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)
Visuals: 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.

Audio: 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)
Visuals: 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 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.

Technique: Excellent CGI effects.

Audio: 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)
Visuals: 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.

Technique: Same as the 2nd logo.

Audio: Same as the 2nd logo.

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

4th Logo (2014-)
Visuals: 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).

Audio: Digital sounds, with some quiet reverse cymbals when the words appear.

Availability: Appears on newer PC games optimized by nVIDIA.