U.S. Gold
Encyclopedia
U.S. Gold was a British
video game publisher
and developer
from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, producing numerous titles on a variety of 8-bit
, 16-bit
and 32-bit
platforms.
and Commodore 64
games in the UK and Europe. This proved to be a landmark in UK games publishing as UK published games up until then had been fairly crude. Brown decided to not only raise the price point of US Gold games to £9.99, but also to promote the games with full-colour adverts in popular user magazines. When the popular computers in the UK became the ZX Spectrum and later the Amstrad CPC Brown was faced with the problem of converting the US games he was licensing to UK formats. In other words he had to build a development capability for US Gold. He teamed up with a UK publisher, Ocean Software, based in Manchester, who were also very prolific at the time and they were responsible for the first US Gold conversions to UK formats. This arrangement proved difficult to continue as Ocean became more and more involved with their own development for their own games. Brown then decided to farm out his US Gold Development to independent UK developers and also founded his own development studios. This business plan proved to be an instant success, prompting U.S. Gold to expand by acquiring smaller developers and seeking out licences that they could commercialise. At the same time Centresoft became the largest UK games distributor with key High Street retail accounts such as Boots and John Menzies as well as most of the independent computer retailers. Various popular video games were ported by the company to IBM PC
including Street Fighter II
, Beachead, Zaxxon, Impossible Mission, and many sports games including World Cup Italia '90
and World Cup USA '94.
The publisher continued to expand their operation well into the 1990s. However, a number of their more lucrative licensing deals, particularly one with LucasArts
(formerly Lucasfilm Games), fell through, threatening to affect their income. In order to help consolidate their finances, they joined forces with Brown's UK software distributor CentreSoft to form the CentreGold
Plc Group. Internal game development studios owned by U.S. Gold were the internally formed Silicon Dreams
and acquired Core Design
in 1994. While Core Design was wholly owned by CentreGold Plc Brown developed Tomb Raider within the US Gold publishing group at Core Design.
The three-way partnership at the heart of CentreGold didn't last long, however, as the group was acquired by Eidos Interactive
in April 1996. Eidos sold off CentreSoft and maintained Core Design as a developer but decided to discontinue the U.S. Gold brand. Silicon Dreams Studios
was sold back to U.S. Gold founder Geoff Brown and became the keystone for his new development venture Geoff Brown Holdings (GBH).
The last retail game to bear the U.S. Gold logo was Olympic Games: Atlanta 1996, released in June 1996 for the Sega Saturn
, PlayStation
, PC
and 3DO
. The remaining U.S. Gold games awaiting publication at the time of their acquisition by Eidos were released in August 1996 with the exception of Dream Team Basketball. Dream Team Basketball was to be released on the Sony
PlayStation
but was cancelled.
, World Cup USA '94
U.S. Gold's release of World Cup Carnival
on the C64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC came in 1986. The company had acquired the rights to produce the official computer game of the Mexico 86 World Cup
football competition well in advance of the planned release date. The game was to be developed in-house, but programming and marketing problems arose that were unable to be overcome in time for the game's release. At the eleventh hour, U.S. Gold acquired the rights to Artic
's World Cup Football, a football game that had been released a couple of years earlier. U.S. Gold made a few modifications and released it just in time to capitalise on the popularity of the World Cup competition.
Having been promised a revolutionary World Cup football game, gamers, critics and retailers alike saw through U.S. Gold's thinly-veiled attempt to repackage an older game. U.S. Gold responded to this initial criticism by suggesting that their game had significantly improved an old classic, but they later admitted their folly. Despite their poor handling of the Mexico 86 licence, U.S. Gold were awarded the official FIFA license to produce games for the Italy 90 and USA 94 World Cup tournaments.
. Comprising Summer Games
, Summer Games II
, Winter Games
, World Games, California Games
, California Games II, The Games: Summer Edition and The Games: Winter Edition, there was no denying U.S. Gold's ability to successfully market a high profile sporting game.
