Activision Publishing

Logo descriptions by EnormousRat Logo captures by EnormousRat and others Editions by CuriousGeorge60, Muzzarino and KirbyGuy2001

Background: Activision Publishing is a video game publisher that was founded in October 1, 1979 by Atari programmers, David Crane, Alan Miller, and Bob Whitehead. It was the world's first independent developer and distributor for video game consoles. It's first titles were the games for Atari 2600 and was the first third-party developer for it. In 1988, it's name was changed to "Mediagenic" when it began involvement on video game systems. However, in December 1992 after emerging from bankruptcy, it was officially renamed back to it's current name. In December 2007, it was announced that Activision was to be merged with Vivendi Games, the owner of Blizzard Entertainment, and the merge was completed on July 2008. Today, the company is currently a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard and is known for publishing and distributing the Tony Hawk, Spider-Man, Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Skylanders, and Vilgante 8 franchises.

1st Logo (1979-1991, 2002, 2006)

Logo: Copyright info for the game's year of release appears. It then moves upward, with the Activision logo (just the word "ACTIVISION" written in custom font with "V" horns expanded to the top and connected to the letter "T", and a rainbow attached to the back of the "A", respectively) appearing from below.

Variants:
 * On Activision Anthology, the logo is redone in good quality. Also, the rainbow appears from the left, and pulls the Activision logo on-screen from the right. The logo, now complete, then flashes.
 * Some Atari 2600 games don't have the rainbow attached to the "A".
 * The rainbow's color is different on some Atari 2600 games.

FX/SFX: None. For the variant, the animation, and the flash.

Music/Sounds: None. On the variant, a brief brass-guitar rock melody plays.

Music/Sounds Variant Trivia: The variant is based on the animation of the logo used in Activision adverts from the 1980's. The music was used in the ads as well. Activision's motto from the era was "We put you in the game".

Availability: It is seen on some Amiga games from the company, as well as on the bottom of the screen when an Activision game for Atari 2600 is inserted and running. It also reappears when the game ends. Both A Collection of Activision Classic Games on PlayStation and Activision Anthology on PlayStation 2 keep the logos intact on all games emulated on the discs. The variation is only seen on the PlayStation 2 version of Activision Anthology. Don't expect the variation to appear onActivision Hits Remixed for PSP or Activision Anthology for iOS, as the former used the 5th logo instead and the latter did not use the variant.

Scare Factor: None for the original variant. Low to medium for the Activision Anthology variant. Even if you were expecting the 5th logo, you might be caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of the logo, the music, and the flash, but it's harmless.

2nd Logo (Still variants)

Logo: We see the Activision logo in white, and this time the rainbow is gone.

Variants: There are a lot of variants of this logo.
 * HyperBlade: The logo is set on a blue and gray pattern.
 * GoldenEye 007 (DS): The logo is black but has golden borders.
 * Shark Tale (GBA): The logo is green graffiti.
 * Shrek 2 (GBA): The logo is made of green rocks in a swamp.
 * Madagascar (GBA): The background shows the crack in yellow surface. Marty is on the top left if you look closely.
 * Ghostbusters II (1989): Blue logo with thin red outline, "Presents" appears below.
 * Zork Nemesis (PC): Still white logo with "presents" below.
 * Shanghai 2: Dragon's Eye (1990): Colored in gradient blue and brown (a reflection of sky and ground).
 * MechWarrior (SNES): Blue background with scattered white fragments.
 * Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (1995): The brown logo stands in animated water and jungle.
 * X-Kaliber 2097 (SNES): Totally blue background.
 * Transformers: War for Cybertron (NDS): The starfield is present and there are blue borders.
 * On the trailer for Quake 4, the logo has a crystallized orange view.

FX/SFX: Depends on the variant.

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

Availability: Seen on the games mentioned above.

Scare Factor: None.

3rd Logo (1995-1997)

Nickname: "The Water Logo"

Logo: The Activision logo is made out of stone (and in perspective), which is posed against the cloud background and it hangs abovActivision (1997)e the water surface with it's reflection in it, which is waving.

FX/SFX: The water reflection waving.

Music/Sounds: The sound of the water waves. Sometimes, the game's background music is heard.

Availability: Rare. Appears on Activision's earlier Saturn and PlayStation games such as Blast Chamber, Grand Tour Racing '98 and Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. It can be also seen on PC games as well like the PC ports of Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure and Earthworm Jim: Special Edition.

Scare Factor: None.

4th Logo (1997-2001) Activision (1998)Activision (1997)

Nickname: "The Explosive Logo"

Logo: We start out with a black screen. After a few seconds, a piece of the screen breaks out, revealing a beam of light. More pieces break out, and more light emits through the holes. The light begins to change color as more pieces are punched out. As all the pieces fly off-screen, the Activision logo is shown. It glows purple-blue for a few seconds, and then vanishes via a TV power off-like effect by zooming in blurring, and then finally disappears.

