Jaws the pinball machine: designer Keith Elwin discusses the iconic new game from Stern

First, congratulations on this Keith. It’s absolutely MAGNIFICENT!
Thank you!

To call this a pinball machine scarcely does it justice… It has movie clips, soundbites from Richard Dreyfuss, the Oscar-winning soundtrack – it even has a plot! Walk us through it – what do you have to do?
The game experience instantly transports players to Amity Island where something dangerous is lurking below… Playing as Quint, Hooper and Brody depending on the mode, it’s your goal to grab your harpoons and save Amity Island’s residents and the Fourth of July!

This is a great pitch!
You can battle different shark encounters, start special Quint’s challenges, and use the fish finder to start special features. And – of course – go to battle against the great white shark!

How has this Jaws partnership come about, Keith?
We have an outstanding team and through licensing, were able to work with Universal and Amblin to tackle such an iconic theme.

Iconic is the right word when it comes to many of the elements from Jaws! That being the case, how did you decide which elements of the franchise to include?
Collaborating with Universal and Amblin was a great experience and they let us have it all in terms of assets. While the first film is a standalone epic, the ability to weave in additional content from the other films was so much fun. Did I mention we created a special 3D video mode paying homage to the Shark Hunter game from the movie?!

You didn’t! But I understand there are different versions of the machine… Tell me about them.
Our different versions of machines target different markets of consumers. Our Pro Model predominantly is purchased by operators and casual rec. room buyers and is the most affordable. It has a few less moving parts in the machine.

So Pro is only the entry level model? Wow!
Right! The Premium and Limited Edition share the same key gameplay features with a few additional bells and whistles. In this case, the key additional features include having an upper playfield called the Orca…

Fashioned after the little boat?
Exactly. There’s also a great white shark bash toy that pops up from under Ben Gardner’s fishing boat! The Premium Model is primarily for enthusiasts and operators. Finally, the Limited Edition is for collectors and enthusiasts.

And I’m presuming that really IS a limited edition? It’s not limited to however many people want one?
Ha! No… There are only a thousand of those made globally.

Great! How did you come to be doing this, Keith?
Pinball was everywhere when I was a kid. I grew up in California and used to play it at local pizza places and 7-Elevens before getting serious around 12 years old. When I found out there were pinball tournaments, I started competing! My love for the game really grew in addition to operating and doing tech work around Carlsbad.

Oh! So it’s a real lifelong passion? That’s amazing… Just out of curiosity, then, if you weren’t doing this, what do you think you’d be doing instead?
Since pinball will never go away, if I were no longer designing machines, I could see a retirement of operating and sharing pinball to the masses out on locations wherever that may be.

Ha! And how do you feed your creativity, Keith?
I’m constantly inspired by playing all kinds of games, not just pinball.

All about the play… What’s the one question I could’ve asked you today but didn’t?
What’s my favourite food!

Great! And what’s the answer?
The topical answer would be fish, but nothing beats a delicious, well-made hamburger.