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-- 31-12-2004 --
Five and a half years. In today's fast-living world, an eternity. In its first year, I used TUOL as a visitor, finding lots of great exciting sites through it. Then, in September 2000, I joined the crew myself. Since then, I've been involved with it constantly. As a weekly updater first, taking over most of the responsibility and 'behind the scenes' work later. And now, all this comes to an end.
'Abandonware' as a whole had its ups and downs over these years. The big fights over the rules in late 1999 and early 2000. The huge amount of media coverage and attention in 2001 and 2002. The overwhelming number of new sites and people in these years. And then, the slow decline over the last two years. Less and less people being interested in classic games, more and more old sites dying for various reasons.
What bothered me especially over the last few years was the lack of 'new blood' which could be taken seriously. How many good new sites were founded and survived longer than two months? At the same time, the invasion of things we thought we had kicked out years ago. Lots and lots of linkstealers and content stealers - be glad you didn't get to see most of these. Sure, there still were lots of decent people around, but most of them only collected ZIP files instead of plastic and cardboard.
These days, there are so few active sites left that running a ring doesn't make much sense anymore. The same few sites are updating regularly or semi-regularly, most of the ones which are still online have been long abandoned (ironic, isn't it?). No problem for these few people to get together and cross-link their sites directly - it would even be a lot easier and less bureaucratic.
Of course, it's still very sad to let such an old site go, especially since our services have reached an all-time high with the latest changes again. TUOL and Abandonweb were the only stable rings which everybody could always count on both to exist and to be reliably updated. In all due modesty, our search engine covered a lot more stuff than any other, and its accuracy is yet to be surpassed.
The decision still to shut down wasn't made lightly. For the reasons above, we lost motivation, though. The point it eventually became completely clear to me was when the preparations for our five-year-celebrations resulted into... nothing. So, instead of letting everything turn into a 'sorry mess' (as the former webmaster of another ring called the final stage of his site) without updates and rulebreakers galore being accepted, we decided to quit while it's still good. To give our best in the last few weeks and months. I hope we succeeded.
Personally, I will not quit this 'scene', because the subject itself is still a fascinating one to me. My other site, The Good Old Days, will stay up and I'll continue to work on it. If there is anything - this is where I can be found and reached. Maybe one day, more people will get interested in the classic art of computer games again, and maybe, sites like this one will be needed again then...
Mr Creosote
-- 30-12-2004 --
Boy, do I have little time. This day got hairy fast with a dentist appointment (still no cavities!). Then just weird odd-jobs, I still didn't get a chance to go to the bank. It's definitly not going to be open tomorrow either.
Under One MegaByte Abandonware updated today with some Arcade Volleyball. Volleyball was a popular game to write in the old days, now a serious volleyball game is pretty much unheard of.
Hopefully everyone in the Indian Ocean Ring is doing better and can get everything back on track so they can start reconstructing their coastlines. For everyone that lost someone things will get better in the future. Stay safe in the new year.
This concludes this lame update, brought to you by
Tuss
-- 29-12-2004 --
Good evening!
Another fun day comes to its end. Just got near the computer for the first time today five minutes ago, and already updating. Two fine submissions reached us: XTC added lots of versions of Microsoft's QBasic for MS-DOS after having reached the nice round number of 1000 games recently, and The House of Games is already well above their goal of 50 games for this year with Qwak and Pinball Dreams.
That's all I have to say for now. Check back tomorrow for more lameless (although not as lame as this update) and pleasant nightmares!
Mr Creosote
-- 28-12-2004 --
After a three day hiatus of not using the internet I have come back just to update! Then I will sneak away again until tomorrow. I just got done with some awesome sushi I made and my hands smell like wasabi. It is a good smell.
A few updates today, The House of Games puts up river raid. It was a fun game, I've played it on my 2600 a bit, but it wasn't near my favorites list. It is a concept that is copied many times, especially for freeware games.
AbandonRom Paradise adds Road Rash and Gauntlet 2 to their site. I have played the later versions of Road Rash, and they are really fun. The Playstation version had a lot of flavor to it.
Under 1mb Abandonware updates as well, adding a bunch of arcade games. A notable one is Micro Machines. I was in an online tournament once for Micro Machines, and I found out I was really bad ;)
Well, I've been called out again, so no angst here. The only thing to do is to hold tight until tomorrow's update.
Later Muchacos
Tuss
-- 27-12-2004 --
Right...
