Shark Jaws

1975 · Atari · Arcade

Shark Jaws is a 1 player arcade game by Atari Inc. originally released in 1975. 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 possible lawsuit. 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.