Criterion Games

Background

Criterion Studios (or Software) was founded in 1993 and shipped its first game, Scorched Planet, in 1996. Soon after, they changed their public name to Criterion Games and began focusing on their famous Burnout franchise, which they continue to develop to this day. They are also responsible for the widely acclaimed game engine RenderWare, which was especially popular in the 2000's, as well as the reboots of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit and Most Wanted. In 2004, Criterion was sold by their owner Canon to Electronic Arts.

1st Logo (December 31, 1996)

Logo: A black dog walks into an orange background. It stops, looks at us and turns its head left and right. Then the dog suddenly opens its mouth wide and roars. After such a startling action, it turns back and the word "CRiterion" in a decorative font flies from under the dog's mouth to its permanent place.

Technique: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: The dog snuffling and whimpering, then a sudden roar.

Availability: Only seen on Scorched Planet.

2nd Logo (November 11, 1997-September 10, 1998)

Logo: The Criterion dog is placed over a white background. The stacked words "CRiterion Studios" are under the dog in a decorative orange font.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Extremely rare. Appears on Redline Racer and Sub Culture.

3rd Logo (September 9, 1999-December 31, 2000)

Logo: The familiar dog is placed inside a round-corner orange rectangle with a double mismatched border. The words "criterion studios" are below, with "criterion" placed on a white field.

Variant: On Deep Fighter for Dreamcast, the logo takes at the bottom of an ocean. Several small blue fishes then swim above it.

Technique: None. CGI for the Deep Fighter variant.

Music/Sounds: None for the still version. On the Deep Fighter variant, we hear ocean sounds.

Availability: Rare. Can be seen on several games, such as Suzuki Alstare Extreme Racing and Trickstyle.

4th Logo (November 1, 2001-January 22, 2008)

Logo: On a black background, we see a glossy black picture of the dog, looking at us. The name "Criterion" in red is below the dog, with "GAMES" in blue underneath. The logo shines, then blows to pieces.

Variants:

The early version has a white background.
The logo was seen once without blowing up.
On Black, the logo is gold with interlacing. It then disappears in a TV-shutoff effect.
On Burnout Revenge, Burnout Dominator, and version 1.0-1.5 of Burnout Paradise, the logo is normal, until two cars crash towards each other, creating a big explosion.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: The sound of the explosion. None or the game's opening theme for the white variant.

Availability: Uncommon. The white version appeared on AirBlade. Also seen on the Burnout series, except for version 1.6-1.9 of Burnout Paradise and Burnout Paradise Remastered; Criterion Games changed their logo by then.

Legacy: This logo has achieved its popularity due to being present on the commercially successful Burnout franchise, especially with the Burnout Revenge variant.

5th Logo (February 5, 2009-March 2018)

Logo: Many red and white lights come and flash on the screen, eventually leaving "Criteriongames" (with "Criterion" in white and "games" in black) on a red background, which slowly zooms in.

Variants:

A newer variant shows the same sequence happening, except "games" is omitted and the animation is more high-quality.
On Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010), it appears after the Electronic Arts logo glitches out. After a few seconds, a few red and blue police lights pass through and the logo dashes out, transitioning to the red text "HOT PURSUIT" which is part of the game's logo. The same happens on the beta version, but the logo transforms into the Chameleon Engine logo, which consists of "Chameleon" in black and "engine" in white, with a red stylized chameleon hanging onto the second "e" in "engine".
On Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017), the logo (without "games") is formed by blue glowing lines. It then glitches away after a few seconds. Copyright information is also seen below.

Technique: CGI.

Music/Sounds: Some kinds of dark electronic sounds, although the newer variant has a lighter sound.

Music/Sounds Variant: On Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010), we hear a brief orchestral fragment transitioning onto a quick drum solo which then segues into "Edge of The Earth" by Thirty Seconds to Mars.

Availability: It first appeared on Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box (with the exception of the PC version) and the trailer for said game. Also on Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (2010). The newer variant can be seen on Burnout: Paradise Remastered and other games from the company.

6th Logo (March 2018-)

Logo: On an indigo background, we see various coloured lines forming stylized text reading "Criterion" in red, pink, purple, blue, and teal. The logo then cuts to black.

Variants:

On Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, the Electronic Arts, Criterion and Stellar Entertainment logos flash in red and blue lights, then are fully revealed in white, before fading away, one after the other. Then, the red text "HOT PURSUIT" quickly scrolls across the screen, followed by the game's logo.
On Need for Speed Unbound, the logo is white and takes place in a view of Lakeshore City (the game's setting). It then glitches, showing previous Criterion logos, before cutting to the current one.

Technique: 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: Various car sounds including a car's ignition starting, metal denting, and tires screeching.

Availability: Current. First seen on the Nintendo Switch version of Burnout Paradise Remastered.