U.S. Games
 | |
| Industry | Video games |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1978 |
| Founder | Donald Yu |
| Defunct | March 1983 |
| Fate | Dissolved |
| Headquarters | , |
U.S. Games Corporation was an American company that made video games. Until 1981, it created handheld electronic sports games. It was bought by cereal company Quaker Oats in 1982 to compete with Parker Brothers (which was then owned by rival company General Mills) in the video game market and use the Fisher-Price brand name.[1][1] U.S. Games released 14 video games, of which their first was Space Jockey in January 1982.[2] They named themselves Vidtec for some of their earlier games.[3]
Like Parker Brothers, U.S. Games aimed to make quality, licensed games for families;[1] Parker Brothers had released many popular games in 1982, including Frogger and The Empire Strikes Back.[4] However, U.S. Games did not sell many copies of their games, and was closed during the video game crash of 1983,[5][1] before it could use its recently acquired Pink Panther license.[1] "None of our games became a hit," said spokesman Ronald Bottrell. "Instead of pouring in a lot more capital, we decided to drop it".[6]
U.S. Games is known for being an attempt by a non-technology company to produce video games.[7]
Released games
[change | change source]In order of product number:[5]
- Space Jockey
- Sneak 'n Peek
- Word Zapper
- Commando Raid
- Name This Game
- Towering Inferno
- M.A.D.
- Gopher
- Squeeze Box
- Eggomania
- Picnic
- Piece o' Cake
- Raft Rider
- Entombed
References
[change | change source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Prince, Suzan D. (September 1983). "Faded Glory: The Decline, Fall and Possible Salvation of Home Video". Video Games. Pumpkin Press. pp. 18–20, 77. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
- ↑ Hacker, Randi (October 1982). "Software Update: Eight's Company". Video Games. 1 (2): 16.
- ↑ Goodman, Danny (Spring 1983). "Home Video Games: Video Games Update". Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games. p. 32.
- ↑ Rosenberg, Ron (December 11, 1982). "Competitors Claim Role in Warner Setback". The Boston Globe. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2012-11-07. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "AtariAge - Companies - U.S. Games". Archived from the original on 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2006-09-19.
- ↑ Video Games Go Crunch! - TIME magazine, Oct. 17, 1983 issue
- ↑ Chance, Greg (March 17, 1996). "The Crash of 1984". videogames.org. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 21, 2025.
