Simon & Schuster Interactive

Background

Simon & Schuster Interactive was a video game division of the American book publisher of the same name, formed in 1995, though the company had previously worked on video games in the 1980s and early 1990s.

1st Logo (1995-2003)

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Visuals: This is the same logo used for Simon & Schuster, an abstract rendition of "The Sower" over a series of horizontal lines. Surrounding it is a ring of text, with "SIMON & SCHUSTER" on the top and "INTERACTIVE" on the bottom, as well as dots in between them.

Variants:

• At the end of Star Trek: Klingon and Star Trek: Borg, the logo is gold on a white background, as well as lacking the ring of text. The man raises his right arm from his sash, and the text emerges from it, rotating into a full circle and spinning into position. The man then lowers his arm back up.
• On Rex Blade: The Battle Begins, the logo is on a teal background, appearing to be embossed.
• The logo may be in different colors sometimes, like orange.
• On some Hypnotix games, the logo is seen glowing. 2 translucent copies then shoot out, one rotating clockwise towards the screen, and one rotating counterclockwise towards the back.
• Panty Raider: From Here to Immaturity has the logo on a space background with blue and purple nebulas. The logo then explodes and reforms into the Hypnotix logo.
• Later Hypnotix games have the ring of text spinning around rapidly before stopping. The logo also fades in around this time. Later on very briefly, a Viacom byline can be seen below it.

Technique: A still image or 2D animation.

Audio: None, the opening theme of the game, or a special tune.

Audio Variant:

• On some Hypnotix games, a jazzy music and the crowd saying "Aww." as 2 copies of the logo shoot out.
  • Daria's Inferno has Daria Morgendorffer (voiced by Tracy Grandstaff) flatly saying "Ta-da."

Availability: Seen on many games mainly from the 90's, including Daria's Inferno.

2nd Logo (August 11, 1995-August 1999)

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Visuals: On a teal background, 2 sets of black lines, with the left having 10 and the right having 11, slide in from both sides of the screen. As they cross with each other, they reveal the man via a wipe-in from the middle, and they stop before they fully line up with each other. Below it, a line wipes in from the middle and has "SIMON & SCHUSTER" in a Times New Roman font emerging from the top, and "INTERACTIVE" in a bold font emerging from the bottom.

Variants:

• On I.M. Meen, Chill Manor and Math Invaders, the entire logo is flat and lacks drop shadows. The animation is also slightly smoother.
• On Richard Scarry's Busytown for Windows, the logo is on a sky blue sky background with some white fuzz on the bottom. This is shared with the Boston Animation logo.
• On Mooky Takes Manhattan!, the background is black, the entire logo is blue, and before the sets of lines appear, a picture of a castle in front of the moon is seen in the middle of the screen. A copyright notice fades in below the text. After the logo finishes its animation, the camera pans down from it.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: A cheery xylophone and horn ditty.

Audio Variants:

• On I.M. Meen, it plays an arrangement of the first few notes of the theme song, ending with a held organ chord.
• On Chill Manor and Math Invaders strangely, it plays an arrangement of the Chill Manor theme song.
• The Richard Scarry's Busytown variant has a chime tune.

Availability: It can be seen on their educational titles during this time, like I.M. Meen, More Bugs in Boxes, some Richard Scarry titles, and a few more.

3rd Logo (October 29, 1998-August 27, 2001)

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Visuals: On a space background, stars are seen rotating and streaking forwards. A gold box made of 21 horizontal lines swings in from the darkness, with light shining on it, and two sets of lines come in from both sides of the screen. When they cross together, the man shines onto the box, and the logo then animates like the 1st logo's animated version.

Variants:

• On I See Sue... The T. rex, the background is entirely black and the font is different.
• On M&M's: The Lost Formulas, the logo is located in a blue room with shifting lighting. The logo also has black sections filled inside it.
• A still variant that dissolves in and out appears on the Flash demo for Last Call (named Happy Hour in the US).

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The opening theme of the game. On a few games, such as M&M's: The Lost Formulas, a synth tune with a sparkling sound is heard.

Availability: Seen on some Hypnotix games, like Deer Avenger, Deer Avenger 2: Deer In The City, Who Wants to Beat Up a Millionaire, and Bass Avenger. Also seen on the two Star Trek: Starship Creator games (the first being this logo's debut).

4th Logo (March 2001-November 15, 2003)

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Visuals: The screen fades into a zoom-out of a bronze man ("The Sower") walking, donning a fedora and suit, in a black space with a lavender light and a blue wisp releasing sparks flying around him. Motion blur can also be seen. The wisp eventually flashes around the man's legs, forming white rings that morph him into the Simon & Schuster logo, as he also gets into position. The rings on the top then generate lightning and 2 sparks form an orange ring with the "SIMON & SCHUSTER INTERACTIVE" ring of text. The ring eventually inverts out.

Variant: On later games like Seablade, the logo is somewhat simplified. Instead of a blue wisp, several blue ring pieces rotate around the man, and the sparks come out when he swings his arm. A flash of light then appears below him, forming the logo as he and the ring pieces disappear. The ring of text also just blurs in.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A triumphant trumpet fanfare with the sounds of sparks and lasers.

Audio Variants:

• On Farscape: The Game the music has a double reverb.
• The later variant had the sounds delayed a bit.

Availability: Seen on Cheerios Play Time, Farscape: The Game, Darkened Skye, Real War: Rouge States, and Seablade.

5th Logo (September 18, 2007-February 16, 2010)

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Visuals: Just a still picture of the regular Simon & Schuster logo with the byline "A CBS COMPANY".

Technique: A still, digital graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on the Nancy Drew games for Nintendo DS.