The Story and Games of U.S. Gold: 100% All-American Software - Kim Justice

[@Kim_Justice]

If you liked this then think about having a gander through my social media, and get yourself on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/KimbleJustice

[@robertshadbolt3056]

@kim Justice just found your channel, via an amiga page. I think it's criminal you don't have more followers and subscribers. Outstanding documentaries

[@PixelShade]

You're going to have to eat your words regarding Street Fighter II not belonging on the Amiga. ;) I'm working with a couple of people from the demo scene to create a graphic demo of what the game could've looked like if it was programmed with love and care for the hardware. :)

[@Ponaru]

Kim you are a rockstar. It always blows me away how well researched and informative these videos are. Fantastic work as usual. Cheers.

[@waltherstolzing9719]

'rockstar' -- no. More like 'goal scorin' superstar hero'.

[@mufc10529]

pr0xy t

[@poohbear01x48]

Criminally underrated documentaries and documentarian.

[@pauljohnson7548]

This is one of the most enjoyable video games-related series on KZbin. Thanks for all the hard work!

[@thepenultimateninja5797]

Many years ago, I worked at a place called VDO in the Holford industrial park in Birmingham. US Gold were also based there, and I remember seeing the sign for the first time and being really surprised. I guess I had always just assumed that they were an American company. I was also surprised that they were still around, because it was around 1996 or 1997, and I always associated them with the 8-bit era. I've just realized that this was a very boring story without a satisfying conclusion. My apologies if you read this far.

[@EstebanGallardo]

FINALLY, "Bubbler" was a game that I was in an abusive relationship with it. It was hard, it wasn't forgiving but I kept trying again and again. I wonder what my 10 year old me (1986) found so fascinating about it.

[@Pashwintime]

These are the best videos for an early 80's born kid (and anyone else!). All the right games and names, loads of research and backstory. Ace.

[@EamonBJWyse]

Man, that 'Muscles' story!! Damn. Great video as always and as always, I'm late to the game on this one. Great that Geoff Brown commented as well! You do a great job of covering these stories, having lived it all as a kid through teenage years, you always nail it.

[@BrainDamageComedy]

youre the best retro content creator on youtube Kim - mucho ghusto! your documentaries are absolute gold! thanks!

[@marcozolo3536]

Somewhere in the multiverse, US Gold is still making games, but for the ray tracing enabled Amiga CD512 or just plain Amiga 512 to launch in 2020 with 512 bit memory bus working in parallel to achieve 8192 bits of memory bandwidth for true next gen ray tracing games

[@neilloughran4437]

I remember the World Cup Carnival fiasco.. I remember taking it back to the shop and the seller was not too happy with me. International Football by Commodore was an incredible title for the time.

[@SirHilaryManfat]

Fantastic documentary as always Kim. Personally I can't hate on US Gold, considering they gave me so much pleasure as a kid with Bruce Lee, Zaxxon, Impossible Mission,Spy Hunter, Dropzone, The Epyx games series (especially Winter Games), Beach Head 2, Raid Over Moscow, Gauntlet, World Class Leaderboard, Dambusters. These were some fantastic games in the day, and US Gold seemed to have a far better output of good to bad games than Imagine or Ocean in my opinion.

[@distane8376]

I can't say enough how top notch these documentaries are. I can't believe he only has 44k subs. 2018. Still watching this catalog.

[@B33FY2011]

Thanks Kim for yet another amazing video. I'm constantly blown away by how much research and detail is put into these videos. I love coming on KZbin and seeing a new Kimble Justice video in my subs it's an instant watch no matter what time of the day it is because you and your videos are that good. keep up the amazing work and I can't wait for your next video.

[@StuffOffYouStuff]

only part the way through this but this is fascinating. so much hard work put into this, Kim. You're a youtube gem!

[@EgoShredder]

Usually it is highly irritating when somebody much younger like Kim, attempts to talk about the past with authority and yet Kim manages to do this very accurately. I'm 45 and lived through the late 1970s and on through the 80s and 90s etc. It all pretty much matches up with what Kim says in all the videos, and sometimes I even learn a thing or two. Excellent stuff!

