Midway Games

Background
Midway Manufacturing Company was founded in 1958 in Chicago, Illinois, as an arcade game company. It was reincorporated as "Midway Games" in 1988 and entered the home console gaming market as "Midway Home Entertainment" in 1996. In 1998, the company spun off from Williams Entertainment. Major troubles came in 2008, when Midway closed several of its divisions. In February 2009, the US-based operations of Midway filed for bankruptcy, while the European assets were sold and two of them were renamed "Tradewest". Most of Midway's key assets, including former divisions Surreal Software and Midway Chicago (now "NetherRealm Studios"), and publishing rights to the Mortal Kombat and Wheelman series were acquired by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

1st Logo (October 10, 1996-January 17, 1997)
See the 4th logo on the Williams Entertainment page for the description.

2nd Logo (December 31, 1996-February 28, 1999)
Nicknames: "Shooting Stars", "The Circle M"

Logo: On a space background, twelve shooting stars fly from all over the screen and meet in the center. They disappear and the Midway logo (a elongated arc with a jacked-up "M" inside it) and "MIDWAY" (all in 3D) spin toward the screen. "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" appears underneath, conjoined. The words scroll to their proper wording.

Variants:
 * On Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1, the text is . Plus, the circle "M" is polygon-styled.
 * On the SNES version of Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1, the still version of the variant was shown along with the Digital Eclipse Software logo. Above the logo is "Presented by". Next to the Digital Eclipse logo is "Developed by DIGITAL ECLIPSE SOFTWARE, INC." in stacked words.
 * On Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98, the still Midway logo shares the screen with the NHL, NHLPA and N64 logos below, along with Wayne Gretzky's signature above. The N64 logo is absent on the PS1 version.
 * On Nagano Olympic Hockey '98, the still logo shares the screen with the NHLPA, N64, and Nagano 1998 logos.
 * On San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing and California Speed for Nintendo 64, a copyright notice is under the still logo.

FX/SFX: The shooting stars and the Midway logo spinning in. None for the still version.

Music/Sounds: A low humming tune. None for the still version.

Availability: Rare. Seen on Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 1 and Maximum Force for the PlayStation and Saturn. It also appears on other games such as Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98 and Nagano Olympic Hockey '98, although the PlayStation version of the former has the next logo preceding it.

3rd Logo (September 30, 1997-March 31, 1999)
Nicknames: "The Comet", "The Circle M II"

Logo: On a black background, a comet moves counter-clockwise. As the comet moves, it leaves a trail of fog. The comet then moves from right to left, making an "M" shape in the process. Then it moves up and down and left and right a couple of times. Then the Midway logo appears as it's formed by the comet, starting with the arc and the "M", which eases back a bit. After the logo is formed, the comet goes right and "MIDWAY" in white appears near the logo. The fog dissipates.

Variants:
 * On some games, a copyright stamp appears below the logo.
 * On NBA Fastbreak '98, the logo is in slow motion, but the music still plays as normal.
 * On a trailer for San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing, the logo is still.

FX/SFX: The comet.

Music/Sounds: The comet flying around. When the logo is formed, electrical crackling is heard, then it ends with a low synth note.

Music/Sounds Variant: On some games, such as Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2, the music is in high tone.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on Midway games for the PlayStation, such as Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, Gex 3D: Enter the Gecko, Pandemonium 2, Bio FREAKS, NFL Blitz, the PlayStation port of San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing, Rampage 2: Universal Tour and Mortal Kombat 4.

4th Logo (November 10, 1998-February 28, 1999)
Nickname: "The Circle M III"

Logo: On a black background, several pieces fly in and come together to form the Midway "M" logo. The camera rotates until the logo is facing us. The "M" then zooms out, and "MIDWAY" wipes in to the right of the logo.

FX/SFX: The flying of the pieces, the zooming of the logo, and the wiping in of the text.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Only known to appear in Rush 2 and California Speed for N64.

5th Logo (August 17, 1999-May 1, 2001)
Nickname: "The Circle M IV"

Logo: On a black background, a shiny version of the Midway logo flips quickly towards the screen. When it gets extremely close, an explosion appears behind it. Then the logo moves back slowly as the explosion dissipates. As this happens, the letters in the word "MIDWAY" fly in quickly from top and bottom one-by-one, forming the name.

Variant: On 4 Wheel Thunder, the banner zooms in and the name vertically compresses.

FX/SFX: The flipping circle "M" logo, the explosion, and the company name appearing.

Music/Sounds: When the logo flips, a flipping noise is heard, followed by an explosion with two low notes that sustain themselves.

Availability: Uncommon. Seen on Mortal Kombat: Special Forces, Gauntlet Dark Legacy, NFL Blitz 2000, NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC (PlayStation and Dreamcast versions only of the latter two), and the North American edition of Destruction Derby Raw.

6th Logo (May 18, 2000-February 12, 2001)


Nicknames: "Liquid Lines", "The Circle M V"

Logo: Many flaming lines rush through the inner liquid surface of a cylinder. It moves and becomes the circle "M", with a spark running around it and then creating the word “MIDWAY”. "HOME ENTERTAINMENT INC." also appears below.