Variants:

There is a later and more common variant where the animation is enhanced, and the light just glows blue, and the the pieces are blown out faster than usual, and the effect towards the end is different. On some games, however, the logo is sped up a little. On Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force and Star Trek: Invasion, the logo hangs in space and it's plain white and doesn't glow. Then the Starship Enterprise flies from the left side of the screen and blows the logo to ashes. A still version exists. It can be on either a black or white background.

FX/SFX: The stone pieces being punched out, the light, and the power-off effect.

Music/Sounds: The prototype variation is as follows: At the beginning there is a choir when the screen is black, then the explosion sounds when the stone pieces are breaking out, accompanied by a THX-like ascending synth note when the logo is revealed. Then a electric power-off sound when the logo disappears. On the later variant, the music and sounds were enhanced.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the PlayStation 1 version of Spider-Man (the 2000 game of the same name), the last second of the audio is cut off.

Availability: Common. Appears on PlayStation 1, Dreamcast and PC games from the era such as Dark Reign 2, Vilgante 8 and it's sequel, Vilgante 8: 2nd Offense, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and it's sequel, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (PlayStation 1 and Dreamcast versions only), X-Men: Mutant Academy, the PlayStation 1 version of Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!, Toy Story Rally, BattleZone (the 1998 PC game based on the 1980 arcade game of the same name), Asteroids (the 1998 remake of the 1979 arcade game), A Collection of Activision Classic Games For the Atari 2600 and its sister game, A Collection of Classic Games for the Mattel Intellevision, Spider-Man (the 2000 game; excluding it's PC version, which has the logo below)Heavy Gear 1 and it's sequel, Heavy Gear 2. It also can be seen on early PS2 games as well, but we have yet to find any PS2 games that use this logo. The still version appears on games by this company, like some of the aforementioned games for Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color (not counting the N64 version of THPS2 released in 2001, it used the Activision 02 brand instead). The logo described above is rare, as it appears mostly on some games for the PC from 1997-1998 like Nightmare Creatures, Dark Reign: The Future of War,and Zork: Grand Inquisitor. The Star Trek variant appears on Star Trek titles published by the company like Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force.

Scare Factor: Low, the explosion and music may get to a few, but it's harmless.

5th Logo (2001- ) Activision (2001)Activision (2001, Widescreen)

Nickname: "The Spinning Letters"

Logo: Against the black background with many different symbols sliding in from many areas, we see the "V" swooping in from the right getting to the center. Then many letters "A", "C", "T", three "I"'s, "S" "O" and "N", appear from different areas spinning quickly around the "V". Then all the letters quickly connect into the word "ACTIVISION", in the similar font as the past logos as the background disappears and the very dark light rays appear. Then the logo quickly zooms into us, shaking for a brief moment and the rays dye out. Then the logo turns two-dimensional. Then it fades out.

Variants: Since 2006, there is an elaborate HD version of the logo, which doesn't have the blur and the background is a bit darker. Also, there is a widescreen version of it as well. There is a still version, as well as the color inverted version. Sometimes, the logo cuts into black early at the end. There is a green-colored version on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. On DJ Hero 2, the logo halts after logo zooms and doesn't turn two-dimensional, and begins to zoom and spin back and forth, as the colors began to offset, and rewinds to the beginning, as if you're scratching the record on the turntable. Then the logo plays again, but with the FreeStyleGames logo instead. The logo is also been rendered in 60 frames per second in some games.

FX/SFX: The flying letters, spinning and forming the logo.

Music/Sounds: Many swirling and whooshing sounds as the letters spin, followed by a deep bang when the logo zooms in quickly.

Music/Sounds Variants:
 * DJ Hero 2: TBA


 * Crash Bandicoot: N.Sane Trilogy/Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled: Depending on the game you can either hear Dr. Neo Cortex or a different announcer saying "Activision Presents: A smashing blast from the past!"

Availability: Very common. You can find it on Madagascar, Call of Duty, and the Spider-Man series, as well as on many other games including the Tony Hawk series starting with Tony Hawk's Underground. The HD version appears on later games for Xbox 360 and PS3 such as Spider-Man: Edge Of Time and Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse.

Scare Factor: Low, the animation and bang may get to a few, but it's generally harmless.

6th Logo (GH: Warriors of Rock variant) (2010)

Logo: We see the Activision logo in the same style as the past logos standing on a molten rock, as the lava from flows through the rock and splatters all around. Other logos appear in the same way.Activision (2010)

FX/SFX: The lava flowing through the molten rock, the lava splattering below.

Music/Sounds: A rock-like tune, the lava bubbling and splattering.

Availability: Only seen on Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock.

Scare Factor: None, this is a cool logo.