Ultimate Play the Game

Infobox Company
company_name = Ultimate Play The Game
company_
company_type = Video game developer (inactive)
foundation = 1982
location = flagicon|UK Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, United Kingdom
key_people = Tim Stamper (graphics director)
Chris Stamper (software director)
Carol Stamper née Ward (director)
John Lathbury (director)
industry = Computer and video game industry
products = "Jetpac", "Lunar Jetman", "Sabre Wulf", "Underwurlde", "Knight Lore", "Alien 8"
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
owner=Rare Ltd. / Microsoft
num_employees =
homepage =

Ultimate Play The Game (often shortened to just Ultimate) was a video game developer of the early home computer era. "Ultimate Play The Game" was the trading name of Ashby Computers & Graphics Ltd. (ACG), a software company founded in 1982 by two ex-arcade game developers Tim and Chris Stamper. Ultimate released a series of successful games for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, MSX and Commodore 64 computers from 1982 until its closure in 1988. Ultimate are perhaps best remembered for the big-selling titles "Jetpac" and "Sabre Wulf", each of which sold over 300,000 copies in 1983 and 1984 respectively, and their groundbreaking series of isometric arcade adventures utilising a technique termed Filmation.

By the time of the label's last use in 1988 on a retrospective compilation, Ultimate had evolved into Rare, and moved on to developing titles for Nintendo consoles. Rare was purchased by Microsoft in 2002 for US$377m, a record price for a video game developer, and now develops exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox 360 console. In 2006 Rare revived the Ultimate Play The Game name for an Xbox 360 Live Arcade remake of "Jetpac" named "Jetpac Refuelled".

History

Early history and rise

[
Knight Lore", the first Filmation title.] Ashby Computers & Graphics was founded 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.A Rare Breed, "Retro Gamer", issue 20, pages 26-33. Imagine Publishing, 2006.] Other members of the Stamper family were also involved in the early running and support of the company, which was initially located in a house next to the family-run newsagent.Jones, Darran and King, Ryan. "XBOX360 Magazine" supplemental: "Rare - The Ultimate Story", page 9. Highbury Entertainment, 2005.] Both Tim and Chris had worked in arcade game development and claimed to be "the most experienced arcade video game design team in Britain", until tiring of working for others and leaving to start ACG. ["News item, Personal Computer Games", issue 1, page 5. Summer 1983.] This led to ACG's initial trade being in creating arcade conversion kits, before moving into the home computer software market developing games under the Ultimate Play The Game name.

Ultimate's first release was "Jetpac" in 1983 for the 16K Spectrum, BBC and Commodore VIC-20. It was a huge commercial success; the Spectrum version alone sold more than 300,000 copies to a market of only one million Spectrum owners at the time,Rollings, Andrew. "The ZX Spectrum Book - 1982-199x". Hiive publishing, 2007. Jones and King quote the Jetman sales figure as being 330,000.] and providing the fledgling company with a turnover in excess of £1 million.

This was followed by three further 16K releases, "Pssst", "Tranz Am", and "Cookie", before Ultimate stepped up to the 48K Spectrum. "Jetpac", "Pssst", "Tranz Am" and "Cookie" were four of only ten games ever to be released on the 16K ROM format for use with the ZX Interface 2. They were also republished on cassette, with distinctive silver inlay cards, by Sinclair Research for inclusion in ZX Spectrum bundles.

