Deep Water

Background
Deep Water was a short-lived banner of Sega of America that was used to denote mature-themed games. It was a part of Sega's ongoing tradition of self-regulating their content, following their "Videogame Rating Council" system that was eventually replaced by the industry-wide ESRB ratings. Ultimately, the label was used on only two games (X-Perts had a Deep Water label on its packaging, but this was to cover up an incorrect claim stating the game had battery back-up saving) and quickly abandoned, likely due to it being seen as poorly-timed and redundant given the ESRB already had the "M" rating for mature games.

1st Logo (February 5, 1995)


Logo: The camera zooms in towards a raft with a man and a woman in the ocean in the daytime with the shining sun and its reflection in the water. The screen then moves in an aerial view of the boat and rotates. As it eases in, two sharks move toward the raft and swim by it. The man is dark-skinned and wearing a black scuba suit and the woman resembles Cammy from the Street Fighter series. We then cuts to a close-up of the woman's arm dangling off the boat. As it bounces, the two shark fins go by. It then goes to a front shot of the boat, where one of the sharks rises up and takes a bite, then going to the water with swirling blood, which the shark swims by that. Now in the water, with shimmering lights, the woman's severed arm floats downward off-screen. The words DEEP WATER rise from the bottom and rest. The shark then appears from the bottom and goes off-screen to the left, then comes back and stops above the company name while a trademark appears. The shark and company name turn into silhouettes.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: A low synth tune which then goes into an ominous piano ditty that sounds very similar to the USA boss theme from Sonic CD when the sharks appear. As they attack, the woman screams and water splashes. It then goes back to the synth theme, with a whoosh when the company name appears. When the shark swims above the name, another whoosh is heard and when they turn into silhouettes, it ends with a sound of lightning.

Availability: This only appears on Eternal Champions: Challenge from the Dark Side on the Sega CD.

Legacy: The theme of the shark attack and music have been known to horrify some, though this was probably more than intentional given the label's nature. The cheesy and grainy early CGI can lessen the potential scares.

2nd Logo (October 29, 1997)


Logo: On a white background is a square with bordering. Inside it is a black and gradient water background with a silhouette of a shark. Below the shark is "DEEP WATER" in white text (in the same style as the previous logo, except the shark is now staring at the upper-right side of the logo). A black trademark symbol is next to the square.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Only appears on Duke Nukem 3D for the Sega Saturn.