Ultimate Play the Game

 Ultimate Play the Game, an Leicestershire-based game launched in Ashby-de-la-Zouch by Tim Stamper and Chris Stamper in 1982.[8] They had a close relationship with John Lathbury and Tim’s girlfriend (later wife), Carole Ward. Additional Stamper family members were involved in the initial running and supporting of Ultimate Play the Game which was first located near a family-owned newsagent. Chris and Tim were both involved in the field of arcade games development, including Konami's Gyruss. Chris claimed to be the "most experienced arcade videogame design team in Britain". After getting tired of working for other companies the company he joined, Chris decided to create Ashby Computers and Graphics. The company's first trade in the development of arcade conversion kits, before entering the home computer software market developing games under the Ultimate Play the Game name. Blue Print was released by Ashby for Bally-Midway and Grasspin for Dingo. The Ultimate Play the Game's first launch was Jetpac for the 16K Spectrum in May 1983. In a 1983 interview, Tim Stamper said that they intentionally targeted machines of 16K because their smaller size meant development time was much shorter and that they could develop two 16K games in one month and one game with a 48K resolution. Jetpac was a commercial hit. The Spectrum version sold over 300,000 copies, providing the company with a turnover of more than PS1 million. Jetpac, Pssst and Tranz Am were the only four of 10 games ever released in 16K ROM format. They were also republished onto cassettes with distinct silver inlay cards, produced by Sinclair Research for inclusion in ZX Spectrum bundles.Ultimate's first 48K releases were Lunar Jetman - a sequel to Jetpac which was a sequel to Jetpac - as well as Atic Atac, both of which came out in the latter half of 1983. Both games received a positive reception from the gaming press. CRASH magazine praised Ultimate's utilization of the additional memory Lunar Jetman provided. [15] Sabre Wulf appeared in 1984. It was the first Sabreman game and the first game to be released with a suggested retail price of PS9.95. The original price for Ultimate titles was only PS5.50. This was the norm for Spectrum arcade-style games of the time. The reason for this was to stop pirates. This coincided with the launch of the distinctive Ultimate "big box" packaging (used with all further Spectrum games up to Gunfright and also with other games for other platforms) that the company believed could be a way to justify the cost increase and encourage players to purchase the game instead of copying it. This strategy was successful, since Sabre Wulf sold over 350,000 copies within its first year on the Spectrum. The game was released in late 1984. Sabreman Series' subsequent two installments were released. Underwurlde was quickly followed by Knight Lore. Knight Lore was a major milestone in the home computer gaming market. It used a forced-perspective isometric perspective, also known as Filmation. The style was to be copied extensively in other games such as Batman and Head Over Heels by Ocean Software. Knight Lore and certain of its Filmation follow up Alien 8, were actually completed prior to Sabre Wulf. Ultimate however thought it could affect Sabre Wulf's relatively primitive sales which is why it was put off until late in 1984.