Red Orb Entertainment

Background: Red Orb Entertainment was formed in May 1997 as the video-gaming division of Brøderbund Software. It was specially formed to distinguish games like Prince of Persia 3D away from the company's edutainment titles. The name is "broder" spelled backwards. When Brøderbund was acquired by The Learning Company on August 31, 1998, Red Orb became a publishing label for Mindscape. The company was dismantled in 1999 and released their last game in 2000.

1st Logo (July 31, 1997-May 2000) Red Orb Entertainment (1997)Red Orb Entertainment (1998)

Logo: A burning red star appears in space and a comet passes around it. The star zooms out of a giant "O", from the name "REDORB", which also zooms under the logo. The comet makes the streak over the star and the logo shines to leave the background white. The star turns into still red orb with the strike and the name below, where "RED" is white and taken in a black box, and "ORB" is negative. "entertainment" is seen below.

Variant: A byline for Broderbund appeared below the logo at one point. This did not appear in early games from the company, and was discontinued after the Mindscape acquisition.

FX/SFX: The logo forms with the comet and the star zooming.

Music/Sounds: Harsh thundering sounds. The last part of the music varies depending on the game.

Availability: Rare. Seen on CD-ROM games from the company. It first appeared on Warlords III: Reign of Heroes, and last appeared on Myst: Masterpiece Edition.

Scare Factor: Medium. The loud, sudden sounds may startle some.