Virgin Interactive

Background: Virgin Games was a prolific British game developer and publisher formed in 1981, as a part of Richard Branson's brand empire Virgin. They purchased Mastertronic in 1987 and were renamed Virgin Interactive in 1994. The company faced demise in later 90's, when U.S. assets were acquired by Electronic Arts and European assets passed to Titus Interactive. In 2002 the Spanish branch of Virgin spun off and was separated under the name Virgin Play.

1st Logo

(1991-1994)

Nickname: "Virgin Shield"

Logo: On a black background, we see a gradient red box. Inside is the corporate Virgin logo surrounded by a white circle. The word "GAMES" appears below the box.

Variants: Several early games have the circle rotating and the logo wiping inside. On 11th Hour, the 3D cube is being collected from the flying panels. Some games, like Terminator for Sega CD, use a spinning cube with the logo on each side. On the Genesis/Mega Drive version of Cool Spot, the titular character pushes the logo, then cleans his shades. On the SNES version of the game, the player can mess around with the logo, while Spot reacts to it.

FX/SFX: None for the standard version, or early computer effects for variations.

Music/Sounds: None or a group of men saying "Virrrrgiiin!" for the still version. The animated variants sometimes use a triumphant fanfare.

Availability: Appears on games released during this time period.

2nd Logo

(1991)

Nickname: "8-Bit Virgin Atlantic"

Logo: Set in the sky, with a huge cloud underneath, we see a red airplane tail with the corporate Virgin logo on it. It passes from right to left, leaving what looks like smaller clouds. When the plane leaves, the clouds (22 of them, to be exact) morph into the words "Virgin Games Presents..." and we fade out.

FX/SFX: The plane flying to the left and the clouds morphing into "Virgin Games Presents...".

Music/Sounds: The buzzing of the plane, and the opening theme to the game.

Availability: This was only used on the NES game M.C. Kids. This is not present on the PAL version, titled McDonaldland; instead, it is replaced by the words "OCEAN", as Ocean Software published it in that territory.

3rd Logo

(1992-1994)

Nickname: "Simple Virgin"

Logo: This is just the corporate Virgin logo on a black background.

Variants: On Dune for Sega CD, the background is grey, and the stacked words "Interactive Entertainment" appear below the logo. On Super Slap Shot (SNES, 1993) the logo is inside a gray circle with white background. The word "PRESENTS" appears below in rainbow colors. On 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.

FX/SFX: None unless you count the variants.

Music/Sounds: None

Availability: Seen on the Sega Mega CD version of Dune, 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.

4th Logo

(1993-1996, 1998)

Nickname: "Virgin Rectangle"

Logo: The Virgin logo is white, surrounded by a white circle and placed inside a red square. The square itself appears in the top side of the white rectangle. The words take lower side, reading "INTERACTIVE entertainment" with "INTERACTIVE" in Trajan Pro font in two lines, separated with a line.

Variants: Early variant used the Virgin Games shield. 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 zoomed into the white rectangle. There are two custom animated logos, they are listed below separately. On Demolition Man for 3DO, the logo was 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.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None. On Harvester, there is a background tune followed with metallic creaking.

Availability: Common. Seen on Harvester, The Lion King for Game Gear, Iron Assault,Overlord, Disney's Aladdin, Gamera, and Cannon Fodder. The logo with an old-style shield can be seen on Genesis games Dune: The Battle for Arrakis, The Lion King, Pinocchio,the MS-DOS version of Cool Spot,and The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate. Strangely, this makes a surprise appearance (without the shield) on Super Dany for SNES. 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 Sega Saturn version was published by Sega).

5th Logo (1995)

Nickname: "Laser Virgin"

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 (1996)name below.

FX/SFX: Burning and smoke effects.

Music/Sounds: Sounds of burning and synth noise.

Availability: Rare. Appears on Zone Raiders and Cyberia 2.

6th Logo (1995-1997) Virgin Interactive (1995)Virgin Interactive (1996)

Nickname: "Creepy Virgin Eye"

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 UK 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.

