Empire Interactive

Background

Empire Interactive was a publishing brand in UK, created in 1987 when Oxford Digital joined Entertainment International Ltd., and it remained the trademark of the latter. Empire distributed mostly budget titles and had some subsidiaries, including Xplosiv, Sick Puppies and Razorworks (latter two were development studios). The company was purchased by Silverstar in 2006, after the financial struggle, and closed for good on 4th May 2009.

1st Logo (1987-1993)

Logo: On a black background, we see a grey and red symbol containing the text "EMPIRE". The red portion of the logo is arranged in a wavy fashion.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Seen on earlier games from the company.

2nd Logo (1993-November 5th, 2001)

• 
• 
• 
• 

Logo: Just the word "empire" in red, with "INTER ACTIVE" below, separated with the pin of the letter "P". Later variants had the logo relief.

Variant: On Spin Jam for the PS1, the background is white, and copyright info is seen below. A pencil sketch of Wigsey (a character from the game) resting on his ball is seen on the bottom right above the copyright info.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Rare. ^[Examples?]

3rd Logo (2000-October 6th, 2009)

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Logo: Many red and white objects cross the screen, including curves and circles, drawing the elements of the logo, until big red "E" letter zooms in the center, and silvery "EMPIRE INTERACTIVE" (in italics) is drawn below.

Variants:

• On Vegas Tycoon, the logo appears on casino roller.
• Ghost Master had the logo appearing from the green misty cloud coming up.
• Another version had the red mist transforming into the letter "E".
  • On the Starsky & Hutch video game, this version was used and copyright info appears below the logo.
• On the Starsky & Hutch video game for the Game Boy Advance, the logo is white on a red background, and is still.
• On Big Mutha Truckers, the letter "E" bounces from the left to the center. When it stops bouncing, the company name fades in, alongside the copyright info.

Technique: 2D animation. For the version with the red mist, CGI. For the still version, none.

Music/Sounds: Soft electronic sounds. For the version with the red mist, wind sounds are heard, then a whoosh. For the still version, none.

Availability: Uncommon. Can be seen on Taito Legends for PC, the FlatOut series, the Ford Racing sequels, and the games metioned above.