NVIDIA

Background
nVIDIA is a video processing company that produces graphic processor units (GPU), "system on a chip" units (SoC) and video game capabilities.

1st Logo (August 27, 2002)


Logo: A flash occurs, and two lights swirl around as a square unfolds to cover a wireframe construction, then the lights come to the rectangle to form the logo, which is a black/ spiral eye. The background turns white and the text "serif" appears rotating. Then the background turns into a ripple and the logo zooms out. An outer circle appears with the white text "The way it's" on the top and "meant to be playedTM" on the bottom. The corporate eye and the text stay inside the circle, as the background turns white again.

Technique: 3D animation.

Music/Sounds: An explosion, then a morphing synth note with whoosh-like sounds, then another explosion.

Availability: Seen on Icewind Dale 2. It is unknown if it appears on other games.

2nd Logo (2002-2007)
Logo: In a flash of light, a black shield and a white circle zoom in, with stripes of various symbols heading from the center, like light rays. The circles fold into each other, then the logo shines. A stylized eye is depicted inside with "serif" seen below, while the slogan is seen on an outer circle, with "The way it's" at the top and "meant to be playedTM" at the bottom.

Variants:
 * An alternate version of the logo exists. Here, the symbol stripes are heading in a reverse direction, the circle is replaced with a blurry rectangle, from which the nVIDIA icon is formed, and "serif" folds in under the icon, letter-by-letter from left to right by a  ball of light. This version was updated in 2006 with the current logo.
 * There is a rare version with only the eye and the name in the logo, and the symbols fly inside the logo.
 * From 2006-2007, a new version was used with the current logo. “The way it’s meant to be playedTM” is in a different font, and two curved white lines were added in between the words. This version was short-lived as the next logo replaced it quickly.
 * There are several custom variants with the ready logo.
 * On Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines, the logo is full of blood. Then a vampire appears and bites the logo.
 * On Gladiator: The Sword of Vengeance, the gladiator splits the logo into two parts with his sword.
 * On Liquidator 2: Welcome to Hell, a warlock comes and draws a fiery pentagram with the upside-down letter "A" and the number "2" at the top (the game's logo in question) on the wall with his staff with the flaming skull at the tip. The pentagram then pulsates and ripples, extinguishing fire in process, and flips mechanically to reveal the nVIDIA logo on the other side, which flashes, shattering the warlock into pieces like glass, and releases waves of energy outwards, then cross-fades to just the logo zooming in slowly. As the logo fades out, a heartbeat is heard.
 * On Painkiller, a dead man comes to the logo, but shooting starts and he barely escapes.
 * On Unreal Tournament 2004, the logo, but with the black rim instead of white, is already formed and is in metallic gloss. As we slowly pan across it, a Skaarj named Dominator suddenly crashes through the inner part of the shield with Gorge (a supersoldier) to reveal a moving grid inside with smoke billowing below. Dominator shoots his minigun several times, while the Spider Mine comes in from the left side of the screen, walking towards Dominator, then jumps and explodes, blowing him out of the view.
 * There is a version where an alien spider attempts to eat soldiers but the logo falls on him and pressures him to death.
 * There is a version where a hooligan tries to pull the logo, then he calls his friend and together they take the logo.

Technique: Excellent CGI effects. The UT2004 variant is rendered by the Unreal Engine 2.5.

Music/Sounds: A swoosh ("Metal Swirl 2" from Spectrasonics' Distored Reality 1 sample CD) building up to a sweeping synth chord ("Acclaimed" from ILIO's Trance Fusion sample CD), then a woman whispering the company name. Composed by Stephen Arnold Music.

Availability: Seen on many games like Painkiller, Hitman Contracts, Fahrenheit, Freedom Fighters, and the PC version of Lego Star Wars: The Video Game.

3rd Logo (2007-2014)
Logo: Same as the previous logo, but the stripe symbols are, the circles are replaced with rounded rectangles (with colors inverted) which appear from a three-dimensional light shape, and the current logo (an all- stylized eye shape and "nVIDIA" in a different font) is used. "THE WAY IT'S MEANT TO BE PLAYEDTM" is also in a different font. The logo shines at the end.

Variants:
 * On Metro 2033, the logo appears still as a black powder drops on the floor. The powder then flows away.
 * On Borderlands, the logo plays as normal, but fails to light up at the end. A small yellow robot (Claptrap, the de-facto mascot of the Borderlands franchise) rolls in from the right, and hits the shield multiple times, trying to light it up. Just as he gives up, the shield lights up as intended. Claptrap notices this and presents the logo.

Technique: Same as the 2nd logo.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 2nd logo.

Availability: Seen on many PC games from this era optimized by nVIDIA.

4th Logo (2014-)


Logo: An explosion of light occurs, sending other  lights which form the nVIDIA icon while the trademark text appears below. The logo zooms in and moves to the left to make space for the stacked words "THE WAY" (1st row) "IT'S MEANT" (2nd row) "TO BE PLAYED" (3rd row), which appear moving from left to right.

Variant: Depending on the game, the icon may appear in a lighter or darker shade of.

Technique: High-end CG animation, usually rendered in 4K at 60 fps (frames per second).

Music/Sounds: Digital sounds, with some quiet reverse cymbals when the words appear.

Availability: Current. Appears on newer PC games optimized by nVIDIA.