Abandonware Gazette

Closing time - last call for drinks.

2010-11-29T00:35:00.004Z

So thats it guys - Abandonware Gazette is officialy defunct now. After 2 years and six months and a mere 20 articles - I'm done here. I don't think its fair to disrespect the scene and have a media source around that cannot provide regular updates that it set out to do. Studying for a law degree is consuming all my time and going out all the time and drinking, doesen't help either. I set out to achieve filling a void in the scene, since Abandonware Blog (Muaddib) DFL (Diskboy) AWNU (Plix) & TOT (Vohaul) had all died - and a sort of coffee break read. I achieved that for a while and now DFL is back, it's what we've all been waiting for a long time.

This closure is not only about AWGaz but my departure from the scene. After nearly eleven fun filled years I've no interest anymore or any passion - I can't remember the last time I played an abandonware game. I don't foresee myself returning and I wish everyone all the best - I salute all your efforts in remaining here. I never actually meant any ill feelings towards anyone on this site - it was a tabloid and people read tabloids for the paper its worth. Abandonwarering - it was never personal, keep up the good work - without you guys, it would be crippling to the scene and we all know that.

I've been involved with: Assasins Abandonware, Underdog Killaz, Anti-tuol, Relay 3000, Oldnet, NecroGames, Blue Print Abandonware, EchoRing, Abandonware Ring, DFL & Abandonware Blog (Marhasans version), Abandonware Gazette, Magic Abandonware, Abandonware FM, L.O.G., OCG List and some others I can't even remember. EchoRing and Acring were nearly going to merge and I was going to ressurect Backlane (Gravediggers ring) with Gravedigger a long time ago - but I didn't have the time.

Things I've done which are not to be proud of:
Underdog Killaz - a silly young man, wanting to make some mark in Abandonware by throwing insults at one of the best abandonware sites ever made.
Anti-tuol - yet again, same as above - this won me my original five minutes of fame for all the wrong reasons. Don't think I actually ever got the chance to apologize to these chaps - but without people like Elwood and Creosote, I don't really think we'd have such a quality driven Abandonware scene and just a bunch of toplists or rings with oldwarez. These guys showed and still do - true dedication to what they loved.
Helping to bring KOTR (King of The Rings) down - a low quality rival ring, where I felt I had the right to dictate who should be in the scene and who shouldn't.
My part in bringing the original TOAR down - yet again, read above - sorry about that again Shane (you got me back though, hey? haha)
Posting a chat log which sealed tee from DFL's departure.

I felt it was important to list those things - because I don't want to pretend I'm actually some sort of 'saint' who did all good for the scene - because quite frankly thats not true. I've learnt a lot from people in this scene that I can proudly say I've transferred into real life and has helped me in succeding in certain things I set out to do. I always and will always talk to people in real life who have no idea about the 'abandonware' concept and explain the idea behind it and direct them to the great websites we have to offer here and I always get a great appreciation for doing so.

I'm not going to list everyone who has inspired, helped or befriended me in the scene - because I wouldn't know where to begin, and wouldn't want to leave anyones name out. But you have my eternal appreciation for being such great people. But I would specifically like to thank my cousin (Diskboy) of dafastlane - as without him introducing me to Abandonware back in 2000 - I wouldn't of known about any of this.

To anyone who reads this

All the best,

Vincent

Warmonger - the Obama of abandonware?

2010-07-06T23:54:00.004+01:00

So the results for 'Best Abandonware Ring' are out and TOAR won in a land-slide victory. Suprised? Not me.

Warmonger is the Obama of Abandonware - simple as. He's pushing for change - and he's getting it. He updates his ring every day (bar one or two missed update - no biggy compared to the AR) and his member count is rising. He is actually listening to visitors and members about design modifications and keeps on implementing things at the ring. He takes time to list the updates properly - which is nice to see.

Okay, so he emailed or posted in a few forums about the opening of TOAR - big fucking deal: go cry me a river. In a scene which is as dead as this - thank god he did. Thank god he notified people that there is someone out there willing to dedicate time and effort to create an Abandonware ring and regardless of what people think about him - to push onwards with it.

