Ultimate Play the Game

 In 1982, Ultimate Play the Game was established in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, by Tim and Chris Stamper. [8] Their acquaintance John Lathbury and Tim's girlfriend, Carole Ward, founded the company. The company was originally located in a house near the family-run newsstand. Both Tim and Chris had worked in the field of arcade game development, including, according to one article Konami's Gyruss and were credited as "the most knowledgeable arcade video game design team in Britain" until they got tired of working for others and leaving to start Ashby Computers and Graphics. The company's first business being the creation of arcade conversion kits, and later expanding into the market of home computer software developing games under the Ultimate Play the Game name. Ashby released four arcade games: Blue Print for Bally-Midway, as well as Grasspin, Dingo and Saturn for Jaleco.Ultimate's initial release was Jetpac in May 1983 for the 16K Spectrum. Tim Stamper, in 1983 interview, stated that 16K machines were targeted due to their smaller size meant that they could develop more quickly. They could create one 48K or two 16K games in a month. Jetpac was a huge commercial hit. It sold more than 300,000. Spectrum versions alone. Jetpac, Pssst and Tranz Am were among the ten games to ever be released with 16K ROM formats. The games were also republished on cassette, with distinctive 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 were released in late 1983. The games were well-liked by the gaming press, CRASH magazine in particular applauding what Ultimate could do with the extra memory Lunar Jetman made use of. [15It was Sabre Wulf was released in 1984, the first of the Sabreman series, and was priced at an estimated retail price (PS9.95). The Ultimate games were originally priced at PS5.50. This was the norm for Spectrum arcade-style games of the time. The higher price was imposed to deter pirates. Customers aren't likely to share copies with a higher cost. This coincided with the introduction of the distinct Ultimate "big box" packaging (used for all future Spectrum games up to Gunfright and also with other games on other platforms) The company believed would assist in justifying the increase and encourage players to purchase the game rather than copy it. Sabre Wulf was able to sell more than 350,000 copies on its own on the Spectrum. In late 1984, the Sabreman Series' next two installments were released. Underwurlde quickly was followed by Knight Lore. Knight Lore was a significant breakthrough in the computer-based home gaming market. It used a forced-perspective isometric camera, dubbed Filmation. The style was to be replicated in many other games, like Batman and Head Over Heels by Ocean Software. Knight Lore, along with certain of its Filmation follow up Alien 8, were actually developed prior to Sabre Wulf. Ultimate however considered that it could be detrimental to Sabre Wulf's rather modest sales so it was put off until the latter half of 1984.