Ultimate Play the Game

 Ultimate Play the Game, the game based in Leicestershire, was 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. Other members of the Stamper family were involved in the initial management and the support of the company, which was initially located in a building next to the family's newsagent. Chris and Tim were both experienced in developing arcade games. Chris was, according to one source, Konami's Gyruss. They claimed to be the "most skilled arcade design team in Britain" before they decided to leave their jobs to begin Ashby Computers and Graphics. ACG's first venture was arcade conversion kits. After that, ACG moved into the home software market and developed games under the Ultimate Play the Game brand. Blue Print for Bally-Midway, Dingo, Grasspin and Saturn for Jaleco were the first arcade games released by Ashby. The first release of Ultimate, Jetpac, was May 1983 for 16K Spectrum. In a 1983 interview, Tim Stamper said that they intentionally targeted machines of 16K because their size was smaller, which meant development time was shorter and that they could develop two 16K games within a month and one game with a 48K resolution. Jetpac was a massive commercial success; the Spectrum version sold more than 300,000 copies , providing the company with a turnover in excess of PS1 million.This was later followed by three other 16K games, Pssst in June, Tranz Am and Cookie, before Ultimate stepped up to the 48K Spectrum. Jetpac, Pssst. Tranz Am. and Cookie were the only four games ever released with 16K ROMs for the ZX Interface 2. They were also republished onto cassette, with distinctive silver inlay cards by Sinclair Research for inclusion in ZX Spectrum bundles.Ultimate's first 48K releases included Lunar Jetman - a sequel to Jetpac as well as Atic Atac, both of which were released in late 1983. Both games were well-received by the gaming press. CRASH magazine praised Ultimate's utilization of the additional memory Lunar Jetman offered. [15] Sabre Wulf appeared in 1984. It was the first Sabreman title and the first game to be released with a retail recommendation of PS9.95. The original price for Ultimate games was PS5.50. It was common in Spectrum arcade-style games at the time. The reason for this was to deter piracy. This was also the time of the introduction of the distinctive Ultimate "big box" packaging (used with all the subsequent Spectrum games up to Gunfright, and with various releases for other platforms), which the company believed could assist in justifying the increase and encourage gamers to buy the game instead of copying it. Sabre Wulf was able to sell more than 350,000 copies on its own on the Spectrum. The game was released in late 1984. Sabreman Series' two subsequent installments came out. Underwurlde was followed by Knight Lore. Knight Lore which was a forced-perspective isometric perspective, which was dubbed Filmation it was a major leap forward in the home-game market. Others would follow its example, such as Batman and Head Over Heels, both from Ocean Software. Knight Lore and some of its Filmation sequel Alien 8 were actually completed before Sabre Wulf. However, Ultimate was concerned that it could affect negatively Sabre Wulf's sales, so it was delayed until 1984.