In my opinion, not joining TOAR because you have a complex that you are some bigshot behind a computer screen whilst your mother puts cookies and milk on your desk - is a joke. Logically think about it - by not joining TOAR if you have a website, is a vote against progress and the abandonware concept. You don't want to join because you have an issue with something on his ring? Tell him about it for godsake - lets start helping people who are willing to put in the effort - instead of sitting back and criticizing like a bunch of whining bitches.

I have an issue against the way AR is conducted - but I was willing to update before I made my complaints, when the ring was left un-updated for weeks at a time: my application to update at the ring for a second time fell on deaf ears because the crew was to lazy to respond.

I've had my issues with Warmonger in the past - but we've decided to let sleeping dogs lay. I'm not asking for everyone to hold hands and dance in a circle - but if you see someone trying to make an effort, be it a download/ring/review or whatever site - at least help encourage their efforts and help point them in the right direction - it's quite sad how many great websites or dedicated webbies have 'gone' just because they didn't make it under the radar, just because they wasen't a well-known figure in the Abandonware scene.

"And for better or for worse, history defines us by what we do, and what we choose not to do. Hopefully, what will survive of us is love. So, until the next time, take care of yourselves and most importantly - each other."

New Poll

2010-06-15T23:58:00.000+01:00

As the title suggests - check it out.

TOAR back in town

2010-06-02T21:34:00.002+01:00

After an eight year hiatus, Warmonger of (Abandonwar & previous TOAR fame) has decided to resurrect one of the most controversial rings that the Abandonware scene has came across. The new design, whilst not glitzy as some - is a basic and colourful website which serves it's main purpose. Updates so far have been consistently regular and although the member count isn't that impressive at the momment, that is bound to change. In light of the current state of affairs which the 'scene' is going through now - a new addition to the rings could just be what we have been waiting for, especially from someone like Warmonger who has a such a large character.

I managed to catch up with Warmonger and asked him why he decided to re-open after eight years and this is what he had to say "I have noticed the scene declining in activity and, thought it needed a fresh breath of air, from an old sod from the past and, also noticed the other rings sucked balls"

Whether or not he can reach the heights of 70 members this time around is yet to be seen, but knowing Warmonger, we can definitely expect him to have a good crack at it. AWGaz throws it's support behind this blast from the past.

Visit: TOAR @ http://toar.cz.cc

Why the scene can't work.

2009-07-12T05:03:00.002+01:00

So DFL came back, EchoRing came back. They're both gone now. Voh booted out knyght and bunny from AP and made a return whilst deciding to 'steal' a feature from EchoRing (the newest updated site goes on top of the listing) without asking a member of EchoRing if this would be fine. Not that this bothers me in the slightest, but I always considered Vohaul to be the creative one in the scene and if imitation of EchoRing is needed then I'm happy to help (lets face it - a plethora of other rings in the past have done so) - but what gets me, is that the logo imagery on the listing is something I've always admired at AP, but never contemplated using for EchoRing - because quite frankly, it wouldn't be right.

Back to the actual subject at hand though - we've lost. We're fighting a loosing battle now. We are VCR's in a time DVD players are popular. Bit torrents are the norm now, even more-so then Napster was. We've got wikipedia even more popular as google. What does this mean? People are downloading games from bit torrents and reading reviews from wikipedia - simple as. People don't care anymore about that 'warm feeling' they get from going to websites - we're living in a more fast-paced society, then ever before - faster internet connections, bigger hard-drives and bigger rams and torrents that cut the shit and give you exactly what you need - with the help of wikipedia to help do so. We're living in a dream world, if we think that everyone from ten years ago or so, is going to come back to the scene and we will all join hands and dance and relive the oldtimes - it's not going to happen. It's down hill from here.

"I'm not here for the games you idiot, I'm here for the scene"

What scene though? There is nothing left. No vibrant point of discussion. The newspapers could care less about interviewing anybody about the subject anymore. Website hits are falling and people are (with exceptions) loosing the will to update anymore. From time to time, myself included - you will get people back in the scene who make these big announcements that they are 'back' and things are going to change and they will make sure they do - it just simply never works out. Once I/they see how increasingly quite the 'scene' is - it just works as a motivation deterant.

Don't cry for it: it's already dead.

Shame @ the AR.

