Just off Carnaby Street near the Old Coffee House Pub
It
was smiles all round last week when executives of the Ram Jam
Corporation met with representatives of Palace Software to clinch the
deal whereby Palace will distribute all Ram Jam titles. After the
signing, Pete Stone, Managing Director of Palace Software said "These
blokes have been hanging around here for the last two weeks or so. I am
glad to discover that they were on our side." Sir Oswestry Malvinas (not
in picture) said "Now that we have fulfilled our defence contracts we
are really looking forward to getting into games."
SINCLAR USER interviewed the Ram Jam Corporation in December 1986 (page 74)
and this is where the just off Carnaby Street location comes from:
Situated in the very centre of the 'busy' part of London, just off Carnaby Street and about fifteen seconds away from a Big Record Company and a Big Film Company, The Ram Jam Corporation appears every bit as grand as its neighbours.
"Just off Carnaby Street" sounds like it should be a small area to search but conceivably it could be anywhere. This was why The RamJam Corporation were designated as Untraceable when I first wrote about them in 2022. The SINCLAIR USER article also throws out a couple of names Simon Dunsten and George Stone. Simon Dunsten turns out to be Simon Dunstan or possibly Simon Dunston who doesn't seem to have a track record outside games for The RamJam Corporation. George Stone worked for an advertising agency and helped create "computer generated" TV host Max Headroom. Now, Max Headroom was developed by television producer Peter Wagg who worked for Chrysalis Records. Initial excitement at this connection turns into disappointment when I discover they were based at 97 Jermyn Street, London, SW1Y 6JE which is on the wrong side of Regent Street and much more than 15 seconds away from Carnaby Street. Ultimately The RamJam Corporation turn out to be as untraceable now as they were in 2022.
The other name associated with The RamJam Corporation is Tony Barber. He gave an interview to CASA, The Classic Adventures Solution Archive, in 2006 about his work on Valkyrie 17. In the course of that interview he gives a great summary of the history of The RamJam Corporation:
It was started by Trevor Toms and George Stone. I was taken on as lead programmer and George hired an artist Simon Dunston. Trevor (very clever man) split his time between RamJam and University. George had his fingers in many pies and could talk people into doing anything. RamJam was started on money George got from selling the Max Headroom idea and Trevor's money from Phipps [Associates, publishers of adventure games]. It ran out quickly and more money was gained for work we took on like Cauldron, Archon and Think! for other people. RamJam seemed to take on more work that I could do so more staff were taken on. They turned out to be unreliable and deadlines were missed. We scraped by month by month and after 18 months working for RamJam the Inland Revenue contacted me asking what I had been doing since my last job. RamJam had stopped my tax from my wages every month but had not paid it to them. Shortly later I resigned from RamJam and went self-employed.
Eighteen months is slightly less than the lifetime of The RamJam Corporation. They worked on 11 games between 1984 and 1987, Valkyrie 17 to The Astonishing Adventures of Mr. Weems and the She Vampires for Piranha. They were Z80 processor specialists so they only worked
on Spectrum and Amstrad games. Conversions of their titles to the Commodore 64 were handled by others. Their games are an eclectic assortment of titles from thoughtful puzzle games to straightforward blasters. Explorer is one that sits in my memory. I never played it, but I remember reviews that claimed the game was impractically big; 40 billion locations. How is that supposed to work?
The history of The Astonishing Adventures of Mr. Weems and the She Vampires is as opaque as that of The RamJam Corporation. According to the April (I know) 1987 issue of SINCLAIR USER the game was originally called The Astonishing Adventures of Mr Weems and the Sex Vampires and would be released by a company called Wild Fire. The high concept idea was to advertise the game in classified adverts for £5. The purchaser would receive the game plus a utility to make copies which they could sell provided they sent a certain amount of money back to Wild Fire. True? False? Miscommunication? April Fools joke? A Google search for the term "sex vampires" is vague.
The RamJam Corporation expired leaving behind three games complete enough to preview; there was Chicago and Paddywack for Activision, and Bizmiller which had no publisher; these three games were all previewed in the same April 1987 issue of SINCLAIR USER that spilled the beans about Mr Weems. The fourth game left behind was Three Days in Carpathia which may or may not have been a sequel to Valkyrie 17. The July and August 1986 editions issues of COMPUTER & VIDEOGAMES give back to back mentions of Three Days In Carpathia; it is a sequel to Valkyrie 17 in the July issue and then isn't by August. YOUR SINCLAIR also covered the saga in October 1986 and suggested the sequel would actually be called Valkyrie 18. That same report also mentions a game called The Story Of The Amulet, based on the book by E. Nesbit, due out in the autumn from Mosaic. COMMODORE USER carried more details on this game in June 1986:
Mosaic Publishing, the specialist adventure house in interactive fiction, have plans to release The Story of The Amulet, based on the children s classic by E Nesbit Written by the Ram (Valkyrie 17) Jam Corporation, this graphic adventure will allow the player to assume the role of one of four characters involved with the Psammead — a sand fairy who takes them back in history.
Mosaic Publishing, the specialist adventure house in interactive fiction, have plans to release The Story of The Amulet, based on the children s classic by E Nesbit Written by the Ram (Valkyrie 17) Jam Corporation, this graphic adventure will allow the player to assume the role of one of four characters involved with the Psammead — a sand fairy who takes them back in history.
There was also mention of a science fiction adventure, The Sock And Tooth Affair, and Shadow Warrior, "an authentic Ninja adventure". Then in the March 1987 issue COMMODORE USER carried this blunt report:
The future does not look bright for The Story Of The Amulet adventure, based on the book by E. Nesbit. Planned for release this summer, Mosaic Publishing report that there is no sign of the game from The Ram Jam Corporation, commissioned to write the game.
Did The RamJam Corporation get into difficulty around the spring/early summer of 1987? The lack of any mention after April 1987 would suggest whatever happened was quick. Although Companies House lists them as company number 01823029, dissolved 05 May 1992.
VERDICT: STILL UNTRACEABLE!
The cover for Valkyrie 17 comes from Spectrum Computing
Do you know what happened to The RamJam Corporation? Do you know if their name was Ram Jam or Ramjam or RamJam? Do you have any information about The Astonishing Adventures of Mr. Weems and the Sex Vampires? Or just Sex Vampires, to be honest.
Emails to whereweretheynow@gmail.com I am also on Bluesky. @shammountebank.bsky.social
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