I feel like repeating an old and most likely long forgotten line I used to repeat every week: "God, I hate mondays!"
Even though this monday wasn't that bad... I haven't said that in a very long time.
So well, we have a new site today... and an update from The House of Games.
Apart from that... I had a boring day at work and tomorrow will be another boring day at work. *sigh* Aaaaah well. Some free days ahead after that at least.
So have a good one and good night.
Elwood
-- 26-12-2004 --
Rightyho!
Hope you all had nice christmas, got some nice presents, didn't kill any of your relatives and are ready to welcome the new year...?!
So today we only have one update coming in from The House of Games. Guess the rest of you is still too dizzy from celebrating and all that.
So enjoy the rest of your sunday - and my best wishes to all the poor souls out there that have to work tomorrow. Well, I'll have to as well. :(
So good night then.
Elwood
-- 25-12-2004 --
Hiyah!
I pretty much said it all yesterday, so I've nothing new to say tonight. Enjoy the update, I'm off for some rather interesting situations at my parents place... ;)
Haba
-- 24-12-2004 --
Hiyah.
Christmas is a special time of the year to me, not religion-wise, but concerning abandonware. It was during the Christmas holidays of 1998 when I first stumbled upon a site dedicated to old games, calling itself an abandonware site. Since then the site has faded away, but abandonware has stayed.
During those years I've met some great people, seen great sites come and go - and of course played many great games again. What will future bring on, I do not know. Hopefully it'll be a bright one - but times do change. How the next year will be is up to You.
Updates: XTC Abandonware adds a game, and reaches the honorable count of 1,000 games. You probably guess the second updating site as well - The House of Games adds another obscure title tonight.
Well, I guess it's time for me to quit my ranting and get over with the update. Merry Christmas, and happy New Year as well. Haba out.
Haba
-- 23-12-2004 --
Hello there!
I got snowed on a bit, about a foot, or thirty centimeters for the blokes. Nothing bad, but enough so the lowriders stay home. Plus in the city there are so many plows, the roads are already cleared.
A fair amount of updates today.
Force For Good updates, and puts in a new engine for the site as well as adding a few reviews. Sadly though he calls the BTCC a poor man's formula one. Let me tell you this: BTCC is a hundred times better than F1, because stuff happens. Where in the later you have some Arrows having an engine failure and the annoucers go crazy over it, the former has tons of overtaking and Plato. Sheesh.
AbandaCatabra adds a few RPGs to their mix.
The House of Games adds two games, one of which looks quite terrible, but I should keep quiet until I try it ;)
XTC Abandonware adds a few games, but stays under the century mark. I'm sure they are planning some wild celebration for that.
I could add a rant, but my BTCC rant was pretty good. It is annoying though that they have just started to broadcast the start of the season over here. Ever since FOX bought that station out it's started to go to crap...
Tuss
-- 22-12-2004 --
Ev'ning! Just a small update today, but a good one nonetheless. Erde from The House of Games, our most regular updater lately, added the modern puzzle game Gobliiins. Nice and popular choice. I'm just wondering how many people are aware that 'Erde' is the German word for 'earth'. Smells like conspiracy to me!
Anyway, after spending the first three days of my 'holidays' at university, I'm finally off starting tomorrow. I really do need some rest, the past few weeks have put quite a strain on me. Also the reason why I'm already pretty tired now, so no long rants tonight. Just keep in mind: Ich bin das Schaschlik, und er ist die Pommes (hehe).
Mr Creosote
-- 21-12-2004 --
Ok, here I am, back on Tuesday. Yes, I left university for the holidays, but if I stayed I'd be paying $10 a meal to survive! They really rob the international students that way. Not much else to say other than it is really cold outside and my car is having trouble starting now. Maybe time for a new battery, eh? The CD player also won't work anymore because of the coldness. Well, it works, but I wouldn't call skipping back three tracks every five seconds a joy to use.
The House of Games updated, adding Impossible Mission. Another one of those games I really never got into. Check it out if you enjoy games in which you are timed.
Happy shortest day of the year to the notherners and vice versa to the southerners. Stay up and party like it's 1989.
Keep your stick on the ice,
Tuss
-- 20-12-2004 --
Boo! Another surprise update by me taking El Wood's place. As I understood it, he's out doing his maths homework. We're talking about maths for elementary school here (no kidding).