2009-03-07T20:23:00.004Z

An update yesterday saw fans of AbandonwareRing a litte lost for words when the (apparent) head of AR saw him not only embarrasses himself and his fellow updater, but left visitors peeved off with a certain update made here. Co-webmaster Bakkelun quickly apologized on the embarrassment of his leader at the AR and tried to brush it under the rug, by making a statement of "You'll have to excuse Lee, he's not had his usual medication today ;)". One stunned Czech webmaster (and member of the AR) told AwGaz "How can he think this is acceptable ? I personally feel insulted, what if I was to poke fun out of a Brazilian review or a Norwegian review like that ? they'd probably kick me off or something...." whilst another webmaster said "Is this supposed to be a joke? Because it's not funny! Perhaps ring-updaters should think about what they're going to post in future and how people might perceive what they say!".

The hilarity of this major cock-up comes at a time that *I* was, yes me - accused of neglecting to care about foreign speaking sites, whilst an 'Anonymous' commentor on AWGaz accused me by saying "I guess someone just ignores everything if it's not written in english...". What can I say to that? Except... AWGaz 2 - AR 0?

Not all is at loss over at AR though; Bakkelun the saviour of AR has had a "Spring cleaning" after realizing a few years later, that he has admin rights to remove sites. I must say he did a splendid job removing those suspended sites, although still 18 sites remain on the listing that are either dead or breaking rules.

With all AR updaters having rated their sites '5 stars' (because apparently Girls Of Abandonware has a design worthy of a full star, not to mention reviews aswell) although I guess having a star for a nice big pair of juicy tits is enough; here (don't bother checking the rules page - because porn is allowed - even Oldwarez - see: CDos Abandonware).

With the recent critique of AR and it's operations there, Lone Lee seems determined to defy all calls for change and is still persistent on his "Just eat an apple and watched porn - feeling tired... check the fucking updates yourselves, loosers" mentality - whilst Bakkelun is trying his hardest to change things there.

In conclusion; can any site which is self-respecting still maintain a healthy relationship with such a backwards ring? I for one cannot and it would be hypocritical to say the least - therefore my fairytale relationship with AR has came to an abrupt end.

New poll added.

2009-03-05T00:01:00.002Z

With the recent uproar regarding the current state of Abandonware rings, I've added a new poll. Please vote if this subject is of any interest to you. I've seriously been thinking about bringing back EchoRing or starting a completely new ring.

Your input is appreciated as always - that is, if anyone is out there.

AR - a brand beyond repair?

2009-03-03T05:31:00.003Z

So DFL re-opended - and you've got no need to come and spend time with your old pal Vinny, ey? Not jumping on the bandwagon (although it might seem so) but if we're going to start bashing the rings (something I previously said I would not do) then lets look at the core of the problem.

AbandonwareRing.com - a few years back was getting 6000+ uniques a day. I've updated there three times in total (one of those times I ran it for Swizzle). Various people in the scene have always had it's issues with it , but after so long - it becomes hard to defend (or support) something that is in an absolute state. I'm not expecting much from the scene nowadays in terms of productivity or earth-shattering events; because quite frankly those days are long gone. What I do have a problem with though is a ring as big as AR (Oh here he goes -first TUOL now AR - when is this guy gonna learn?) carrying on as it does.

Every update I see (and it must be noted, that I admire Bakkelun at the AR for his consistent dedication - he quite reminds me of Jante before he jumped ship to AP) is a fucking plug for their site - this is first page text-book no-no for every ring-news-update - I mean, seriously guys? Can I get a job at AR aswell and plug this piece of shit site, so it increases my hits - because the other 123 websites that aren't your sites, don't seem to get that much attention.

Secondly this "just had a wank and a hot coco.. feeling tired.. check sites yourself..." culture that we are getting into is a fucking joke, literally. I mean, why bother posting anything, next time?

Thirdly to run a ring as we all know, can cost a lot right? I mean we're probably talking $100's a month? Wrong. Love the pay-per-click banner, hate the colour scheme of it though. I quite admire the google links though, they blend into the design. Hey guys, any chance of getting some porn-banners up aswell? Better yet, lets get some embedded roulette tables up there, that'll keep the punters coming.

