From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum
Hasbro Interactive was the video game division of toy company Hasbro, founded in December 1995 by Hasbro vice-president Thomas Dusenberry (credited as "Tom" in the company's games). The company mainly published games based on their intellectual properties, though they also released games based on non-Hasbro franchises like Thomas & Friends (now a Mattel IP) and Stuart Little. In February 1998, the company bought the Atari brand name from JTS Storage, and used it to publish retro-themed remakes of several classic Atari titles, and followed this up by purchasing MicroProse in August 1998, and Europress Software Ltd. in 1999.
By late 2000, however, growing losses at the company prompted Hasbro to sell its gaming division to French software company Infogrames for $100 million, including all subsidiaries, licenses and an exclusive licensing agreement to publish games based on Hasbro properties. The deal was completed at the end of January 2001, and Hasbro Interactive was renamed to Infogrames Interactive. Using the Atari brand that was acquired, Infogrames rebranded under that name in May 2003. Hasbro later bought back the gaming rights for their properties in 2005 and signed a casual publishing deal with Electronic Arts two years later.
In 2023, during their 100th anniversary, Hasbro launched a new dedicated gaming initiative - Hasbro Retro Arcade.
Visuals: On a black background, there is a white rectangle with the green word "HASBRO" on the top. The word "ELECTRONIC" in Times New Roman with a purple Saturn-like planet with a red atom revolving around in place of the "O" is seen below. The purple word "ENTERTAINMENT" is seen below "ELECTRONIC".
Variant: On Monopoly, the logo is revealed via a ripple effect.
Debut appearance Appears on European copies of Versions 1.0 and 1.1 in place of the Parker Brothers logo or the next logo, and is retained on the 1996 and 1997 reissues.
Final appearance Only appears on the first released version of the game. Plastered on later reissues of the game.
Hasbro Interactive
1st Logo (1996)
Visuals: The sequence starts on a black background, which ripples to live-action footage of a sky and some clouds. After a few seconds, a transparent triangular prism appears along with 5 gold spheres spinning around. The prism starts shining and flashes into a space background. The spheres turn around the back of the prism and turn red, orange, gold, green and blue which face to a moon. A giant triangle faces down to the screen where the prism is. Below the triangle is "HASBRO" and "InteractiveTM". The footage inside the triangle stops.
Variant: On Ultimate Yahtzee, the logo freezes before it fully finishes. Afterwards, three die crash into the logo while it resumes, segueing into the game's opening theme.
Technique: Live-action footage for the clouds, and CGI for the rest. Depending on the game (and the resolution of the corresponding video file), the logo may run at 15 frames per second or 30 frames per second.
Audio: Starts with an 8-note harp arpeggio, one ascending and one descending. It is followed by a descending series of bells and a synth line (although it could be heard at a lower volume before it's actually heard at normal volume; the faint synth line is looped 3 more times, ending when the triangle and wordmark zoom into place), accompanied by ascending and descending electronic sounds. A loud whoosh is then heard when the flash from the rotating pyramid transitions the setting into outer space, along with an orchestral hit, in which the music evolves into a futuristic, space-like theme (using the same arpeggios as the beginning in synth form). Whooshes (which sound like paper sounds) are then heard as the golden spheres pass through the pyramid and are given their respective colors. As the triangle and wordmark zoom out into place, a timpani drumroll (which sounds like a thunderclap) is heard, segueing into an ascending horror suspense-like stinger (which is heard twice in succession). The music finally ends with a loud, echoing drumbeat, plus an electric guitar sting and wind sounds.
Audio Variants:
Depending on the game, the audio may be compressed, which is the case with Ultimate Yahtzee.
On Ultimate Yahtzee, thunder sounds are heard after the orchestral hit, which stop when the gold spheres start passing through the pyramids. Afterwards, another thunder sound is heard as the triangle and wordmark zoom into place and freeze. The drumbeat and electrical guitar sting then perfectly transition into the game's intro music, without the echo.
On Scrabble, the opening theme to the game is used.
Debut appearance Appears on the North American release of Version 1.1 of the game, replacing the Parker Brothers logo (which was reinstated in Version 1.4). It also showed up in a 2001 UK reissue of the game found on the Infogrames compilation release "Family Collection".
Visuals: There is a still version of the standard Hasbro Interactive logo, with a light blue background inside the triangle.
