Taito

Taito Corporation is a Japanese company specializing in video game software, arcade hardware, game centers and toys, wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. It was established in 1953 as Taito Trading Company by a Russian Jewish businessman named Michael Kogan. Taito also imports and distributes American coin-operated video games in Japan, as well as their own games all around the world. Taito Corporation was acquired by Square Enix in 2005 and currently has divisions in Seoul, South Korea and Milan, Italy, and a subsidiary in Beijing, China. In the past, the company had operated divisions in North America and Brazil. Their previous logo (used until 1988) was not used as a fullscreen ident in video games.

Production LogosCommercial Tags

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1st Logo (1979-1982)

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Visuals: A diamond-like shape is seen, with a triangle shape on top, and the text "TAITO" banded across the V-shaped section. The entire logo resembles a marquee sign.

Variant: A few games might have some movement. Colony 7 has the "TAITO" letters glowing in different colors.

Technique: A still digital graphic mostly.

Audio: None.

2nd Logo (August 10, 1985-1988)

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Visuals: On the bottom of the game's title screen is the text "TAITO" in a sans-serif font, either in white, grey, green and red.

Technique: A still digital graphic.

Audio: None.

3rd Logo (1987-1992)

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Visuals: On a blue screen is several arcade cabinets from various Taito games from the era, and above was a neon sign reading "FUN TIME ARCADE". Then a gold version of the Taito logo appears from the era.

Later Variant: A later version exists where a grey box fades in with the new Taito logo appearing below.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: None.

4th Logo (August 1988-)

ImagesVideos

Standard VariantsIn-Credit Variants (Arcades)In-Credit Variants (Home consoles and computers)

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Visuals: There is a blue triangle with a streak, resembling a grass leaf, coming inside of it and projecting out of the triangle, with a circle at it's ending point. While inside, the streak is black (background-colored) and its outer point is blue. The word "TAITO" is seen below.

Variants:

• Some games have the triangle logomark taking place of the "A" of the Taito wordmark. This is typically seen on the title screen on most arcade games of the era, and was later used as an on-screen logo on modern games. On rare occasions such as the arcade version of G-Darius, it may have "PRESENTS" below.
• Many arcade games have unique variants of the logo (as described in the variants page).
• A special variant was used when booting up the company's video game console/karaoke machine hybrid Taito X-55. Here, on a white background, the blue triangle spins until it settles in its usual position. The blue circle bounces and forms the streak, thus forming the usual trademark logo. Once the circle settles in its usual position, it flashes on through the completed logo on a black background.
• On Dexter's Laboratory: Robot Rampage and Sgt. Rock: On the Front Line for Game Boy Color, the Altron logo is shown above the logo.
• On The Ninja Warriors for Super NES, the logo appears and disappears in the "turning/refracting prism"/"shadow line" style (a la Amblin Entertainment).

Technique: A still digital graphic for the most part.

Audio:

• None for the most part.
• Some games have a Japanese girl's voice saying "Catch the Heart!", followed by a light chime theme, and then the same voice singing "Taito!" at the end. This appeared on Japanese games as well as international releases and Japanese commercials during the time.
  • On the Nintendo 64 version of Bust-A-Move '99 (known as Bust-A-Move 3 DX in Europe and Puzzle Bobble 64 in Japan), the "Catch the Heart!" line is omitted, and the rest of the jingle plays once the logo fully fades in.
• The Taito X-55 start-up has a harp when the triangle spins, followed by a playful little theme for the rest.

5th Logo (Early 1990s-2000s)

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Visuals: The sequence starts on a blue background, which then reveals to be the Taito triangle logomark, zooming out ala the 1980 WCI/Warner Home Video logo. Then, "TAITO", in its trademark font and colored grey, fades in below.

Variants:

• Some games, like the 3DO port of Bust-A-Move, have a cut-short version of the logo lacking the blue background.
• The logo was redone in later games with smoother animation; also the text is intact instead of later fading in.
• On Arkanoid: Doh it Again! (1997), the blue background part is longer. After a few seconds, the copyright disclaimer for the game appears. Then it fades out and the logo animates normally.
• On Football Champ (known as Hat Trick Hero in Japan), the outer point doesn't fade in until the logo stops, and the background is black. This only appears in the arcade version.

Technique: Motion-controlled animation.

Audio: Depends normally. It can have the game's opening theme or is silent.

6th Logo (1993)

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Visuals: On a white background, the trademark triangle is seen at the top while a face consisting of two black crosses, a yellow circle, and a red smile is seen below, loosely based on a Pierrot/clown's face with the triangle as a hat of sorts. The triangle begins to sway left and right and drops slowly downwards, knocking the face pieces out of position and causing them to spin about, all the while the dot jiggles around. The face pieces eventually turn into the letters of "TAITO", with the "A" made out of a spinning grey line coming out of the "I". Once the logo finishes forming, dark pixels can be seen around "TAITO" as a registered trademark symbol appears, and the background fades to black.

