Irrational Games: Difference between revisions

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Background

Irrational Games was founded in 1997 in Boston by Ken Levine and other people from the closed Looking Glass Studios. In 2000, they opened a side studio in Canberra. Take-Two Interactive Software acquired these studios on 9th January 2006, and a year after, the "Irrational" name was dropped and the studios were incorporated into the 2K Games label, renaming them 2K Boston and 2K Australia respectively (in 2007, 2K Marin was also spun off by five people from 2K Boston). These names were used for Bioshock and its sequel before 2010, when Take-Two decided to return the "Irrational" name back "to respect the studio's legacy". It was announced on February 18, 2014 that the studio would close down.

{{SeparateTOC |Irrational Games (first era)|

Contents

1st Logo (August 11, 1999)	2nd Logo (January 9, 2002-2006)

|2K Boston/Australia|

Contents

1st Logo (August 21, 2007)	2nd Logo (February 9, 2010)

|Irrational Games (second era)|

Contents

(August 12, 2010-March 25, 2014)

Irrational Games (first era)

1st Logo (August 11, 1999)

Logo: We see a rusty metal ball in a dark space. Then a light shine comes to float around it, making it into the circular logo with a wide "i" in it. The name "Irrational Games" zooms out over the circle.

Technique: 3D animation.

Music/Sounds: Space humming sounds, and a robotic voice saying "Irrational".

Availability: Used on System Shock 2.

2nd Logo (January 9, 2002-2006)

Logo: A big and blue, 3D-looking Irrational Games shield logo is seen, with or without the name below.

Variants:

On the Freedom Force dilogy, game characters appear in action.
On Tribes: Vengeance, the print version is used.

Technique: None, or the game-generated action.

Music/Sounds: Various sounds.

Availability: Seen on the Freedom Force dilogy and SWAT and its add-ons The print version is seen on Tribes: Vengeance.

2K Boston/Australia

1st Logo (August 21, 2007)

Logo: We see an art-deco grammophone playing old-style music. When the camera comes close to the recording disc, the 2K initials can be seen on it. Then the 2K sign flashes into the 2K Boston logo, which looks like the normal 2K Games logo, but it's blue and the word "BOSTON" replaces "GAMES". Then, the town name is wiped out by smoky effects and replaced with "AUSTRALIA".

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: The music playing before the logo is shown.

Availability: Seen on BioShock.

2nd Logo (February 9, 2010)

Logo: We see a closeup of a Little Sister stacking some colored blocks. We zoom out, where we see a Big Daddy behind the window. It stomps the ground, causing the cubes to fall and revealing that each block has a different one of the games companies on it. We then see each individual logo on a grungy background: Digital Extremes, 2K China, 2K Australia, and 2K Marin. The fifth cube, depicting 2K Games, is not shown fullscreen.

Technique: A mix of CGI and 2D animation.

Music/Sounds: Some ominous game-world sounds.

Availability: Appears on BioShock 2.

Irrational Games (second era)

(August 12, 2010-March 25, 2014)

Logo: On a black background we can see a big 3D-styled "i" letter and it's surrounded by rays of light. The name "IRRATIONAL GAMES" appears on two red banners stuck to the letter.

Variant: On BioShock Infinite, the logo is full of static noise, while the game's trailers have it still.

Technique: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: The static sounds.