When Epyx went out of business in 1989, U.S. Gold were eager to continue publishing Olympic themed games. They decided to take advantage of their reputation as a publisher of quality licensed titles by seeking the official video game licence for the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics
. The resulting game, Olympic Gold
was released in 1992 for the Sega Game Gear
and Sega Master System
, and the 16-bit console Mega Drive/Genesis. The game was a critical and commercial success, which led to U.S. Gold producing similar titles for the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics
and Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics
(Winter Olympics
and Olympic Summer Games
respectively). The latter would be the last game to bear the U.S. Gold logo.
s by Capcom
such as Street Fighter
, Final Fight
, Street Fighter II
, Ghouls 'n Ghosts
, Mercs
and Forgotten Worlds
among others. In addition to porting the original Strider
, U.S. Gold released an original sequel titled Strider II
, unrelated to Capcom's later arcade sequel, Strider 2
. U.S. Gold also released an original Game Gear version of Mega Man
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
video game publisher
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
and developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s, producing numerous titles on a variety of 8-bit
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
, 16-bit
16-bit
-16-bit architecture:The HP BPC, introduced in 1975, was the world's first 16-bit microprocessor. Prominent 16-bit processors include the PDP-11, Intel 8086, Intel 80286 and the WDC 65C816. The Intel 8088 was program-compatible with the Intel 8086, and was 16-bit in that its registers were 16...
and 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
platforms.
History
U.S. Gold was founded in Birmingham in 1984 by Geoff Brown as the publishing division of Centresoft, a computer game distribution company he and his wife Anne Brown founded in 1983. US Gold's primary purpose was to re-publish popular American AtariAtari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
and Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
games in the UK and Europe. This proved to be a landmark in UK games publishing as UK published games up until then had been fairly crude. Brown decided to not only raise the price point of US Gold games to £9.99, but also to promote the games with full-colour adverts in popular user magazines. When the popular computers in the UK became the ZX Spectrum and later the Amstrad CPC Brown was faced with the problem of converting the US games he was licensing to UK formats. In other words he had to build a development capability for US Gold. He teamed up with a UK publisher, Ocean Software, based in Manchester, who were also very prolific at the time and they were responsible for the first US Gold conversions to UK formats. This arrangement proved difficult to continue as Ocean became more and more involved with their own development for their own games. Brown then decided to farm out his US Gold Development to independent UK developers and also founded his own development studios. This business plan proved to be an instant success, prompting U.S. Gold to expand by acquiring smaller developers and seeking out licences that they could commercialise. At the same time Centresoft became the largest UK games distributor with key High Street retail accounts such as Boots and John Menzies as well as most of the independent computer retailers. Various popular video games were ported by the company to IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
including Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
, Beachead, Zaxxon, Impossible Mission, and many sports games including World Cup Italia '90
World Cup Italia '90
World Cup Italia '90 is a football video game by Sega for Mega Drive and Master System released in 1990.-Summary:This is the second World Cup official licensed franchise game based on the 1990 FIFA World Cup featuring official logo and the mascot, the first having been the ill-fated and...
and World Cup USA '94.
The publisher continued to expand their operation well into the 1990s. However, a number of their more lucrative licensing deals, particularly one with LucasArts
LucasArts
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
(formerly Lucasfilm Games), fell through, threatening to affect their income. In order to help consolidate their finances, they joined forces with Brown's UK software distributor CentreSoft to form the CentreGold
CentreGold
CentreGold Ltd. was a three-way partnership between two video game publishers and a video game developer . It was based in the United Kingdom. CentreGold was short-lived, being acquired by Eidos Interactive in April 1996...
Plc Group. Internal game development studios owned by U.S. Gold were the internally formed Silicon Dreams
Silicon Dreams Studios
Silicon Dreams Studios Ltd. was a British software house established in 1994 in Banbury, Oxfordshire, who specialized in sports games, distributed in most part by Eidos Interactive....
and acquired Core Design
Core Design
Core Design was a British video game studio best known today for creating the popular Tomb Raider series.-History:Based in the city of Derby, England, Core Design was set up in 1988 by Chris Shrigley, Andy Green, Rob Toone, Terry Lloyd, Simon Phipps, Dave Pridmore, Jeremy Heath-Smith and Greg Holmes...
in 1994. While Core Design was wholly owned by CentreGold Plc Brown developed Tomb Raider within the US Gold publishing group at Core Design.
