Accolade

Credits

Captures by
Doctorine Dark and RSX-798

Background

Accolade was established in 1984 in San Jose, California by Alan Miller and Bob Whitehead after they left Activision (the company they founded five years before along with David Crane and Larry Kaplan, after discovering that their ex-employer Atari didn't credit them in their games). The name "Accolade" was chosen to overtake Activision in alphabetical order of companies (the same thing Activision did earlier to Atari and what Absolute later did to Accolade itself). Accolade's titles, including Test Drive, Bubsy and HardBall!, among others were developed in-house. The company was purchased and absorbed by Infogrames in 1999.

In June 2017, the "Accolade" trademark was acquired by Hong Kong-based holding company Billionsoft, and together with Black Forest Games and Tommo Inc. (who previously held the trademark) announced development of new entries for several Accolade franchises. This company's first new title, Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back released on October 31, 2017. Atari re-acquired the company in 2023.

1st Logo (1986-November 15, 1999)

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  Bubsy 3D variant

Visuals: On a black background, the word "ACCOLADE", in a futuristic font, is seen on-screen as a red line cuts the logo horizontally and stops a short distance from the "E". "PRESENTS" then sometimes appears below the logo.

Variants:

• On its final titles, the logo is still and shown in 3D, tilted slightly upwards.
• Several of its early appearances have it still and located on the title screen.
• A few games have a special variant for the animation, but they generally have the same formula.
• On a few games by Artech, the logo is in 3D and twirls around the screen. It then stops at a extreme close-up angle as the red line flies through and the text continues into the Artech logo.
• On the Genesis version of WarpSpeed, the logo is shown in pre-rendered 3D as the camera pans over the line as it goes through the text. The line then bursts out a ring of fire before the text zooms out and turns white.
• A later variant on DOS has the logo start off flat with a white gradient on the top. The line then shoots through as the logo turns "3D" and shines with a wiping light, with twinkles popping in all over the logo. The text "PRESENTS" flashes in and animates similarly to the logo.
• Another later variant has the logo already in 3D, the logo doesn't ping (though the line does when it stops), and the text "PRESENTS" flies and arches in below the text.
• On some console games, the logo is smaller, and sometimes in a white box, as a red bracket shape is shown below the logo. Inside of it is the text "GAMES WITH PERSONALITY". The logo animation may or may not play.
  • On Bubsy II, Bubsy's paw reaches down, takes the letters "PER", and replaces it with "PURR" to make the word as "PURRSONALITY" (one of many terrible cat puns featured in the Bubsy games).
• On some games, a copyright stamp appears under the logo. These include The Cycles: International Grand Prix Racing, Grand Prix Racing and on most games of the Test Drive and HardBall! series.
• A trademark disclaimer can appear on certain games published from 1992 to 1999.
• A CGI version that appears on some later PC titles. On a metal background filled with Accolade logos, the letters zoom out and arc into place one by one, and then the line forms the logo as usual as the text shines.
• Another CGI version of this logo appears on their early PlayStation titles like Bubsy 3D. The logo is shown on an angle between two torches in space with two planets. The camera rotates the opposite way and the logo shines.

Technique: 2D animation for most of the variants, and CGI for the later variants.

Audio: The opening intro of the game or none.

Audio Variants:

• Sometimes, a voiceover says "Accolade presents."
• The later DOS variant has a synth tone followed by a twinkle.
• In Bubsy II, an Alvin and the Chipmunks-like voice sings "Bubsy, Bubsy, Bubsy, Bubsy Bobcat!".

Availability: Seen on almost every Accolade title, except for Jack Nicklaus 5. The late shiny logo appears still on Deadlock II.

2nd Logo (November 25, 1993)

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Visuals: On a blue gradient background, there is a line drawing of Bubsy standing on the right. Left to him is the all-blue Accolade logo (slogan included) on the top and copyright information under it.

Technique: Digital art and editing.

Audio: A snippet of the pilot's soundtrack.

Availability: Only appeared on What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, a concept pilot for a cancelled Bubsy television show aired on Thanksgiving 1993. The pilot itself hasn't been reran since, but was uploaded to YouTube here.

3rd Logo (June 8, 2017-)

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Visuals: On a black background, a light appears forming the Accolade logo, in several outlines colored cyan, red and yellow respectively, which all merge into cyan. As the light dies down, a red streak appears forming the E like before, as it glitches and turns the logo into 3D for a few seconds before fading out.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A whooshing sound held throughout, ending with what sounds like a breathing sound from a person when it glitches.

Availability: It first appeared on the teaser trailer for Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back, and it later appeared on the game itself. It has been seen on other Accolade titles since.