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 close to John Lathbury and Tim’s girlfriend (later wife), Carole Ward. The other Stamper family members were involved in the early management and operation of Ultimate Play the Game that was originally located next to a family-run newsagent. Both Tim and Chris were employed in the field of arcade game development, including, according to one report, Konami's Gyruss, and were credited as "the most knowledgeable gaming design team for arcades in Britain" until they got tired of working for others and left to create Ashby Computers and Graphics. The first trading in arcade conversion kits, before moving into the home computer software market creating games under the Ultimate Play the Game name. Ashby launched 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, claimed that 16K machines were chosen because their smaller sizes meant they could develop faster. They could create one or two 16K games in one month. Jetpac was a commercial success. The Spectrum version sold over 300,000 copies, which provided the company with a turnover of more than PS1 million. Jetpac, Pssst, Tranz Am and Cookie were the only ten games ever to be released in the 16K format for use with the ZX Interface 2. These four games were also published by Sinclair Research on cassette with distinctive silver inlay cards for inclusion in ZX Spectrum bundles. Both were well-received by the gaming press, with CRASH magazine specifically extolling the feats Ultimate could do with the additional memory Lunar Jetman employed. [15Sabre Wulf Sabre Wulf was released in 1984, which was the first in the Sabreman series, and was priced at a suggested retail cost (PS9.95). The Ultimate games were previously sold at PS5.50. This was the norm for Spectrum arcade-style games of the time. The price increase was made to discourage copying. Consumers would not be inclined to lend copies to others if they paid more. It was also that Ultimate introduced the "big box" packaging. It was introduced for all subsequent Spectrum releases prior to Gunfright and other releases on other platforms. The company believed that this would justify the higher cost and encourage gamers not to duplicate the game. This approach worked, since Sabre Wulf sold over 350,000 copies in its first year on the Spectrum. In late 1984, the Sabreman Series' subsequent two installments were released. Underwurlde was quickly followed by Knight Lore. Knight Lore which was a forced-perspective isometric viewpoint that was called Filmation it was a major leap forward in the home-game market. The other games that followed its example, such as Batman and Head Over Heels, both by Ocean Software. Knight Lore and some of its Filmation sequel Alien 8 were actually completed prior to Sabre Wulf. However, Ultimate felt that it could be detrimental to Sabre Wulf's revenue, so it was delayed until late 1984.