The three-way partnership at the heart of CentreGold didn't last long, however, as the group was acquired by Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
in April 1996. Eidos sold off CentreSoft and maintained Core Design as a developer but decided to discontinue the U.S. Gold brand. Silicon Dreams Studios
Silicon Dreams Studios
Silicon Dreams Studios Ltd. was a British software house established in 1994 in Banbury, Oxfordshire, who specialized in sports games, distributed in most part by Eidos Interactive....
was sold back to U.S. Gold founder Geoff Brown and became the keystone for his new development venture Geoff Brown Holdings (GBH).
The last retail game to bear the U.S. Gold logo was Olympic Games: Atlanta 1996, released in June 1996 for the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
, PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
and 3DO
3DO Interactive Multiplayer
The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer is a video game console originally produced by Panasonic in 1993. Further renditions of the hardware were released in 1994 by Sanyo and Goldstar. The consoles were manufactured according to specifications created by The 3DO Company, and were originally designed by...
. The remaining U.S. Gold games awaiting publication at the time of their acquisition by Eidos were released in August 1996 with the exception of Dream Team Basketball. Dream Team Basketball was to be released on the Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
but was cancelled.
World Cup Carnival
See also: World Cup Italia '90World Cup Italia '90
World Cup Italia '90 is a football video game by Sega for Mega Drive and Master System released in 1990.-Summary:This is the second World Cup official licensed franchise game based on the 1990 FIFA World Cup featuring official logo and the mascot, the first having been the ill-fated and...
, World Cup USA '94
U.S. Gold's release of World Cup Carnival
World Cup Carnival
World Cup Carnival is a football video game for Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum released in 1986.-Summary:This is the first World Cup franchise game, and is based on 1986 FIFA World Cup...
on the C64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC came in 1986. The company had acquired the rights to produce the official computer game of the Mexico 86 World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
football competition well in advance of the planned release date. The game was to be developed in-house, but programming and marketing problems arose that were unable to be overcome in time for the game's release. At the eleventh hour, U.S. Gold acquired the rights to Artic
Artic Software
In the early 1980s, Artic Software, also known as Artic Computing, was a software development company based in Brandesburton. The company's first games were for the Sinclair ZX81 home computer, but they expanded and were also responsible for various ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, BBC Micro, Acorn...
's World Cup Football, a football game that had been released a couple of years earlier. U.S. Gold made a few modifications and released it just in time to capitalise on the popularity of the World Cup competition.
Having been promised a revolutionary World Cup football game, gamers, critics and retailers alike saw through U.S. Gold's thinly-veiled attempt to repackage an older game. U.S. Gold responded to this initial criticism by suggesting that their game had significantly improved an old classic, but they later admitted their folly. Despite their poor handling of the Mexico 86 licence, U.S. Gold were awarded the official FIFA license to produce games for the Italy 90 and USA 94 World Cup tournaments.
Olympics
U.S. Gold were synonymous with Olympic computer and videogames for many years. The company enjoyed enormous success in the 1980s with their publication of the classic Games series from American developer EpyxEpyx
Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before renaming the company to match in 1983...
. Comprising Summer Games
Summer Games
Summer Games is a sports video game developed by Epyx and released by U.S. Gold based on sports featured in the Summer Olympic Games. Released in 1984 for the Commodore 64, it was also eventually ported to the Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari XL/XE and Sega Master System platforms...
, Summer Games II
Summer Games II
Summer Games II is a sports video game developed by Epyx and released by U.S. Gold based on sports featured in the Summer Olympic Games. Released in 1985 for the Commodore 64, it was also eventually ported to the Apple II, IBM PC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Sinclair Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and the Amiga...
, Winter Games
Winter Games
Winter Games is a sports video game developed by Epyx , based on sports featured in the Winter Olympic Games....
