Electronic Arts Canada

Background

In 1991, game publisher Electronic Arts acquired Canadian game developer Distinctive Software and later renamed it to Electronic Arts Canada. The company would later go on to be famous for developing the NHL, FIFA and Need for Speed games.

1st Logo (1992)

Logo: On a black background, a red cube appears popping up, followed by a blue sphere, and then a green cone appears, forming a 3D version of the EA logo of the time on the bottom right. Credits appear behind the logo.

Technique: The cones popping.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Only seen on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? for Sega Genesis.

2nd Logo (1992-1993)

Logo: On a black background, we see a 3D blue version of the EA shapes, first appearing upside down and flip to normal. A red maple leaf appears, and then it wipes into the stripes. The logo flashes, and the blue words "Electronic Arts fades in, and then a maple leaf fades in on the sphere. Credits appear above the logo and copyright info is shown below the logo.

Variant: An early version of the logo exists where the logo is smaller, the maple leaf is in black, and the text is in all-caps. Plus the logo is still.

Technique: The flipping, the maple leaf appearing, and the logo flashing.

Music/Sounds: A whoosh sound when the maple leaf appears. Sometimes silent.

Availability: The standard version is seen on Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? for SNES. The early version appears on Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? for SNES.

3rd Logo (1994-1997?)

Logo: On a purple-gray gradient background, pieces of the 1984-1997 Electronic Arts logo drop down one by one, each in blue-tinted glass. As they stack up, the camera gets closer and the background gets brighter before the camera forcibly rotates around and tilts into position. When the second to last layer drops down, a thick block quickly flies under the shapes and tilts up to reveal "ELECTRONIC ARTS CANADA" when the last layer drops down. A bright light then travels along in the background.

Variants:

On 3DO games, including the original version of The Need for Speed, had the logo shine normally at the end. Also, the background was brighter, lacking a light and there was no wind.
Another variation of the logo simply reads "ELECTRONIC ARTS" in wider text. This variant appears on OverDrivin (the Japanese version of The Need for Speed) for 3DO.
A high quality still version was also used.

Technique: The pieces of the shapes dropping down, the camera flying over, the text appearing underneath.

Music/Sounds: A rising choir sound plays in the background as high-sounding synth piano notes play for every layer dropped. After a bit, more notes play during the dropping as deep drones play in the background. When the text flies into place, a "THUD" is heard with a much louder chorus. Wind is then heard for the rest of the logo.

Availability: Very rare. Can be found on EA Canada developed games, such as Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed and NHL '96 for DOS.

◄	Distinctive Software

Electronic Arts Canada