SCI Entertainment Group

Credits

Descriptions by
EnormousRat

Editions by
CooleyBoy10

Video captures courtesy of
Random Guy Productions, Retro Video Game Logo Project and EnormousRat

Background

SCi Entertainment Group (formerly Sales Curve Interactive) was a British video game developer formed in 1988 in London, England by Jane Cavanagh. The company published games under the moniker "Storm" until 1993. In 2005, the company purchased Eidos Interactive, merging their operations in 2006 and becoming the biggest game publisher in the UK in the process. In 2008, the company briefly renamed themselves to Eidos, before being acquired by Square Enix the next year. In May 2022, Embracer Group made a deal with Square Enix to acquire the assets of Square Enix Europe, which includes Eidos-Montréal, Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix Montreal.

1st Logo (1989-1993)

Visuals: On a black background, a red rectangular border is seen bearing the word "STORM" above and "SALES CURVE" below. Between them, there is a white circle drawn over a blue box. After a few seconds, sharp black lines are drawn in to create the silhouette of a human face. The line on eye level is either (gray or red).

Technique: Sprite-based animation.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on most of their games before 1993.

2nd Logo (1993)

Visuals: On a black background, the camera rides across a series of white monoliths, along with a red one, as a large blue/red block is seen above it. After riding over the blocks, the camera suddenly turns and rotates out to reveal that the white blocks were actually the 1st logo's profile, although now in white. The camera continues to zoom out to reveal a logo similar to the original one, but without a white circle and the word "STORM", instead having "SALES" above and "CURVE" below.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A somber piano theme.

Availability: Seen on the DOS release of The Lawnmower Man.

3rd Logo (April 3, 1994)

Visuals: On a black background, a large set of letters zoom out while slowly rotating, covered in a chrome, sky-like texture. These letters read "sci" in a rather abstract font, with the dot of the "i" being oval-shaped. As the logo zooms out into position, the text "SALES CURVE INTERACTIVE" zooms in below in a powder blue color, and the logo stops moving.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A soft MIDI string theme.

Availability: Seen on the Sega CD release of The Lawnmower Man.

4th Logo (July 31, 1996-September 1, 2000)

Visuals: On a black background, the same "sci" letters from before, but with silver borders and a higher-resolution on the chrome texture, fly out one-by-one, their shadows covering each other. The letters then spread out and settle into position.

Variant: A still version with copyright info underneath the logo is seen on Carmageddon 64.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None or the opening of the game.

Availability: Seen on Kingdom O'Magic (the first game where this logo debuted), Carmageddon (preserved on the Steam port), Spellcross, and Live Wire.

5th Logo (September 1, 2000-August 8, 2003)

Visuals: On a white background, the "sci" letters zoom out and rotate one-by-one from off-screen. The entire screen is also filled with bright reflections and shadow copies of them as well. As the letters settle into place, a large bar of light slides over them before stopping, and then they start to compress on the Z-axis. Effectively, this turns them into the 2D print logo at the end, and the dot of the "i" becomes a crescent.

Variant: The logo is still on a black background on Conflict: Desert Storm. The ovoid is filled with grey as well.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A hard rock note, followed by a four-section rock note.

Availability: Found on The Italian Job and Gumball 3000.

6th Logo (October 13, 2000)

Visuals: On a black background, an outline of the SCI logo, made from a gold substance, appears and starts to turn into position. After finishing their movement, the letters become a shiny blue color and the background turns white. The oval also has a large grey blob covering most of it, creating a blue crescent shape.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Harsh thunder sounds.

Availability: Seen on Mille Miglia for PS1.

7th Logo (August 29, 2003-November 18, 2005)

Visuals: The screen fades into a shot of crystal monoliths rising out of white clouds, and the camera starts to fly through them. The crystals have a blue color to them and glimpses of an ethereal-looking background are seen from the gaps. As the camera makes it out of the labyrinth of columns, it settles for a second before "sci" in a crystal-like material swings in suddenly, along with "G A M E S" below in a spaced-out formation (which were actually the columns in the beginning). The logo starts off dark, but then starts to glow white and brightens up, as well as it compressing like the 6th logo. A "TM" symbol is also seen with them.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An ascending note followed by a bang blast. Chimes are also heard throughout.

Availability: Seen on Richard Burns Rally, The Great Escape, and Conflict: Desert Storm II.