Lesson plan

Alca Electronics

Alca Electronics, styled ALCA on their products, was a British manufacturer of arcade games, starting with electro-mechanical games and later moving to video games. While they designed their own electromechanical games, most of their video games were unlicensed copies of other designs, starting with Atari's Pong, which they called Ping Pong. Ping Pong reached the UK market six months before Atari, becoming the first video game made in Europe. During their heyday, they branched out to pool tables and fruit machines and similar devices, becoming one of the larger electronics manufacturers in Manchester area. A series of events in the early 1980s led to the rapid downfall of the company. In August 1981, Martin Bromley, former founder of Sega and now one of the company's major distributors, was convicted of VAT tax fraud and his assets were frozen. In November, Alca began selling off their machines at low prices to keep the cash flowing. In February 1982, Sega's recently formed European division sued Alca for copyright infringement over their copy of Frogger. With little money coming in, and the costs of a lawsuit only starting, the company was liquidated in August 1982.

Back to article

Article summary

Alca Electronics, styled ALCA on their products, was a British manufacturer of arcade games, starting with electro-mechanical games and later moving to video games. While they designed their own electromechanical games, most of their video games were unlicensed copies of other designs, starting with Atari's Pong, which they called Ping Pong. Ping Pong reached the UK market six months before Atari, becoming the first video game made in Europe. During their heyday, they branched out to pool tables and fruit machines and similar devices, becoming one of the larger electronics manufacturers in Manchester area. A series of events in the early 1980s led to the rapid downfall of the company. In August 1981, Martin Bromley, former founder of Sega and now one of the company's major distributors, was convicted of VAT tax fraud and his assets were frozen. In November, Alca began selling off their machines at low prices to keep the cash flowing. In February 1982, Sega's recently formed European division sued Alca for copyright infringement over their copy of Frogger. With little money coming in, and the costs of a lawsuit only starting, the company was liquidated in August 1982.

Key claims

  1. date of formation: 1967 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. date of formation: 1940 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  3. release date: 1968 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the date of formation is "1967". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the date of formation is "1940". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. The record states that the release date is "1968". What evidence would count against this claim?
  5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1339526549

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.