FX/SFX: The lines moving.

Music/Sounds: Buzzing and whooshing sounds.

Availability: A little more common than its predecessors, but still uncommon. Seen on Kurt Warner’s Arena Football Unleashed, NBA Hoopz, Muppet Monster Adventure, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2, the Dreamcast ports of Army Men: Sarge's Heroes and San Francisco Rush 2049, and the US version of Formula One 2000 for PlayStation, among others.

7th Logo (September 24, 2001-August 25, 2003)
Nicknames: "CardioSquad", "The Circle M VI"

Logo: A bunch of cardiograms pass the screen. The closest one suddenly creates the "M" letter instead of heart rate. They all collapse into one single line and the Midway logo appears once the lines vanish.

Variant: On Spy Hunter and Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition for GBA, the logo is still and "GAMES INC." is added below. Also, a cardiogram line passes from left to right.

FX/SFX: The lines.

Music/Sounds: An uprising electronic tune with electronic beats that drum faster as the lines move back, then an abrupt stop with a low tone as the logo appears.

Availability: Uncommon. It was only seen on three games, NHL Hitz 2002, NFL Blitz 2002, and SpyHunter. Strangely, this was seen on RedCard 2003, despite being released under the Midway Sports label.

8th Logo (November 16, 2002-February 17, 2006)
Nicknames: "Red Impulse", "The Circle M VII"

Logo: On a black background, an orange-red cardiogram appears twice. The third time, the M-like shape of it suddenly starts to resemble a line having slashed through the background. This slash mark zooms out and forms the Midway circle "M" as the company name appears next to it. The circle "M" slowly zooms in as the logo shines from left to right.

Variants:
 * On Area 51, the logo is tinted.
 * On Justice League Chronicles for GBA, the logo has a 3D effect and "HOME ENTERTAINMENT INC." is added below.
 * Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows instead has the circle "M" rotating and the text created by a spinning axe, flying through the screen. The company's name is said by a deep voice.
 * On Haven: Call of the King, the logo is still and lies on a white background with a copyright stamp below. Another variant is used in the opening credits, where the logo in 3-D while floating in space. The logo zooms out as the camera then pans up to reveal "PRESENTS", then to the right for "A GAME BY", then the Traveller's Tales logo variant from the game appears.
 * On The Suffering, the logo projects from the blood splattered on the wall.
 * There exists an enhanced version of this logo as well.

FX/SFX: The line moving and creating the logo.

Music/Sounds: Three stylized heartbeat sounds followed by three speedy whooshes and a deep, quick slamming sound while the logo fades out.

Availability: Common. Some of the games that have this logo include Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Ed, Edd, ‘n Eddy: The Mis-Ed-ventures, and all three volumes of Midway Arcade Treasures (including the Extended Play and Deluxe Edition releases). The enhanced version only appeared on Mortal Kombat: Deception and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.

9th Logo (October 17, 2005-December 12, 2006)


Nicknames: "Multiplied Midway", "The Circle M IX"

Logo: The background is covered with many circle "M"'s and "MIDWAY" texts. We zoom inside and the Midway logo appears and flashes. After this, the background clears out.

FX/SFX: The red light moving through the Midway replicas, and the logo shining.

Music/Sounds: A beating electronic tune followed with a "wzzh" sound.

Availability: Fairly common. Appeared on Rise & Fall, NBA Ballers Rebound (for PSP), European releases of Myst (PSP and DS), MLB SlugFest 2006, Blitz: The League (and its PSP port Blitz Overtime), and SpyHunter: Nowhere to Run.

10th Logo (Rampage: Total Destruction variant) (April 24, 2006)
Nicknames: "Monkey Rampage", "The Circle M VIII"

Logo: The Midway logo hangs among a -tinted space and casts a shadow. Suddenly,an enraged ape lands directly at the logo, breaking part of it, and proceeds with the destruction. It uses the "I" letter to crush the remaining text, then takes the circle "M" and throws it into the screen, which cracks. The background clears, leaving the banner and cracked glass for a few more seconds.

FX/SFX: The monkey landing and blowing the logo to ashes.

Music/Sounds: The falling sound accompanying the falling ape, then the raging growls and the destruction noise.

Availability: Only seen on Rampage: Total Destruction.

11th Logo (September 7, 2007-November 16, 2008)
Nicknames: "Midway HD Gaming", "The Circle M X"

Logo: A gyroscope comes into the screen, whirls and forms the Midway symbol, which blasts a ring made of white and rapidly zooms in. The complete logo immediately returns, shakes once with a buzz, then zooms in as well.

Variant: On HD games, the "HD" symbol appears afterwards.

FX/SFX: The gyroscope forming and whirling.

Music/Sounds: Various bumps and whooshes.

Availability: Common. Appears on games made in 2007, including Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, Stranglehold, Game Party and its sequel, both of which are for Wii (with no HD logo), Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Mechanic Master (the latter two both for NDS), and trailers for Wheelman.