You've got 28 suspended sites (!!) and around about on average 10 dead sites on the listing (keeping figures conservative here!) that's 38 sites altogether Incorporated into the 126 sites - take that away and your left with 88 sites - that's a massive 30.2% drop in members! I had a look at the 'Suspended List' and there are sites which are suspended since 2005 - four years ago! I miss those sites too guys - but come on, it's time to let go, isn't it?

Lets delve deeper into the problem though. I had a talk with Swizzle back in mid-2008, of which I offered my help as the ring back then was going to pot - I was told he doesn't have anything to do with the ring anymore and he gave it to LoneLee (fair enough - but how comes your still updating mate?) I contacted LoneLee twice and waited three weeks - I got nothing back.

A few last points - I tried to update this site via AR the other day, but my attempts failed miserably - so I came up with the solution of putting a number in each field (E.g. - apps, games, etc) and it updated successfully. What is quite disappointing was that this was not questioned and the listing shows that I have 9 games on this site.

I have to commend Swizzle by giving the updating procedures to young-turks, who have no history of flame wars in the scene (unlike previous updaters - myself included) but this arrangement just hasn't worked out. I refuse to take a ring that accepts other rings and sites like 'Free Abandonware' 100% seriously.

My stance on the matter is not an ultimatum, but I'll be considering my position at AR. I joined rings not for the visitors (because quite frankly I don't get much input here from newbies - big shock there) but because I want to support these rings. Rings don't hold the importance of what they once did anymore, so I think it's more of a nostalgia thing for me. But if the AR is offended by my post, please remove me if at least 95% of what is stated here; is not true. I'm a AR veteran and will always hold esteem for it, but I can't see my post making any sort of significant impact, unfortunately

On a side note: I support Abandon-Places (AP) although I must say I'm disappointed because it's the better out of the two.

AWGaz 2009

2009-02-27T19:47:00.004Z

Not as fancy as DFL. Not as friendly as AbandonwareBlog. And not as witty as TOT, although twice more the empty promises as before - AWGaz is back! I've now got a free-slot to concentrate on this site - which I'll try to dedicate a healthy update pattern to.

So DFL is back under the helm of Diskboy which is located at http://www.dafaslane.eu/ who are now our respective competition. Abandonwareblog has closed and decided to form a sort of coalition with them.

Following up from my HOTU article many light-years ago, has seen the unfortunate demise of the site - which will be sorely missed and has created a massive wound in the Abandonware community.

Everyones favourtie Abandonware titillation website; The Joystick has closed it's doors - which I'd just like to thank Anom for all his hard work on the site throughout the years.

Apart from that the AW scene is practically dead. Finding news to post about can become quite tedious, but I'll not be posting news about games or developers - because my aim is to stroke community members ego's in some way or another.

Thats all from me - tune in for more to come.

Anyone out there?

2008-12-19T01:08:00.002Z

Thinking about updating. Is there a point? Discuss.. (or don't).

Design dead?

2008-08-13T21:08:00.002+01:00

A month. One whole month. After all the previous 'willy-waving' statements I've made about "Oooo! Look at me! This is AWGaz and it will be updated continuously!" I've not only let myself down, but I've let my public down - and whats the first rule of showbiz? Never let down your public. *Hangs head in shame*

Apart from that - lets look at whats happened since I've not updated shall we? Diskboy has done the exact thing, after his willy-waving; nice one man, whats your excuse?

Muaddib reopened Abandonware Blog - which was great news for the 'media' side of the community, yet two things I noticed; this time it seems to of only concentrated on games, and his last update was two weeks ago. So we've got three media sources in the scene, and three social layabouts running them - great stuff. Fox take note: Now we've even got more sites on the verge of going to the much anticipated 'Abandonware Archive'.

What kicked me into gears to update was, an email I received from Poorgod (oh whats that? Yeah that's right - me and poorgod are buddies.) saying "Update the Gazette!" pasted 50 times (literally). So all death threats and hate mail go to him, for updating this site - as you visited it everyday saying to yourself "another day he hasn't updated! he's surely gotta shut-it down now? teehee!"

