Koei

Background

Koei Co, Ltd. was formed in July 1978 by husband and wife Yoichi Erikawa and Keiko Erikawa. The company is best known for the Dynasty Warriors series and its historical strategy games. The company formed its international subsidiaries in North America in 1988, in Canada in 2001 and in Europe in 2003. On April 1, 2009, Koei and Tecmo merged to form Tecmo Koei Holdings (now Koei Tecmo Games), though both companies still use their own respective names for game development.

1st Logo (October 31, 1989)

File:KoeiMahjongTaikai.png

Logo: On a black background is the word "KOEI PRESENTS" in white.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on a Famicom game of Mahjong Taikai.

2nd Logo (1990-1995)

Logo: On a black background is "KOEI" in red and below that a thick red line with a black diamond inside it stretching to the centers of the top, bottom left and right respectively. After a second, "KOEI PRESENTS" in white appears below.

FX/SFX: Almost a still logo, except for "KOEI PRESENTS" appearing below.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on NES and SNES games of the time, such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms II on both formats, Brandish II and Angelique.

2nd Logo (1990-1998)

Nobunaga's Ambition (1991)
Monster ★ Race (1998)

Logo: On a white background is the Koei logo from before, this time in black, fading in. As the logo fades in, the word "KOEI PRESENTS" appears below the logo.

FX/SFX: The logo fading, except for "KOEI PRESENTS" appearing below.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Seen on games released on Game Boy of the time, such as Nobunaga's Ambition and Monster ★ Race.

3rd Logo (1992-1994)

Logo: On a gray background is the Koei logo from the previous two, this time it is a gradient silver color. The logo shines and a blue shadow underneath flashes in and out. The background then turns black and below "KOEI PRESENTS" in white fades in below.

FX/SFX: The logo shining, the shadow flashing, the background turning black, "KOEI PRESENTS" fading in.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Appears on games on the SNES and Genesis such as Aerobiz, Brandish, Rise of the Phoenix, Operation Europe: Path to Victory, Liberty or Death and Romance of the Three Kingdoms III and IV.

4th Logo (1995-December 3, 1998)

Logo: A spot of light passes from the right side, showing plain blue "KOEI" with the figure below, rising from the horizontal position. As it rises, the logo changes color from blue to bright green and yellow-gray. A shine occurs behind, making the logo 3D and red. Then another light passes by and brings up "KOEI PRESENTS".

Variants: An earlier variant of the logo exists with a less bolder logo and no "KOEI PRESENTS" wordmark.

FX/SFX: The shines appearing and logo moving, simple computer effects.

Music/Sounds: A four-note synth entry, which sounds similar to a 90s ITV ident.

Availability: Appears on on a variety of PlayStation and Saturn games, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV and V (Genesis version has it still), Angelique and Destrega.

5th Logo (December 17, 1998-2010s)

Logo: We see four letters of the name moving inside the spherical circle, which promptly turns into a figure with the name "KOei" inside. A red light dot flies around and poses as a dot above "i". Then "KOEI PRESENTS" appears below.

Variants:

There is a later version with the figure already formed with some silver effect, and the dot, made as a red ball, jumping above to its place.
In recent games the completely-formed, still logo appears.
A Japanese translated variant of the logo exists.
Some games feature the animated variant with the registered mark; others don't have that.
The logo was originally in a lower framerate to fit with 32-bit video compression standards.

FX/SFX: The logo forming and the dot moving unto its place.

Music/Sounds: A crystallized chime. None in later games.

Music/Sounds Variant:

On some commercials, the chime is replaced with a synth jingle and a female voice singing the company name.

Availability: Common. The animated variant is seen on a lot of games made before Koei Tecmo's merger, including Saiyuki - Journey West, and games from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (known in Japan as San Goku Shi), Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series. The still logo appears on newer games by the company including Warriors Orochi 2 and 3; the Ultimate Definitive Edition on PC doesn't feature the logo.