Acclaim Studios Austin

Credits

Descriptions by
CuriousGeorge60, EnormousRat and Topitoomay

Captures by
SuperMax124 and LogoLover2000

Editions by
Curiousgeorge60 and KirbyGuy2001

Video captures courtesy of
Broken Saw and Michael Pummell

Background

In 1998, Acclaim Entertainment fired Jeff Spangenberg from his own company, Iguana Entertainment (which by then was a subsidiary of theirs), and he sued them several months later. The following year, Iguana was fully taken over by Acclaim and turned into Acclaim Studios Austin, while its subsidiaries were renamed A.S. Salt Lake City (Iguana West, formerly Sculptured Software) and A.S. Teesside (Iguana UK/Optimus). Other studios were also renamed A.S. London (Probe Entertainment, formerly Probe Software and later Iguana London for a short time), A.S. Cheltenham and in 2002, A.S. Manchester (Software Creations).

In 2002, A.S. Teesside closed down and many employees were relocated to its Cheltenham subsidiary. In December 2002, A.S. Salt Lake City closed down due to financial problems. In 2004, when Acclaim went bankrupt, all the other studios were closed down and liquidated.

Logo (October 12, 1999-October 24, 2003)

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Visuals: This logo's base is the common logo used for Acclaim Studios - it's the Acclaim logo, but the arrow-line is red and much thicker and has an emboss effect with "STUDIOS" written in spaced-out letters on it. The iguana (in the same design as the 1995 Iguana Entertainment logo) hangs over the logo. Right to the "Acclaim" word, the hometown name is seen in a vertical font - "AUSTIN". Also, the ® symbol is on the top right of the "m" like in the Acclaim logo.

Variants:

• A special version was used in Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion. While zooming out, a tired iguana climbs the Acclaim Studios logo, with the word "AUSTIN" seen below the logo. Plus, the word "Acclaim" has a dark silver texture on it and the arrow-line is plain red. After the zoom-out and when the logo is at a comfortable distance, a bright thunder flash occurs, the iguana becomes a skeleton, the logo becomes multiple organs and tissue (if you look closely, one of his eyeballs replaces the dot of the 'i'), and the word "STUDIOS" disappears. The skeleton parts fall down along with his sunglasses, and the logo flashes to clear out.
• On Turok: Rage Wars and South Park: Chef's Luv Shack, the website URL "WWW.ACCLAIM.NET" with a red blur effect around it or "WWW.ACCLAIM.COM" in the South Park font in the latter case, is seen below the Austin version of the logo.
• A (.*) variant exists, where the arrow-line slides in from the left and the "Acclaim" text slides in from the right at the same time, forming the logo. The iguana then climbs the logo and looks around before looking to the left, while the background pulses blue and the "AUSTIN" text fades in to the right of the "Acclaim" text.

Technique: A still CGI/2D graphic. The Turok 3 variant is rendered in-engine.

Audio: None or sometimes, the game's opening theme.

Audio Variants:

• On the Turok 3 variant, a suspenseful musical composition plays along with the thunder and falling bones from the iguana.
• On the N64 version of Jeremy McGrath Supercross 2000, it's the finishing of the crowd cheering sound from the Acclaim Sports logo.
• On the rare variant, there is a brief dramatic composition with an opera note and two female screams. This was composed by Michael L. Pummell.

Availability: Seen on A.S. Austin games from 1999-2003.

• Sometimes, the logo doesn't appear as the game would go into the game's intro after the Acclaim logo or the Acclaim Sports logo (in case of sports titles).
• The Austin variant appeared on Turok: Rage Wars, South Park: Chef's Luv Shack (both with the URL), Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (as a variant), Turok Evolution and Vexx.
• The animated variant can only be found on Michael Pummell's YouTube channel. It was not used on any games.

◄ Iguana Entertainment

Acclaim Studios Austin