MIRRORSOFT: Tetris, Sinclair, and the Whims of Robert Maxwell - Kim Justice

If ever you wanted a rise and fall company video, this one is it. Mirrorsoft were a strong video game publisher in the 1980's - holder of labels such as Image Works, distributing games by the likes of the Bitmap Brothers and Cinemaware. The Mirrorsoft name is on the likes of Speedball 2, Wings, It Came From the Desert, Dynamite Dan and the computer version of Tetris...they came tantalisingly close to getting the handheld and console rights too. They were also owned by Robert Maxwell.
This is Mirrorsoft's story - one of a decent company that got caught up in the empire of one of the most charismatic and most ruthless tycoons of the 1980's...a man who, in death, would become one of British business's biggest pariahs. Enjoy!
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[@SomeOrangeCat]

Wow that Maxwell guy was on pack of laser sharks away from being a Bond villain!

[@johncaccioppo1142]

"Escaped from Nazi Germany". More like Hitler didn't want the competition. Let's not forget who his daughter is, either...

[@chelonianegghead274]

His daughter was Jeffrey Epstein's girlfriend too...

[@nobuyukinyuu]

Elliot Carver in *Tomorrow Never Dies* is supposedly partially based on him

[@jesuszamora6949]

Looking back at this with the troubles surrounding Ghislane, it's amazing how some things just don't change.

[@Megaspartan23]

The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree

[@Nate1979]

You are producing the best work of your life, Kim. This is an area of gaming I have zero awareness of and your past few videos have been enlightening and a hell of a lot of fun to watch. Thanks so much. You are capturing a vital piece of cultural history that is way too often overlooked.

[@roboyle]

Absolutely! The social commentary or wider view of issues being discussed puts these videos above those of his peers. Kudos!

[@KTP200]

+Ruaidhri O'Baoill >his

[@renbymon]

Gonna echo a few people here and say that I'm loving these documentaries/retrospectives that you're doing recently, especially when you delve into the people behind the games/systems to show what lead to their creation. Thank you for putting so much work into these! \o/

[@Larry]

The Sun's headline reporting Maxwell's death was "Captain Bob Bob Bob" :D But most excellent feature bud!

[@tuffasgong]

Good to see you Brit retro game enthusiasts all have each other's back. Outside of Game Sack I truly enjoy the British retro game channels much more than American.

[@Larry]

tuffasgong The British retro gaming scene is really close night and super friendly! But where are you from out of curiosity?

[@tuffasgong]

I am from here in the States, Salt Lake City, Utah; where the 2002 Winter Olympics were held. I have noticed you have a super close knit and friendly retro scene, I am a big fan of MyGamerXP (and of course your's and Kim's) and noticed even though he has under 1,000 subs you took the time to post on his latest video. That's really cool and shows how you all got each others backs and try and bring each other up rather than here in the States sometimes there is so much backstabbing and bs drama. Keep up the good work my friends from across the pond! (Sorry for the overly long reply).

[@antster1983]

Guardian journalist Michael White once told that joke shortly after Maxwell's death, earning a punch in the face from Alastair Campbell, then the political editor of the Daily Mirror.

[@gingernutpreacher]

sorry got to ask are you LDS?

[@akathesk]

Got to hand it to you, there is fuck all appreciation for the history of game development unless it's Japan or USA related. With KZbin being mostly USA based that puts a lot of bias on things (their unconditional love of Nintendo for example) so for that reason we NEED more people doing content like this, or its as if the rest of the world and it's contributions, progress and innovations never existed.

[@CaptainRufus]

+ShinKou Show I've been complaining about this for years. But to be fair nearly everyone mostly pays attention to their home region and dismisses others. To look at Retro Gamer Magazine especially the earlier issues you would think the Spectrum was the biggest and most popular home machine ever. Outside of the UK and some of Europe? Nobody had them nobody cared about them and most modern retro players can't stand them! Its just sort of how things are. And why stuff like this is good. To get a better idea of how the WORLD played electronic games.

[@Juganawt]

Keep doing what you're doing, Kim. Your retrospectives are nothing short of absolutely magnificent. The quality of your content is consistently A-Grade!