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 entertainment", with a line separating the words and a large TM symbol next to it. On a Virgin Interactive 1996 Christmas trailer, the logo's frame rate is more smoother, and there is no TM symbol on the top of "INTERACTIVE entertainment". FX/SFX: Good CGI animation.

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.

Availability: Can be seen on PlayStation, Sega Saturn and PC games published by the company such as Grid Runner, the PS1/Saturn versions ofSpot Goes to Hollywood, Toonstruck, Neo Hunter and Nanotek Warrior. Agent Armstrong and NHL PowerPlay 98 also use this logo, but use the 9th logo on the packaging. Editor's Note: The logo is very freaky, even for a video game logo. The fact it appears on some kid-friendly titles like Spot Goes to Hollywood doesn't help ether.

7th Logo (1996-1997)

Nickname: "Laser Virgin II" Virgin Interactive Entertainment (1994)

Logo: On a black background, we see a yellow-orangeish laser drawing the Virgin logo text, in yellow. We pan to the left, to see it in the right direction. When is done, it flashes to reveal the normal Virgin Interactive shield. The logo zooms in, filling the screen red, then fades out.

FX/SFX: The laser effects.

Music/Sounds: Harsh fireworks and engine sounds.

Availability: It was seen on Hyper 3-D Pinball, also known as Tilt!

8th Logo (1997-1999)

Virgin Interactive (1997)

Nickname: "Creepy Virgin Eye II", "Throbbing Virgin Eye"

Logo: Same as the 6th logo, but at the end the camera zooms out of the eye which closes and has the Virgin logo in a red oval, on the left side of a red oblong shape with "INTERactive" on it (9th logo itself). The eye throbs.

FX/SFX: Same as the 6th logo, but with the additional edits.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 6th logo, likely having louder beeps.

Music/Sounds Variants: Broken Sword 2 has the music out of sync with the animation.

Availability: Appears on games such as Disney's Hercules Action Game (The PAL version, published by SCEE has a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe disclaimer instead), Golden Nugget, Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror, and the infamously canceled-then-leaked Thrill Kill. In North America the logo is quite hard to find, as it only lasted a year before Virgin Interactive's North American operations were sold to Electronic Arts. The logo is more common in Europe as it appears on various Capcom titles from the era such as the PlayStation version of Resident Evil 2 (The Dreamcast version has the next logo below), Various Street Fighter titles, Marvel Super Heroes, Mega Man Legends, Mega Man X4, Capcom Generations and the PS1 version of Dino Crisis.

Editor's Note: The throbbing at the end makes the logo more scarier than it was.

9th Logo (1997-2001)

Nickname: "Horizontal Shield"

Logo: On a rainbow-colored background, numerous versions of a horizontal shield rotate around the central point. They merge into one shield, which turns into a 3D version of the Virgin Interactive logo seen in the previous logo. The logo glows.Virgin Interactive (2000)

Variants: On Ignition, the car wheel creates the logo. Then the car crashes off-screen, and the shield jumps. A more common still version is also used, with a 2D logo (sometimes in 3D) and sometimes with copyright info below.

FX/SFX: The shield copies move, the shield shines. None for the still version except for the fading.

Music/Sounds: A tune with whooshing element or a different sounding one.

Availability: The print version was first used in 1997 on some games. 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 version of Dino Crisis and Resident Evil 2. The last game to feature this logo was Lotus Challenge on the PS2, released only in Europe.

9th Logo (2001-2002)

Nickname: "Horizontal Shield II"

Logo: The same animation from the previous logo plays, then before it finishes a 2D Virgin Interactive on a black background appears.Virgin Interactive (2001)

FX/SFX: Same as the previous logo, with the fade into the logo.

Music/Sounds: The second tune used in the last logo.

Availability: Was only used in Europe. First used on Heist for PC, and later appeared on the PAL version of Bloody War 3 for the PlayStation 2 and Jimmy White's Cueball World for the PC.