Ultimate Play the Game

 Ultimate Play the Game, which was a game inspired by Leicestershire, was launched in Ashby-de-la-Zouch by Tim Stamper and Chris Stamper in 1982.[8] They were friends with John Lathbury and Tim’s girlfriend (later wife), Carole Ward. The company's headquarters were in a house close to the family-run newsstand. Chris and Tim each had experience in developing arcade games. Chris was, according to one account, Konami's Gyruss. They claimed to be the "most proficient arcade design team in Britain" before deciding to leave their jobs to establish Ashby Computers and Graphics. The first trade in the development of arcade conversion kits before moving into the software market for computers at home making games under the Ultimate Play the Game name. Ashby released four arcade games: Blue Print for Bally-Midway and Grasspin, Dingo and Saturn for Jaleco.Ultimate's first release was Jetpac in May 1983 for the 16K Spectrum. In a 1983 interview, Tim Stamper said that they specifically targeted machines with 16K resolutions as their size was smaller, which meant development time was much shorter and they could create two games with 16K resolution in one month, or one 48K game. Jetpac was a commercial hit. The Spectrum version sold over 300,000 copies, providing the company with a sales of more than PS1 million. Jetpac, Pssst and Tranz Am were among the ten games ever released with 16K ROM formats. The four games were released by Sinclair Research on cassette with distinctive silver inlay cards , for inclusion in ZX Spectrum bundles. Both games were well-received the media for gaming. 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 release with a retail recommendation of PS9.95. The cost of Ultimate games had been just PS5.50, which was typical for Spectrum arcade-style games at the time This increase was to discourage from piracy, with the intention that if players bought a game at a higher price, they'd be less inclined to offer copies. This was also the time that Ultimate introduced the "big box" packaging. It was included for subsequent Spectrum releases , including Gunfright and with additional releases on other platforms. The company believed that it would serve to justify the higher cost and encourage gamers not to copy the game. This approach worked, since Sabre Wulf sold over 350,000 copies within its first year on the Spectrum. Then came the launch in late 1984 of the following two installments of the Sabreman series. Underwurlde was followed by Knight Lore. Knight Lore is a forced perspective isometric viewpoint , also known as Filmation, was a significant innovation in the home games market. The other games that followed the same path, including Batman and Head Over Heels, both from 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 have a adverse effect on sales of the relatively primitive Sabre Wulf, so it was delayed until late 1984.