Shaba Games

Background

Shaba Games was a video game developer founded in September 1997 in San Francisco, California. Its first game was Grind Session for PlayStation. In April 2002, it was acquired by Activision and became a wholly-owned subsidiary. In later years, the studio was known for its assistance work on multi-platform titles. In October 9, 2009, Activision confirmed that the studio would be closed.

1st Logo (April 29-August 25, 2000)

Visuals: There is a night sky with stars and glowing outlines of constellations depicting skaters. Then the camera moves down to a sandy surface and see an orange trapezium shield with a small blue attachment above. The name "Shaba Games" is written on the shield in two lines and slowly ripples. A weird-looking human head appears below, with flames instead of hair. The head winks at us.

Technique: Traditional animation with the backgrounds in CGI.

Audio: First cicadas chirping, then the burning flame and a wink sound.

Availability: Appears on Grind Session for PlayStation.

2nd Logo (December 11, 2000-November 18, 2005)

Visuals: There is a strange man (probably of Japanese origin) within old cinema effects. The man greets the player with "Shaba" and says "Ha-ha", then suddenly zooms out and the name "SHABA GAMES" in a font similar to Comic Sans appears next to him. Then the logo ends.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: Sounds of a film projector and the man talking, then a gong.

Availability: Seen on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX for PlayStation, Shrek SuperSlam and Razor Freestyle Scooter. It also appears on Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix for PSP as well.

3rd Logo (50 Years of Fun!) (June 3, 2003-June 6, 2004)

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Visuals: The first element shown is a presentation showcasing the fictitious history of the Shaba brand name, which traces all the way back to 1953 with Shaba Amusements & Diversions. At the end of the presentation, the Shaba name appears in a similar way to the first logo, and the byline "50 years of fun!" is wiped below in a curve. The whole logo is gold.

Technique: A mix of 2D and 3D CGI animation.

Audio: A synth tune.

Availability: Seen on Wakeboarding Unleashed.

4th Logo (October 25-November 18, 2005)

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Visuals: On a white background, there is a drawing of a man yelling, before cutting to a child crying in response. The camera rapidly cuts between the two, before cutting to the word "SHABA", in a similar font to the next logo, with "G A M E S" appearing under it afterwards in red. The logo fades out shortly after.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: The man and the child screaming, followed by a two-note guitar riff when the text appears

Availability: Seen after the credits of Shrek SuperSlam. The 2nd logo appears upon booting up the game.

5th Logo (November 7, 2006-June 8, 2007)

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Visuals: There is a fish lying on a cooking table, with old film effects. Suddenly, a hand with a knife appears and chops the fish in a cartoonish style, while the background rapidly flickers with various views. The fish opens its mouth and remains solid during the execution, but then promptly turns into a chopped form. The hand passes over the fish meat and creates "SHABA". Then the hand puts spices on the upper right corner. Two characters are on the bottom left and right corners, one of them being the man from the second logo.

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: The cook saying "hm!", then sounds of chopping and yelling "Shaba!", then a gong.

Availability: Appeared on Tony Hawk's Project 8 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It's also seen on the PSP version as well.

6th Logo (October 21-28, 2008)

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Visuals: The screen pans over a dark interlacing view on the city towers, where the background is red. The black Shaba logo rises up. Then the city outlines clear out and the logo is left alone on the screen.

Technique: CGI animation.

Audio: An ominous humming sound.

Availability: Appeared on Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.