Availability: Seen on trailers for BioShock Infinite, the game itself, and its expansions.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 ===Background===
 '''Irrational Games''' was founded in 1997 in Boston by Ken Levine and other people from the closed [[Looking Glass Studios]]. In 2000, they opened a side studio in Canberra. [[Take-Two Interactive Software]] acquired these studios on 9th January 2006, and a year after, the "Irrational" name was dropped and the studios were incorporated into the [[2K Games]] label, renaming them 2K Boston and 2K Australia respectively (in 2007, [[2K Marin]] was also spun off by five people from 2K Boston). These names were used for ''Bioshock'' and its sequel before 2010, when Take-Two decided to return the "Irrational" name back "to respect the studio's legacy". It was announced on February 18, 2014 that the studio would close down.
+{{SeparateTOC
+|Irrational Games (first era)|
+{{ImageTOC
+|Irrational Games (1999) (From - System Shock 2).png|1st Logo (August 11, 1999)
+|Irrational Games (2002) (From - Freedom Force for PC).png|2nd Logo (January 9, 2002-2006)
+}}
+|2K Boston/Australia|
+{{ImageTOC
+|2K Boston (2007) (From - Bioshock).png|1st Logo (August 21, 2007)
+|2K Marin (2010) (From - Bioshock 2).png|2nd Logo (February 9, 2010)
+}}
+|Irrational Games (second era)|
+{{ImageTOC
+|Irrational Games (2013) (From - Bioshock Infinite for PC).png|(August 12, 2010-March 25, 2014)
+}}
 ==Irrational Games (first era)==
@@ Line 10: / Line 26: @@
 '''Logo:''' We see a rusty metal ball in a dark space. Then a light shine comes to float around it, making it into the circular logo with a wide "'''i'''" in it. The name "Irrational Games" zooms out over the circle.
-'''Technique:''' The ball moving, the shine flying.
+'''Technique:''' 3D animation.
 '''Music/Sounds:''' Space humming sounds, and a robotic voice saying "Irrational".
 '''Availability:''' Used on ''System Shock 2''.
 ===2nd Logo (January 9, 2002-2006)===
@@ Line 26: / Line 40: @@
 '''Variants:'''
-*On the ''Freedom Force'' dilogy, game characters appear in action.
+* On the ''Freedom Force'' dilogy, game characters appear in action.
-*On ''Tribes: Vengeance'', the print version is used.
+* On ''Tribes: Vengeance'', the print version is used.
 '''Technique:''' None, or the game-generated action.
@@ Line 34: / Line 48: @@
 '''Availability:''' Seen on the ''Freedom Force'' dilogy and ''SWAT'' and its add-ons The print version is seen on ''Tribes: Vengeance''.
 ==2K Boston/Australia==
@@ Line 46: / Line 58: @@
 '''Logo:'''  We see an art-deco grammophone playing old-style music. When the camera comes close to the recording disc, the 2K initials can be seen on it. Then the 2K sign flashes into the 2K Boston logo, which looks like the normal 2K Games logo, but it's {{color|blue}} and the word "''BOSTON''" replaces "''GAMES''". Then, the town name is wiped out by smoky effects and replaced with "''AUSTRALIA''".
-'''Technique:''' The grammophone animation, the logo-changing smoke effects.
+'''Technique:''' CGI animation.
 '''Music/Sounds:''' The music playing before the logo is shown.
 '''Availability:''' Seen on ''BioShock''.
 ===2nd Logo (February 9, 2010)===
@@ Line 62: / Line 72: @@
 '''Logo:''' We see a closeup of a Little Sister stacking some colored blocks. We zoom out, where we see a Big Daddy behind the window. It stomps the ground, causing the cubes to fall and revealing that each block has a different one of the games companies on it. We then see each individual logo on a grungy background: '''Digital Extremes''', '''2K China''', '''2K Australia''', and '''2K Marin'''. The fifth cube, depicting '''2K Games''', is not shown fullscreen.
-'''Technique:''' The game-based animation, the logo-changing effects.
+'''Technique:''' A mix of CGI and 2D animation.
 '''Music/Sounds:''' Some ominous game-world sounds.
 '''Availability:''' Appears on ''BioShock 2''.
 ==Irrational Games (second era)==
@@ Line 81: / Line 89: @@
 '''Variant:''' On ''BioShock Infinite'', the logo is full of static noise, while the game's trailers have it still.
-'''Technique:''' The static.
+'''Technique:''' CGI animation.
 '''Music/Sounds:''' The static sounds.
@@ Line 87: / Line 95: @@
 '''Availability:''' Seen on trailers for ''BioShock Infinite'', the game itself, and its expansions.
+{{Video Game-Navbox}}
-[[Category:2K Games]]
-[[Category:Take-Two Software]]
 [[Category:American video game logos]]
+[[Category:United States]]
 [[Category:Video game logos]]
-[[Category:United States]]
 [[Category:Australian video game logos]]
 [[Category:Australia]]
+[[Category:2K Games]]
+[[Category:Take-Two Software]]