I'm in a pretty good mood right now. Got the last Christmas presents today, and when I got home, somebody had left me a message saying that he had found a game which I had been searching for for years. Well, if that isn't great news!
On the downside, University lectures stopped last week, but I still had to go to uni today. Will also be there tomorrow and the day after that, because there's always work to do. So much for lazy students and their 'holidays'.
Updates have been submitted by the usual suspects. The House of Games adds Carrier Command, a wargame I never got the hang of, and The Good Old Days adds Diplomacy, a conversion of a boardgame I used to play quite often in my youth (damn, do I feel old now).
Mr Creosote
-- 19-12-2004 --
Morning...
So we're closing in on christmas... hope you all got your presents together? Well... I don't have a single one yet. As usual.
Today we only have one update, which comes from The House of Games. So enjoy that one and beware of reindeers.
Good night.
Elwood
-- 18-12-2004 --
Hiyah!
One would think that life would quiet down once the holidays come closer, especially if you're in university. But no, instead, I seem to be running from one location to another the whole time. Once I'm done with this update, I'm off again, to the rainy night.
And by the way. 'Regina's Song' by David & Leigh Eddings is to put it bluntly - horrible. Stay away from it ;(
Updates: The Good Old Days and The House of Games both add a game, XTC Abandonware adds two, just like Computer Emuzone which also adds a doc.
Haba
-- 17-12-2004 --
Hiyah!
Still got a movie running, so I'll spare you from my usual banter. Seeya tomorrow :)
Updates: XTC Abandonware and The House of Games.
Haba
-- 16-12-2004 --
I'm not suppose to be on the internet here, but it is lame when people are scared of computers.
The House of Games added The Activision Decathlon, and a bunch of Monopolys. Abandonware Polskie also updated, but I am not good at speaking Polish. So you'll have to decide yourself what has been added there ;)
Gah, this monitor doesn't have a diagonal skew adjustment and it is all messed up. Oh well, I gotta run.
Tuss
-- 15-12-2004 --
Good evening! One update from The House of Games today. Eye of the Beholer (popular dungeon hack'n' slash game) and Yes, Prime Minister (unpopular game based on the popular BBC show). Other than that, not much new around here. Tuss still keeps forgetting to do his Tuesday update, so the usual punishment squad will be dispatched. It's quite a bit of work picking the right people for that job, so you might be able to imagine that I'm pretty busy tonight, so I'll just stop writing now. The end.
Mr Creosote
-- 14-12-2004 --
Odd, very odd.
For some reason Tuss didn't make it to his update so I thought I'd just quickly jump in to take over. As long as they don't make a habbit out of it!
Okay so today there are two updated sites
The House of Games with one new strategy game, for three operating systems.
And The Good Old Days adds a game called Blade Warrior for the Amiga. Which Mr. Creosote thinks you will never have heard of, anybody?
Okay that's it, I'm keeping it short because I'm doing this from work.
Cheers,
BB Master
-- 13-12-2004 --
Goooood evening!
I'm dead tired, I didn't sleep last night, worked overtime, prepared for a presentation I have to hold at uni tomorrow and well... I'm beginning to see things.
Anyway - today's updates come from R.I.P. Games and The House of Games. Enjoy those and the rest of the evening.
Good night!
Elwood
-- 12-12-2004 --
Moooooorning!
We have only one update - and that\'s from our fellow TUOL webmaster Mr Creosote - or to be precise from his site The Good Old Days.
Righty, I got some work to do in the kitchen and some texts to read afterwards... and of course some TV to watch and some cappuccino to drink as well. ;)
Good night!
Elwood
-- 11-12-2004 --
Aha, surprise! I'm sure you didn't expect me to be here tonight! Well, don't worry I'm just dropping in to take over from Haba for one update.
How many of you out there are still relying on Microsoft Internet Explorer to get around the internet? Well, can I give you one small piece of advice? Don't! I know it is the only product that is properly integrated with other MS products, but the little bit of inconvenience caused by using a non-MS product is insignificant compared to the benefit of actually getting a product that is faster, more reliable, safer and non-MS. My recommendation would be Firefox from Mozilla. Btw, I am not advertising for them, I'm just telling you it is much better.
Anyway here are todays three updates:
XTC Abandonware adds an ansi game called 'Druglord', I don't know it but some of you might have happy memories there.
The House of Games adds two games; 'Up periscope!' and 'Way of the exploding fist'. And he has updated his emulators.