[@shanetonkin2850]

These documentaries you make on 1980s gaming topics , but with a British focus, are brilliant ! I must have watched just about all of them. As someone who works in TV production I can appreciate the huge amount of work that’s involved in putting something like this together , so I thank you for your efforts!

[@TheArmchairEmpire]

Thanks for this. Growing up in North America, I've never really been exposed to much that goes on to explain the history of UK developers. The videos that you've been doing have been really interesting for shedding more light on what was going in that part of the world. =)

[@Harp00nX]

I enjoyed this video more than most of your other ones because it featured less games and more interesting background story of why things happened. It's what sets your videos apart imo, so many people show footage of games and talk about them and they just get lost in the sea of similar efforts. A home country perspective on things doesn't hurt either :)

[@Bob_Beaky]

Watching this for the umpteenth time. I love your documentaries covering the British computer scene. You know what I'd love to see you cover though? Computers and games behind the Iron Curtain. That whole Speccy clone and pirated hacks thing fascinates me but I don't know that much about it. :)

[@Everstar08]

You are the king of game-related documentaries, Kim! The presentation and the sheer amount of information is staggering. Keep up the excellent work, it's a joy to watch! :)

[@MikusMusik]

Classic episode Kim., Big up

[@scottcoulter9324]

Kimster m'lady, you continue to confound. Production values are getting ridiculously high. Proud to be a Patreon to this channel. Favourite youtuber bar none. Lovely Jubbley.

[@Quimbyrbg]

Wow. I'm so happy that I found this channel. I've got an interest in videogame history, and have a decent knowledge of English gaming, but I had never heard of this bizarre scandal. I was thoroughly enthralled the whole time, thanks for composing it for everyone.

[@TheDumontShow]

@kim justice, hands down one of the best docs i ever seen. this is your best, this is how you do a youtube vid right here. just keep doing what you do. i learned something about another side of gaming i never knew about and also a piece of world history on top of that. it had an sense of enlightenment that made it shine. also i loved how the whole story came full circle at the end. excellent piece hands down

[@manicpanic4486]

Only recently found your KZbin account by chance...fantastic posts everytime , as a teenager with a spectrum +2 in those days it's been a terrific nostalgia buzz looking at your videos 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

[@Toxxi]

that tidal sound for the outro is a nice, macabre touch. great vid!

[@battroman8965]

That again Kim was beyond amazing thanks

[@hannibalsolo4409]

I love this and the Ocean. Would love to see more about old software houses, programmers etc

[@Imgema]

I'm a simple man. I see a Kim documentary and i press like.

[@lokiskywalker]

"Oh Andy Capp, you wife-beating drunk!"

[@tuz100]

Thanks for informing me where the term "maxwellisation process" comes from, which I just read about today re: Blair being given a chance to respond to the chilcot enquiry before its findings were made public... now to watch the rest of the video.

[@poohbear01x48]

I wish your documentaries got more exposure... I think they're well made overall and truly interesting -especially for me as a Yank since we didn't really have a Micro boom.

[@craigmcnamee]

Seriously love these video's. So much interesting info. Good work! :D

[@RobertBlow]

Great work Kim. Brilliant, learned a lot and enjoyed it. Saturday morning lay in fodder with my 2 cats fighting over who gets to lay where.

[@jonridley]

great stuff Kim. great channel

[@robintst]

Defender of the Crown totally holds up today if you ask me. Retro 2D is considered charming nowadays, it's 16-bit beautiful!

[@DirtyHairy1]

Wow, another brilliant documentary on video games from my young age, and would never have hoped for. That patreon donation pays off pretty well. ;)

[@sydneymeanstreet]

That 8-bit rendition of the theme tune is the best thing to come out of the frankly godawful Biggles movie that the game is based on.

[@benjammin316]

another fantastic video, thankyou

[@pjomayo]

Mirrorsoft also developed Sai Combat,a Way of The Exploding Fist/Karate Champ clone .

[@nathanpollard1980]

Fantastic video. Really insightful; a wonderful combo of Adam Curtis and Charlie Brooker.

[@kristina80ification]

I pretty much only knew Andy Cap as a mascot for brand of "fries" snacks, which were really just bland or overly spicy (depending on the flavor) cheetos like snacks that were vaguely shaped like french fries.

[@jesuszamora6949]

Kandi Gloss Same. You American as well? I don't think the character ever caught on here.

