Tantalus Media

Background
Tantalus Media was founded in 1994 in Melbourne by Trevor Nuridin and Andrew Bailey. First known as "Tantalus Entertainment", it was partly owned by Perfect Entertainment during the 1990's. Then in 1998, it was separated from Perfect Entertainment and became independent, thus renamed to "Tantalus Interactive". In 2007, it was renamed to its current name following an investment from the private company Netus. During 2009, when many Australian studios were forced to close, Tantalus cut off their subsidiary in Brisbane and heavily reduced the number of employees in their main office (from 70 in 2008 to just 18). However, the company survived and is still active. Now it's a second party developer for THQ Nordic, who publishes all their games. In March 2021, Tantalus was acquired by Keywords Studios.

1st Logo (February 15, 1996-June 27, 1997)
Visuals: There is a chess background with a black shiny circle, and a golden ancient helmet in the center. The word "Serif" zooms in letter-by-letter, then "Serif" is wiped below.

Variant: On some games, "ENTERTAINMENT" is absent.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A simple fading synth entry.

Availability: Seen on three games: Krazy Ivan, Area 51 and the Sega Saturn version of Wipeout.

2nd Logo (1999-July 28, 2000)
Visuals: There is a 3D helmet inside a circle, panned a bit. Below is the website "www.tantalus.com.au".

Variant: On Mary King: Riding Star, the name design is taken from the next logo.

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on South Park Rally for PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast. The variation was seen on Mary King: Riding Star.

3rd Logo (March 5, 2001)
Visuals: We see a ghostly circle with the helmet logo hanging in the center and words emitting light and orbiting around the helmet. The words contain the company name with "active" first, then. The helmet becomes solid, and the name fades in the line. The website appears below.

Technique: The letters moving and emitting light.

Audio: A synth entry.

Availability: Only seen on Mary-Kate and Ashley: Winners Circle for PlayStation.

4th Logo (August 28, 2002-October 31, 2003)
Visuals: On a white background, we see the same helmet design used in previous logos, with "TANTALUS" in the same color below. The website in black appears underneath.

Technique: None.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on Top Gear Rally, Woody Woodpecker in Crazy Castle 5, Monster Truck Madness and ATV: Quad Power Racing, all for GBA.

5th Logo (November 2, 2004-)
Visuals: There is an elongated -colored oblong shield, with a circle on the left showing the helmet. The word "TANTALUS" is right on the shield. Sometimes, the shield has a 3D effect, and the white parts slam into it.

Variants:
 * On SpongeBob Squarepants: The Yellow Avenger, the banner hangs underwater, and a moving jellyfish creates the helmet and the last letter "S". Then a speeding jellyfish passes by and creates bubbles, which place on the benner and turn into letters.
 * On Cars Race-o-Rama, a light spot moves through the logo.
 * On MX vs. ATV: On the Edge, the plain logo is seen and a biker is thrown behind, followed by his bike.
 * On The Polar Express for GBA, it's snowing.
 * Sometimes, the logo shares the screen with other logos on NDS games.

Technique: The logo shining.

Audio: Generally none. Sometimes, two metal slams are heard.

Availability: Seen on the aforementioned games, among others for PSP. Also appeared still on Pony Friends 2.