General Information Staff Subscribe Donor Information Archives Syndicate Chronicle Headlines Other Technology articles		The Home of the Underdogs Get your classic computer gaming fix Posted 11-15-2001, 05:16 by Michael Hoes Last week I found a former Chronicle Entertainment writer curled up in a ball at the bottom of a stairwell, quivering and moaning like a possessed man. At first I suspected that an absinthe-induced panic had led this unfortunate to deliriously conclude that he was hopelessly trapped in an alternate dimension of locked doors and confined spaces, with slow starvation or suicide his only escape. Then he gurgled a solitary word, "Civilization." Someone who didn't know this poor fellow might have concluded that he had suffered brain hemorrhaging after trying to understand Michel Foucault's ramblings, but I immediately grasped that he hungered for classic computer gaming. When you want to play an old-school game like Sid Meier's original "Civilization" but just can't find a copy, it's enough to drive anyone mad. Fortunately, The Home of the Underdogs (www.theunderdogs.org) provides an alternative to insanity. This massive Web site catalogs and reviews classic (and not-so-classic) games abandoned by their publishers. Best of all, most of these games are also available for free download. Here are some of the great games you can get from The Underdogs: "Tempest 2000" - This little-noticed update to Atari's classic "Tempest" features incredibly addictive gameplay at a frantic pace. Whirl madly around a psychedelic web while blasting enemies and collecting powerups. "Wing Commander: Privateer" - Origin's decision to discontinue the classic "Wing Commander" series will probably go down as one of the most boneheaded decisions ever made in the gaming industry. Forget their madness by raiding the space lanes in "Privateer," one of the best freeform space-sims ever made. "Betrayal at Krondor" - The Underdogs review says it all: "One of the best RPGs ever made,"'Betrayal at Krondor" is a classic example of games that get rave reviews yet do poorly in stores. ... [F]eatures an excellent plot written by best-selling fantasy author Raymond Feist (who also had considerable input in the design process), memorable characters, a cool spellcasting interface, and an abundance of optional sub-quests and riddle chests." "Master of Orion" - Affectionately known as "MOO" to its devoted fans, "Master of Orion" is probably the best space strategy game ever produced. It's deep and balanced empire-building has caused many a paper to go unwritten since its release in 1992. At last count, The Home of the Underdogs included 2458 downloadable games. If you need a classic computer gaming fix, doesn't hesitate to point your browser in their direction. Email this Article Printer-friendly version Author Michael Hoes [e-mail] Reader Feedback Post a comment Name E-mail address Subject   Comment underdogs website by asdf (asdf@asdf.com) on 06-30-2006, 04:52 http://www.the-underdogs.info/ site has vanished .... for now by warwick (wuwuwu@sususu.com) on 04-02-2006, 21:48 from wikipedia ----- Since March 21, 2006, the Home of the Underdogs website is inaccessible due to the domain name expiration. Sarinee Achavanuntakul, during a rare public appearance on the site's IRC channel, related that this was due to credit card difficulties and that the domain would be working again soon. In March 27, because the problem hasn't yet been resolved, as a temporary measure, Sarinee registered the domain name the-underdogs.info and moved the site there. Unfortunately, after being accessible for a while, the newly-registered domain name went down and became inaccessible. That day, Sarinee mentioned in the site's IRC channel that register.com, the domain registrant, couldn't contact her and that she lost her password, creating the current situation. Negotiations over the .org domain are still underway, but fortunately, workarounds existed to allow users to access the site (see below). In the meantime, users can still access the site via its IP address (at http://209.120.136.195/), but downloads and screenshots will be unavailable as the site won't accept IP address as referers for those things Underdogs web site by - (-@-.-) on 03-24-2006, 03:51 http://209.120.136.195/ it's gone! by K (morgil_jgo@hotmail.com) on 03-22-2006, 11:27 neither one of those links exists... could it be that the uderdogs have vanished? found it then this by XJTR (*Jerco*@antispam.net) on 10-11-2004, 13:26 it does not even point to that any more! I have been searching for a copy of settlers II gold on bearshare for months but then i found home of the underdogs and all my hopes and dreams (about dos games) were realized! as I write this their database is down (who knows why) and i could not find any backup archives! (should have spidered it when i had the chance) but if you have a chance to go there they are *AWSOME*! The Home of the Underdogs by Jon (emo_rocker1083@hotmail.com) on 04-09-2002, 01:04 I was interested to know if the website "The home of the underdogs" is still around that you talked about in this article - "The Home of the Underdogs Get your classic computer gaming fix Posted 11-15-2001, 05:16 by Michael Hoes." I went to the link and the website is anything but what is described in the article. i have once been to that web site and sadly, I can not find it - where did it go? Link broken. by Aquillion (Aquillion@zombieworld.com) on 03-17-2002, 19:50 Because Home of the Underdogs recently had its URL taken by evil cybersquatters, their address is now http://www.the-underdogs.org . The old one on this article now points to an unrelated search engine. Back to top Hosting generously provided by Steadfast Networks.