Ultimate Play the Game

 Ultimate Play the Game was established in the Leicestershire town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in 1982 by Tim and Chris Stamper. their friend John Lathbury, and Tim's girlfriend (later wife) Carole Ward. The company was initially located in a house near the family-owned newsstand. Tim and Chris both Tim and Chris had worked in the development of arcade games, such as, according to a article Konami's Gyruss, and were credited as "the most experienced arcade video game design team in Britain" until tiring of working for others and departing to form Ashby Computers and Graphics. The first business ACG traded was arcade conversion kits. After that, ACG moved into the home software market , and produced games under the Ultimate Play the Game brand. Ashby launched four arcade games, Blue Print for Bally-Midway and Grasspin, Dingo and Saturn for Jaleco.Ultimate's initial release was Jetpac in May 1983, for the 16K Spectrum. Tim Stamper, in 1983 interview, said that 16K computers were targeted due to their smaller sizes meant they could develop more quickly. They could produce one 48K or two games in 16K within a month. Jetpac was a huge commercial success. It sold more than 300,000. Spectrum versions alone. Jetpac, Pssst, Tranz Am and Cookie were among the ten games ever to be released in the 16K ROM format to use with ZX Interface 2. ZX Interface 2. They were also published on cassettes, featuring 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 which was a sequel to Jetpac - as well as Atic Atac both of which were released in late 1983. Both were well-received by the gaming press, CRASH magazine in particular praising what Ultimate was able to accomplish using the additional memory Lunar Jetman used. [15] In 1984 came Sabre Wulf, the first game in the Sabreman series and the first game released with a suggested retail price of PS9.95. The cost of Ultimate titles had previously been only PS5.50 and was standard for Spectrum arcade-style games at the time . This increased price was to discourage pirates, the reasoning that if consumers paid more for games, they'd be less likely to give away copies. This was in conjunction with the introduction of the distinct Ultimate "big box" packaging (used in all subsequent Spectrum games up to Gunfright and in a variety of releases for other platforms) This was something that the company believed could be a way to justify the cost increase and encourage users to purchase the game instead of copying it. This strategy proved successful as Sabre Wulf sold over 350,000 copies in its debut year on the Spectrum. The next instalment in the Sabreman series was released in 1984. Underwurlde was followed shortly by Knight Lore. Knight Lore was a significant breakthrough in the gaming for home computers market. It employed a forced perspective, isometric viewpoint called Filmation. This design would be copied extensively in other games like Batman and Head Over Heels by Ocean Software. Knight Lore and some of its Filmation sequels Alien 8 were actually completed prior to Sabre Wulf. However, Ultimate was concerned that it could have a negative impact on Sabre Wulf's business, so it was delayed until 1984.