Ultimate Play the Game

 Ultimate Play the Game, the game based in Leicestershire, was created 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. Others from the Stamper family were also involved in the early running and support of the business it was originally located in a house next to the family-owned newsagent. Tim and Chris both Tim and Chris had been employed in the field of arcade game development, and, as per one report, Konami's Gyruss, and claimed to be "the most knowledgeable gaming design team for arcades in Britain" until they became tired of working for others , and leaving to start Ashby Computers and Graphics. The first transaction for ACG 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 was released by Ashby for Bally-Midway and Grasspin for Dingo. The Ultimate Play the Game's debut release was Jetpac for the 16K Spectrum in May 1983. Tim Stamper, in 1983 interview, claimed that 16K computers were chosen because their smaller size meant that they could be developed more quickly. They could create one 48K or two games in 16K in a month. Jetpac was a commercial success. The Spectrum version sold more than 300,000 copies, which provided the company with an impressive turnover of more than PS1 million. Jetpac, Pssst and Tranz Am were just four of ten games ever released with 16K ROM formats. They were also published on cassettes with distinct silver-colored inlay cards made by Sinclair Research for inclusion in ZX Spectrum bundles.Ultimate's first 48K releases were Lunar Jetman - a sequel to Jetpac - and Atic Atac both of which came out in the late summer of 1983. Both were well-liked by the gaming press, with CRASH magazine specifically praising what Ultimate had managed to do using the additional memory Lunar Jetman employed. [15] In 1984 came Sabre Wulf, the first game in the Sabreman series and the first game released at a recommended retail price of PS9.95. The initial price for Ultimate titles was only PS5.50. It was a common practice for Spectrum arcade-style games at the time. The reason for this was to deter pirates. This was also the time that Ultimate launched the "big box" packaging. It was used for subsequent Spectrum releases up to Gunfright and also with other releases for other platforms. The company believed that this would be a way to justify the higher price and also encourage players to not duplicate the game. 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 soon followed by Knight Lore. Knight Lore was something of a revolution in the computer games for home market. It featured a forced perspective isometric view which was later branded Filmation and the look of which would be extensively copied in different games, some notable examples of this being Batman and Head Over Heels from Ocean Software. Knight Lore, and some of its Filmation follow-up Alien 8, was actually made before Sabre Wulf but Ultimate decided that it could have a negative impact on sales of the more basic Sabre Wulf, so it was delayed until late 1984.