Ultimate's first 48K release was "Lunar Jetman", a sequel to "Jetpac", which was released in late 1983 and was very well received by the gaming press, "CRASH magazine" in particular praising what Ultimate had managed to do with the extra memory the game utilised. [cite web | url=http://www.crashonline.org.uk/01/jetman.htm | title="Lunar Jetman" review | publisher="Newsfield Publications, February 1984 | work=CRASH", issue 1, page 88 | ] In 1984 came "Sabre Wulf", the first game of the "Sabreman" series, which was the first Ultimate game released at a recommended retail price of GB£9.95. The price of Ultimate titles had previously been just £5.50, which was typical for Spectrum arcade-style games at the time. This increase was in order to discourage piracy, with the idea being that if customers paid more for a game they would be less inclined to give away copies. [Jones, Darran and King, Ryan. "XBOX360 Magazine" supplemental: "Rare - The Ultimate Story", page 13. Highbury Entertainment, 2005.] This coincided with the introduction of the distinctive Ultimate "big box" packaging (used with all further Spectrum releases until "Gunfright", and with various releases on other platforms), which the company felt might also help justify the price increase and encourage gamers to buy the game rather than copy it. The strategy paid off as "Sabre Wulf" went on to sell over 350,000 copies on the Spectrum alone. [Ultimate Play The Game feature, "The Games Machine", issue 27, page 27. Newsfield Publications, March 1988.] [ [http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=85625 "Sabre Wulf"] at Eurogamer.net. Retrieved on 30 October 2007.] This was followed by the simultaneous release at the end of 1984 of the next two instalments in the Sabreman series, "Underwurlde" and "Knight Lore". "Knight Lore" was something of a revolution in the home computer game market, using a forced-perspective isometric viewpoint branded Filmation, the style of which would be extensively copied in other games, notable examples being "Batman" and "Head Over Heels" from Ocean Software. [The Making of Head Over Heels, "Retro Gamer", issue 34, page 76. Imagine Publishing, 2007.] "Knight Lore", and some of its Filmation follow-up "Alien 8", was actually completed before "Sabre Wulf" but Ultimate decided that it could have a potentially negative effect on sales of the comparatively primitive "Sabre Wulf", so it was postponed until late 1984 for a simultaneous release with "Underwurlde".

Ultimate ran into some criticism in the gaming media for their repeated use of the Filmation technique in subsequent games "Alien 8", "Nightshade", "Gunfright" and "Pentagram", ["Pentagram" review, "Sinclair User", issue 52, page 43. EMAP, July 1986.] though "Nightshade" and "Gunfright" used Filmation II, a variation on the engine, resulting in a similar visual style, but significantly different gameplay, with scrolling around a large world and arcade-like play, rather than the room-based puzzles of the earlier Filmation titles.

Decline and fall

With the consistent success of Ultimate's releases there were rumours of a buyout by Ocean, until it was announced in 1985 that the Stamper brothers had sold the Ultimate catalogue and name to U.S. Gold,cite web | url=http://www.crashonline.org.uk/51/ultimate.htm | title="The Best of British", | publisher="Newsfield Publications, April 1988 | work=CRASH", issue 51, pages 35-38 | ] who would continue to develop games under the Ultimate label. Later titles such as "Martianoids" and "Bubbler" were not seen by the gaming press as being up to Ultimate's previously high standards and sales fell. U.S. Gold released no new Ultimate games after "Bubbler" in 1987. A final Sabreman game, "Mire Mare", was trailed in earlier Sabreman games and was mentioned by Sinclair User as being next up for release ["Mire Mare" "preview", "Sinclair User", issue 63, page 108. EMAP, June 1987.] , but was quietly dropped during development. In late 1988 ACG/Rare Ltd. bought back all the rights sold to U.S. Gold and were reported to be developing games again.News item in "CRASH", issue 62, page 9. Newsfield Publications, March 1989.] Future releases were to have included "Solar Jetman", which would eventually appear only on the Nintendo Entertainment System, although home computer conversions for the Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, and Atari ST were completed by Storm Software, but not released.cite web|title= Solar Jetman - The Creators Speak | publisher=gtw64.retro-net.de | url=http://gtw64.retro-net.de/Pages/s/Creators_Solarjetman.php | accessdate=2007-06-17]

