EA Tiburon

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum


Background

EA Tiburon was founded in 1994 as "Tiburon Entertainment" in Orlando, Florida. In 1998, it was acquired by Electronic Arts and was renamed to "EA Tiburon". It is best known for the Madden NFL series (since 1995; starting with the SNES version of Madden NFL '96) and the NCAA Football (originally known as College Football USA) series (since 1996). Its name is derived from "Tiburón", the Mexican word for "shark" (different from the Mexican word for "dolphin", which is "Delfín").

1st Logo (October 6, 1995-1997)

Visuals: On a white background, there is a gray-gradient rectangle with "TIBURON" in the Friz Quadrata font on it with a gradient colored line in it. Above it, there's a hammerhead shark with different textures on it, depending on each game. Below the logo, there is "ENTERTAINMENT" in the Kabel font, spaced to fit the width of the logo. There is a shadow behind the logo.

Variants: There are many different variations of the logo, mainly the texture on the hammerhead shark and the "TIBURON" text's color gradient.

  • Madden NFL '96 and '97 (SNES): The hammerhead shark has an American football texture on it. Plus, the gradient color in "TIBURON" is green.
  • NHL '96 (SNES): The hammerhead shark has an icy ground-like texture on it. Plus, the gradient color in "TIBURON" is sky blue.
  • College Football USA '97 (Genesis): It's the same as the Madden variants, except there are white lines on the left and right of the shark. Plus, the gradient color in "TIBURON" is burnt orange.
  • Mechwarrior 3050 (SNES): The hammerhead shark has a green computerized texture on it and its eye is red. Plus, the gradient color in "TIBURON" is the same as the Madden variants and the background is black.
  • Soviet Strike (Saturn): The hammerhead shark has a green army styled texture on it. Plus, the rectangle is brown and it has a stone like-texture on it, the gradient color in "TIBURON" is the same as the NHL '96 variant, and "ENTERTAINMENT" is sky blue. The background is a red-black gradient lava-like background.
  • Nuclear Strike (PC): Same as the Soviet Strike variant, except "ENTERTAINMENT" is in black, and it takes place on a rippling water background.
  • Slam: Shaq vs. the Legends (Genesis): The hammerhead shark has a basketball texture on it. Plus, the gradient texture in "TIBURON" is orange.
  • Madden NFL 2002, 2003 and 2004 (GBA): Same as the SNES variant, except the rectangle has a football texture in it, and below it was the text "ELECTRONIC ARTS".

Technique: A still sprite-based graphic.

Audio: None, or the opening theme of the game. The Nuclear Strike variant has a dreamy theme behind the logo.

Availability: Appears on Tiburon games from the time period, such as these games mentioned above.

  • As for Madden NFL '97, it, along with the High Score Entertainment logo, appears when Credits is selected from the pre-game, halftime and some other menus.
  • As for College Football USA '97, it, along with the High Score logo, appears when Credits is selected from the main menu.
  • As for Soviet Strike, it appears after waiting long enough on the title screen.
  • As for the GBA Madden variants, it appears when Credits is selected from several menus.

2nd Logo (September 11, 1996-August 1, 1998)

Visuals: Against an underwater background, there are six hammerhead sharks swimming underwater. Two of them are in the front, while four of them are in the back. As they swim closer, there are some fishes swimming through in front of the sharks. As more fishes swim through, the front left hammerhead shark notices them and chases after them to scare them. Then the screen fades into the Tiburon logo from before, waving for a few seconds as it becomes normal. There are a few differences here from the previous logo; the hammerhead shark has an American football texture like before from the Madden variants, the rectangular shape is blue and it has a water-like texture on it, "TIBURON" has more gradient colors inside it (normally light blue-green, and "ENTERTAINMENT" is in a blue-purple gradient color.

Variant: One variant has the logo moved up a bit to have the website URL "http://www.tibent.com" fade in below the logo.

Technique: CGI.

Audio: Some kind of Jaws-styled music with the sound of water waves when the logo appears.

Availability: Appears on Madden NFL '97 for PlayStation and Saturn (before the game starts, when the Tiburon team is selected as a home team). Also appears on Madden NFL '98 for PlayStation and Saturn, NCAA Football '98 and NCAA Football '99 for PlayStation.