Getting back on course though.. I'm gay.. No seriously - remember when having the *best* design was the craze? Remember Bumbleb? That was drool material. Remember TZ and acring, NeoPickaze and his EchoRings and other sites? Those stood out. Those websites where something to aspire to, and at that stage felt like they way things would look, in years to come. So years have passed now, seven years in total - and as the par of your 'usual' design has increased in quality, it's just a tid-bit. All this talk of 'Oh, I like to keep things simplistic' it's just bullshit - you can't design THAT good so you hide behind that facade, face it. I mean, take this heap of trash as an example - do you really think I aspired to use blogspot and have this shitty layout? No. I can't design for shit - and I'm not about to embarrass myself. At the end of the day, don't get me wrong - I'm not shooting anyone down, because I appreciate everyones designs - but what happened to the 'design-nuclear-race' all those years ago?

See you next month.. (just kidding..)

Expletives and shit.

2008-07-13T14:51:00.003+01:00

I didn't update for a shitload of time. I know. I've got a good excuse though; I tripped over the internet cable more then a month ago - and didn't realize until now. Who actually cares for my weak excuses though, the fact is I'm updating now - for which I hope will continue.

You've got to understand one thing, I'm still living in the scene of yesteryear - not saying I'm an 'elder' of the scene or anything, because I'm a second stroke third generation scener - so my plight for which you will read, probably doesn't exist now, but I might aswell proceed.

So an unspoken or actually spoken rule is the "keep the swearing on a low" every webring had or enforced this rule, even my dear rotting EchoRing - yet, isn't that just a censorship on our freedom of speech. Yeah, I hear you - the kids, we have to keep it toned down for them. But you know what, little timothy who just goes straight to the download links of your website, then presses the red 'x' at the top right afterwards - do you really think he gives a toss about the swearing or our news update box or 'about page', when in actual fact, he probably uses far more severe profanity with his 'buddys' at school, (which would probably make a sailor blush) - remember we're not living in the 60's guys, this is 2008.
And quite frankly, if this kid is under 9-10 and is surfing the internet unsupervised, it's really not my fucking job to act as a guardian for him - it's my/your site, and my/your spew - I can't be held responsible for corrupting a minors innocence with the word 'shit' or 'fuck plastered on my site, and feel sorry - once they have leeched my site dry for games - I'll make a note for myself to put net fucking nanny in the apps section next time.

Oh, and whats this - the snooty 25+ deems it highly inappropriate that I can't express myself without swear words - then just fucking leave aswell.

So, just to wrap this up - who really gives a shit?

Abandonware Archive - Part #263

2008-05-30T21:02:00.002+01:00

I'd just like to re-hash this topic - following on from Isaac's; site. I'd like to excel on this idea and have you guys contribute if possible. Vohaul (previously of AP) had a pretty good take on this, and not forgetting DFL's - TGARL and thereafter comprehensive archive. We had Plix at AWNU and also TUOL do a mini one.

I'd really like to drum up some support on this.

Anyone on board? Talk to me sweet charlies.

DFL back in business?!

2008-05-28T05:42:00.003+01:00

This should of been posted waaaay earlier, but I was to hung-up on my gender-bender article to of posted it. So, after embarrassing myself in a comment made on this website directed to Tom/Knyght (AP, Anarchy) for which I must apologize (only if it is true..) it looks like DFL might be back on our screens very soon!

Y'see one day a couple of months ago, I was desperate to find an article from DFL - so I was typing random things into google and other alternative routes, for which I found DFL, but with a plethora of script-errors and domain-nameless - that doesn't bother me though, because if it smell like DFL and looks like DFL - it's DFL. About six weeks ago, I rang diskboy up - notified him of my discovery and tried to convince him to start it up and be a bit more active in the scene, to of which he (quite selfishly) implied that university work must come first in that instance (traitor to the scene) so I was quite disheartened. He had time to contemplate my noble words and has came to his senses.

I urge you to visit this link and throw your support by posting a comment. If your not quite sure why you should, just take a second to look in the news archive (plenty of dirt can be dished up on me from there - note to fans) and just admire the effort of not only the webbies but the fact it was a scene effort with the reviews & archives supplied.

An absolute masterpiece in my eyes. Lets show the guys that the scene isn't dead and we want DFL back.

Expose; The third lady of Abandonware.

