Telenet

Background

Telenet Japan Co. Ltd. (other names include Nippon Telenet, Telenet Jr. and just Telenet) was a Japanese video game distributor and developer founded in October 1983. The company was known for it's subsidiaries Wolf Team, Laser Soft, RiOT and Renovation Games (the latter of which worked as the North American distributor for most of their output). The company saw a decline after the mid 1990s, releasing limited output such as parlor, slot, sports and mahjong games, much like the rest of other low-budget companies of Japan. The company closed down in 2006, with Sunsoft currently acquiring the rights of their games.

1st Logo (May 30-December 1986)

Visuals: On a black background, a gold-bordered red shield of a roaring blue wolf and a lighting bolt shape appears. "TELENET" rises in front of it. The text "A WOLF TEAM PRESENTS." appears below the text.

Variant: On Mugen Senshi Valis, a blue gem appears instead of the shield and shines. "TELENET" rises even more slower than before, and "A WOLF TEAM PRESENTS" appears quickly before the logo suddenly cuts off.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A simple 8-bit melody on Final Zone Wolf. This would predate the trademark Wolf Team jingle used until 1991.

Availability: Only spotted on Final Zone Wolf and Mugen Senshi Valis for the Sharp X1.

2nd Logo (August 1987)

Visuals: On a black background, a blue coin with a satanic pentagram symbol with a face on the center fades in. The 3D text "TELENET" then spins in and places. After settling, the borders of the text tight theirselves into plain 2D. A flash occurs, as a red tint appears on the coin. The Telenet text is all white. The text then fades out, as the coin stays still during the opening title of the game.

Technique: Computer animation.

Audio: A sinister melody, which then changes into an epic-sounding 8-bit theme (this is actually the opening theme of the game).

Availability: Seen on Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei for most versions, except the MSX, which was the game's original port, and the NES game.

3rd Logo (September 1987-April 12, 1991)

Visuals: There is the text "TELENET JAPAN" and "PRESENTS". The first T of "TELENET" is bolder than the other letters, also having a diagonal line on the right side. The text changes on each game, despite having a few variants:

Variants:

Luxsor (FM-7): The wordmark in white can be seen without "PRESENTS" on the bottom-right.
Dekoboko Densetsu (PC Engine CD): The whole text is seen in red, justified at the right.
High Grenadier (PC Engine CD): The wordmark shines in some bright color. Meanwhile "PRESENTS", in a small size, changes colors.

Technique: Computer animation on the High Grenadier variant.

Audio: None. Unknown for the Dekoboko Densetsu variant.

Availability: Seen on all the games mentioned above.

4th Logo (Still variants) (December 22, 1993-October 10, 2006)

Visuals: The normal logo has a blue square, where the simple-drawn character is watching three colored planets (one is small/pink, one is big/green, and the other one which is yellow and looking like Saturn). Below, the word "TELENET" is written.

Animated Logos:

1993: The blue square and character spins out from us as the three planets appear from the top and move to the square, as the square places into a frontal perspective and the planets place themselves. The word "TELENET" then slides in.
1994-1996: The blue square takes over the screen at first, then spins out. The character is then drawn, and the planets and "TELENET" wordmark then fade in.
1996-1999: The blue square with the drawn character spins with it's own cornet on a black background, which later changes to white. The square then stops spinning and falls into normal position. "TELENET" zooms out below the square, as the planets get drawn in.

Variants:

Dark Kingdom (SNES): The background is black and "TELENET" is seen on a thicker white font.
Cosmic Fantasy IV (PC Engine CD): A character from the game walks in to the left. It then takes out it's wand an throws some sparkles, which then wipe in the Telenet logo. The character then looks at us and bows.
Parlor! Pro 4 (PS1): The logo has almost the same animation as the 1996 logo, but the square logo is darker, the background remains white, and the "TELENET" text just grows in below the square.
Mahjong Party (PS2): The logo is seen on a black background.

Technique: Depends on the variant, but usually none.

Audio: Depends on the variant, but usually none.

Audio Variants:

On the 1993 animated logo, various shooting sounds are heard.
On the 1994 animated logo starting from Sankyo Fever! Fever!, a rising synth was heard. This theme was also heard on Parlor! Mini for the SNES and on the Parlor! Pro 4 variant.
On the rest of the Parlor! Mini SNES games, a music box theme was heard.
On Parlor! Pro 64, a synth chord was heard.

Availability: Seen on most of their SNES catalog for the animated variants. The 1993 variant was only seen on Ace wo Nerae!. The normal still logo can be found on Parlor! Pro 6 for the PS1 and Slot! Pro Advance for the GBA.

5th Logo (April 25, 1997-November 30, 2000)

Visuals: On a starry background is the planet Earth. We then move to the left and turn to see the Moon, the Sun and Saturn. We then move up and away, then down as we see the silver-made character looking at these planets/satellites/stars. The camera then zooms away as further as it can, then the screen fades to the Telenet logo on a white background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The original Parlor! Pro used a slow synth brass fanfare. Later PS1 games from them used a synth ambient soundtrack.

Availability: Seen on their Parlor! Pro entries around the time until Parlor! Pro Special. Also seen on Parlor! Pro Jr. 1, Parlor! Pro Jr. 4, and Parlor! Pro Jr. 5.

6th Logo (August 5, 1999)

Visuals: On a black background, there is a gray rectangle with "Presented by". The rectangle/text then divides and spins as the camera passes through them. You can see the Telenet square character from the reflection. Then the screen zooms out as the slices form the letters "TELENET", which then spin away to the bottom. A blue light flare then appears on it's top, then spreads into a blue laser and forms the Telenet square. The "TELENET" letters then zoom to us and spread away, as the Wolf Team logo starts to play.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A deep droning synth, an ascending 4-note chime theme, and a reverse cymbal as we transition into the Wolf Team logo.

Availability: Seen only on Cybernetic Empire for the PS1.

7th Logo (November 2, 1999-August 10, 2000)

Visuals: On a white background, a cartoon character, which consists of a metal ball with holes for a face, yellow limbs with red gloves and boots, and a blue top hat with a teal trim, runs towards the screen and bounces a bit before stopping in place. It then takes its hat off and bows towards the camera before resuming its pose and evaporating on sight. This leads to the fade in of both the Heiwa and Telenet logos, both with shadows and a emboss effect. They fade out slightly to a credit snippet.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: Some acid synth bass notes, followed by a long synth pad.

Availability: Seen on Parlor! Pro Jr. 2, Parlor! Pro Jr. 3, and earlier Heiwa Parlor! Pro entries until Heiwa Parlor! Pro: Inkappe Taishou Special.

8th Logo (September 28, 2000-March 7, 2002)

Visuals: A blue space background with shooting stars fadesin. Rings of "Telenet Japan" words are seen zooming out, as the "TELENET" letters also zoom out and then spread out below. The rings of text then fade out and the character of the square logo draws in, then the planets. The blue square then fades in behind. The logo then fades out, showing the other company logos on the same space background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A majestic synth fanfare.

Availability: Seen on later PS1 games by the company.

9th Logo (October 23-December 6, 2002)

Visuals: On a scrolling grid structure, a yellow crystal ball passes the screen by scrolling from bottom to top, as a translucent structure scrolls past it. A purple crystal ball then passes the structure and the camera shifts to the other side, where a green one flies by it. The structure then swings forward to reveal the "TELENET" words and zooms out, with the balls already in their normal position. The figure then fades in first, followed by the print logo as the text shines brightly while also changing it to silver.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A crystalized synth soundtrack.

Availability: Seen on Swingerz Golf for GameCube (Ace Golf in Japan).