Video game publisher THQ has announced that it's ditching its current logo in favor of something a bit more avant-garde.  Gone are the speedy-looking letters that have marked every game the company has released over the past decade and in its place is this swoopy, curvy creation.  It's meeting with resistance around the Internet because change is frowned upon, but in the end I suppose it doesn't really matter.  It's a logo on a box.  The company has gone through several logos over the years, and 1UP.com has a chronicle of them all.  However, having said the aforementioned about logos just being images on a box, I have to admit that these images can create associations that last for many years.  Today's modern THQ is a publishing powerhouse with quality franchises such as Red Faction, Saints Row, Darksiders, and the upcoming Homefront.  The THQ label should be a beacon of hope (when not dealing with licensed games meant for children, of course).  Instead I find myself continuing to associate the brand with the THQ of my youth that put out substandard games such as these:

Yes, there once was a time when THQ games were to be avoided.  THQ has improved remarkably since releasing these titles and others like them, of course, but I just find it impossible to break the the mental association between the company and clunky games.  When I first heard about Homefront, asked "Who's behind that one?", and was told THQ, my silent gut response was That can't be right.  I don't know if this new logo can help erase those old lingering memories, but it certainly can't hurt.

(Box art via Game Boy Database)