Logo descriptions by DarkJester25
Logo captures by DarkJester25
Video captures courtesy of TBANapostriouf, hueso67, seablue, dimouseandzubik, Denskiewar, and gameantique

Background: Infogrames was a French gaming company that is famous for several titles, including Alone In The Dark, Shadow of the Comet, and Hogs Of War. The company began in 1983 and lasted until the mid-2000's, when it acquired the Atari name and eventually became the new Atari, Inc. in 2009, after many financial struggles.

First Logo
(1983-1995)




Nickname: The Armadillo, The Rainbow Armadillo, Infogrames Armadillo.

Logo: Against a white background, we see a black armadillo with rainbow stripes. Below it is the word INFOGRAMES. The logo usually fades in, stays a while, and fades out.

FX/SFX: None, this is a still logo.

Music: None or the opening theme of the game.

Availability: Rare, but can still be found on copies of old games from the 80's.

Scare Factor: None for silent variant, Minimal to Median for the other variant depending on the music.



Second Logo
(1992-1993)



Nicknames: Armadillo In The Dark, The Rotating Armadillo (Of Doom), CGI Armadillo, InfogrAAAAARGH!

Logo: We fade in to see a primitive version of the 90's grey Infogrames logo on a black background. After a brief flash of lightning and sudden clap of thunder, the armadillo and words become very early CGI renditions of themselves, and the armadillo rotates in the same manner as an object from the game Alone In The Dark. The logo fades out after it makes one rotation.

FX/SFX: The thunder, the lightning flash, the armadillo and text turning into CGI, the armadillo rotating, the fade in, the fade out.

Cheesy Factor: That early CGI is exceptionally awful - look at all those polygons. And the armadillo doesn't even have eyes!

Music/Sounds: Just the thunder.

Availability: Extremely Rare - this logo is only found on the game Alone In The Dark. This logo is not a variant of the third logo; it is a direct precursor to the third logo, and was therefore only used once.

Scare Factor: Median to Nightmare, depending on how much thunder and bad CGI scare you.




Third Logo
(1993-1998)



Nicknames: The Grey Armadillo, Rainbow Armadillo Two, Infogrames Armadillo.

Logo: A grey armadillo with rainbow stripes stands over the text INFOGRAMES, usually on a black or white background. The logo fades in and out, just like it's 80's predecessor, but the colored stripes aren't as bright as the first logo.

FX/SFX: None, this is a still logo.

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

Availability: Rare, found only on games of that period.

Scare Factor: None for the silent version, Minimal to Median for the other version depending on the music.




Fourth Logo
(1999-2001)



Nicknames: Spiral Armadillo, Fancy Rainbow Armadillo, Infogrames Armadillo.

Logo: On a white or black background, a more stylized version of the armadillo stands above the text INFOGRAMES. The image fades in and out.

SFX/FX: None, this is a still logo.

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

Availability: Uncommon to Scarce. Was only used for three years before the current logo began to show up.

Scare Factor: None for the silent variant, Minimal to Median for the other version depending on the music.




Fifth Logo
(2000-2009)



Nicknames: Seizure Armadillo, Crazy Armadillo, Springy Spiral Armadillo, Infogrames Armadillo.

Logo: We zoom out from black to see a shiny black 3D line on a flashing rainbow background. The line wiggles, stretches, and then snap-compresses together like a spring. The spring unfolds to reveal a heavily stylized armadillo. The spring then becomes a 3D flat drawing, and the word INFOGRAMES, in a black oval-like shape, fades in and zooms into the logo. It lands on the logo as the background turns white. A shadow fades in below the logo, and then the entire thing fades out.

Variants: There is one variant of this logo found in the opening of the Playstation game Hogs Of War. In this variant, the oval-like shape with the text is already there on the white background. The logo, in a nice shade of blue, is lowered down via some straps, like a cargo crate would be lowered from a crane, and the shadow below it gets bigger and bigger as it appears. Someone yells "chocolate!" and the logo is dropped, with the armadillo making an audible squeak as it lands. Throughout the logo, the text Studios Ltd Sheffield House fades in, flipping letter by letter into existance. The whole logo cuts to black.

FX/SFX: The zooming, the flashing colors, the springy line, the 3D effects, the fading. For the other variant, the flipping letters, the logo being lowered and dropped, and the shadow getting bigger.

Cheesy Factor: The flashing lights in the first variant could cause seizures, but otherwise nothing's wrong with it. A nice logo. The second variant is cheesy, but in a way that's intended to be funny. Why someone is yelling 'chocolate' is a mystery to me, but the abrupt cut to black feels off.

Music/Sounds: For the first variant, the spring noise and some weird wooshing sounds, along with a heavy synth cord reminiscent of the one from the first cyan, Inc. logo. For the second, a gentle sounding synth cord, some harp, someone yelling the word 'chocolate', and a squeaking noise as the armadillo lands.

Availability: common for the first variant. Ultra Rare for the second variant - I've only ever seen it on Hogs of War, but it may be elsewhere.

Scare Factor: Minimal to Median for the first variant; the flashing colors and the synth at the end may get to some people. None to Minimal for the second variant; the man yelling "chocolate!" might startle someone who isn't expecting it.