Mass Media Games

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

Mass Media Games is an American video game developer based in Moorpark, California, first formed in the 1980s. The core staff of Mass Media later formed "Philips P.O.V. Entertainment Group" in 1991, but left in 1995 to Time Warner Interactive. When the latter was shut down, Mass Media became independent until February 2007, when it was acquired by THQ. It was shut down in November 2008, although the company started back up immediately, focusing on developing remakes for newer consoles, starting with their work on the PlayStation 3.

Logo (September 30, 1995-October 14, 2008, 2009-)


Visuals: On a black background, the camera fades in and moves back from a purple elephant moving its head, balancing barely on a tube television set. One of its feet slip off the TV before repositioning itself, and then blows its trunk, which causes the TV to turn on to static. Several scanners then wipe in the text "mass media" in a pink generic font with a dot in the middle. The entire logo then glows white, freezing the logo and turning the text into 3D silver text with the dot turning purple.

Variants:

  • A still version exists. The letters here are much darker and smaller.
    • A black and white version appears on The Simpsons: Skateboarding.
  • On The Bible Game, the logo starts out black and white, and becomes more color-saturated by the end. The logo begins and ends with static.

Technique: CGI, or a still render.

Audio: Some crickets and other jungle sounds, the elephant blowing its trunk, and several static sounds with a whoosh.

Audio Variant: On The Bible Game, different jungle sounds are heard, the elephant blows its trunk at a higher pitch, and the static sounds at the end are different.

Availability: Can be found on games like Pac-Man Fever and Muppets Party Cruise, among others. The still version appears on many games from Mass Media, namely Namco Museum for the Game Boy Advance and N64.