Mindscape

Background

Mindscape Inc. was a game developer founded in 1983, which was bought by The Software Toolworks in 1990 and then relocated to California. In April 1994, Pearson purchased both companies under the name of Mindscape, and some other companies as their divisions, including Strategic Simulations, Inc. Bigger changes for Mindscape came in the late 1990s, when it was bought by The Learning Company in 1998. A year after, both were sold to Mattel and absorbed into Mattel Interactive. The Mindscape name would come back in 2001 as a French company, formed by former TLC-Edusoft executive Jean-Pierre Nordman after he acquired the brand and some other former TLC divisions from Gores.

1st Logo (September 1985-1994)

Visuals: There is a rectangular plate with three identical parts, each having a curve cut in the form of a hand-drawn letter "m". "M I N D S C A P E" is shown below. The later editions have the plate golden and relief.

Variants:

The in-credit logo can be seen on the title screen.
On Out to Lunch for SNES, the logo has a waving animation.
The last game, NCAA Football for SNES, uses a slightly altered version of the logo, where the lines are golden and their framing is gone.
The black and white logo is seen on early games.

Technique: Sprite-based animation.

Audio: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Appeared on Gods, Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o'Fun, Pierre le Chef Is... Out to Lunch and NCAA Football, among others.

2nd Logo (1994-2000)

Visuals: On a purple gradient background with stars, a 3D relief plate rotates as the camera zooms in. It has two "hills" on a surface, resembling the stylized letter "M". Then, it absorbs the stars from the background and sets rays down, where they create "M I N D S C A P E". Blue lines appear over the plate, and it also has a shadow.

Variant: There is a still version.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A majestic trumpet fanfare and seven synth notes with two drum notes and finally two horn notes go with it. A gong is heard along with a violin chord during the fanfare.

Audio Trivia: The logo jingle was originally used as the title theme for Chessmaster 5000.

Audio Variant: On The Chessmaster 3-D for the PlayStation, after the fanfare finished, a male burp sound plays.

Availability: The still version can be seen on Alien Olympics, Chessmaster 5000, and Pac-in-Time. Later games, such as Lego Island, have the animated variant.