Variants:
The logo can have a box around it (just like the print logo), for example on H.E.D.Z., where it shares places with the Vis logo, and on Daytona USA 2001.
On Sorry!, the logo zooms in to let the Third-I logo appear.
Visuals: The screen flashes white, before dying down to reveal a blue 3D planet on a blue background. All of a sudden, several information-esque objects swirl down the center of the screen, as it flashes different colors to several corresponding spheres sucking down the swirl as well (going from green, gold, orange to red) until the Hasbro Interactive logo is formed (with no dot on the second "i"). This logo is more elaborate, with reflections and 3D effects. After the logo is complete, the balls themselves continue animating as the logo disappears in a white flash (a la the 1985-2006 Walt Disney Pictures logo).
Variants:
On RollerCoaster Tycoon, the logo is still and pans from the top to the bottom. The MicroProse and Chris Sawyer logos soon follow.
On Monopoly (1999) for N64, the logo is still and small with a copyright notice on the bottom.
On some MicroProse games, the logo billboards over to the MicroProse logo before the white flash appears and the logo itself is much faster to match the audio of the 5th logo.
On some games, the white flash at the end may seamlessly transition (or crossfade) to whatever the next logo may be (i.e. in Monopoly Junior, where it crossfades to the Mind's Eye Productions logo, and on the PC version of The Next Tetris, where it crossfades to the Atari Interactive logo).
The speed of the logo may vary.
The PC version of The Next Tetris uses the lower-quality version of the music but the logo plays at standard speed.
On Operation!, after the animated logo finishes, a still version then appears.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: It starts with a cymbal crash and a brass hum, followed by several electronic sound effects that ascend and grow rapidly until the end, where it culminates in a twinkle, three drumbeats, and an echoing whoosh.
Audio Variants:
On a handful of games with this logo, the audio is a bit lower in quality. Additionally, the whoosh at the end may leave much more of an echo (if one listens closely to it, that is).
On Monopoly (1997) for PS1, the audio is low-pitched and slightly slower as a result.
The audio is slower on Stratego and several Spot titles as well.
On the MicroProse variant, the 5th logo's theme is heard, and when the logo ends, the MicroProse logo's music kicks in as the last half of the former's theme trails off.
On RollerCoaster Tycoon, one of the coaster lift hill sounds plays over this logo and the others.
Visuals: 5 white dots move clockwise by a spiral towards the center. There, they merge and form a rotating blue pyramid with a big blue sphere carved on its sides. The spheres pass over the pyramid as they become the normal colors of the spheres in the Hasbro Interactive logo. Then, the spheres appear again, spin around the pyramid (which becomes 2D) and take their usual places. The words "HASBRO Interactive" move in with a door-closing effect and the logo sparkles, forming its usual design.
Variants:
Later games would have the logo with the animation enhanced but with a lower speed.
On The Game of Life for PC, the logo is shortened, with just the Hasbro Interactive wordmark moving into its position. Additionally, the logo is bigger.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: A THX-like ascending theme that ends in a 5-note orchestral fanfare. There are various whooshes and ambient sounds heard throughout. The quality varies on each game.
Audio Variant: On The Game of Life for PC, only the last two notes are heard.
Visuals: Some colored electrons move around a blue atom. The camera zooms out to reveal the space full of debris, then the triangle cuts off the space and makes the blue sphere inside it, surrounded by electrons as in the usual Hasbro logo. The logo is outlined. Suddenly, the red electron enters, making way to its place, and the logo shines to reveal "LET'S PLAY!" below the picture.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: A fuzzy synth tune ending with a brief choir. Several whooshes can be heard as the electrons move.
Availability Notes: Also appeared on North American commercials for Hasbro Interactive products from that time.
6th Logo (July 10-December 15, 2000)
Visuals: The sequence starts on a black background, where an ascending whistle of a rocket is heard. All of a sudden, a gold comet appears, quickly moving upwards over a space background (if one pays close attention enough; a la The Learning Company) as a big white spark appears. The comet then crashes into the spark, resulting in an explosion. It dies down, revealing the Hasbro Interactive logo, which is the same as the print logo. The wordmark is the same as the third logo as well, albeit with the dot on the second "i".
Variant: On certain games such as Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge for the Dreamcast, the logo is in better quality and moves at a smoother frame rate.
Technique: CGI.
Audio: A rocket whistle and explosion noises, ending in an electrical guitar-like sting and some thunder clapping sounds.
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