, World Games, California Games
California Games
California Games is a 1987 Epyx sports video game for many home computers and video game consoles. Branching from their popular Summer Games and Winter Games series, this game consisted of some sports purportedly popular in California including skateboarding, freestyle footbag, surfing, roller...
, California Games II, The Games: Summer Edition and The Games: Winter Edition, there was no denying U.S. Gold's ability to successfully market a high profile sporting game.
When Epyx went out of business in 1989, U.S. Gold were eager to continue publishing Olympic themed games. They decided to take advantage of their reputation as a publisher of quality licensed titles by seeking the official video game licence for the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
. The resulting game, Olympic Gold
Olympic Gold
Olympic Gold is the official video game of the XXV Olympic Summer Games, hosted by Barcelona, Spain in 1992. It was released for the Sega consoles, Mega Drive/Genesis and Master System, and Sega's handheld, Game Gear.Developed internally by U.S...
was released in 1992 for the Sega Game Gear
Sega Game Gear
The was Sega's first handheld game console. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
and Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
, and the 16-bit console Mega Drive/Genesis. The game was a critical and commercial success, which led to U.S. Gold producing similar titles for the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympics
1994 Winter Olympics
The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...
and Atlanta 1996 Summer Olympics
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
(Winter Olympics
Winter Olympics: Lillehammer 94
Winter Olympics is the official video game of the XVII Olympic Winter Games that were held in Lillehammer, Norway in 1994.Published by US Gold...
and Olympic Summer Games
Olympic Summer Games (video game)
Olympic Summer Games was the 16-bit edition of the official video game of the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games...
respectively). The latter would be the last game to bear the U.S. Gold logo.
Capcom
U.S. Gold released computer ports of various arcade gameArcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
such as Street Fighter
Street Fighter (video game)
is a 1987 arcade game developed by Capcom. It is the first competitive fighting game produced by the company and the inaugural game in the Street Fighter series...
, Final Fight
Final Fight
is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game originally released by Capcom as a coin-operated video game in . It was the seventh game released by Capcom for their CP System arcade game hardware...
, Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
, Ghouls 'n Ghosts
Ghouls 'n Ghosts
is a platform game/run and gun developed by Capcom and released as an arcade game in 1988, and subsequently ported to a number of other platforms. It is the sequel to Ghosts'n Goblins and the second game in the Ghosts'n Goblins series.-Gameplay:...
, Mercs
Mercs
is a 1990 top-down run and gun arcade game developed and published by Capcom for the arcades. It is the successor of Commando. It was followed by Commando 3 in , a downloadable game.-Gameplay:...
and Forgotten Worlds
Forgotten Worlds
Forgotten Worlds, originally titled in Japan, is a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up game by Capcom originally released as a coin-operated video game in...
among others. In addition to porting the original Strider
Strider (arcade game)
Strider, released in Japan as is a 1989 side-scrolling platform game released for the CP System arcade hardware by Capcom. It became one of Capcom's early hits before Street Fighter II, revered for its innovative gameplay and multilingual voice clips during cutscenes .-Plot: Strider is set in a...
, U.S. Gold released an original sequel titled Strider II
Strider Returns
Strider II , is a side-scrolling platform game published by U.S. Gold and originally released for various computer platforms in . It is a European-developed sequel to Capcoms arcade game Strider, which U.S...
, unrelated to Capcom's later arcade sequel, Strider 2
Strider 2
Strider 2, released in Japan as , is Capcom's 1999 sequel to the original Strider. The game is actually the second sequel to Strider produced, following the U.S. Gold-produced Strider Returns released in , a game with which Capcom was not directly involved...
. U.S. Gold also released an original Game Gear version of Mega Man
Mega Man (Game Gear)
Mega Man is a video game for the Sega Game Gear. It was developed by Freestyle, licensed by Capcom, and published by U.S. Gold only in North America in 1995. It is the only game in the original Mega Man series to be released for the handheld...
.
External links
- U.S. Gold profile on MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...
- Dream Team Basketball review on The PlayStation Museum