Paul Barnett And The Original Ultima 1 Logo
Yes, I realize that the “original” Ultima 1 logo would, in fact, just read Ultima, because that’s what the game was originally called. BioWare Mythic’s creative director, Paul Barnett, also understands this, so why don’t I let him explain:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsJ0_L4_arA&w=560&h=315]
He calls it George.
I was far too in awe/paranoid to take any photos inside the part of Mythic’s offices where they keep all the old Ultima-related stuff, but this is indeed among the many treasures they have from Origin Systems that decorate the place.
Always like seeing these videos, shows how much of a fan he is!
(and a proper Northerner!)
Very cool, but not exactly correct. Of course, the original Ultima logo looked like this:
http://denisloubet.com/gallery/pictures/ultima1.gif
Same font design, but none of that airbursh stuff. I suspect this is from the first ORIGIN re-issue.
Awww… dont burst Paul’s bubble Odkin. 🙂
But yeah *pushes up his glasses* that seems to be from the 1987 Ultima 1. What I find very interesting is that the line (although not the color) of the reflection in the logo is the same as Ultima IV. U5’s reflection has a different line.
“On at least one occasion, the abominable snowman grabs Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck saying, “I will name him George, and I will hug him, and pet him, and squeeze him” with Mel Blanc doing an unmistakable imitation of Lon Chaney, Jr.’s Lennie.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Of_Mice_and_Men_in_popular_culture#In_cartoons_and_animation
Looking at that video and the other one about the Ultima Collectors Guide… He got a Jackson Pollock in his office!!! (If I see correctly)
Another reason why I like this guy 🙂 (and am envious)
Ok but seriously now. What the hell is up with all the Nikes on the wall??
Paul has a…thing…for red shoes.
Anyone else find this disturbing? This guy touching Ultima? It’s like some stranger giving candy.
Paul’s a good guy. I’m sure it was entirely consensual. Besides, that logo is certainly no minor.
As long as he paid for it and didn’t just grab it off the street and toss it into his windowless Chevy Astro I’m okay with it. Envious, but okay.
I seriously hope that he didn’t get it from some asshole on eBay with no paperwork behind it though. I suspect his contacts are deep enough to avoid that sort of thing.
You are aware, I trust, that when Origin was closed, their in-house assets went…well, okay, to a few places (e.g. Joe’s basement, a.k.a. the “Origin Museum”). But a big chunk of their stuff was sent to EA Redwood Shores, and then on to Mythic when UO development was passed along to them. This sign (and I’ve seen it in person) was among that collection of assets.
Your trust was misplaced, as I wasn’t aware. I haven’t heard how Origin’s physical properties (PP) were acquired through their various transitions. I wonder how much stuff was lost, broken or sold during transport. Good that you’ve seen this one before, so it’s probably not some fool on eBay.
Where did you see the sign? We could create a chain of custody to track rare artifacts through the wiki. Like the new Ultima book but smaller and always updated. As long as no in-confidence type revelations were made normal people shouldn’t be scared to know who has what Ultima-related items. No addresses would be listed or anything potentially harmful.
I have a cloth Ultima IV map for IBM-PC, original (I bought the game new). At the time I was taking painting lessons privately, and used a thin tip brush with black paint to write the names of landmarks in Britannian runic. The dungeon entrances weren’t shown on the cloth map either, so I painted them in as simple caves like in the game. I should take a picture of it, damn.