Virgin Games was a British game developer and publisher formed in 1981, as part of Richard Branson's brand empire Virgin. They purchased Mastertronic in 1987 and were renamed Virgin Interactive in 1994. The company faced major demise around the millenium, when its American assets were acquired by Electronic Arts and its European assets were passed to Titus Software, who renamed it to "Avalon Interactive". In 2002, the Spanish branch of Virgin spun off and was separated under the name Virgin PLAY.
Logo: We see a red triangle with the Virgin logo inside, and below is a yellow parallelogram with a Pac-Man like shape that forms the big "G" and next to it was the text "ames" and below there is a line with a black circle inside.
Variants:
Sometimes, the logo is shown in-credit.
Sometimes, only the Virgin triangle and the circle is used.
Technique: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Rare. Seen on the ZX Spectrum game of Angler and Ghost Town, as well as the Amstrad CPC, MSX and ZX Spectrum games of World Trophy Soccer and the Amstrad CPC game of How to Be a Complete Bastard.
2nd Logo (1983-December 1995)
Logo: This is just the corporate Virgin logo on a black background.
Variants:
An earlier version exists where the logo is shown on the game's title screen.
Sometimes, "GAMES" is shown on the bottom right of the logo.
On Super Slap Shot for the SNES, the logo is inside a gray circle with a white background. The word "PRESENTS" appears below in rainbow colors.
On The 11th Hour, the 3D-looking logo lies on a timeboard. The URL appears below.
On the Amiga version of Cool Spot, Spot can be seen walking below the logo.
On the intro of the NES game of M.C. Kids, the logo is shown over a plane.
Technique: None unless you count the variants.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: First seen on the Commodore 64 game of Bitmania, and later seen on the BBC Micro game of Microbe, the Oric game of Them: A Paranoid Fantasy, the Commodore 64 game of Gates of Dawn, the Amstrad CPC game of Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, the Commodore 64 game of Erebu, the Amstrad CPC game of Action Force, the Commodore 64 game of Rebel, the ZX Spectrum game of Trans-Atlantic Balloon Challenge, Jimmy White's 'Whirlwind' Snooker, Super Slap Shot, 11th Hour, the PC version of Krusty's Fun House, Alien 3, the Amiga version of Cool Spot and Lost Vikings for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive.
3rd Logo (1990-1999)
Logo: The Virgin logo is white, surrounded by a white circle and placed inside a red square. The words take lower side, reading "GAMES" in a Helvetica-like font, shown below the logo.
Later Variant: With the company name change in 1993, the logo is now over a white rectangle, and the bottom text instead says "INTERACTIVE entertainment" with "INTERACTIVE" in Trajan Pro in two lines, separated with another line.
Variants:
The shieldless version (2nd photo) was used on several games. It was seen on The Lion King for Game Gear (in a very simple quality, of course) and later, appeared with 3D effect.
There is an animated logo on Harvester. The red square zooms into the white rectangle.
There are two custom animated logos, they are listed below separately.
On Demolition Man for 3DO, the logo is seen as a glass outline, lighted with a splash.
This logo appears in the intros for Grand Slam and Spot Goes to Hollywood, but both games use the 6th logo on-screen.
There's another rare animated variant where we see the Virgin logo in white zoom into the screen, then the finished Virgin Interactive logo flashes on a white background. This was seen on a VHS promo reel from the company.
Technique: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Music/Sounds Variants:
On Harvester, there is a background tune followed with metallic creaking.
On the promo reel variant, we hear Brian Cummings saying, "From Virgin Interactive Entertainment, coming this November. New for CD-ROM!" In the background there's a quiet boom as the logo flashes, then a dreamy synth note.
Availability: Common.
The earlier version was seen on Ivan "Ironman Stewart's Super Off Road for the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Master System, Game Gear and ZX Spectrum, as well as the NES game of Overlord, the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum games of Golden Axe, the Commodore 64 game of Rolling Ronny, the Game Gear game of Double Dragon, Viz: The Game, the Amiga game of Lure of the Temptress, and the floppy versions of Dune and KGB among others.