[@rufus231]

Too much Spectrum.

[@stevenixx3595]

@Weedus he

[@arostwocents]

Kim lived through the era, she regularly talks about the time itself. It's not a kid who is researching it. Imagine she was introduced young as I was - I'm 37 and my Dad introduced me to his Speccy as my first gaming experiences before getting a SNES.

[@arostwocents]

​@@rufus231nah. Spectrum was absolutely massive in the UK. It was a wide scale cultural touchstone similar to the dawn of android and iphone smartphones (since barely anyone owned the awesome S60 - I absolutely loved the ps1 style 3D gaming and NES and GB emulation though!)

[@cornchipz]

I gotta say, I really like your content Kim. You're very well researched, and are good at keeping me interested through your retrospectives. Well worth the sub. Thanks for all the content!

[@thewelshbeersnob2783]

Kim, I just want to leave a little comment as I nothing major to wax on about, but these documentaries are of such incredible quality I needed to say thank you. Truly, the detail in these is incredible. Thank you.

[@WumpscutCult2]

Discovered your channel yesterday, with the 'wise of the wobots' review. Then sensible soccer. So much content, such dedication, so many hours of hard work. Limitless love from Greece. Ps. Listening now to your bass cover of outrun. Niiiiiiiiiiice :)

[@Corleth]

Thanks Kim. Fantastic video and so well researched. I still remember playing Beach head for the first time and been blown away. US Gold is a massive name for any 80's British videogamer - but even my old self learnt quite a few things about then in this video.

[@-abacchus]

I wouldn't normally click on an hour+ video on YT, let alone watch it from start to finish, however... ...I enjoyed this!!

[@TheMadAfrican1]

The thing I love about this channel is the fact that it covers the European micro computer scene, which I find far more interesting than anything happening in America at the time. And most Americans on KZbin talk about American gaming history like it's the be all and end all. Like how AVGN has a go at Ocean over and over, without knowing the full story of the company.

[@Jelly2003]

That was an awesome production, thanks so much for your effort, you've given me a lot of new respect for US Gold, a brand I never really thought too much of in the past.

[@Hotshotter3000]

Kim, thank you for the videos. You are covering topics that few other people did and I wished had been covered. :)

[@neilprice5116]

Great stuff Kim. Been a a subscriber for years and these histories are the best thing I have seen. Well done and thanks.

[@fourtracker80]

Thoroughly entertaining. Really glad I stumbled upon your videos, Kim. Keep them coming!

[@3styler1]

been through a few your videos now and all are very well maintained, very well researched etc reminds me of my childhood keep it up man

[@warman]

OMG, you realy excel at bringing my high-school years back! And all this stuff from all these companies i knew so well yet had no idea about what you talk about. Keep it coming. Top notch.

[@andrewhill9369]

I stumbled upon this video last night and found it fascinating, thanks so much for putting it together. Not only was I part of the ZX Spectrum generation, but my first ever job was working at the marketing agency you referred to at 24.12, CAMEL. An acronym for Creative Advertising and Marketing Expertise Ltd, if I remember rightly. I worked here from around 1992 and remember the directors referring to Geoff Brown as ‘god’ as it was the main account. CAMEL also worked with Gremlin Graphics, also based in Sheffield and newly changed to Gremlin Interactive when I was there, you’ve now pieced together the association between the publishers. We also looked after TENGEN, and I remember the marketing campaign to reveal their change to Time Warner Interactive. I wasn’t at CAMEL for too long, but enjoyed it. Circa 1994, it got somewhat sad as the bank was called in and staff were laid off, I was lucky as I had resigned and was working my notice. A few months later there was an article in the local paper, The Sheffield Star, saying that CAMEL had gone under. Anyway, a great video that took me back half a lifetime ago - thanks.

