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Representations of the shark are common in popular culture in the Western world, with a range of media generally portraying them of eating machines and threats. In some media, however, comedy is drawn from portrayals of sharks running counter to their popular image, with shark characters being portrayed as unexpectedly friendly or otherwise comical. The lists below give an approximate sample of the many forms of representation of the shark in popular culture.
Sharks variously appear in video games, arcade games and pinball machines. In video games, they typically appear either as playable characters or threats to the player. [4] Sharks also make cameo appearances in some popular games and game series. The 1975 movie Jaws and its sequels inspired several licensed and unlicensed games.
Sharks feature prominently in several pinball machines including:
WMS Industries, Inc. was an American electronic gaming and amusement manufacturer in Enterprise, Nevada. It was merged into Scientific Games in 2016. WMS's predecessor was the Williams Manufacturing Company, founded in 1943 by Harry E. Williams. However, the company that became WMS Industries was formally founded in 1974 as Williams Electronics, Inc.
Stern is the name of two different but related arcade gaming companies. Stern Electronics, Inc. manufactured arcade video games and pinball machines from 1977 until 1985, and was best known for Berzerk. Stern Pinball, Inc., founded in 1986 as Data East Pinball, is a manufacturer of pinball machines in North America.
An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common forms of electronic games, including handheld electronic games, standalone arcade game systems, and exclusively non-visual products.
3-D Ultra Pinball is a series of pinball computer games developed by Sierra Entertainment's Dynamix. The games try to escape from the traditional, arcade pinball and feature animation, more than one table at once, and "temporary targets".
Patrick M. Lawlor is a video game and pinball machine designer.
Jaws Unleashed is a 2006 action-adventure video game inspired by the 1975 film Jaws. It was developed by Appaloosa Interactive and published by Majesco Entertainment. This game features open world gameplay, with the player assuming control of a large great white shark and being able to roam freely throughout the water, eating other animals and humans, while destroying everything in its path. Jaws Unleashed was released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox and PlayStation 2.
Feeding Frenzy is a single-player mode and arcade-style aquatic video game written by Sprout Games, and published by PopCap Games. With an initial debut on February 11, 2004, it saw a re-release on the Xbox Live Arcade service, with versions for both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 version, released on March 15, 2006, was the 17th most popular Xbox Live Arcade title for 2006.
Johnny Mnemonic is a 4 player pinball machine from August 1995, manufactured by Williams Electronic Games, Inc. A total of 2,756 units were produced.
World Cup Soccer is a 1994 pinball machine designed by John Popadiuk and Larry DeMar and released by Midway. It is based on the 1994 FIFA World Cup, with gameplay mechanics largely centered around the sport. Though multiple digital versions of the game have been created, they are no longer accessible through normal means.
Checkpoint is a 1991 pinball machine released by Data East. It featured the first dot matrix display (DMD) ever incorporated into a pinball game. For Checkpoint, Data East used a "half-height" DMD. By way of comparison, Williams later produced machines with standard DMDs that were twice the height. Checkpoint also features video mode minigames on its display.
White Water is a 1993 pinball game designed by Dennis Nordman and released by Williams. The theme is based on white water rafting, which is reflected in the game's 'wild' ramps and very fast game-play.
Shark Jaws is a single-player arcade video 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. 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. According to Bushnell, the game was successful enough to sell approximately two thousand units.
Jaws is an American media franchise series that started with the 1975 film of the same name that expanded into three sequels, a theme park ride, and other tie-in merchandise, based on a 1974 novel Jaws. The main subject of the saga is a great white shark and its attacks on people in specific areas of the United States and The Bahamas. The Brody family is featured in all of the films as the primary antithesis to the shark. The 1975 film was based on the novel written by Peter Benchley, which itself was inspired by the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916. Benchley adapted his novel, along with help from Carl Gottlieb and Howard Sackler, into the film, which was directed by Steven Spielberg. Although Gottlieb went on to pen two of the three sequels, neither Benchley nor Spielberg returned to the film series in any capacity.
Python Vladimir Anghelo was a graphic artist best known for his work on video games and pinball machines. Anghelo was born in Transylvania, Romania, and moved to the United States when he was 17.
The Party Zone is a crossover solid-state pinball machine released in 1991 by Midway designed by Dennis Nordman and programmed by Jim Strompolis. It is in a single playfield format and collaborates characters from previous pinball machines. It is the second pinball machine released after the Bally-Midway division was sold, yet still operated under the "Bally" name.
AC/DC is a pinball machine manufactured by Stern Pinball based on the Australian band of the same name. Designed by Steve Ritchie, it was released on March 1, 2012.
Hungry Shark is a series of arcade-style RPG games developed and published by Ubisoft London and Ubisoft. The games allow players to control several unique species of sharks, including mako sharks, great white sharks, hammerhead sharks, reef sharks, megamouth shark, megalodon, basking sharks and whale sharks. To progress, the player must consume other marine animals and grow in size until the next, more powerful shark is available for purchase. In May 2016, Hungry Shark World was downloaded 10 million times in six days, reaching the top 10 free iPhone and Android apps. In 2018, Hungry Shark World was released for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. It featured better graphics, and the complete removal of micro transactions. In 2022, it reached 1 billion players.
Maneater is an action role-playing game developed and published by Tripwire Interactive. The player assumes control of a female bull shark who must evolve and survive in an open world so she can take revenge on a fisherman who disfigured her as a pup and killed her mother.
An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games or merchandisers.