[@Edgereader]

Brilliant Video.

[@parameter303]

Kim, I frakking love you mate, seriously, keep it up my geez

[@youaintseenmeok]

Nice uk game History Thanks

[@Sarato]

This was really fascinating. Great documentary. How come that I've never heard of this before? Great work as usual. :)

[@RoboBoddicker]

Oh man, DCS World is amazing. I had no idea Eagle Dynamics had such a colorful connection to gaming history :D Awesome stuff, as always!

[@doctorcrankyflaps1724]

"he's a fucking cwook" : )

[@Fattydeposit]

Stunning work. Thank you Kim

[@Siarawaszympanemjest]

That Dungeon Master gameplay - I nearly choked laughing when whoever who was playing tried to attack the mummy wit a bow and ended up throwing a bow at the mummy :D :D :D

[@mmaloverme]

another brilliant well researched doc well done !

[@Calimbandil87]

Yay for Jethro Tull reference!

[@ItsMatticusFinch]

Fantastic work, Kim. You're producing some absolute gems lately, probably some of the best stuff you've ever done.

[@MultiScone]

Really love these docs! Learnt a lot, can't wait for the next instalment.

[@CultureFusionSite]

OMG a "Thick as a Brick" joke. You made my night.

[@lennybridgeman6634]

Loving the Wings intro music :D

[@dykodesigns]

Wasn't mirrorsoft bought by acclaim? I remember the box of my C64 copy of TMHT the coin-op mentioning mirrorsoft, but also sporting an acclaim logo on the box. The things that went on behind the scenes surrounding the Tetris rights is just fashinating, a cold war era story of intrigue. Keep it up!

[@Kim_Justice]

+dykodesigns2yt Oh, arse - you're right. I always, always get Acclaim and Accolade confused (as in I obviously read Acclaim as Accolade and just went from there...)

[@snickle1980]

After watching 10+ vids, you get a subscribe. You won me over with rich history narrative mixed with the speech issue. It's gaming history mixed with twue wuv.

[@TheIsolatedGamerz]

Good work! You put a well documented video here.

[@jmp01a24]

You should have included more of the Mirrorsofts library, especially for the Commodore 64 and others. They had Hungarian Andromeda to make several of their titles.

[@LUCKO2022]

Nice use of Metal Gear music.

[@Mintcar923]

Wings is right up there with the Sid Meier titles.. Maybe the Amiga's best game..

[@arpz]

Great video as always, keep up the good work! I was a Spectrum/Amiga kid too :)

[@Tass...]

Another great film but i completed TMNT at the grand old age of 12 on the NES. People just failed to realise you could switch which turtle you used at any point by pausing it. It really wasn't as hard as many people make out. It was only 6 levels (i think?)

[@pixelninja5646]

that metal gear music fits like a glove, well directed Madame,

[@TheLazEffect]

Another great video

[@loosereaper]

Hooray! Another half hour or so of amusing British gaming history, the best thing about a Monday morning I assume.

[@heidirichter]

Top work, thank you, well worth watching!

[@RichardWatt]

Ah yes, the "Nostalgia" (or "Nostalgiya") channel - Russian TV's channel for all Soviet-era programming.

[@higgins007]

Do Championship Manager!

[@ProbableKoz]

Recently discovered your channel. Amazing stuff.

[@coffincrusher]

KIM! Your videos are amazing, I wish you had a clone so you could double your output. Please seek a clone.

[@WanderlustZero]

Ben Daglish's Biggles theme is spot on! So clise to the film song.

[@bbmbbf]

Excelente informative documental!. you do a amazing invstigation work :D

[@martinjmcc1981]

Epic video!

[@Scopie33]

Great, just great. Was wings the last cinemaware game? I thought they did tv sports baseball also known as bo Jackson baseball, they were also working on roller babes when they went down the tubes.

[@dextrodemon]

did you intentionally only use footage of tetris being played really badly? it's infuriating! :P

[@FiauraTheTankGirlGamer]

Nice job on the research :)

[@bigstupidgrin]

Really loving the long form documentaries. A question, are there any good videos/articles on video gaming in the Soviet bloc? I think literally all a lot of us know is Tetris.