[@saz34za]

Amazing video, so much time and effort. I grew up in the 80's and this was a brilliant trip down memory lane. Thank You so much :)

[@MDthornton83]

Kim, you're one of the best reviewers out there. Keep up the good work, man.

[@ralfvanbogaert3451]

For some reason you always keep coming up with the stuff I want to see. Keep 'em coming, Kim.

[@molineuxphil]

Superb video as usual Kim. Thank you and keep up the brilliant work.

[@coffincrusher]

Great review! Thank you so much for putting time and effort into these Kim!

[@michaellyga4726]

in alien breed, the cheat code "us gold" sets your score to zero hahaha.

[@stephenjohnson1385]

I'm bungle

[@Stella-ri5ex]

Kim Justice, you've narrated so well on your videos..I'd wish a television gaming channel, if there's one in the UK, would put your videos on their list of videos.

[@usagijojo2]

Yay, a new Kim video! =D I mostly remember US Gold for their hilarious DOS version of Street Fighter II; everything else I know about them is what I've learned from your channel.

[@SixArmedSweater]

I’m glad for Jeff. His continued love of music, more than anything, makes me believe he got out with his soul unscathed. 💕

[@GregDaniel78]

You know what Kim, your journalism chops and thoroughness of research puts a lot of professionals to shame. Cheers!

[@Utahsaint]

What a great story Kim, and you told it so well! I spent far too much of my youth playing Indiana Jones, Gauntlet and Impossible Mission!

[@carlosbfly]

Always such great content on this channel. Well done, Kim.

[@SuneSalminen]

The best song by Muscles - that I've heard - is by far "I'm Gonna Synthesise You". It's hilarious but pretty cool at the same time. I love your videos Kim, I'm glad you are here.

[@neilhale4954]

The biggest irony is that US Gold repurposing a crap football game for the world cup is standard practice for EA and its annual FIFA franchise, maybe they should have just let Ocean use Matchday which was an altogether superior game, I'm sure a name change and a few colour tweaks of a better game would have caused a lesser shitstorm.

[@A37927]

A really good documentary video I've enjoyed it a lot! Trans Kim Justice and keep up tne great work

[@RichardCyberPunk]

Wow Kim, i've never seen such a in depth and good video about a games publicer. Thanks.

[@LeoLoikkanen]

Madam, you're one of the best UK based video gaming historians! I hope you're able to keep up the good work and offer us many awesome videos! p.s. a video about Automata UK and Deus Ex MAchina would be super cool to see :)

[@lucasoheyze4597]

Madam? He's a man.

[@medes5597]

​@@lucasoheyze4597you're not informing anyone of anything except that you are an unpleasant person who can't live and let live.

[@SvenElven]

@@lucasoheyze4597You don't decide that.

[@djangoh1975]

That was a blast from the past, I use to use Centresoft when i ran an indie game store in the mid 90s through to the early 2000's.

[@Monkey_SK]

Fantastic video Kim! The Elvis connection alone deserves a thumbs up.

[@ptbunz2501]

Wonderful Story, very insightful and full of information. I watched from beginning to end and was pleased to say the least!

[@timking3587]

Bloody heck Forbidden Forest brought back some memories playing it on my friends c64. Remembered the artwork more than the name. 😉 Hear the music being played in this video.

[@TechTier_]

Excellent documentary, so much stuff I didn't know till now. Thanks Kim, so brilliant!

[@jamesroberts8971]

Great video. Very interesting and as good as all your other documentaries :)

[@stufaman]

A bloody good insight into a company that I thought just turned out crap. Brilliant work as always sir.

[@mediaphile]

From the very beginning of the video, I was thinking to myself, weren't they the publisher that released Flashback, one of my favorite games? I could have sworn I remembered their logo at the beginning of the game. Glad to see I was right. If nothing else, I thank them for that. Also, Tomb Raider.

[@gregggrindle1522]

Tim Folin reference. A+video.

[@dmf13]

Great doc. 48:32 master system had a long life in Brazil too, more than in Europe.

