Global VR

Credits

Descriptions by
MindsEyeTHPS

Captures by
MindsEyeTHPS

Global VR, Inc.
Founded:	May 1, 1998 (26 years ago)
Founder:	Ken Bayer
Location:	United States

Background

Global VR, Inc. (officially stylized as GLOBAL VR and shortened as GVR) is an American developer and distributor of arcade games based in Milpitas, CA. Founded by Ken Bayer (who currently serves as its longtime president) in San Jose, CA on May 1, 1998, it originally focused on creating virtual reality-based experiences (hence the name), most notably the VR Vortek family of multi-game machines (most of the games were based upon existing PC games). By the mid-2000s, GVR had shifted most of its focus towards traditional arcade cabinets, where it became well-known for games based on licensed properties, including those of Electronic Arts (Need for Speed (GT) (2002/2003), Need for Speed Underground (2003/2005), EA SPORTS Madden Football (2005), Need for Speed Carbon (2006/2008), EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Golf Team Challenge (2005/2006), EA SPORTS NASCAR Racing (2007), et. al.), 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) (Aliens: Extermination; co-developed with Raw Thrills' Play Mechanix) (2006), and Ubisoft (Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII) (2008/2011).

1st Logo (1998-2001)

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  As seen on the website's former landing page

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  Heavy Gear II (1999/2000) variant

Visuals: There is a thin red circle with 3 short "tailfins" from the center-left down. Beside it are the letters "VR" in a futuristic, italicized font, with a short tail on the top left of the "V" and a long one on the bottom right of the "R". Below the "R" is the name "Global VR" in an Impact Italic font.

Variant:

• On Activision's Heavy Gear II (1999/2000) for the VR Vortek II, the logo is rendered in 3D, and appears at an extreme closeup with a small "spotlight" on the top left of the circle's inside. As it gradually zooms out upwards, the "spotlight" shifts away towards the right in a circular motion. At the same time, the shining light on the logo shifts towards the right. Just as the logo settles into place, a large "P R E S E N T S" in gray slams right below it, causing the logo to be fully visible, and gaining a top-right shine from inside on the circle, as well as the "P R E S E N T S" wordmark shining from left to right.
  • At the end of the game's cinematic, the logo's same opening shining animation from before plays, before rapidly shrinking away into the top of the "A" in "GEAR" and the credits appearing.

Technique: Unknown. CGI for the Heavy Gear II variant.

Audio: Unknown.

Audio Variants:

• On the Heavy Gear II variant, it has the cinematic's opening theme, coupled with a long whoosh when the GVR logo shines at the start, followed by a loud, gunshot-like "bang" when "P R E S E N T S" slams into place.

Availability: Seen on GVR's earliest arcade machines and games, including the original VR Vortek and its successor VR Vortek II (both of which are incredibly rare to find). It has also been used on Heavy Gear II for the latter.

2nd Logo (2001-)

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  Normal on-screen logo

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  Bootscreen variant ("global VR xp.bmp"^[sic]; also stored within NTOSBOOT.EXE)

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  Still version, used as a splash screen for game installers (setup.bmp)

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  Semi-transparent variant, used as a wallpaper on the Windows XP Embedded desktop (Gvr_Desktop.jpg)

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  Need for Speed Underground (2003/2005)

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  Need for Speed (GT) (2003) variant

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  Used on EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Golf Team Challenge (2006) and EA SPORTS NASCAR Racing (2007)

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  Aliens: Extermination (2006) variant

Visuals: Same concept as before, but the circle's outline is now blue and has an inner thick white outline. The "tailfins" from before have also been thickened and shortened, and the rest of the circle is colored blue from the inside. The wordmark was also updated, now rendered in all caps, and the words "GLOBAL VR" are now italicized and in white, and broken into 2 center-aligned lines, complete with a blue outline around them. This logo has seen different animations over the years. Here are some:

• 200?-200?: Over an animated grayscale cloud background, the aforementioned Global VR logo zooms out from the center of the circle, leaving trailing lights in the process. At the same time, the cloud background from inside fades into the blue color. Once the logo settles in place, a blue aurora light flashes behind it. The logo then shines with the light traveling from right to left as the aurora dies down.
• 200?-200?: On a black background, a large, bright white flash rapidly zooms out, which then morphs into the GVR logo. It then zooms in at a slightly fast pace. Once the logo appears large enough, a different blue aurora light glows out of the logo. As it dies down, the logo shines in a clockwise fashion and gradually zooms in continuously.

Variants:

• On games based on EA properties, the byline "GLOBAL VR is an authorized Electronic Arts distributor." fades in below or on the right as the logo settles in place.
• On some older games, the still flat logo (albeit smaller, and with a curved line stemming from the bottom-middle-left, and going around the progress bar) is used as a full-fledged bootscreen (dated July 17, 2002), complete with the fade-in animation and progress bar from the Windows XP bootscreen that it replaces. Oddly enough, it uses the green progress bar, implying that it runs off the Home Edition, as opposed to Professional or Embedded.
  • On newer games, it is completely still, due to using boot.bmp to render the screen as opposed to fully replacing the default bootscreen within the kernel.
• A still version exists, where the logo is completely flat. This is used setup splash screen (setup.bmp; dated August 22, 2002) for the installation of the GVR games.
• A variant exists where the still logo is rendered in 3D and is semi-transparent on a black background. This is used as a wallpaper (Gvr_Desktop.jpg; dated July 8, 2004) on the Windows XP Embedded desktop after restoration, and on some games (other games, such as the aforementioned NFSU and PGATGTC have their own temporary "loading" wallpaper).
• On Need for Speed (GT) (2002/2003), the logo zooms out from the "V" on a white background and shifts itself slightly up, casting a drop shadow in the process. The aforementioned EA byline then appears on the right.
• On the arcade version of Need for Speed Carbon (2006/2008), the logo is still and appears in a glossy 3D effect (possibly to fit in with the game's atmosphere). A few seconds later, the EA byline from before fades in in small print on the bottom right of the logo.
• On Aliens: Extermination (2006), the still logo from the wallpaper variant is placed over a space background with green aliens on the bottom of the screen, coupled with the URL.

Technique: CGI. None for the still variants.

Audio: A long, jet-like descending whoosh, followed by another one, but shorter, and a deep synth "bong". None for the still variants.

Audio Variants:

• On Need for Speed (GT), the game's intro theme is used, coupled with the game timer's beeps throughout the logo.
• A variant exists where the deep bass after the "bong" lasts a little longer. This was spotted on Need for Speed Underground.

Availability:

• Still version: Used on some games' demo cinematics on the VR VORTEK V3, and can be seen on Aliens: Extermination, Need for Speed Carbon, and some other games. It is also used as a boot screen on some games (including Aliens: Extermination and some revisions of EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Golf Team Challenge; others may use the "Play to Win" boot screen instead or none at all, due to using the "/noguiboot" switch, likely in an attempt to cover up the Windows-related elements).
• First version: Seen on the demo cinematic for Invasion Earth (2004) for the VR VORTEK V3 (2003), when highlighted on the menu, and on the arcade version of Need for Speed Underground (2003/2005).
• Second version: Can be seen on EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Golf Team Challenge (2006) and EA SPORTS NASCAR Racing (2007).

Legacy: This logo is memorable for those who grew up playing GVR's games in arcades.