Seen on Harvester, The Lion King for Game Gear, Iron Assault,Overlord, Disney's Aladdin, Gamera, and Cannon Fodder.
This logo also appears on earlier Capcom titles on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in Europe such as Street Fighter Alpha, Street Fighter Alpha 2, Mega Man X3, Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo and Resident Evil (PlayStation and PC (in North America as well) only, the Saturn version was published by Sega).
4th Logo (1991)
Logo: On a black background, we see a red box zooming out, then a black square flips in, and then it rotates to reveal a white circle. The corporate Virgin logo wipes in, and the text "GAMES" flashes in letter by letter.
Technique: 2D sprite animation.
Music/Sounds: Sounds of flashing and zaps.
Availability: Rare. Seen on the Atari ST games of Spot and Rolling Ronny, as well as CDTV games.
Logo: On a black background, we see a gradient red box. Inside it is the corporate Virgin logo surrounded by a white circle. The word "GAMES" appears below the box.
Later Variant: Following the company name change, the same text from the 3rd logo was shown below the box.
Variants:
On some games, like Vengeance of Excalibur, the logo is on a box over a blue gradient background.
On the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive version of Cool Spot, the titular character pushes the logo, then cleans his shades.
On Super Dany, the shield is redrawn.
Technique: None.
Music/Sounds: None. On Mick & Mack in the Global Gladiators for the Genesis, we hear a group of men saying "Virrrrgiiin!".
Availability: Appears on games released during this time period, such as the Genesis version of Cool Spot as well as Dune II, and many SNES games. The later version can be seen on the Genesis versions of Dune II: The Battle for Arrakis, The Lion King and Pinocchio, the MS-DOS version of Cool Spot, and The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate.
6th Logo (1993)
Logo: On a space background, the Virgin Games shield flies over and rotates to the center. Then the logo smashes to reveal the Virgin logo over a CD.
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: An ascending synth theme.
Availability: Seen only on the CD versions of Conspiracy and Dune.
7th Logo (1993)
Logo: On a grey background, the 3D red Virgin logo flips in, and then the text "Interactive Entertainment" appears below.
Technique: Early CGI.
Music/Sounds: A synth drone, followed by a whoosh.
Availability: Seen only on the Sega CD game of Dune.
8th Logo (1993)
Logo: On a black background, w e see four red corners flies in, and then the Virgin logo flies in, and the text "GAMES" flies over the logo, and the camera rotates.
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: A whoosh sound.
Availability: Seen on the PC game of The 7th Guest.
9th Logo (1993-1995)
Logo: On a black background, we see the Virgin Games logos from the last logo spinning in as a rotating cube, similar to the 2nd RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video logo.
Variants:
On the 1994 WCES prototype of The Jungle Book, the logo appears underwater.
A still version exists.
On some later games, like the SNES and Genesis game of The Lion King, as well as Pinocchio, the text was altered, so the same text from the previous logo was shown.
On the SNES version of Cool Spot, the player can mess around with the logo over a blue gradient background, while Spot reacts to it.
An enhanced version of the logo appears on the Sega CD game of The Terminator.
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: None. The enhanced version has a triumphant fanfare.
Availability: The normal version was seen on the SNES prototype of Mick & Mack and the Global Gladiators. The still version appears on many SNES and Game Gear games.
10th Logo (1994-1995)
Logo: On a blue gradient background, a marble version of the red Virgin logo zooms out. Then the text below slides from under the logo.
Variant: A still version exists.
Technique: 2D sprite animation.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen on several SNES games from the period, like Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story and Super Danny.
11th Logo (January 1, 1995-1996)
Logo: On a red background, several burning dots appear and create the Virgin logo. Another dot runs over the circle. The logo zooms in and returns with the full Virgin Interactive name.
Variant: There's an alternate variant where the logo doesn't zoom in, instead fading out as the finished Virgin Interactive logo fades in.
Technique: 2D animation.
Music/Sounds: Sounds of burning and synth noise.
Availability: Rare. Appears on Zone Raiders and Cyberia 2. Also seen on Virgin sampler discs of the time, as well as video promo reels as late as 1996.
