Hatrack River Forum: games at the-underdogs.org (or Ben unveils his true nerd self)

This is topic games at the-underdogs.org (or Ben unveils his true nerd self) in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Ben (Member # 6117) on :

I'm at work and one of my associates just emailed me this link to a website that has archived a bunch of games/clones that have become public domain. Alot of the games from my early PC Gaming years are there to download for free. This makes me very happy. www.the-underdogs.org

That is all...

[ March 15, 2005, 02:04 PM: Message edited by: Ben ]

Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :

Been there, done that, got the "Legacy of the Ancients" and "Seven Cities of Gold" downloads. [Smile]

It is a cool site for the retro-geek.

-Bok

Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :

Return to Zork is on there...I feel OLD! [Cry]

Posted by Bokonon (Member # 480) on :

Wow. People think Return to Zork is old.

Now _I_ feel old [Smile]

-Bok

Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :

They need more old-tymey MECC games... Dr. Livingston I presume, yo!

Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :

Aw man, they have Dig-dug, space invaders, and wheel of fortune. I used to play those on the old Tandy. *reminisces*

Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :

Nerd!

Posted by Christy (Member # 4397) on :

(This is Tom, posting from Christy's laptop.)

I'm afraid that I've got a DVD or two full of games taken from Underdogs. I feel rather guilty about a few of them, since "abandonware" exists in an ethical grey area -- but since I owned all the originals of the versions I've downloaded, I've been able to cope.

Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :

Oh, hey! I ran across this site about six months ago and downloaded XOR Football. I used to love that game. Now I love it again! [Smile]

Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :

I really need to stay away from that site... [Razz]

Posted by syipress (Member # 7569) on :

Wow, this site is great. There are all kinds of cool oldies on there. Some of these games I haven't seen for years [Smile]

MUST GET HOME TO DOWNLOAD!! *twitches*

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Its important to point out that these works are not in the public domain, and that the site does not claim they are. Furthermore, most things being distributed on the site are being illegally distributed (as they also state), though they might possibly keep it in the realm of a civil violation because they make efforts to contact the copyright holders for permission and do not distribute anything still being sold new anywhere, or that has been for a while.

Oh, and downloading from them is, in most cases, illegal as well, though nobody'd ever go after you for it, and even if they did the most they might get is an agreement from you not to do it again (in tiny cases like that the courts have frowned on copyright holders pursuing very minor violators beyond agreements not to do it again).

Posted by Ben (Member # 6117) on :

duly noted.

Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :

I have an ethical problem with "stealing" stuff like this. I never illegally download songs. I buy the CD or buy them on iTunes. BUT, the stuff here is not available for sale, and, at least in the case of XOR, it probably never will be. If the legal copyright owners (who went our of business btw . . . what happens to copyright in that case?) would sell it to me, I would gladly pay it. So I rationalize this one to myself because there isn't a way to pay for it, there's nobody to collect money anyway, and I'm not costing them sales they would otherwise have.

Posted by Ben (Member # 6117) on :

i feel the same way.

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Oh, it is not, in any way stealing. Stealing is a separate phenomenon. This is copyright infringement.

Posted by Eruve Nandiriel (Member # 5677) on :

If it's old games, that I used to have, and that I can't find anywhere, I don't have a problem downloading it.