Shark Jaws

Shark Jaws is a single-player arcade game by Atari Inc. under the name of Horror Games, originally released in 1975. An unlicensed tie-in to the movie Jaws, and believed to be the first commercially released movie tie-in, it was created to be a game about sharks eating people.[2][3] Atari head Nolan Bushnell originally tried to license the Jaws name for the game, but was unable to secure a license from Universal Pictures. Deciding to go ahead with the game anyway, it was retitled Shark JAWS, with the word Shark in tiny print and JAWS in large all caps print to create greater prominence. Bushnell also created a second hidden subsidiary corporation, Horror Games—the previous being Kee Games, to help isolate Atari from a possible lawsuit.[4] According to Bushnell, the game was successful enough to sell approximately two thousand units.[3]

Shark Jaws
Official flyer
Developer(s)Atari Inc./Horror Games
Platform(s)Arcade
ReleaseNorth America 25 September 1975[1]
Genre(s)Horror

The player controls a deep-sea diver trying to catch small fish while avoiding a great white shark that is trying to eat him. Points are scored by running over the fish to catch them.[5]

Technology

The game is housed in a custom cabinet that includes a single joystick and start button. The cabinet bezel uses blue and green colors, and portrays sharks swimming around along with a solitary swimmer. The game PCB is composed of discrete technology, and although the game was released under the name Horror Games, the PCB clearly states Atari.[6]

References
Notes
  1. Bloom, Steve (December 1982). "From Cutoffs to Pinstripes" (PDF). Video Games. Vol. 1 no. 3. Pumpkin Press. p. 41. ISSN 0733-6780.
  2. (Montfort & Bogost 2009, p. 125)
  3. Fulton, Steve (2007-11-06). "The History of Atari:1971-1977; 1975: Innovate Or Die". Gamasutra. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  4. Bogost, Ian (2007-11-13). "Film Adaptation: The First Film License". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2012-08-29. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  5. "Shark JAWS Videogame by Atari (1975)". Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  6. Welburn, Andy. "Andy's Arcade Bronzeage Info Resource". Andys-Arcade. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
Sources


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