Strategic Simulations Inc.

Background

Strategic Simulations Inc. was founded in 1979 as a wargame publisher and the competitor of Avalon Hill. They created most of the acclaimed wargames in the early 90's. SSI became part of Mindscape in 1994 and travelled all the path through The Learning Company, Mattel and Gores Group. In May 2001, SSI was acquired by Ubisoft and ceased to exist as a separate company.

1st Logo (February 1980-Mid 1980's)

Visuals: There is the gold logo. The 2 S's are created with 4 arrows bending in. The full name is seen below. The first and last letters have a line extending from them.

Technique: A still computer graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Appeared in a pair of DOS games from the early 1980's.

Legacy: It's one of the earliest graphic logos in video games, and a great effort for its time.

2nd Logo (Mid 1980's-May 25, 1998)

Visuals: There is the corporate logo in red with a silver outline, with the full name below.

Variants:

• There are a lot of still variants.
• On Necrodome, the logo is created by golden drops on the wall.
• On Renegade: Battle for Jacob's Star, the logo flies rotating through the space and then glows.
• On Silent Hunter, the logo appears through a water window and zooms out.

Technique: A still digital graphic, except for the variants.

Audio: None.

Availability: Seen on a lot of released wargames.

3rd Logo (September 15, 1998-November 5, 2001)

Visuals: The enhanced SSI logo with fading tails zooms out and glows. A Mindscape byline appears below, as the logo becomes a bit brighter.

Technique: 2D computer animation. Sometimes, it's a still digital graphic.

Audio: A somber drum composition with two stretched kettle-drum sounds: one at the very beginning, the other in sync with the glow and the byline fading.

Availability: Appeared on the last games from SSI, such as Imperialism, Reach for the Stars, Soldiers at War, Earth 2150 (without the byline) and two Warhammer 40,000 titles (Rites of War and Chaos Gate).

Legacy: The composition of music and action is not bad, but the logo might look too dark.