My usual reason for traveling out to Katy is a weekly RPG (role-playing game) meeting on Thursday nights. We have missed about a months worth of meetings for various reasons. I had some car issues; others had work or family conflicts. It was definitely an evening to look forward to for me.

Then, I found out the meeting was canceled, but not until after driving the distance. Never one to miss an opportunity, I salvaged the trip by getting in some pinball at Einstein’s since I wasn’t too far away. This turned out to be a great decision. I got to play some old favorites like Stars, Hoops, and Black Knight: Sword of Rage, but I also got to check out Stern’s latest game, Jaws. (Unfortunately Attack from Mars was turned off/out of order.)

Now, Jaws is not without its share of controversy. Perhaps the biggest complaint, or at least the one that was most prominent from my observation, was that the shark toy didn’t eat the ball. After I played a few games, I can say that there’s no reason for the shark to eat the ball. Trying to work that into the game would, in fact, completely destroy the flow. I don’t have a picture, but the shark is above a captive ball mechanism, not any type of scoop or eject. These are two completely different types of objects with regard to the flow of play.

My very first game on Jaws happened to be the highest scoring game on that machine (144.2M+) for the night. The other truly notable score was a 303K+ on Stars, including the first time I’ve scored special on a game in novelty mode (twice in one ball).

Then on Saturday night, I decided to drop in for “a quick game or two of Godzilla”. Which, of course, meant I played eleven (!) games counting all the replays I won. Only two of those replays were from matching.

Perhaps the even bigger punch line: there was ¼ credit on the game when I arrived, so the whole session cost me only 75 cents. In summary: Top score for the night of 248.1M+. New scores for destruction jackpot champion (in the 248.1M+ game) and Godzilla multiball champion (later game).