ZZAP!64 - Issue 2 - June 1985

ONEOFF
ing for Kennedy Approach by Microprose
- but they're not yet out in the
States. When they come out in the
States, within a month, when they have
a cassette version, they'll be available
in the UK. Therefore a after a product's
been worked on a year in the States
and comes out, it'll go straight into this
market. So it's going to be tougher for
the guys over here now on in. It won't
get any easier. I think sometimes software
houses think they have a right not
to compete against imported products.
Any industry in any country competes
against imported products. Software is
no different. You either match it or you
suffer.
Returning the flak on
Raid Over Moscow
What about the actual titles you
release? Some of them have been a bit
controversial - like Raid over Moscow,
Nato Commander, Strip Poker - where
do you draw the line?
Well we certainly wouldn't draw the
line at Raid over Moscow because
really the only controversial thing
about it is the title. I can't get away from
the fact that it is an offensive title. In
fact in the States it was marketed under
the name Raid. But the actual scenario
inside the program isn't going to indoctrinate
anyone. Nobody really believes
that if they get inside the Kremlin during
a nuclear war that they're going to
throw a disc that rebounds off a wall to
knock out robots arming nuclear
weapons. I think it's just a very good
game - technically it's a clever game,
graphically brilliant. The 64 users deserve
that standard of software whether
it's got a title like that or not. Any other
British software house would have
taken Raid overMoscow if they had the
chance. You show me one that says it
wouldn't, and I'll show you a liar.
So you don't lie awake at night worrying
that you're helping to bring up a
generation of warmongering kids.
Listen, I'd rather have a generation of
kids that extend their aggression on a
64 rather than take it onto the streets. I
don't think you can compare a computer
game to reality, not that kind of
computer game.
Are there more controversial ones on
the way?
Well, very shortly we're bringing out
another Microprose product, called
Mig Alley Ace. People will probably
initially think that we're talking about
(American) F15s fighting (Russian)
Migs now, but the fact is, the only war
in which Migs were used was the
Korean war. That's when the game
takes place. Really, I don't think it's
controversial at all.
The massive US Gold catalogue
Here's the complete list of titles released for the 64 by US Gold since it started last year.
They're grouped according to the American company they were licensed from.
ACCESS
COSMI
DATASOFT
ARTWORX
FUNSOFT
SEGA
J V SOFTWARE
MICROPROSE
MINDSCAPE
GRAPHICS PEOPLE
CENTRESOFT
SYNSOFT
CC|
BIG FIVE
SYDNEY PRODUCTS
ORIGIN SYSTEMS
ARENA GRAPHICS
Beachhead, Raid Over Moscow
Aztec Challenge, Caverns of Khafka, Forbidden Forest, Slinky,
Super Huey, Talladega,
Monster Trivia
Bruce Lee, Dallas Quest (disk only), O'Riley's Mine, Pooyan,
Pole Position, Pac-Man, Mr Do, Dig Dug, Conan the Barbarian
(disk only)
Strip Poker
Flak, Snokie
Zaxxon, Tapper, Spy Hunter, Buck Rogers, Congo Bongo
Mystic Mansion
Nato Commander, Spitfire Ace, Solo Flight, F15 Strike Eagle
Indiana Jones
Stellar 7
Datapro, Textpro
Fort Apocalypse, Blue Max, Sentinel, Drelbs, Doughboy
Battle for Normandy, Combat Leader
Bounty Bob Strikes Back
Grog's Revenge, Dambusters
Exodus: Ultima II [All American Adventures label)
Dropzone
And just round the corner...
US Gold say these are just a sample of the goodies to come:
JUNE : Kennedy Approach, Championship Boxing
JULY: Stunt Flyer, Blue Max 2001, Tigers in the Snow, Knights of the Desert,
Ghost Chaser, Mig Alley Ace
AUGUST: Beachhead II, Beer Belly Burt's Brew Biz, Whirlynurds, Castles of Dr Creep
SEPTEMBER: Stealth . . .plus lots more.
Piling up the titles. Geoff Brown (left), Tim
Chaney and stacks of US Gold cassettes.
Quote from Geoff Brown, US
Gold director, on why the
company release so many titles:
'If we don't release these titles
someone else will anyway, because
they're available for British
licencing. So when we put them
out, we try to choose the best programs,
and because we're so
strong now on licencing, people
are offering them to us before
they offer them to anyone else. A
lot of the American games released
here by other companies
are ones that we rejected.
48 ZZAP! 64 June 1985