2008-05-26T02:38:00.000+01:00

The community as far as I’m concerned has seen three memorable female web mistresses active within it. If I have to spell out the obvious, that’d be;

Bunny
Underdogs
LisaBPW (Blue Print Ware)

The reason I put Bunny before underdogs is due to the fact, she had established her gender a good while before Underdogs admitted to doing so. Now the third one is an interesting case – we had a female webmisteres that wasn’t that really active within the scene but seemed to update her site extremely seldom, yet receive a lot of feedback from others sceners.

During the creation of EchoRing in Nov-01 – me and NeoPickaze talked up about drumming up a fake persona (remember – Anti-TUOL was still a fresh corpse and we still harboured somewhat juvenile ill feelings) so we came up with the idea of creating a scener that was female and had a low-rent quality website which was – Blue Print Ware.

Being solely a project to use against TOAR at the time, as conflicts arose with Warmonger during that period, we decided to humiliate him by manipulating the site, and see if it slipped through his vision – after a while we decided that this wouldn’t be a good idea, and to just let the flamewar die and to keep it civil. After that, the project was slipping away, so I decided to have fun with it – at this time, I hadn’t checked the email account for months – and geez, talk about you guys with your seedy infatuations – I sure am glad I ain’t no girl in the scene (and surprisingly a few emails from long-serving characters at the time). It’s amazing how many of you, was eager to ‘help’ me with the site.

Whilst this project hasn’t had any amazing results or isn’t even close to Voh’s; Oreo project – I thought it was about time to lift the lid on this little alter-ego and let it die for good. Looking back on it though – I really wish I did expand on the idea.

At least Marhasan asked if he could see my “Harry pussy” over MSN – at least I have that..

RIP BluePrintWare 2001 - 2008

How the ‘community’ could have been saved.

2008-05-21T19:20:00.000+01:00

Abandonware Council. Plain and simple. Whilst many people shudder at the thought and in many this might sound like an uneducated proposal, this would have clearly helped, yet if not saved – the scene. The old argument of “This has already been tried and tested – you’re not adding anything new here!” is what you’ll hear when conversing about this subject. But if we look back, many of the former ‘community’ sites where actually swaying in that direction, discreetly (more notably TAG & DFL) and you know what? We actually enjoyed them, infact whole heartedly supported them.

To some thoughts of an ‘Abandonware Council’ would reflect ‘said’ person being the ‘Abandonware Mayor’ with a bunch of cronies uttering ‘We’re holier than thou.” But people, I don’t mean that as such – I mean a democratic hierarchy with a well placed infrastructure. Here is what such a proposal would mean;

Every six months a democratically elected person with a committee would be voted in.
These individuals would be in charge of initiatives such as;

-AbandonWhore
-AbandonWave
-Monthly / Annual - Abandonware-Awards
-The official Oldwarez list
-Consistently updated Abandonware FAQ
-Basic web-designers (something I advised Bobosama to do for his EchoRing members)
-A well-organized ICAS style website – something that would be a big contribution.
-A main forum.
-Obviously reviews & Interviews.

So, in retrospect – I believe this would have worked. And if this had been in place – today you’d not even be reading this pathetic excuse for a community site. Discuss.

An outbreak of oldtimers?

2008-05-06T20:34:00.003+01:00

Recently I noticed that a former respectable figure in the abandonware scene Elwood (of TUOL & The Keep fame) had joined or is contributing to Mr. Creosotes non-stop updating; The Good Old days. This comes after quitting the scene over three years ago, whilst announcing his decision to close the biggest Abandonware ring TUOL, at the time.

Then I tune into The AR yesterday and noticed that Swizzle one of the longest serving members of the community is back filling in updates, even though he is no longer head honcho there.

Proudly enough Abandonware Gazette has seen the likes of people that vanished - reappear, such as; Poorgod (Abandon X Ring), Diskboy (Diskworld, DFL), LuNaTiC (TAG, AbandonRom Paradise) & Mongy (TOAR, AbandonWAR).

Is the power of Abandonware love blooming?

Whether it is or not - I can sure say it's great to see these people return - even for a single post and in addition it's great to see, all the people that stuck around and all the new faces!

On a side note, if there was an Abandonware Awards would people support such a cause once again? Obviously it would have to be overseen by more then just one person.

