Vivendi Games

Background

The history of Vivendi Games started in 2000, when French media giant Vivendi SA bought Universal Interactive and renamed it "Vivendi Universal Games" (VUG). Thus Vivendi started publishing video games, though most of them were presented under the name of subsidiary Sierra Entertainment, which was taken over a few years earlier through a long chain of acquisitions. In 2006, the word "Universal" in the name was abandoned and further games were published under the Sierra Entertainment name. In 2008, Vivendi Games merged with Activision and formed "Activision Blizzard". All games are now published under the name of Activision.

1st Logo (2001-2002)

Logo: On a white background, we see the words "VIVENDI" and "UNIVERSAL" in their corporate font stacked together, and the red words "INTERACTIVE PUBLISHING" in bold font below.

FX/SFX: None.

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

Availability: Appears on earlier PC and Game Boy Color titles. This was used mainly for kid-friendly/educational games while the company used their other publishing brands for core titles.

Appears on a small number of Barbie titles: Barbie Beach Vacation and Secret Agent Barbie are such examples. Most Barbie licensed titles from this period solely use Barbie Software vanity cards.
Also appears on several Kelly Club titles Clubhouse Fun (GBC) and

2nd Logo (2002-2006)

Logo: Same to the last logo, but instead of "INTERACTIVE PUBLISHING" below, a purple bar is below with the word "games".

Variants:

On some titles, the bar may take the entirety of the bottom of the logo.
On the GBA and NDS versions of Robots, the still logo is superimposed over the game's intro.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: Same as the last logo.

Availability: Common. Appears on handheld titles on the GBA and DS, as well as PC titles. Also appears on some console titles.

Once again, Barbie and Kelly Club PC and GBA titles will have this logo alongside the Barbie Software, such examples include Barbie Sparkling ice Snow (PC), Barbie as Rapunzel: A Creative Adventure! (PC), Barbie Horse Adventures: Mystery Ride (PC),
Also appears on Kelly Club: Pet Parade.

1st Logo (2001-2005)

Logo: On a white background, we see the words "VIVENDI" and "UNIVERSAL" in their corporate font stacked together, with a purple bar below them. The logo is overlapped by shadows running horizontally and painting the words in red and blue. Before the animation is finished, the word "games" is wiped into the purple bar by a shadow.

Variants:

Another rare variant has just "VIVENDI UNIVERSAL" on a black background.

FX/SFX: Computer effects.

Music/Sounds: Many repeating Tangerine Dream-like scurry sounds.

Music/Sound Variants: On the non-American demo version of Spyro: A Hero's Tail packaged in the PS2 Magazine Demo Discs, different synth music is played with more chimes added to the jingle.

Availability: The animated version is uncommon, while the still version is more common.

The animated version appears on the North American release of Futurama (PS2/Xbox)
Appears on several console games, including Fight Club, The Simpsons: Hit & Run for Xbox, PS2, GCN and PC, Spyro: A Hero's Tail for PS2 and GCN (the Xbox and international versions have the Sierra logo instead of this logo), and Crash Twinsanity for PS2 and Xbox, and Robots for PS2, Xbox, GCN, and PC.
Appears on several GBA and DS titles, such as the Spyro Superpack (a re-release of two previous Spyro games) for the GBA, and Robots for GBA and NDS.
The still version can be seen on some Barbie games, My Scene Goes Hollywood CD-ROM and American Idol: The Search For a Super Star.
This logo did not appear on Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, even though it was seen on the cover.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (2003-2007)

Logo: "VIVENDI" and "UNIVERSAL" from before fly into the screen (overlapping each other) and take their places, while the purple bar appears below and the letters of "games" zoom to it. The result looks exactly like the first logo.

Variants:

Some Game Boy Advance releases have this logo in a box rectangle with two edges rounded.
A still version also exists.

FX/SFX: The words flying in.

Music/Sounds: There are three different sound clips used for this logo:

The most common version is a background air synth followed by whooshing-like sounds of the letters flying.
The other one is a weird dubstep-like sounder.
The other one is the same remixed version of the last logo's track.

Availability: Appears on most games, sometimes with Sierra's logo as well.

Track 1: Found on SWAT: Global Strike Team, Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, Fight Club, Van Helsing, Men of Valor, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, Adiboo and the Energy Thieves, Red Ninja: End of Honor, 50 Cent: Bulletproof, Lawnmower Racing Mania 2007, Bass Pro Shops Trophy Bass 2007 and Bass Pro Shops Trophy Hunter 2007.
- Appears with the Sierra logo on Evil Genius (PC), Empire Earth II (PC), Contract J.A.C.K. (PC), Homeworld 2 (PC), The European version of Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death (PS2/GCN/Xbox/PC), Metal Arms: Glitch in the System (PS2/GCN/Xbox), The Hobbit (PS2/GCN/Xbox/PC), and Ground Control II: Mission Exodus (PC).
Track 2: Appears on Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (with the Sierra logo)
Track 3: Appears on the PC version of Robots.
Still version: Appears on the demo of Freedom Force vs. the 3rd Reich (retail release solely has the Sierra logo), Hulk, Crash Nitro Kart, Battlestar Galactica, Tribes: Vengeance, among others.

Editor's Note: None.