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[tesselode]

Do you think logo screens should ever be used? If so, when?

I imagine you could make a cool looking logo screen just for the sake of looking cool. The most important thing is that you keep it short or allow the player to skip it. But I'm not sure whether there's ever an actual good purpose for a logo screen.

Your thoughts?

[zacaj]

I think you should make a different cool animation, of any length, for each game, but it should only be played when you start a new game.  When you start the game and go to the main menu, it should go directly, no screens at all

[Xion]

I like logo screens. They look cool. I always watch them if they're unique or from a company I've never heard of before. They kind of remind me of signatures. Nothing wrong with signing your work.

I dislike unskippable logo screens, though.

[SundownKid]

IMO, they should only be used at the game's start, otherwise they should be somewhere like the title screen where you don't have to watch an animation. Unskippable logo screens suck.

[Xion]

I actually dislike them more when they're on title screens and shit. Like, just show me once, at the very beginning, and let that be it, and the rest should be solely and completely dedicated to the actual game until I reach the credits. So distracting to see, on menus, "Company name! Physics Engine! Audio Engine! Sponsor!" blech. At least if you're gonna do that leave it in simple text, fine print, and ditch the logos.

[Mhaine]

I would say that depends on the type of game.
For example, if you are making an MMO or a coffee break game, you should not have a logo, or even if you have it, your logo should show up only on the first execution of the game.

However, any other game should have a logo screen. As Xion mentioned, they are some kind of signature that you either begin to trust or hate. For example, every time I see the Valve logo, I smile. Makes me feel nostalgia. Conversely, whenever I see the EA logo, I am warned of the consequences, and more than often I don't waste my time with the game in question. Either way, using a logo helps the customer more.

[st33d]

By having a logo screen you're creating a brand.

[Maushu]

I dislike unskippable logo screens, though.

THIS.

The key here is to make the logo screen memorable and:

• Make them skippable.
• Don't wait for user input, change to the next screen after some time.
• Don't use more than 2/3 screens.
• Even better if you can make the logo screen fit the game theme. (Like EA, Epic Games, Lionhead Studios and some others do.)

I specially like how Lionhead Studios made their interactive and physical logo screen. Very memorable.

[Xion]

• Even better if you can make the logo screen fit the game theme. (Like EA, Epic Games, Lionhead Studios and some others do.)

agree. If the logo is always going to be the same across games, and I know it's always going to be the same, I'll only ever see it twice: the first time, and the second time, where I realize it's the same, and then stop caring. If you make it match the game though I'll look at it every time you come out with a new game to see what you've done, thus further ingraining your brand into my impressionable consumer-mind.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

usually games have loading time, so i've no problem with a logo while the game is loading. that's usually what was done in the ps1/ps2 days. i don't think it particularly matters much though; some games have logo screens, some don't, and i don't really care either way. i do think they "work" from a business standpoint though; most people wouldn't know which dev made which game if those games didn't have logos

[XRA]

this might be the wrong thread...but
http://pleasepressstart.tumblr.com

I like identity/logo stuff.. as long as it isn't fucking stupid.

[Core Xii]

Intros are cool. But as stated, they have to be skippable and shown only the first time the game is started. I can't overstate how critical that is. Logos remind you who made the game... and if the logo is a bad experience, it reminds you who made the bad experience. "Yes yes, fucking EA get-to-the-Games-already; Nvidia the-way-it's-meant-to-be-unskippable."

The worst offender I've ever seen is Civilization V. Every time you start the game:

• Three unskippable logos
• Unskippable* intro movie
• Bunch of legal crap (below)
• More legal crap if you want to start/load a modded game (below)
  

*) The intro movie is actually skippable, but it doesn't skip until the game loads all of its resources. On my fairly beefy gaming PC the intro plays about 1 minute into it.




Thankfully, you can get rid of the intro videos by editing an INI file.

Another related offense is when games want to install to something like
C:\Program Files\EA® Games™\Sid Meier®'s Civilization™ V©
It's taking it a bit too far.

[Player 3]

Why not try making the logo screen unskippable for the first time, but will be skippable every time after that? A simple *.INI file can keep record.

[zacaj]

Why not try making the logo screen unskippable for the first time, but will be skippable every time after that? A simple *.INI file can keep record.

That could work, but you have to make sure not to use it on long logos, or worse, cutscenes, since the player could have played the game on another computer before, and ta gonna make them real annoyed if they have to sit for five minutes watching a cutscenes they've already seen. Conkera bad fur day had the "helpful" feature of only letting you skip cutscenes the second time you watch them, which is real annoying when the memory card is spotty...

[_Tommo_]

Why not try making the logo screen unskippable for the first time, but will be skippable every time after that? A simple *.INI file can keep record.

Usually Relic does that, I noticed it in the Warhammer:Dawn of War game and expansions, and in Company of Heroes...
it's cool but they take it a bit too far: the first time you have to see the whole intro too, so each single time you install it on some other computer, or you uninstall it or whatever you HAVE to see the awesomeness cinematic.
It looks like unimportant but I have seen the intro for W40K:DoW a crapload of times, that way.

EDIT: tl;dr: what zacaj says!

On the other hand, I am more than happy to watch some minutes of "introduction" credits, like those Rockstar uses to use. Really movie-ish.
Well, imo they are better suited to games than to films: "some minutes" before 6 hours of gameplay is ok, before an 1:30'' movie not at all. Right, Marvel?

[iffi]

As long as it's possible to skip it and/or disable it entirely, I'm fine with a logo screen on startup.

Why not try making the logo screen unskippable for the first time, but will be skippable every time after that? A simple *.INI file can keep record.

Perhaps, but would it really be necessary to force people to watch the logo screen the first time?

[Hangedman]

Perhaps, but would it really be necessary to force people to watch the logo screen the first time?

Yes. Especially if you're licensing it and you're contracted to display another company's logo. Even if that's not the case, you really should let people know who made the game, and if they ever replay it they'll have the convenience.

It should never be so long that you really have to skip it the first time, though.

[Painting]

If you really need to have an unskippable logo screen, I can't see anything wrong unless it's more than a simple black screen, logo fades in, logo fades out. It doesn't have to be more than two seconds, and if anyone is really so strapped for time they can't sit through two seconds of logo, they... probably shouldn't be playing something as time-wasting as video games.

In any case, simplistic logo screens like that are nice. They remind me of the THIS MOVIE HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR ALL AUDIENCES screens on movies - not interesting in and of themselves, but you get used to them, and they turn into a way to unintrusively build your tension for the game.

[TaintedFork]

What's best is if the logo screen becomes part of the game.

This is especially easy if the game begins with an opening cutscene. "Stitch" the logo onto the sofa that your character is sitting on, embed it in the table... It's out of the way, yet still there. As long as it doesn't turn into blatant product placement, this should be okay.

You can also do it the way Braid did - how it was part of the game despite lack of cutscene. That was non-distracting and it got out of the way fairly quickly. Everybody saw it but the speedrunners/returning players could just move the character and ignore it.

In my opinion Braid did a brilliant job at this. No time was wasted but we still got to see the logo.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

somewhat related: what is you guys' opinion on title screens

lately i've been thinking title screens are bad and the game should just start, right into the action, without a title screen, at least the first time you play (blueberry garden did this, as did most atari 2600 games)

but that has the problem in that you can't adjust the game options (since usually the options are on the title menu) before you begin the game

nonetheless the idea of starting right in the game without a title screen when you double click a game's icon appeals to me, and i wish there were a way to do it feasibly