo (April 25, 1993-November 8, 1994)

Visuals: A blue-colored print version of the 1968-present bylineless Paramount print logo is accompanied with "Paramount Interactive" below, written in the famous Paramount script font.

Technique: A still image.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on Lenny's Music Toons and the two Medior games, Rock, Rap 'N Roll and Movie Select.

4th Logo (May 10, 1993-October 16, 2006)

Visuals: It's basically the 1995 Viacom variant of the 1986-2003 Paramount Pictures logo, without an interactive mark whatsoever. The framerate is also lower than the original logo.

Variants:

  • On the PC version of Wayne's World, the logo is still and bylineless, then "Paramount" turns into "and" (in the same font as the Paramount script) as the stars disappear.
  • On Top Gun: Fire At Will and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Harbinger, the logo cuts in halfway through the animation, and the Viacom byline fades in together with the Paramount script logo. Once formed, the logo zooms out rapidly to reveal that it takes place inside the "O" in the Viacom Consumer Products logo.
  • A still artwork version of this logo also exists, which can be found on Nacho Libre, which is based off the corporate art versions of the logo.
  • On Star Trek: Starfleet Academy: a set of two lasers bring in the finished logo on a space background during the opening cutscene.
  • On Star Trek Pinball, a still shot of the logo is placed on a black background with copyright information below.
  • On The Godfather: The Game, the logo's framerate is higher than usual.

Technique: Same as the Paramount Pictures logo of the era.

Audio: None.

Audio Variants:

  • On Star Wars: Deep Space Nine - Dominion Wars, Star Trek: Bridge Commander and Star Trek: Elite Force II, a dramatic fanfare (different from the one occasionally heard on the movie logo) is heard.
  • On Star Trek: New Worlds, another custom fanfare is heard.
  • On Star Trek: Klingon Academy, the opening theme of the game plays over this logo and the following Interplay and 14 Degrees East logos.

Availability: Seen on Wayne's World, Top Gun: Fire At Will, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Dominion Wars, perhaps among others. Intriguingly, this logo is also preserved on Nacho Libre and The Godfather: The Game, despite both being from 2006 and after the next logo's debut.

5th Logo (September 30, 2002-December 26, 2011)

Visuals: It's basically the 2002 Paramount Pictures logo without an interactive mark whatsoever.

Variants:

  • An accurate copy of the 90th Anniversary logo (still) exists, which is seen on The Sum of All Fears. The GBA port uses the print version instead.
  • On some games, the logo is still.

Technique: Same as the 2002 Paramount logo.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on The Italian Job and The Sum of All Fears, among other games.

  • This logo is absent from games based on Nickelodeon films, despite their box art, though it does show up on the PC version of A Series of Unfortunate Events.
  • It is also seen on the found build of the cancelled DS adaptation of Mean Girls.

6th Logo (The Warriors variant) (October 17, 2005)

Visuals: Same as the 1975-1986 Paramount Pictures logo, but the byline "A VIACOM COMPANY", in the "Wigga-Wigga" font, fades-in instead at the same time "Paramount" fades-in.

Technique: Same as the 1975-1986 logo.

Audio: None.

Availability: Only seen on the game The Warriors.

7th Logo (The Godfather II variant) (April 7, 2009)

Visuals: On a white background is the bloody Paramount logo which is moving to the left.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: The opening theme of the game.

Availability: Only seen on the game The Godfather II.

8th Logo (April 14, 2009-July 8, 2014)

Visuals: The sequence starts in a tunnel made of blue 0's and 1's (representing binary codes). The logo zooms forward and the circling stars are already there. Many other small digits fall from the top and form a white field over the mountain, which is the print logo of Paramount Pictures. The name is quickly wiped below the mountain. It has "Paramount" in the regular font and also "DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT" under it. The logo then rushes towards the screen and ends in a splash of light.

Variants:

  • A still artwork version can be seen on various (mainly casual) games for PC like Star Trek D-A-C, Clueless, and Pretty in Pink.
  • On some games, the logo is shortened to the second half.

Technique: Full CGI animation, created by Los Angeles-based VFX studio The Illusion Factory.

Audio: Mainly whooshing sounds and time-counting squeaks. None for the still variant.

Availability: The still version is seen on various (mainly casual) games for PC like Star Trek D-A-C, Clueless, and Pretty in Pink. The animated version is seen on Rango and some other games for the Wii, along with some iPhone games and some direct-to-DVD movies such as Jackass 3.5.

9th Logo (July 15, 2014-August 8, 2019)

Visuals: On a black background, a splash of static wipes in, with traces of color bars. This then quickly zooms out to reveal the new logo. A cut-out circle is seen with the static in it. 3 black bars are seen above a version of the Paramount logo, but this time more angular and the 5 cut-out sections now looking like lightning bolts. The bars also contain "PARAMOUNT DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT" (in a font also used for many other Paramount properties), all stacked on the bars. The Viacom byline is seen below as the logo slowly zooms in and flickers.

Technique: Zooming effects, done by yU+co.

Audio: The closing theme of the show.

Availability: Seen on digitally streamed series, like Bajillion Dollar Propertie$.

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