Shack Chat: What is your favorite game company logo?

Last week ended on a bit of a fun note. By fun, of course, we mean "humdrum," as we learned that Bandai Namco was going to change its logo, effective next year. The logo is... what's the word we're looking for?

That's the one! The new Bandai Namco logo is pretty boring, but that got the Shacknews staff thinking, "Well, what is a good video game company logo?" We took some time to think it over and we think you'll like what we came up with. If you don't, there's a perfectly good Chatty thread below where you can weigh in yourself.

Question: What is your favorite game company logo?

People Can Fly - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Logo Editor

Logos aren't something I usually think about when thinking about a game company. Sure, there are classic logos, but I had to think about what really stands out to me. After pondering this query for a few minutes, I ultimately settled on People Can Fly, the makers of Outriders. Look at this thing! Is there anything more wholesome than some dude spreading his arms, running around, and going, "Look at me! I'm a plane! Nyyyyyeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrooooooom!!!"

It really speaks to the child in all of us, I believe.

Steam - Donovan Erskine, Pokemon Champion

There is something so simple about the Steam logo, but it’s also wholly unique. In fact, I didn’t even know what the logo was actually depicting, and had to google it for this Shack Chat. It’s a connecting rod and a crankshaft, which is a pretty fun play on Valve. I also appreciate how little it’s changed over the years, with no unnecessary minimalist overhaul. It’s iconic, and I immediately recognize it anywhere.

Atari - Blake Morse, Old Person

There’s a lot of nice logos on this list, but have any of them actually ever been fashionable? The Atari logo has stood the test of time and I would argue it’s one of the most iconic game company logos ever made. I mean, I’ve owned shirts and hats with the Atari logo on them and even a friggin’ beach towel! Atari might not be the giant of the games industry it once was, but it’s logo has never been out of style!

Bungie - Sam Chandler, Old school cool

One of the logos that I find most nostalgic, and thus my favorite, is Bungie’s logo from the early 2000s. I love the little cells that split and divide and ultimately overtake the world, which turns into the dot in Bungie’s i.The audio from this logo automatically makes me start thinking of the Halo: Combat Evolved main menu screen and the incredible music that accompanied it.

Half-Life era Valve - Chris Jarrard, Has the best opinions on staff

If I had to pick a favorite logo amongst developers, it would have to be Valve. When I got Half-Life for Christmas in 1998, I was unfamiliar with the team and upon first launch, was greeted by the now-iconic logo featuring a random one-eyed dude with a valve sticking out of his face. For Half-Life 2, the valve moved to the back of the head, but I don’t remember it as fondly.

Special mention goes out to Iguana Entertainment for the Turok: Dinosaur Hunter studio intro where the titular mascot dodges arrows prior to the game’s main menu being shown.

Rockstar Games - Bill Lavoy, Faithful Cartographer

pic.twitter.com/BklXMlZ0UQ

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) October 16, 2016

I’m going to take a very specific version of the Rockstar Games logo, which is the one that the company tweeted out as a teaser for Red Dead Redemption 2 back in 2016. It was just their logo, but with a lot of red, and it set the internet on fire. I thought it was cool that they could tease something simply by putting their logo on a red background.

That said, I looked through a lot of logos for this Shack Chat, and both Bethesda and CD Projekt Red were in the mix. Rockstar Games takes the win because of how they used their logo to tease RDR2, but it was a close race.

Capcom (especially PS1 era) - TJ Denzer, News Editor

I like Capcom in general. They’ve made a lot of games that have been formative experiences of my gaming career, but I think the era of Capcom logo crawls that speaks to me the most is PS1. That was when they had the cubes floating around in space that connect together by lasers to form the iconic Capcom logo.

I think a part of it is that PS1-era Capcom is also my favorite era of Capcom. Mega Man X4 is my favorite Mega Man game, Breath of Fire 4 is one of my favorite RPGs, X-Men vs. Street Fighter and Darkstalkers 3 landed there, and Mega Man Legends was also one of my all-time favorite series. That’s not even including its surge in survival horror through the likes of Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. It was just a banger period for the company and I knew that every time I saw that delightful animation, I was in for a good time.

Nintendo logo - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo show host

What is my favorite video game company logo? In a close decision, I have to give the edge to Nintendo. It was close between Nintendo, Capcom, and Konami as these are three companies from my childhood and helped shape my love of gaming. Nintendo was and still is my favorite company. The company holds so much for me that I have named my Shacknews show basically after Nintendo and use the “Nintendo” logo as the Stevetendo logo.

Capcom - Dennis White, Classic

It was close for me between this logo and SEGA but I gotta give it to Capcom because that blue and gold represented quality for me growing up. So many fighting games would flash this logo with the distinctive capcom sound before the game intro. Nostalgia is a very powerful thing but thankfully Capcom has been producing some bangers again the past few years to make me excited to see this logo pop up during a game conference. Now if only we can free Mahvel baby so I can hear CAPCOM PRESENTS one more time.

Those are our favorite logos, but perhaps you have a few selections that differ from ours. Join the conversation and give us your picks in the comments.

Shack Staff

Shack Staff stories are a collective effort with multiple staff members contributing. Many of our lists often involve entires from several editors, and our weekly Shack Chat is something we all contribute to as a group.