Jaws Snapped Up By Ecco Developers

Thanks to Yahoo for reprinting a Majesco press release announcing a videogame version of Universal Pictures' and Steven Spielberg's Jaws, apparently "scheduled for release in 2005 for the PlayStation 2... Xbox [and PC]." The title, in which "players assume the role of a... shark driven to a predacious frenzy by the sonic emanations of underwater oil drilling equipment", is being "developed by Appaloosa", the developers of the Ecco The Dolphin series for Genesis and, latterly, for Dreamcast/PS2. Elsewhere, QT3 messageboard readers point out Sole Predator, likely the pre-Jaws licensed version of the game, in which "players assume the role of the most feared predator on earth, the Great White Shark."

Steve's?

[kenp2002]

I give up. You'd swear that Steven Spudberg wrote the damn thing, no F*(%&#( credit to the actual author as usual. I give up.

wait a minute....

[dogbowl]

The game won't be out until 2005, but the first review is already up here [x-entertainment.com]

Re:wait a minute....

[cephyn]

i had that game. good lord it was hard for me as a kid. not as hard as dick tracy or the original TMNT for nintendo though....man, TMNT was IMpossible

Re:wait a minute....

[FleaPlus]

Freaky. After Super Mario Bros., that was probably the first video game my parents ever bought for me.

Played Ecco the Dolphin

[FriedTurkey]

I played Ecco the Dolphin on the GBA from the Sega collection. I totally couldn't figure it out. I bought it used so no instruction manual. I really tried hard to understand it but all I did was swim around with no objective.

I guess with a Jaws version the objective will be clearly to eat people.

Re:Played Ecco the Dolphin

[haydenth]

I agree! Ecco the Dolphin was the most confusing game ever made. I could never get past the second level because I had no clue what they wanted me to do. The only fun part was jumping out of the water.

Re:Played Ecco the Dolphin

[Anonymous Coward]

I had the manual and everything, and as far as I could figure out, you had to do something with sonar blasting things on an alien space ship. As to why, I have no idea.

Of course, that was years ago, and my memories from that time are kinda hazy....

Re:Played Ecco the Dolphin

[FleaPlus]

The Wikipedia node [wikipedia.org] has some decent info.

JvE

[Shagz]

Jaws vs. Ecco.....this time....it's personal!

Re:JvE

[chaosmage42]

better slogan?
Whoever wins, we lose

It'll never compare

[I(rispee_I(reme]

to the NES version. [nesplayer.com]

Sympathy for the Devil

[ALeavitt]

Why are they going back and giving Jaws a motive? Back in the day he was just a huge shark with a bad attitude and he just ate people. He was a movie monster. Now, all of a sudden, the evils of technology are the cause of all of the problems of this poor, misunderstood creature. Jaws doesn't need a compressed air cannister in his mouth, he just needs a hug!

Re:Sympathy for the Devil

[ALeavitt]

Yes, but that is exactly my point. Godzilla had a similar "motive" for decades, but he woke up with that motive in the first Godzilla movie. Jaws, on the other hand, just got a motive about five minutes ago, as far as I'm concerned.

Oh gag me...

[FlimFlamboyant]

In Majesco's Jaws, players assume the role of a Great White shark driven to a predacious frenzy by the sonic emanations of underwater oil drilling equipment.

Why doesn't this surprise me? Wait, I have an idea. Why not "Majesco's Cockroach"? We've killed billions more of them, and we've done it intentionally!

Re:Oh gag me...

[Lisandro]

Actually, that's kinda been done... :)

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/badmojo/revie w.html [gamespot.com]

Re:Sympathy for the Devil

[servognome]

Why are they going back and giving Jaws a motive?
At least they didn't go so far as to make Roy Scheider shoot first

Re:Sympathy for the Devil

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

In the Book, Jaws was killing the sinners. All the people he killed had sinned.

I remember my English teacher going on about it one day.

Hilarious.

[BigChigger]

driven to a predacious frenzy by the sonic emanations of underwater oil drilling

Nothing like a little eco-nazi brainwashing for a game plot. That is great!

BC

Re:Hilarious.

