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 do a game about sharks eating people. 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 re titled Shark JAWS, with the word Shark in tiny print and JAWS in large all caps print to create greater prominence. Bush-
nell also created a second hidden subsidiary corporation, Horror Games—the previous being Kee Games, to help isolate Atari from possible lawsuit. According to Bush, the game was successful enough to sell approximately two thousand units. 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. 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 Horror Games the PCB clearly states Atari.

# 2023-11-10 21:17:35 - official description - THE ARCADE VIDEO-GAME "Encyclopedia" 1970-1976

The unofficially game of the movie JAWS (1975). When Noland Bushnell failed to get an official license to use the name, he invented the company "Horror Games" to protect Atari from lawsuits. Although, there are some promotional materials for this game that are clearly marked with the Atari name and Logo. Thus, this is the first game to be based on a movie.

(Zerothis) - # 2008-01-01 10:41:46

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