Rare

Shortly before the U.S. Gold buyout, the name of another company "Rare Ltd." began appearing on the credits of Ultimate releases. This was in fact another company set up by the Stampers to develop for Ultimate, but not be subject to any Ultimate takeover. Rare (initially under the banner "Rare: Designs on the Future") would evolve after Ultimate's demise into a prolific developer for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This led Nintendo to purchase a stake in the company, whose success was furthered with such classic SNES and Nintendo 64 releases as "Donkey Kong Country" and "Goldeneye 007". In 2002 Rare was purchased outright by Microsoftcite web|title= Microsoft buy top games producers Rare | publisher=CBBC Newsround | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/sci_tech/newsid_2283000/2283354.stm | accessdate=2007-05-01] for US$377 million, a record fee for a video game developer, and currently develops games for the Xbox 360 console. At the end of 2006 Tim and Chris Stamper left Rare to "pursue other opportunities", [cite web | url = http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156140 | title = Rare Founders Leave to 'Pursue Other Opportunities' | accessdate = 2007-01-02 | author = 1UP.com] ending a 24 year involvement in developing home video games.

Ultimate's return?

In 2004, Rare revived Ultimate's Sabreman franchise with the release of "Sabre Wulf" for the Game Boy Advance. A new version of "Sabre Wulf" for the Xbox was also rumoured, [ [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=85983 Sabre Wulf on Xbox?] at computerandvideogames.com.] though it was never released or even officially announced. In 2007 Rare released the fourth game of the Jetman series "Jetpac Refuelled" for Xbox Live Arcade. They have been rumoured for several years to be developing a racing game based on the Ultimate/Rare universe titled "Sabreman Stampede". [ [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=89908 Secret Rare racer revealed!] at computerandvideogames.com.]

On 8 December 2006 and 16 January 2007 respectively, Rare's owners Microsoft Corporation filed US and EU trademark claims on the Ultimate Play The Game name and logo. The registered purpose is "entertainment services, namely, providing an on-line computer game".cite web|title=United States Patent and Trademark Office | publisher=tess2.uspto.gov | url=http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=login&p_lang=english&p_d=trmk | accessdate=2007-06-17 Due to the nature of this US government site, the relevant page cannot be directly linked to, so a search must be manually performed. The EU trademark may be found here: [http://oami.europa.eu/CTMOnline/RequestManager/en_Result_NoReg] ]

Relationship with the press and fans

Press

Ultimate had a reputation for secrecy that has continued to a lesser extent with successor Rare. Due to the small number of staff employed at Ultimate in the early days they didn't have the time to talk to the press or attend trade events. As Tim Stamper later said:

This press blackout soon worked to the company's advantage. Due to the company's reputation for producing high quality products, speculation in the press and amongst gamers, anticipation for each release would be high. This was helped along by the full-page advertisements placed in magazines showing the cover art of the game in question, but no shots or description of the game itself. These ads would be run prior to and for several months after the release date. ["Knight Lore, Alien 8 and Nightshade" MSX pre-release promotional brochure, published by Ultimate Play The Game in October 1985. Available to view at World of Spectrum: [ftp://ftp.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/company-pics/UltimatePlayTheGame/Brochures/KnightLore+Alien8+Nightshade_Brochure(MSX)/] ] The magazines wouldn't even be able to preview the games; the review copies, usually sent out just before general release, would be the first opportunity for anyone to see them. Not talking to the press worked for Ultimate and it soon became policy. In fact, when a journalist reviewing "Nightshade" for "CRASH" magazine asked Ultimate what the object of the game was, and how large the play area was, they responded with (respectively) "oh, we can't tell you that" and "it's pretty large". [cite web | url=http://www.crashonline.org.uk/21/nightshade.htm | title="Nightshade" review | publisher="Newsfield Publications, October 1985 | work=CRASH", issue 21, page 10 | ]

