Shark Jaws
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Shark Jaws | |
|---|---|
 Arcade flyer | |
| Developer(s) | Horror Games (Atari, Inc.) |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Action |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Shark Jaws is an action video game by Atari, Inc. under the name of Horror Games, originally released for arcades 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] According to Bushnell, the game was successful enough to sell approximately two thousand units.[3]
In the game, 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.[4]
The unrelated 1972 electromechanical arcade game Killer Shark from Sega was briefly featured in Jaws.[5]
Atari head Nolan Bushnell originally tried to license the Jaws name, 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 created a second hidden subsidiary corporation, Horror Games—the previous being Kee Games—to help isolate Atari from a possible lawsuit.[6]