[@Gigas0101]

Fwee Bywan. Thanks for this video. I owned a few U.S. Gold releases as a kid. This was strange, as I live in Canada, and only discovered they were pirated copies years later! Your vid was informative and entertaining, thank you.

[@blindazabat9527]

Wasn't sure I"d be interested in this, but this video got me hooked. Great job!

[@gavindownes4541]

that was kinda really sad. I never liked them as a company because I wasted too much childhood money on games that looked nothing like what they did on the box. Tiger Road.. that was the one that made me swear off US GOLD. Fantastic video. This is the sort of history that needs to be archived.

[@darkchild130]

How do you not have way more subs? This stuff is great.

[@pdeaky]

Superb as ever Kim, thanks!

[@martinmayhemsretrorundown]

fantastic work thanks and great work in retro gamer magazine. thanks again.

[@S1eeperServ1ce]

Thankyou Kim. Look forward to the next instalment.

[@VVc0w]

Awesome video, that hour flew by, great stuff Kim!

[@MrFaceHead]

I've just seen you're on the Retro Hour podcast this week! I look forward to listening.

[@radarlockeify]

Thanks Kim! Another great episode!

[@kylewhite2985]

Hey Kim, great Doc as always! (i can't just say it's a "video"). Anyway i came to let you know the great channel ComputerHistory on youtube has just put up an 2h Sinclair presentation and i don't know if you already knew this channel but there is a lot of great stuff there! Cheers

[@mikecoffee]

Kim this is gold, first five minutes are genius!

[@howiecolin]

Wow that was really interesting, great vid and great channel Kim!

[@peterbrandt7911]

This is the 2nd time I watched this and you really did a very nice job here. Thank you.

[@lordiego01]

Another fantastic video Kim!

[@JBHowTo]

An awesome video was in the middle of hunting information about US gold awful street fighter 2 conversion for the Amiga, great video loved it mate, quick question the background music 58:43 it's so familiar what game?

[@RayPurchase321]

Your research technique is second to none 🔥🔥🔥

[@johnpeelslovechild]

Excellent video, as always. Well done.

[@ByrneMJames]

I love the music on this Kim. Killled by deaaath. The flashback music. Very cool.

[@JazzemYT]

Fantastic work as always Kim :)

[@sydneymeanstreet]

Killed Until Dead is a forgotten classic. Not that I'm biased, of course.

[@gregskuza7166]

How anyone can give thumbs down? You got superbly researched and presented video and for free...

[@MrLoilax]

Thank you! This refreshed good memories.

[@Holammer]

Is there a story to tell about Elite? They were mentioned in passing in this video and they did some stellar work on the C64.

[@legbert123]

39:44 not picking up that 1up really cheesed me off for some reason!

[@SiHadlington]

Completely agree with the summary, and really liked the review. Nice one.

[@MrDaveP75]

Thanks for making sense of my vague childhood memories of this company. I certainly understand and appreciate them more now.

[@RichardPlaysStuff]

You are so underrated, it's unreal. Loved the video :) I always saw this company being thrown around in Ashens and Larry's videos. It's a shame they had a bad record as they had some great licenses in their pockets.

[@mrdorf2784]

I always thought US Gold and Ocean were rivals! You learn something new every day.

[@salaciouscreations4323]

These are really important to the history of games.

[@yesterdaysrose5446]

Oh, you had it easy what comes to protests. MikroBitti is one of the big computer hobbyist magazines in Finland (okay, they had a pretty damn big slump into masses-friendly pap in the 2000s, but they refocused themselves to more hardcore audience last year and are pretty decent again). They ran a positive review of Raid over Moscow. The Soviet embassy got wind of this through pro-Soviet leftists, and sent an informal request to the Finnish government to suppress certain anti-Soviet books and films and games. Can't have any media that could jeopardise Finland's foreign relations and breed anti-Soviet sentiment, you know! ...however, aside of starting up the first ever parliamentary debate we've had about video games and being a rather weird pawn in this whole "Finlandisation" nonsense, fortunately, nothing was actually ever done about the game. Oh, and sometime in the late 1980s MikroBitti also ran a very special and very hilarious article about the four worst games they had ever had to touch. World Cup Carnival was one of them. They were surprised that there was even a cassette in the box! I was also not even aware that US Gold was a particularly bad video game publisher. I mostly remember them for their cool game collections they released in early 1990s. The games themselves were at least fairly okay. ...except maybe not so toward the end of Commodore 64's lifespan. I remember looking at Street Fighter II and going "damn, that HAS to be shit, I mean you CAN do good fighting games on C64 (motherfucking Barbarian), but how do you translate a game that needs a stick and 6 buttons to Commodore?"