Lunar Jetman's trailer

[
Lunar Jetman" "trailer" screenshot as published in CRASH magazine, February 1986.] This air of mystery was increased when "CRASH" magazine published a reader's photograph of "Lunar Jetman" featuring Jetman's moon rover pulling a trailer. [Letters pages, "CRASH", issue 25, page 33. Newsfield Publications, February 1986] The possible existence of a trailer (as depicted on the game's cover art and loading screen) had been speculated on since the game's release, and many fans had searched fruitlessly for it. The Stampers shrugged off questions about whether this screen shot was genuine, but stopped short of actually denying it. There have even been suggestions that Ultimate themselves may have created the screen shot to generate more interest in the game. It has since been proven that "Lunar Jetman's" 48K of code does not contain graphics for a trailer. [Ultimate Play The Game - Company Lookback, "Retro Micro Games Action - The Best of gamesTM Retro Volume 1", page 26. Highbury Entertainment, 2006]

Fans

Ultimate were one of the first developers to have their own fanbase focused on the company and brand as much as the games themselves. They received so much fan mail at their peak that a full-time employee had to be taken on to deal with up to 60 letters per day. They were known for their positive attitude to fans, always replying to letters and responding to requests for merchandise by sending posters, sweatshirts and caps free of charge. The Stampers later stated that they were more interested in creating the games than making money from merchandising.

Commodore 64 releases

The main series of games produced by Ultimate were all released on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, with most from "Sabre Wulf" onward also on the Amstrad CPC and MSX, and most early games up to and including "Nightshade" also on the BBC Micro. Only three of these ("Sabre Wulf", "Underwurlde" and "Nightshade") were released on the other major platform of the time, the Commodore 64, however a series of C64-exclusive titles were published by Ultimate:

:* "The Staff of Karnath" (1984):* "Entombed" (1984):* "Imhotep" (1985):* "Blackwyche" (1985):* "Outlaws" (1985):* "Dragon Skulle" (1985)

"The Staff of Karnath", "Entombed", "Blackwyche" and "Dragon Skulle" all concern the adventures of Sir Arthur Pendragon.

Authorship

The company's secretive tendencies also extended to the question of who wrote the games. Whereas most games of the time would list those responsible on the cassette inlay cards or even on the front of the box (one notable example, "Football Manager" even going as far as to feature a picture of author Kevin Toms on the front of the box), no Ultimate title ever mentioned any names at all, and the authorship of some of them remains unclear.

The Ultimate titles up to Gunfright were produced primarily by Tim and Chris Stamper,Ultimate Play The Game feature, "The Games Machine", issue 27, page 29. Newsfield Publications, March 1988.] Tim provided the graphics and Chris the programming, along with fellow founders John Lathbury (coding) and Carol Ward (graphic design). Tim also created the cover art for the games, including the famous Ultimate Play The Game logo. The Stampers retained the major creative roles until the purchase by U.S. Gold, who brought in their own programming teams to create "Martianoids" and "Bubbler". The exact authorship of "Pentagram" and "Cyberun" is known only to those involved; often considered U.S. Gold games, they are both possibly Stamper games. This remains a possibility as although Chris Stamper has said in an interview, "What was the last one we developed as a team? It was "Gunfright", I think", Ultimate had already admitted to developing games in an order different from that of their release, as with "Knight Lore" and "Sabre Wulf".

The authorship of the Commodore 64 titles is even more uncertain. The conversions of existing Spectrum games "Sabre Wulf", "Underwurlde" and "Nightshade" were by Firebird, and "Imhotep" was submitted to Ultimate in a virtually complete form by Manuel Caballero, who had previously written "Batty Builders" and "Firefleet". [cite web | url = http://www.ultimate-wurlde.com/interviews/inview03.shtml | title = Interview with Manuel Caballero | author = Ultimate-Wurlde.com] Ultimate did not make any announcements regarding the authorship of the other Commodore games, and nobody has yet come forward publicly to claim them as Caballero did.

References

External links

* [http://www.ultimate-wurlde.com/ Ultimate Wurlde]
* [http://www.mobygames.com/company/rare-ltd Ultimate Play The Game profile] from MobyGames (as Rare. Ltd.)