Ultimate Play the Game

 Ultimate Play the Game was started in the Leicestershire town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in 1982 by Tim and Chris Stamper. their close friend 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 business that was initially based in a home next to the family's newsagent. Both Tim and Chris were involved in arcade game development as well as, according to one article, Konami's Gyruss, and claimed to be "the most experienced gaming design team for arcades in Britain" before tiring of working for others and leaving to start Ashby Computers and Graphics. This led to ACG's initial trade in the development of arcade conversion kits, before entering the market of home computer software creating 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 release was Jetpac for the 16K Spectrum in May 1983. Tim Stamper, in 1983 interview, mentioned that 16K computers were chosen because their smaller size meant that they could be developed more quickly. They could produce one or two games in 16K within 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. Tranz Am. and Cookie were the only four games released with 16K ROMs for ZX Interface 2. ZX Interface 2. The four games were released by Sinclair Research on cassette with distinctive silver inlay cards , for inclusion in ZX Spectrum bundles. Both games were very well-liked by the gaming press. CRASH magazine praised Ultimate's usage of the additional memory Lunar Jetman offered. 15 Sabre Wulf appeared in 1984. It was the first Sabreman title and the first to be released with a retail recommendation of PS9.95. The original price for Ultimate titles was only PS5.50. It was a common practice for Spectrum arcade-style games of the time. The reason for this was to deter the practice of piracy. This was also the time of the introduction of Ultimate of the original "big box" packaging. The packaging was made available for every Spectrum releases except Gunfright. The strategy paid off because Sabre Wulf went on to sell more than 350,000 copies on the Spectrum by itself. The game was released in late 1984. Sabreman Series' two subsequent installments came out. Underwurlde was followed by Knight Lore. Knight Lore was a major breakthrough on the home computer gaming market. It used a forced-perspective, isometric viewpoint called Filmation. This style would be extensively copied in other games, like Batman and Head Over Heels by Ocean Software. Knight Lore as well as some of its Filmation sequel Alien 8, was actually completed before Sabre Wulf but Ultimate decided that it could potentially have a adverse effect on sales of the comparatively primitive Sabre Wulf, so it was postponed until late 1984