Alternative Software
Alternative Software is a British software developer and publisher founded in 1985. From the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, the company published well over a hundred games, primarily for the 8-bit computer formats in the budget (£1.99 to £3.99) market. These included both original titles (e.g.
Also recorded as Alternative Software Ltd.
Alternative Software
- Name
- Alternative Software Ltd.
- Founded
- 1985
- Headquarters
- Pontefract
- Activity
- video game industry
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Documentary summary
Alternative Software is a British software developer and publisher founded in 1985. From the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, the company published well over a hundred games, primarily for the 8-bit computer formats in the budget (£1.99 to £3.99) market. These included both original titles (e.g.
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q4736479 · wikipedia · Alternative Software
In this article
Overview
Overview
MC Lothlorien's Pro Mountain Bike Simulator) as well as reissues of other developers' and publishers' software such as River Rescue which it acquired from the liquidation of Creative Sparks Distribution. In 1988, the company's catalogue expanded rapidly when it obtained the rights to re-release games from Piranha Software, Audiogenic, Incentive and Bubble Bus. In 1989, the company began to produce titles centred around popular children's television characters. Beginning with Postman Pat, which the company claimed was the first time a licence had been acquired by a budget software house, later games would feature Count Duckula, Fireman Sam, Sooty, Thomas the Tank Engine, The Wombles and many others. In a 2015 interview, founder Roger Hulley claimed that by 1990 the company had a 17 percent share of the budget games sector. During the late 1990s, the company diversified into development of "paint studio", "print studio" and similar-type software, the company is still active, with publication Retro Gamer noting in their 30-year retrospective of Alternative that they had "constantly evolved in order to stay afloat in an increasingly tough industry".
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Alternative Software Ltd. • Traded As — Alternative Software • Genre — Software industry • Industry — Software industry • Website — alternativesoft.co.uk
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
Explore 1985–1996
The full dated record · 4 entries
1985
Alternative Software established.
1985
Alternative Software is recorded from 1985.
1985
Alternative Software was established or created on 1 January 1985.
1996
Alternative Software 1996 Catalog (1996) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United Kingdom
Context
Primary material
Context
The circumstances in which Alternative Software stands. Established or created on 1 January 1985. Recorded as video game publisher. Software has its headquarters at Pontefract. Software operates in video game industry. Situated in United Kingdom.
Holdings and surviving copies
Where the work is held
Holdings and surviving copies
Where material relating to Alternative Software is held. Works and catalogued output.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Alternative Software”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q4736479: Alternative Software
General reference · Wikidata
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 2.RivistaVG/Cita rg 107 50 .
- 4.RivistaVG/Cita rg 107 51 .
- 5.I primi riferimenti sulla stampa sono nel 1986, es.
- 6.cita The Games Machine UK 11 p. 8 .
- 7.Alternative software from Alternative Software. pubblicità.
- 8.RivistaVG/Cita rg 107 52 .
- 9.Cita mcvuk.com .
- 10.RivistaVG/Cita crash 49 .
- 11.Croftward. novembre 1988.
- 12.mobygames azienda bizarre-developments Bizarre Developments
- 13.RivistaVG/Cita rg 107 53 .
- 14.cita The Games Machine UK 11 p. 9 .
- 17.mobygames gruppo 4-most-series 4 Most series
- 18.RivistaVG/Cita rg 107 54 .
- 19.RivistaVG/Cita rg 107 55 .
- 20.Playdays Paint.
- 22.Rugby League. copertina. 14 luglio 2020.
- 23.Cita Sito ufficiale .
- 24.Tratti dai vari collegamenti esterni.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Publishers and printers
5,459 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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