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe somebody can go back and remake Friday the 13th and have Jason's motive be the "sonic emanations" of eco-nazi's protesting to protect the lake.

Boat's Revenge

[Westacular]

The final boss will, of course, be Boat.

The game will be unbeatable, and they will not even bother putting in an ending.

Why? Simple: You can't beat Boat.

From what I hear

[krymsin01]

the best charachter to play would be the fisherman, with not-included hard liquor to further enahnce the game play. The only draw back is that if you beat jaws, you'll die of liver or lung cancer in a few years.

Appaloosa? Great.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yay, the company that made not one, but two awful renditions of Contra. On the other hand, they did create Kolibri, the best hummingbird-based shooter in the whole 32X library...

zerg

[Lord Omlette]

I can't be the only one who thought the Nintendo version was awesome?

Most Feared Predator?

[jspoon]

Let's take a poll. I, for one, live about 1500 miles from any ocean and feel much more fearful of, say, pumas. Heck, weasels are pretty nasty, I'm probably 100 times as likely to stay up at night unable to sleep for fear a weasel will slink from under my bed than that a shark will ambush me in the tub.

Knock Knock

[servognome]

Land Shark [eonline.com]

Top predator?

[Castaa]

"players assume the role of the most feared predator on earth, the Great White Shark."

The Great White Shark isn't even the most feared predator in the oceanic food chain. The Orca [wikipedia.org] is the ocean's top predator. Orcas have been know to kill Great White Sharks.

Re:Top predator?

[Sv-Manowar]

Most probably due to Orcas being about 5x the size of Great White Sharks

Re:Top predator?

[HomerJ]

That's why it was the name of the boat in Jaws.

Re:Top predator?

[cephyn]

Too bad the boat lost.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Re:Top predator?

[Xel'Naga]

Since when was fear rational? Orcas are "almost dolphins".

Seriously, though, I doubt mice fear lions, even though lions are above them in the food chain. Your main worry should be what is one step up from your position in the food chain.

Re:Top predator?

[jspoon]

Seriously, though, I doubt mice fear lions, even though lions are above them in the food chain. Your main worry should be what is one step up from your position in the food chain.

That's what I like so much about being a human.

It's a stretch

[Earlybird]

Jaws the film (and book) was about three people trying to survive on a boat being chased by a shark.

Jaws the game is about a shark trying to win by chasing boats, people etc.

It's like making a game called Jurassic Park in which you play the T-Rex. For a movie adaptation this is something of a stretch.

They did make a game where you can play the T-Rex

[Treeluvinhippy]

It wasn't Jurassic Park but The Sequel [gamespot.com]

Re:Looking for a Ceasar Type Game...

[Shihar]

Alpha Centuari all the way. Hell, just thinking about it makes me want to go dig it out. Imagine Civ 3, now give each nation an actual personality, now make the game not suck. You have Alpha Centuari.

Appaloosa making a Jaws game?

[Pluvius]

That's sort of like Rockstar making a video-game adaptation of Chutes and Ladders. Or Acclaim making a game that doesn't suck.

Rob

Re:Appaloosa making a Jaws game?

[chaosmage42]

So does "Chutes and Ladders" by Rockstar

They better include Quint

[zillahX]

Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down to the pond and chasing bluegills and tommycocks. This shark, swallow you whole. No shakin', no tenderizin', down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for te

Marketing Catchphrase?

[Macgrrl]

Now a game that REALLY bites...

Obligitory Jack Handy

[mythosaz]

Contrary to what most people say, the most dangerous animal in the world is not the lion or the tiger or even the elephant. It's a shark riding on an elephant's back, just trampling and eating everything they see.

Anyone remember Ecco the Dolphin TV advertisement?

[FleaPlus]

Does anybody remember the Ecco the Dolphin TV advertisement, from the early 90s? I think it featured a sea captain (sort of like Jacques Cousteau) reminiscing about Ecco. For whatever reason, it was one of the most memorable TV ads I'd ever seen.

Anyone remember details about it? I was trying to write it up for the wikipedia node on Ecco, but couldn't recall anything solid.