Philips Media

Logo descriptions and captures by mr3urious and EnormousRat

Background: Philips Interactive Media was a division of the titular Dutch conglomerate that created the CD-i, an interactive multimedia CD player that could play games and movies. The system came out of Philips wanting to get into the gaming market, and attempting (and failing) to produce a CD-based add-on for the Super Nintendo. (Sony also attempted this prior to Philips, but the deals fell through, which led to the creation of the PlayStation.) Despite heavy marketing, the system did not do well, largely thanks to a mediocre game library as well as poorly made controllers. It is also particularly infamous nowadays for four games based off of the Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda series of games, notorious for their poor quality and being heavily featured in YouTube Poops. 136 games were released for the system (in contrast to 1,850 games on the PS1), and 570,000 units were sold worldwide (in contrast to over 100,000,000 units of PS1s sold worldwide). Philips Interactive Media was sold to Infogrames in 1996, and in 1998 the CD-i was discontinued.

1st Logo (1991-1995)

Nicknames: "The Phillips Shield", "Cheesy Philips Shield", "The Logo Seen Before Hotel Mario", "The Logo Seen Before The CD-I Zelda Games"

Logo: Against a black background, we see a dark blue Philips logo, which consists of a shield with "PHILIPS", in white, at the top, with a dark blue circle containing wavy lines and some stars at the bottom. The circle transforms into a CD and flips around as the shield morphs into a bright blue rectangle, with "PHILIPS" left intact. The CD inserts itself into the rectangle, forming a white line. The words "INTERACTIVE" and "MEDIA" appear above and below the line, respectively. The logo then goes "3D" at the end.

Variants: A still version exists, with "DISTRIBUTED BY" over the logo. You can find this on Mad Dog McCree. Sometimes on the still version, "INTERACTIVE" is dropped from the logo. "PHILIPS" drops down near the line, and the rectangle is skinny. On some Philips Funhouse games, more effects can be shown. For example, the closing version in Labyrinth of Crete grows eyes inside P's and licks itself.

FX/SFX: The transformation effects.

Music/Sounds: It starts out with a deep bass chord, which culminates in a synth fanfare.

Availability: Extremely rare. Appears at the beginning of various infamous games for the Philips CD-i console. The full logo (with music) was even shown on an episode of G4's Icons chronicling The Legend of Zelda. It is also shown on the earliest games published for DOS, like International Tennis Open.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1995-1998)

Nicknames: "The Philips Shield II", "The Waves", "The Not-So-Cheesy Philips Shield"

Logo: On a black background, the Philips shield is seen all in dark blue, including the text. The shield zooms in as the stars and circle inside it zoom away first and the waves move at different paces. The word "PHILIPS" in a thin font colored dark blue, rises up from the waves and they shrink to reveal "MEDIA" in the same color and font. The waves thin out to form a line and shrink which it then fades to red and the logo flashes, changing the color to white with an blue outline. The line gains a phaser-like light that shifts from left to right and disappears when the last note is played.

Variant: A still version exists.

FX/SFX: The shield zooming in, the waves, the light on the bar.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized fanfare with an electric keyboard section.

Availability: Rare. Can be seen on games from 1995 to 1998, like the PC CD of Lamb Chop Loves Music and the DOS version of Asterix: Caesar's Challenge. The still version can be seen on the CD-i port of Myst.

Editor's Note: A major step-up from the previous logo, with a fantastic fanfare and good animation (one that is often sadly presented in compressed, skippy video, due to the limitations of the time, though it was occasionally shown in better quality).