The Good Old Days adds a boxscan of 'Powermonger WW1 Edition', a Populous (yes the original) type game, at first glance anyway I've actually never played it or looked at it up-close.
That's it and I'll see you around!
Cheers,
BB Master
-- 10-12-2004 --
Hello! Jumping in again, this time for Kid H. who suddenly remembered it has to go far, far away over the weekend. Whatever.
Just came home from the cinema when I read his message. Been watching The Third Man. The best movie I've seen in the cinema this year. Right before House of Wax. House of Wax has Vincent Price and it's a lot flashier being 3D and all, but The Third Man is the better overall movie.
Today, Latis added GTA to XTC. A very new game, from a time when I had already lost interest in the computer games market. The House of Games updates yet again with three new entries: Rampart, Zaxxon and Vroom. The review of the latter is spot-on - an extremely overrated game these days.
Mr Creosote
-- 09-12-2004 --
Sorry Mr Creosote, and thanks for jumping in for me. I just got back from excerising, a thing that I think I can get used to. Especially if I start feeling all around better. I feel alright now, but I think I could be better off. Plus there are lots of girls which is always a bonus, something I don't see much of in my engineering classes ;)
The House of Games updated today with Operation Wolf and Q-Bert added. I've never been a fan of Q-Bert, I never understood what all the fuss was about long ago. At least you'll get some use out of your emulators if you visit The House of Games.
Don't let the web bugs bite,
Tuss
-- 08-12-2004 --
Good evening! Here I am again already. Same amount of updates. This time from R.I.P. Games (they kept it a secret what they did) and once again The House of Games. Two additional games there, this time: North & South (a really fun wargame) and King's Quest: Quest for the Crown. The latter almost always get overrated - as in this case. Come on, people, just admit this 'game' is unplayable!
So much for now. I'm off to beat up Tuss now. Damn kids of today! Hmm.... he isn't online? Ok, I'll just take Haba instead, then. Damn kids of today!
Mr Creosote
-- 07-12-2004 --
Jumping in for someone who didn't do his update. House of Games added Law of the West, a game I regularly fire up on my C64. Computer Emuzone had some more obscure additions. See you all again tonight.
Mr Creosote
-- 06-12-2004 --
Whee!
Monday monday!
We have Abandacatabra and The House of Games updating...
Annnd that's that.
Good night!
Elwood
-- 05-12-2004 --
Whoa well... nothing today.
So, what can I tell you?
Maths is cool, Religion is cool - and be nice to your teacher... it could be me! (Well... not now, but in a few years maybe. In other words I could be the teacher of your children one day! ;) )
Good night!
Elwood
-- 04-12-2004 --
Hiya.
You've been busy little elves tonight, so I'll go straight to the updates now.
Updates: The House Of Games added Genghis Kahn, R.I.P. Games adds 146 Atari music files and Computer Emuzone adds seven docs.
On other news, SpaceQuest.Net is in dire need of new hosting. So if you've been hogging their bandwidth lately, maybe now would be a good time to head over and give something back to the site.
Haba
-- 03-12-2004 --
Hiya all!
Had a nice evening involving philosophical talks about military service, drinks and... things involving the opposite sex, so I'm quit used up right now. Before I crawl to bed, here are the updates.
Updates: The House of Games added two games. Which means ten copies of the games for diffirent systems... Freaky, I'd say. But in a good way.
Haba
-- 02-12-2004 --
I decided to head down to the little used book shop up the street from me today. I had a little list to fulfill, but they had none of them, so I ended up buying 2001 a Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. It has scenes from the movie on the book, and that kind of scares me, but I think it will be good. It was quite cheap for a hardcover too.
The House of Games added two games for your browsing and downloading pleasure. The other members were lazy, and did not add anything new.
Just remember one thing, nobody hates the Ramones.
Tuss
-- 01-12-2004 --
Uh... I hope I'm not interfering with anyone else's update here since there aren't any new submissions or updates, but Wednesday is my usual day, so I guess it's just the laziness of the members.
Anyway, to have at least something to show, I've made a little Heureka! plugin for Mozilla and Firefox. It integrates into the search option which by default resides right of the address bar and lets you search our database directly from your browser without even going to our site first. Very convenient - if you're using a browser which supports this :P Anyway, here's the download link. Just extract the contents into your searchplugins directory.
That's pretty much it then. Good night!
Mr Creosote
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