New Ring! (well sorta…)

2008-05-05T20:37:00.003+01:00

I noticed this ring a few weeks back, and as I believe it’s been around a short while. It goes by the name of ‘AbandonMarch’ and it’s predominately a Czech / Slovak orientated ring, with a select few English-written sites on the listing.

It differs quite a lot from the good old ‘conventional’ rings we are used to – as it lacks the core foundations of the fundamental things, which we expect rings to have by default! Such as; an actual rules, update & join page. Instead each member is reliant on emailing the ring-master these details. I frantically searched every page and hovered over each word, to see if I was missing a trick here – to actually find where this fellas email address is; no luck though! Perhaps I’m not looking in the right places.. so no chance of a little Q&A with the webmaster for this article.

Apart from being a member of the AR, it has a member count of 19 members – which is quite an achievement in such little time, and also has an eye-candy look to it. Soothing colours, a nice font and an AP orientated site listing (in a way..) with miniature reviews of each site. Will this be the next big ring? You tell me..

PROS:

 Clean-cut design.
 Ratings & reviews
 multilingual

CONS

 Impossible to join.
 No updates whatsoever – just a listing.
 No rules stated.

Visit AbandonMarch!

Quizzy time!

2008-05-02T00:01:00.004+01:00

This is not a 'cheap' excuse to update this site, although I thought it would be a nice initiative to have an 'Abandonware Quiz'! To a lot of people this will seem like a doddle.

I once again apologise for the lack of activity, I have changed jobs and I'm working nights now - lack of motivation is a factor here, but I can guarantee everyone that I will not let this website die in the foreseeable future - I still have a lot of ideas for articles which I would like to get up here.

A few people have been quite confused of where I'm trying to take this little 'project'. I'm not looking to be a tabloid. I'm not trying to fill the void for DFL. I'm not trying to be the bastard child of 'Abandonware Blog'. I'm not pro-AR or pro-AP (saying that I'm not anti-AR/AP either). This is just me, no crew - attempting to write scene news & editorials (from my point of view). Although lack of news is a major factor, so I'm finding myself filling in the gaps with editorials. At the end of the day - to accomplish it being an interesting read without flaming would be a target.

Enough babbling - enjoy The Abandonware Quiz! Posting your results here would be appreciated!

I'm back to playing Gangsters: Organized Crime, which I recently purchased from Sold Out Software. So many memories of 1998!

Underdogs; every dog has it's day.

2008-04-21T20:54:00.000+01:00

This is a real enigma for me. “This isn’t exactly news is it, genius?” I hear you screech – yeah, maybe not Sherlock – but it still confuses me. The biggest Abandonware related website, dedicated to the ‘Underdog’ games of yesteryear, which along with the AR has been the real backbone of the scene, has now gone to the dogs (excuse the pun). New Abandonware article published? Underdogs interviewed. Joined the scene? Probably through Underdogs. Lets face it, seven out of ten AW websites, use the exact same games published from Underdogs.

The design has never wowed me, neither have a majority of the reviews – yet it’s still the place to go, purely because of what it stands for and what it’s contributed. Following on from the recent youtube video published; here – whilst a nice gesture, freaks the shit out of me with the eeriness surrounding it, it’s like an obituary to a victim of a drink-drive accident.

What I don’t exactly get though, is the fact that she finds time available to update her blog regularly (and translate it – I might add), yet fails to update the actual website, or even graces her forum with a single forum post about her whereabouts. It’s not even that which gets me though – it’s the fact, that a numerous amount of people (trusted & experienced – which of whom are the actual underdoggers themselves ) have put there hands-up in favour of actually updating & maintaining this mammoth of a the website, yet have had there noble attempts fall on deaf ears or apparently out-right rejected.

Obviously being an investment banker and running such a high-volume website and forum, it must of took it’s toll on Sarinee over the years – which, in all fairness is more then expected. Yesteryear saw this young-pup of a website run around and bark, but now its more of a symbol, a symbol which has turned into a malnourished old-dog – nothing stays on top forever though, as other young-pups are introduced, most notably Abandonia which is slowly creeping up and turning into the new epicentre of Abandonware.

What was once a bustling HOTU forum, has the whiff of rotting setting in. It’s only really a matter of time, when you’ll visit this old beaut, and its domain will be hijacked (once again) and this time, it sadly will not be renewed.

