X Media Publishing

Background
X Media Publishing was a German publishing company that became infamous for distributing the unofficial That's Life! expansion packs for The Sims. These expansion packs were known to include stolen fanmade mods for the game, and was also distributed on stores (and even on online shopping sites such as Amazon). The last release from the company was the second That's Life! expansion pack, which arrived with lots of bugs thanks to an additional 3D shop feature.

(2002)


Visuals: We see a cloudy storm background with a "bad TV" effect happening over it. A blue X appears zooming out, then fades out as we remain in the sky footage. A flash then brings up the same X on the center, with the letters "MEDIA" shoot out as the cause of these flashes, one-by-one. The logo then fades out, and then one flash comes out again and brings the logo back. We then cut into a black background with the text "ON YOUR SCREEN", with a TV warping effect throughout.

Technique: The letters shooting out, the flashes, and the TV effect. Looks like it was all made with After Effects.

Audio: An ominous drone, with a flashing sound when the "X" pops up, gunshot-like sounds when the letters appear, followed by a drum and an ominous choir chord. The part with "ON YOUR SCREEN" is silent.

Availability: Seen on the second unofficial That's Life! pack, after executing the Autorun.