Forums > Game Talk > So You Think You Know Video Game Typography...
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/22/2016 6:29 PM · Permalink · Report
Hey gang, I formerly played this game here in the forums from time to time. I've cobbled together an ugly logo for my gaming blog collaged from various and sundry video game logos, and I've challenged my readers to figure out which games the letters have been lifted from.
But... do I even have readers? Deeply unclear! What I do know is that if any group of people anywhere on the internet is qualified to figure out where these letters are from, it's you folks.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/22/2016 6:30 PM · Permalink · Report
(gets out stopwatch)
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/22/2016 8:27 PM · Permalink · Report
There may be other "I"s of that style in game logo canon, but no other ones actually contain a worm across them.
As for the M, I suspect I already used that one in one of my "Mobygames" collages of the past. But it's irresistible!
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/23/2016 2:19 AM · Permalink · Report
Right you are, I was concerned that Zool was too hard but apparently not hard enough 8)
We're a third of the way, but with only two guessers weighing in so far! Someone just has to notice, check in and clean up.
chirinea (47516) on 5/23/2016 2:28 AM · edited · Permalink · Report
I could say that X is from Zaxxon, but I can't find a screenshot to match. Maybe there's another game with the same font.
That O looks a lot like the one in Donkey Kong, but again, no screenshot seems to match (as the D or the K always overlap the O).
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/23/2016 3:44 AM · Permalink · Report
You caught me in both places, it is a Zaxxon X (not a ton of games with Xes in their names) from a rare platform (the Adam) and as for the O, I did a bit of reflective tweaking to eliminate the overlap and give me more placement / kerning options in the final layout.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/23/2016 5:30 PM · Permalink · Report
24 hours later, here's where we're at:
P - Perfect Dark (Daphne, 23 hours) I - Earthworm Jim (Terok Nor, 20 minutes) X - Zaxxon (chirinea, 8 hrs) E - L - Zool (chirinea, 7 hrs)
P - O - Donkey Kong (chirinea, 8 hrs) M - Wing Commander (Terok Nor, 20 minutes) P - Super Mario Bros. 2 (Jonathan, 20 hrs) E - Goldeneye (Jonathan, 22 hrs) I - I - Samurai Shodown (chirinea, 7 hrs)
So what we have remaining are the first E, the second P (this one will be tough), and the second-last I.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/25/2016 2:56 AM · Permalink · Report
You have identified the E correctly, though someone on Facebook (a non Mobygames nobody!) beat you to it! I think people will be kicking themselves when the I is announced, meanwhile the missing P is just unfair, and will make people want to instead kick me.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/27/2016 1:34 AM · Permalink · Report
OK, the second P is from the Colecovision version of Pitfall. Now if you like we can play 20 questions to ascertain the origin of that penultimate I.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/27/2016 1:36 AM · Permalink · Report
Also the bonus question is still in effect: what the heck is that background?
chirinea (47516) on 5/27/2016 2:05 AM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Pseudo_Intellectual wrote--]OK, the second P is from the Colecovision version of Pitfall. [/Q --end Pseudo_Intellectual wrote--]And now I wan't to kick myself because I checked many other versions of Pitfall but didn't check that one!
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/27/2016 10:51 PM · Permalink · Report
It's a delicate thread I tread between picking an iconic letter that is guessed in 5 seconds and ... stray just a little from the path, and here we have a popular, historic game that nobody could catch. But I suppose this font probably was not that well associated with the game.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/28/2016 3:10 AM · Permalink · Report
I want to give a hint about that lingering "i" but I can't think of a single way to suggest it without giving it away. Maybe I could say... a year 2000 release.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/28/2016 9:31 PM · Permalink · Report
Ha ha ha, that was really the vaguest hint I could think of and it took you 20 minutes to nail it! (Also, wow on having missed two games that you checked, no explanation there 8)
And that brings this round to a conclusion! I'll post the results shortly. Thanks for playing! I think that you take home the grand prize of, uh, big kudos.
Pseudo_Intellectual (66471) on 5/29/2016 2:01 PM · Permalink · Report
The original post has been updated with complete letter sources! Enjoy and thanks for playing!