12th Logo (November 2, 1995-February 9, 2000)
Logo: We cut to a closed eye. The eyelid opens and we zoom in on the eye, with "PICTURE START" flashing dead center, and a whole bunch of technological stuff (including what looks like the logo of Channel Five flashing in the bottom left) flashing quickly as the eye moves all around and dilates. At the end, the red Virgin logo zooms in on a red ball, with a chyroned "INTERACTIVE" in the bottom right corner as a fireball moves up the eye.
Later Variant: In 1997, the logo was altered for the second half: the animation reverses as it zooms out of the eye, which closes and has the Virgin logo in a red oval, which is on the left side of a red oblong shape with "INTERactive" on it. The eye also throbs.
Variants:
On Neo Hunter, only the end of the logo is shown, and is slowed down to keep in sync with the music.
On Toonstruck, the name which appears below reads "INTERACTIVE entertainmentTM", with a line separating the words.
On a Virgin Interactive 1996 Christmas trailer, the logo's frame rate is smoother, and there is no TM symbol on the top of "INTERACTIVE entertainment".
Technique: CGI animation designed by R/Greenberg Associates and Imaginary Forces.
Music/Sounds: A loud rock riff with a heart monitor that gets higher and faster, and various PA system announcements over it. A faint heartbeat at the end.
Music/Sounds Variant:Broken Sword 2 has the music out of sync with the animation.
Availability: More common in Europe than in North America.
The 1995 version can be seen on PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PC games published by the company such as Grid Runner, the PS1/Saturn versions of Spot Goes to Hollywood, Toonstruck, Neo Hunter and Nanotek Warrior. Agent Armstrong and NHL PowerPlay 98 also use this logo, but use the 8th logo on the packaging.
The 1997 version appears on games such as Disney's Hercules Action Game (the PAL version, published by SCE Europe, has an SCEE disclaimer instead), Golden Nugget, Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror, and the infamously cancelled-then-leaked Thrill Kill.
In North America, this logo is somewhat harder to find, as it only lasted a few years before Virgin Interactive's North American operations were sold to Electronic Arts.
The logo is more common in Europe, as it also appears on various Capcom titles from the era, such as the PlayStation version of Resident Evil 2 (the Dreamcast version has the 8th logo), various Street Fighter titles, Marvel Super Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, Rival Schools: United by Fate, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man X4, Capcom Generations and the PS1 version of Dino Crisis.
13th Logo (1996)
Logo: On a black background, we see a gold-orangeish laser drawing the Virgin logo text in gold. We pan to the left to see it in the right direction. When it's done, it flashes to reveal the normal Virgin Interactive shield. The logo zooms in filling the screen with red, then fades out.
Technique: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: Harsh fireworks and engine sounds.
Availability: It was seen on Hyper 3-D Pinball, also known as Tilt!
14th Logo (1997-March 1, 2002)
Logo: On a rainbow-colored background, numerous versions of a horizontal shield rotate around a central point. They merge into one shield, which turns into a 3D version of the 1997 Virgin Interactive logo on a white background. The logo glows.
Variants:
On Ignition, a car wheel creates the logo. Then the car crashes off-screen, and the shield jumps.
A more common still version was also used, with a 2D logo (sometimes in 3D) and sometimes with copyright info below.
On later games, the logo finishes on a black background in 2D.
Technique: 2D computer animation.
Music/Sounds: A tune with whooshing elements or a different sounding one.
Availability: Uncommon.
The print version was first used in 1997 on some games. One example is the North America/European release of Resident Evil on PC.
The animated version is found only on European games (with the exception of Codename: Outbreak, Screamer 4x4 and Original War, which were released in the US as well) such as Marvel vs Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes on the PS1 and Dreamcast, and the Dreamcast versions of Dino Crisis and Resident Evil 2.
The last game to feature the 1997 variant was Lotus Challenge on the PS2, released only in Europe.
The black background variant was first used on Heist for PC, and later appeared on the PAL version of Bloody Roar 3 for the PlayStation 2, Nightstone, and Jimmy White's Cueball World, both for the PC.
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