My life. Games. The community.

2008-04-20T00:32:00.000+01:00

In no way, will I sway this website into a self obsessed or self infatuated, ego-massage biography about myself, but with the lack of news in the scene (Abandonware Gazette - is going to be harder work then I presumed.) I thought perhaps I’d put some oil on the wheels. Before I start, I must apologize for the lack of activity on my side – I must reiterate that this will not be common practise – just had an unexpectedly crazy past week. I’m working on new material as you read this.

As a first pit stop, I’d like to give you some insight into who I am. My name is Vincent, I currently work for a large restaurant chain for the past four years, as a Payroll Supervisor. I will soon leave that life of misery, to pursue Law studies in September. I’m also due to get married next year. Furthermore I’m from the UK, but I’m half Cypriot. And Diskboy is my cousin in real life.

My first computer was a Commodore 64 which I have my many fond memories of, my second computer being an Amiga 500 – which really was a turning point for me, when I truly learned my love & fascination for games. I then went onto own a string of consoles, and my last one being a purchase I made last week, which was overdue – a Nintendo Wii. Although I’ve bought this fancy console, and games with over exaggerated willy-waving graphics – I’ve played it for a mere few hours, and I’ve put it down and got on my PC and have found myself playing Abandonware Games instead, which in retrospect I can’t help feeling that I’ve just wasted a shitload of money.

I joined the scene in June 2000, and in all honesty the games I was determined to find, was Heimdall & Monkey Island. Somewhere along the lines I joined a few forums, made a few websites, met new people, the rest is history. I was 15 then . I’m 23 now. At one point I became more indulged in the ‘community’ that I actually became less interested in the actual games. At the end of the day, I sit back and think “It’s all about the games” but it’s not just that; it’s speaking with the people on the same wave length, that have that ideal aswell.

I’d be really interested to find out about how & why you stumbled across Abandonware.

Let's start.

2008-04-12T01:39:00.000+01:00

For my first article I was planning on doing an onslaught of the current state of Abandonware Rings, and going into lengthy detail how I felt they was being neglected; then I contemplated and fished around the ‘scene’ and thought; Wait a minute, I should really appreciate that we have these two rings left. And even though these two rings aren’t living up to the quality they used to, they’re still being updated and they are still pretty much enforcing the rules they have – so back the fuck off.

My reason for becoming active in the scene again, was due to the fact I met up with a friend after twelve years, and we began to go into hours of conversation about the old games that we used to play – as sad as that might sound, I must admit it did trigger off a sense of nostalgia for me.

Arriving back here is like being new to the scene, people that I considered to be my clique of the scene (Hah! Remember when there was cliques?) have all gone, I’ve got three people from the community on my MSN list, opposed to the thirty I used to have – I have no sites, and a majority of the new blood here, who lets face it run the scene now, won’t even know / remember me. It’s like going back to school, only ten years after. So two ways this site could sway, a quirky community based site, or a barrage of ramblings from a has-been.

But my question is this; and this has probably been beaten on the head so many times, it could be classified as ridiculous, but (and here goes); Where the fuck is everyone? Sure the scene is giving birth to a lot more fantastic and quality-focused download sites, yet it seems communication with each other, is down to a shoutbox on said website. I mean, I’ll go to the forums that I actually know and have recently found, and the second last ‘topic’ was from August 2007 or something. Furthermore another interesting question; people that are still involved with Abandonware, does this not bother you, or just seem normal?

New Era.

2008-04-06T03:23:00.000+01:00

Greetings.

With the demise of; AWNU, DFL and our recent saviour Abandonware Blog - all being closed down, I've took it upon myself to lead-on, where they unfortunately ended.

Abandonware Gazette, will take a different approach on the scene though, with more thought-provoking, cutting edge, and updated articles of the AW scene, will make it that more entertaining to read.

"What are you babbling on about, what Abandonware scene? It's completely dead!"

I hear you scream! It's not absolutely dead - and with the entrance of the Gazette, I hope to establish a congregation of people, right here - as to be totally honest, at the momment there isn't anywhere else decent, to actually communicate. (In the AW scene)

Thanks for listening & stay tuned.

-The Saint