[@Kim_Justice]

+bigstupidgrin I only really know of the "Kinamania" channel on here. It's in Russian, but I'm pretty sure that subs are available for some episodes - it's mostly about the Dendy, which was a popular clone of the NES/Famicom. I think that a great deal of what constitutes gaming in the Soviet block consisted of clones and pirate carts (there was also quite a big Spectrum scene in the late 80's/90's based on clones of the machine - a LOT of Speccy homebrew comes from Eastern Europe)

[@arvizturotukorfurogep6235]

Documenting Soviet bloc gaming is a tricky thing to do. First of all, each country in the Soviet bloc had a very varied and differing mixture of platforms. Secondly, the Soviet bloc was the "wild west", or more appropriatley, "wild east" for software. It was all about the machine and the coder, the business side of it was non-existent.

[@kristina80ification]

Can I propose an idea for future videos of this sort? Maybe have the quotes scroll on the bottom of the screen at a medium speed instead of a static card. That way people don't have to pause the video to read them. I do love these longer deeper look videos though, great job n them overall.

[@lucasoheyze4597]

That just punishes people who can read normally. Just pause it, don't penalise everybody else.

[@critchblackpoolful]

+Kim Justice love your videos!!! keep up the good work. I'm from the UK too. where you from?

[@richfan10]

Kim. Your videos are superb. Your like a more grown up pewdiepie.

[@divided_and_conquered1854]

19:18 What's with the Stars of David in the 'fight cloud' between the character and the cop?

[@sophiebullen6634]

Kim, your work is tops, have you ever thought about writing a book? About British computing history or the like? I'm sure it'd be a seller!

[@bunglebro]

I fucking love this channel!!!

[@xxnoxx-xp5bl]

Nice use of the music from 'Wings'. :-)

[@conradojavier]

This guy was a Rival to Fox.

[@ArMartz]

Fox, as in Rupert Murdoch?

[@davidknight247]

11:00 Which Speccy title is the background music from? I know I have played it and I can't place it!

[@davidknight247]

Chubby Gristle!

[@metaparcel]

A video on Novastorm the game would be awesome!

[@Moe23pd]

All I need to say is pettys printers in Leeds. Lots of my friends worked there. And didn’t get a pension

[@Kenadian2006]

is that final fantasy music I hear in the background?

[@clarkkent4734]

How you have only 50k subscribers I'll never understand.

[@brankocollin]

How do you put the Rs the other way around?

[@cybercop0083]

In soviet Russia the Rs put you the other way around

[@AllHailDiskordia]

Ah, the Biggles tune

[@IanTaylorTravels]

11:49 - Muswell Hill

[@SianaGearz]

What's the music 12 minutes in?

[@SianaGearz]

+Siana Gearz Ah! Ace Attorney - Damon Gant's theme.

[@DrJReefer]

He's fat. He's round. He's never at the ground. Derby County chant.

[@simplesimonhadapie]

Well you could add another section in this one now....

[@whatamalike]

Anybody else think Maxwell's son looks like George Osbourne? Especially at 32:11

[@BryanShadowbuck]

What's the show at 15:40?

[@lucasoheyze4597]

Bottom

[@SE09uk]

WINGS! it's wings lol omg wow

[@Wintericecrystal]

28:40 It was Agent 47

[@kuntosjedebil]

Throwing a bow at the mummy in the DM... smh :)

[@adamfrazer5150]

Maxwell - in America it's spelled T r u m p.

[@steved8193]

Wait! That's not how you write in Russian?

[@jmp01a24]

How could you reference Biggles video game without showing awesome Monty Phyton skit of the WW2 hero? It simply won't do you know... tsk tsk tsk...

[@108Stars]

BttF 3 is not that terrible. I only played it on the MD, and it is not a good game ... but I think it is best describes as mediocre. It was a nice try to combine various scenes of the movie with different mini games, but it is way too hard for its own good. Not unfair, mind you. I often see people on KZbin failing even at the first level. I am not a very good player, but it is not harder than many other games of the time, and certainly much more responsive than lots of 80ies computer games based on movies. All very fair. Problem is that it is not that much fun, especially since you can not choose the mini games anytime you want. I know it is off-topic, but that little bit about it being one of the worst licensed games just stood out to me in an otherwise fascinating video. Mediocricy, maybe even the lower end of it ... but not essentially bad or unplayable imo.

[@NoxiousLynx]

wobert