【Melodrama Archives】

The Melodrama Archivesthing about Jawsis it's one of the greatest movies ever made. So, when someone decides to make a big table that does Jawsthings loudly and repeatedly, I'm all in.

Luckily, that's exactly what we're getting from pinball machine manufacturer Stern. The latest license from the folks behind Jurassic Parkand Godzillaand countless other pinball classics got announced last week, and was available for hands-on play at CES 2024.

After a brief hands-on session, my verdict is that Jawsis still great, and anything that reminds us of the greatness of Jawsis also cool.

---

You May Also Like

---

---

SEE ALSO: CES 2024: This laptop's weird touchpad is for YouTube-obsessed users

It's a pinball shark, there has to be a twist

I have to be clear about something up front: I'm more of a Jawsguy than a pinball guy. I'll indulge in the odd game or two at a bar every blue moon, but video games are more my bag.

So it's hard for me to critically evaluate Jawsas a pinball game. My time with it was brief and took place on a cacophonous show floor where learning the mechanics involved was next to impossible. It's got all kinds of flippers, spinners and ramps and other things that make pinball fun. That much I can tell you.

Mashable Top Stories Stay connected with the hottest stories of the day and the latest entertainment news. Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

I can also tell you that the shark emerges from the top of the playing field to wreak havoc, and that's rad. This happened often enough to be fun but not so often that it got old.

There's a lot going on here. Credit: Stern

Perhaps more importantly, the Jawsside of Jawsis respectful to the original. John Williams' iconic score is included, as are beautiful portraits of Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss. They actually got Dreyfuss to record some new voiceover for the game, too, though I couldn't exactly hear it. Did I mention the CES show floor is noisy?

Still, the play field is immensely fun to look at. Quint's boat, the Orca, is included, as are references to the film's July 4th setting and various kinds of sharks for all the finheads out there. It's a delight.

Now for the bad news: Jawscosts a lot of money if you want to actually own it. It starts at $6,999 for the starter edition and goes all the way up to $12,999 for all the bells and whistles (which I was told are cosmetic in nature and don't affect gameplay).

I can't exactly recommend the table at that price point, but maybe you have a friend who owns a pinball arcade, or a movie fan with space in their garage. Kindly and gently cajole them into buying it. Just don't yell to the neighbors about it, or you'll have a panic on your hands.

Topics CES Gaming

• Science
• Shopping
• Deals
• Life
• Entertainment
• Tech
• Digital Culture
• Social Good

• Stablecoin bill advances in U.S. Senate as Trump critics call to end his crypto dealings
• The Corner of ‘MacDoodle St.’ and Memory Ln.
• Athena, Goddess of Copyediting by Mary Norris
• T. S. Eliot’s “The Cultivation of Christmas Trees” by Casey N. Cep
• Best Max streaming deal: Save 20% on annual subscriptions
• Nudes by The Paris Review
• A Tribe Called Quest Is Gone, but Hip
• At Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s Hundredth Birthday Party by Nina Sparling
• Best Samsung deal: Save $60 on 64GB Samsung Galaxy Tab A9
• Staff Picks: Features, Films, and Flicks by The Paris Review

• IDO3D Print Shop is good, messy mold
• Do you wish Netflix had more of what you want? That's where #NetflixNeeds comes in.
• Apple owes WARF $506 million for intellectual property it used
• 4 ways white parents can support black parents in times of injustice
• Next major USB update will double data transfer speeds
• Facebook pledges money to help keep elections safe
• This $4 billion Bitcoin laundering scheme reads like a gripping detective story
• Google will combine YouTube Red and Google Play Music into one service
• Kanye's sneakers appear in the most unexpected place: 'Splatoon 2'
• Apple is no longer selling the iPod nano and iPod shuffle

• One of Android's Easter Eggs is a Flappy Bird
• Deborah Eisenberg’s Life in Comics by Liana Finck
• The Artist
• A Tortoise Stakeout with Patricia Lockwood by Richard Cooke
• Norrie vs. Diallo 2025 livestream: Watch Madrid Open for free
• The Benefits of Chronic Illness by Tom Lee
• These Are Not the Margins: An Interview with Bryan Washington by Nikki Shaner
• Staff Picks: Bangs, Barbie, and Bodies by The Paris Review
• SpaceX's Starlink satellite launch in pictures
• Staff Picks: Moscow, Misunderstandings, and Money Mark by The Paris Review

• Eufy L60 robot vacuum: Get it for $279.95 at Amazon
• The Laws of the Fairy
• ‘The Left Hand of Darkness’ at Fifty
• Poem for Merwin by Matthew Zapruder
• Gmail search just got a lot smarter, thanks to AI
• Wikipedia halts AI plans as editors revolt
• Mrs. ‘Stoner’ Speaks: An Interview with Nancy Gardner Williams
• Cooking with Colette by Valerie Stivers
• U.N. aims to make carbon emissions cost money at COP 25 climate talks
• Love Is Claustrophobic: An Interview with Mark Mayer by Carmen Maria Machado