AS-Soft (Japan)

(1980s)


Nicknames: "The DOS Trojan Logo", "Seizure Balls of Doom", "8-Bit Vomit"

Logo: We see a red "A" with a small visible blue outline spinning on the left. The spinning slows down and the rest of the characters "-SOFT" stretch in from blue bars. "SOFT" is more spaced out unlike "AS". The letters then join themselves and slide into the center. A blue rectangle then flashes in behind. The background then flashes abruptly in yellow and white, and leaves the "AS-SOFT" logo on the black background for a few more seconds without the rectangle. Suddenly, the background flashes in yellow/white again, this time bringing up various multicolored balls of various sizes. All of the balls then move down and the blue balls are seen flashing continuously in white. The byline "AS SOFT IN WORLD" (spaced out) with "HISCHOOL ADVENTUER NO.1" appears below the AS-Soft wordmark. Some seconds later, some of the balls turn red/blue and disappear before the logo cuts into the opening credits.

FX/SFX: The letters connecting, the flashing, and the balls moving down.

Music/Sounds: After 16 seconds of silence, a messed-up sounding tone is heard. Depending on the hardware, it's either a square wave or a muffled hum-like sound.

Availability: Ultra rare. Was spotted in Hi-School Adventure No. 1 for the Sharp X1 computer, which is hard to find physically due to its minimal availability in Japan.

Editor's Note: An awkward logo since its discovery, specifically for its lengthy and cluttered 8-bit animation (something rare for videogame company logos from the time) and rarity among the Western audience.