Background: Sony Imagesoft (formerly "CSG Imagesoft") was founded in 1989. It was originally a unit of CBS/Sony Group, but in 1991, Sony established its North American arm Sony Electronic Publishing, and made Imagesoft a unit of it. The division published games for 8-bit and 16-bit consoles. Later, it was expanded to PC products. Soon after it was closed due to Sony's attention on the arrival of PlayStation. It was merged with the development branch of Sony Computer Entertainment in 1995 to create "Sony Interactive Studios America", which was later relaunched in 1998 as "989 Studios". In 2000, it was dissolved into Sony Computer Entertainment of America; however, the 989 Sports label continued to be used until 2006.
CSG Imagesoft[]
1st Logo (June 1989)[]
Logo: The white Futura text of "CSG IMAGESOFT INC." fades in and out of the blue on the black background.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen after completing Super Dodge Ball for the NES.
2nd Logo (June 1990-1991)[]
Logo: On a black background, 20 small white vertical lines surround the words "CSG IMAGES●FT INC•". "PRESENTS" fades in below.
Variants:
- On Dragon's Lair, the white logo is shown on the title screen. Plus the "O" is dotted and "RELEASED BY" is above the logo.
- On the copyright screen of Dragon's Lair, it's like the one above, except it was shortened to "IMAGESOFT", and we have "AN" and "RELEASE" on the left and right sides of the logo.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: The opening theme of the game.
Availability: Seen on Dragon's Lair for NES and Game Boy, and Solstice for NES.
Sony Imagesoft[]
1st Logo (December 1991-Spring 1995)[]
Logo: Against a black background, the stylized white feather falls from the top, swirling and making the place with its point down. Colored light rays are emitted from the point, and then it zooms out to reveal it was on a box. The text "SONY" fades in, and the text "IMAGESOFT" is shown below the logo.
Variants:
- A later animated version has an improved look and quality.
- The first still version has the logo appearing on a grey background.
- The second still version, seen on games from 1994 to 1995, is more graphic and has shadows.
- There is a print version of this logo made in black, blue (or green) colors and similar to the previous logo.
- There is a simple version used on Gear Works where the blue rectangular part is gone, leaving only the feather and the rays.
- The feather animation is superimposed against the studios of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune on PC versions of those shows' video game adaptations.
- On ESPN Speed World, the logo is inside a white rectangular box. Plus, the logo is crushed by the game's title logo.
- On the Game Gear version of Cliffhanger, the logo is on a gold background.
- On some NES games, the logo is on a grey background.
- On the Game Gear and Game Boy versions of Last Action Hero, the logo is surrounded by a striped border. On the latter, there is a drop shadow.
- Most Game Boy games have a thinner "SONY" text.
FX/SFX: 2D animation. None for the still versions.
Music/Sounds: A soft orchestral tune with piano. None or the game's opening theme on the still versions.
Availability: The first still version is rare and seen on the SNES games of Hook (also seen on the Genesis version), Chuck Rock and Equinox, as well as Game Boy and Game Gear games, and the NES games of Last Action Hero, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Cliffhanger. The second still version is common and seen on various games like Frankenstein, Mickey Mania, No Escape and ESPN series. The animated version was used on several Sega CD games, like Wheel of Fortune and Johnny Mnemonic for PC. The blue version can be found on Skyblazer. The black version appears on the NES and Game Boy games of Hudson Hawk. The green version appears on the NES game of Hook, and the SNES games of Extra Innings and Smart Ball.
2nd Logo (September 1993-November 1, 1994)[]
Logo: Very similar to the still version of the last logo, except the box is black, and the picture appears much darker. Plus, the logo is on a black background, and it has a red tint onto the logo.
Variants:
- On Last Action Hero, the logo is stretched to screen.
- On SNES games, the logo is darker.
- There is an animated version of this logo, which is seen on Bram Stoker's Dracula (the Sega CD port at least). It carries out like the next logo with some differences: the feather drops slower and points all the way to the right corner, while remaining red throughout the logo, and the box coasts to the center as it appears.
- A different animated version is seen on the Sega CD port of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The feather noticably swirls a little more before pointing dead center, and the box just rotates up after a bright flash.
FX/SFX: None. CGI on the animated versions.
Music/Sounds: None.
Music/Sounds Variants:
- The Dracula animated version features a distorted low-pitched version of the last logo's music.
- The Frankenstein animated version has a low-tempo vibrato theme playing throughout.
Availability: Seen on the SNES and Genesis games of Cliffhanger, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Last Action Hero. It's also seen on the SNES and Sega CD games of Championship Soccer '94 and the Sega CD game of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
3rd Logo (1994)[]
Logo: We reveal the 3D version of the Sony Imagesoft logo shown on the game's introduction. The box is in purple gradient, the feather is again red-orange-yellow gradient, the rays are shown as cuts, and the spark is absent. The text is in white, and it was also 3D and it was less bold than on the previous logos.
Variants:
- ESPN National Hockey Night: As part of the introduction, we zoom in from the hockey puck to reveal the logo on a black background as the title logo shatters.
- ESPN NBA Hangtime '95: As part of the introduction, the title's text and NBA logo crashes to reveal the logo zooming in on the basketball court, then it rotates.
FX/SFX: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: The intro of the game.
Availability: Only seen on ESPN National Hockey Night and ESPN NBA HangTime '95 for Sega CD.
Sony Electronic Publishing[]
Main Logo (November 1994-1995)[]
Logo: This is an enhanced print version of the Sony Imagesoft logo, except "IMAGESOFT" is replaced with "ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING", with "PUBLISHING" in spaced-out letters underneath "ELECTRONIC".
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Very rare due to its short lifespan. Seen on Ghosts for PC and Mega Turrican (UK version) and Morph for Sega Genesis.
Unused Logo (December 31, 1994)[]
Logo: Same as the 1st Sony Imagesoft logo, only it starts on a blue background, there is no flash, the rays are simpler, and the logo reads "ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING" in place of "IMAGESOFT".
FX/SFX: 2D animation. Basically the same as the 1st Sony Imagesoft logo, but far simpler.
Music/Sounds: Same as the 1st Sony Imagesoft logo.
Availability: This was meant to appear on the 1995 Jeopardy! PC game, but it went unused. The logo's file (SONYLOGO.MOV) can be accessed in the "MOVIES" folder on the disc.
Sony Interactive Studios America[]
(September 9, 1995)[]
Logo: On a black background, we see the Sony logo in white. Above the logo is the word "a production of", and below is the word "INTERACTIVE STUDIOS", in a white Times New Roman font.
FX/SFX: None.
Music/Sounds: None.
Availability: Seen only on ESPN Extreme Games for PlayStation and PC.
989 Studios[]
(November 1998-2000)[]
Logo: On a black background, the numbers "9", "8" and "9" along with two half-circle lines and the word "STUDIOS" comes down, then the "TM" symbol comes up fast from the right to finish the logo and make it shine.
Variant: A still version exists on a white background that was seen on the PlayStation game of Running Wild.
FX/SFX: CGI animation.
Music/Sounds: A dark backbeat is heard with a male announcer saying "989 Studios", ending in a loud bang. On some games, if you listen very closely, you can hear the last note from the PlayStation boot screen's music as well.
Availability: Seen on PlayStation video games, such as Rally Cross 2, Syphon Filter 1 & 2, Twisted Metal III, Cool Boarders 3, and other 989 Studios games. It also appeared on the demo of Xena: Warrior Princess (found on Jampack Summer '99 demo disc before the publishing rights went to Electronic Arts).