Taito

Logo descriptions by wolfie14 Photos by wolfie14 and jupiterboy

Background: The Taito Corporation is a Japanese developer of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito Trading Company was established by a Russian Jewish businessman named Michael Kogan. Taito also imports and distributes American coin-op video games in Japan, as well as their own games all around the world. Taito Corporation was acquired by Square Enix in 2005. Taito Corporation currently has divisions in Seoul, South Korea and Milan, Italy, and a subsidiary in Beijing, China. In the past, the company had operated divisions in North America and Brazil. Their first logo (until 1987) was not used fullscreen in games.

1st Logo (1980's-1988)

Logo: There is a rectangular banner, which appears to be broken and folded a bit in the middle. The word TAITO appears inside.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Very rare. This was used on a few later games, and of course, in the quality of ages.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1987-2000s)

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NOTE: The fifth video is pretty loud, so we advice you to turn down the volume.

Nicknames: "Streak Pyramid"

Logo: There is a blue triangle with a streak, resembling a grass leaf, coming inside of it and projecting out of the triangle. While inside, the streak is black (background-colored), its outer point is blue. The word "TAITO" is seen below.

Variants: Some games have the triangle logomark taking place of the "A" of the Taito wordmark. On Arcade games such as G-Darius, it may have "PRESENTS" below. On Sonic Blast Man and it's sequel, the triangle spins in on a black background slowly, from the bottom. It then moves back, and then fades into the trademark triangle, with the name flashing in below. On Ninja Warriors for the SNES, the logo appears and disappears with a special wiping effect. On Metal Black, we zoom out from the gray "TAITO" text to the full logo, seen on the center. The logo then ripples off the screen. This happens on a black background. On Bubble Memories, we see Bub walking in with a wind-up robot chasing it from behind, then Bub turns back and fires a bubble with it's mouth, as the defeated robot goes inside the bubble, which floats up. The Taito logo fades in, causing the bubble to explode and the robot to move to the path of the grass leaf projection of the logo, and flash away. Green sparkles then come out the circle afterwards, as Bub walks away. On the intro of G-Darius for the PS1, the 3D parts of the logo spin in from the sides, settle themselves, and zoom in at the end. On Densha de Go! II for the PS1, a train is seeing bringing up the Taito logo, and moves away. The train then returns and moves the logo out of the screen. On Pyramid Intruder for the 3DO, the Taito logo drops down and is in shape of a 3D cone, with the streak white. The wordmark then fades in below, and the cone logo changes into the traditional plain logo.

FX/SFX: None for the most part.

Music/Sounds: None for the most part. Some games have a Japanese voice, followed by a light theme, and then the same voice singing "Taito!" at the end. This appeared on Japanese games as well as international releases and Japanese commercials during the time. Music/Sounds Variants: On the Arcade Metal Black variant, a glass-like crashing sound is heard at first, followed by another one, but darker-sounding. On the Saturn port of Metal Black, a loud jet-like takeoff sound is heard. On the Densha de Go! II variant, a brief sound of a train passing by through the rails is repeated for two times.

Availability: Common. Audio variant is found on Bust-A-Move 2 for the N64, as well as a few SNES games. The normal logo and variant has known to appear twice on the PS1 version of G-Darius.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1990s-2000s)

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Nicknames: "Streak Pyramid II"

Logo: We start off on a blue background, which then reveals to be the Taito triangle logomark, zooming out ala the 1980 WCI/Warner Home Video logo. Then, "TAITO" in its trademark font fades in gray letters.

Variant: Some games, like the Bust-A-Move 3DO port, have a cut-short version of the logo lacking the blue background. On Arkanoid: Doh it Again! (1997), the blue background part is longer. After a few seconds, the copyright disclaimer for the game appears. Then it fades out and the logo animates normally.

FX/SFX: The logo zooming out.

Music/Sounds: Depends normally. It can have the game's opening theme or is silent.

Availability: Used in tandem with the other logos.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1990s)

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NOTE: The video shown in this page is the Ray Tracers variant. Again, this logo is pretty loud, so we advice you to turn down the volume.

Nicknames: "Streak Pyramid III", "3D Pyramid"

Logo: The 3D Taito logo zooms out on a black background. The ball of the logo moves in from the right and places next to the triangle's streak. Then a flash happens, bringing up the flat version of the same logo on a white background.

FX/SFX: The logo zooming out (like the previous one, but in 3D), the flash.

Music/Sounds: A quick laser zapping sound, then followed by a held synth bass note with a descending sounder when the logo zooms out and a quick swoosh during the flash.

Music/Sounds Variants: At least one game used the Japanese voice music variant of the 2nd logo. Ray Tracers used a loud noise, followed by a jet take-off like sound (not as low-pitched as the Metal Black variant).

Availability: Common on the company's PSX games.

Editor's Note: None.

5th Logo (2001-)

Nicknames: "Streak Pyramid IV", "3D Pyramid II", "T-Pyramid-ITO"

Taito Corporation (2001)Logo: The blue triangle is seen from the top and pans to the side view. Four light streaks enter it and glow in the center. The triangle moves to the forming word "TAITO" and poses as "A" letter. Then it flashes and changes the background to white.

Variant: Newer games (especially on newer Arcade machines) have the logo still.

FX/SFX: Good computer effects.

Music/Sounds: A synth composition.

Availability: Uncommon. This can be seen on PS2 games from the company.

Editor's Note: None.