[@TheStuffMade]

This is a really great documentary. Personally being a teenager during the height of the C64 and ZX Spectrum years. I do recall US Gold as representing a level of quality/high profile releases. Sure they released some garbage, but let's not forget the market was flooded with budget/unfinished game releases back then.

[@KurtWoloch]

That's an interesting story indeed. I've played many of those games as well, and I think the quality became a bit mixed when U.S. Gold started to put out their own games vs. only games that already were hits in the USA. But... some of the titles, such as SEGA's Spy Hunter or Tapper, are shown as Spectrum versions. Since the Spectrum wasn't so popular in the US, could it be that U.S. Gold did those Spectrum versions in the UK, adding them to the library of existing versions for other computers imported from the USA? I'm also recalling the release of Crystal Castles by U.S. Gold back in 1986 after an inofficial C-64 version had already flooded the "scene", and it's been said that at least the C-64 version of U.S. Gold's Crystal Castles release was actually done by Atarisoft in 1984 before they folded, but back then went unreleased due to Jack Tramiel taking over and dropping most of the video game and console stuff (among others, also NOT releasing "Track & Field" for the Atari 2600 in Europe though it was pretty decent).

[@noiselabproject9659]

another excellent and very in depth games related Doc . . . subscribed !

[@Lawnboyspost1975TheHomeOfDave]

WOW! So basically Elvis gave his life so ickle Dave could play Out Run on his Spectrum! Joking aside fascinating viewing, always had a soft spot for US Gold, really enjoyed this mate! ;)

[@fangoDcompose]

Maldita sea Kim! Gracias por esta y mucha mas informacion de videojuegos saludos desde El Salvador, exitos, your british accent help a lot with the lenguage

[@bluedragon219123]

*"Imagine if instead of FIFA 17 EA just re-released FIFA 07."* Oh this didn't age well! LOL!. :)

[@itsaPIXELthing]

Thanks for this, Kim! Awesome story! Cheers!

[@craiggilchrist4223]

I used to work in the US GOLD building in Holford Way Birmingham UK. They were a distributors. They are called Centresoft these days. I worked there as a UK official distributor for Sony Playstation.

[@dykodesigns]

I never knew that Ocean and US gold where partners. It looks like they devided and conquered the market. As you mentioned, US gold handled SEGA and Ocean handled others. What I've noticed is that US Gold was with SEGA and Ocean with nintendo. It's almost as if they had setup deviding the market. The Hulk was even released on the master system and seems to be somewhat rare. Was Eidos also behind EDOS? That would an interessting topic for another video, the EDOS system. I feel it was a form of digital distribution avant a lettre. It seems like the EDOS system was a short lived but quite interresting as I have once seen it demonstrated in a store when I bought a game duplicated with that system.

[@ErectedGasCan]

Must say that i bought a C64 three years ago and among my games collection i have several U.S. Gold titles. Can't say i thought about any significant difference in the quality between other publishers/game developers. I do have worse and better titles, still being wery new to the microcomputer scene i might find more difference in the future. Great vid!

[@doctorcrankyflaps1724]

Hi Kim. Any plans on documenting the Championship Manager/Football Manager series? Love your videos.

[@whatamalike]

I'd love to see you do one on Matthew Smith: The Syd Barrett of video games!

[@leejacksondev]

This was brilliant thank you Kim