Trivia: This is actually a simplified version of the logo used at the end of Japanese commercials at the time.

Technique: 16-bit animation.

Audio: The "Catch the Heart!" jingle from the 2nd logo and the commercials at the time.

7th Logo (Bubble Bobble Part 2 variant) (March 5, 1993)

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Visuals: Over a white background is the Taito wordmark logo in 3-D.

Variant: A B&W variant is seen on Game Boy.

Technique: A still digital graphic.

Audio: None.

8th Logo (December 20, 1993-August 11, 1995)

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Visuals: Over a black background, the logo drops down and is in shape of a 3D cone, with the streak being white. The TAITO wordmark then fades in below, and the cone logo changes into the traditional plain logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: None.

9th Logo (February 16, 1996-October 2, 1997)

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Visuals: The 3D Taito logo zooms out on a black background. The ball of the logo moves in from the right and places next to the triangle's streak. Then a flash happens, bringing up the flat version of the same logo on a white background.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A quick laser zapping sound, then followed by a held synth bass note with a descending sounder when the logo zooms out and a quick swoosh during the flash.

Audio Variant: Ray Tracers used a loud noise, followed by a jet take-off like sound (not as low-pitched as the Metal Black variant).

10th Logo (December 25, 2003-2006)

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Visuals: The blue triangle is seen from the top and pans to the side view. Four light streaks enter it and glow in the center. The triangle moves to the forming word "TAITO" and poses as the letter "A". Then it flashes and changes the background to white.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: An atmospheric synth score.

11th Logo (February 8, 2007-)

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Visuals: Just the still modern Taito logo over a white background, with the triangle posing as the "A".

Variants:

• This logo appears twice on the Taito Egret II Mini cabinet.
  • When starting up, the logo appears on the standard white background before cutting to the Egret II Mini logo.
  • When shutting down, the logo is on a black background with a white outline. After a few seconds, the logo is squished horizontally to mimic a TV switching off.

Technique: A still digital graphic.

Audio: None.

Audio Variant: When shutting down the Taito Egret II Mini, a techno-jingle loosely based on the "Catch the Heart!" variant, arranged by ZUNTATA's MASAKI, plays, which can be found on the fourteenth and final track of the fourth and final disc of "70/35 -TAITO 70th / ZUNTATA 35th Anniversary-" as "EGRET II mini SHUT DOWN SOUND".

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1st Tag (1988-1995)

Visuals: Over a white background, the trademark triangle is seen at the top while a face consisting of two black crosses, a yellow circle, and a red smile is seen below, loosely based on a Pierrot/clown's face with the triangle as a hat of sorts. The triangle rotates slightly to the right, resulting in the dot dropping to the bottom of the screen. The dot then rises to the center and knocks the face pieces out of position, causing them and the triangle to fly across the screen. The face pieces turn into the "T ITO" text and turn into a gray color, while the triangle settles on the space and the dot appearing above the "I". Once the logo finishes forming, the slogan "Catch the Heart" with a line next to it fades in above it.

Variant: A short, sped-up version exists.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: The "Catch the Heart!" jingle from the 2nd logo. Most of the time, the "Catch the Heart!" portion is absent. The short version uses an abridged version.

2nd Tag (1995-2002)

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Visuals: On a white background, there is a blue triangle flying on the screen. A streak forms from the bottom of the triangle and forms the trademark Taito triangle. The text "T ITO" in gray stretches into the screen, while the triangle again settles on the text's space. The slogan from the previous tag slides in above the finished product. The result is almost the same as the previous tag.

Variant: At the end of commercials for games using Kyocera communication services, there is text below the logo which reads "(Communication services provided by Kyocera Multimedia)".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A wobbling synth chord, with a different voice announcing the company's name.

Audio Trivia: Hidden and unused in the sound files for Super Puzzle Bobble (the console version, not the unrelated arcade and later mobile versions that use the same name) reveals an extended version of the jingle (heard here), with more of the wobbling synth chord and the voice saying the "Catch the Heart!" slogan.

2nd Tag (2002-200?)

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Visuals: On a grey background, a 3D red exclamation mark is shown. It then bounces a bit before hopping backwards before flipping upside down to reveal the Taito wordmark in blue, with the streaked triangle acting as the A. The wordmark lands on a surface with the flipped exclamation mark becoming the i. The wordmark bounces a bit before becoming 2D.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Another female voice singing "Taito", not unlike the previous logos. A boing sound and scribbling can also be heard.