E-MOcKer

Are you wishing that a game you enjoyed playing years ago could be found? Do you want to entertain yourself cheaply? Do you wish you had brought that game years ago that your mate talks about all the time? Fear not the publishers are giving games away (and it’s legal)!

I’m not talking the brand new games just released this week or even in the last year or two. Games that were published at least 10 years ago. Games that were great though all the same. These games are classified as abandonware. This means that the publisher of the game and all the other copyright holders have decided that they can no longer sell a particular game. They have such abandonded it (and any updates for it). Some publishers realese the source code (and thus the game) to the public domain free of charge and allow it’s free distribution.

Around 10 years previous from now (or even 5) most of the games weren’t worth playing and were quite basic. Primerily because 10 years before that the graphics were awful and gameplay was always very basic. Now a few years on it’s a different story.

After trawling through some abandonware websites it’s surprising what you can find. Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines (all about covert operations to take down the Nazi’s). Some of the earlier Sim City games (sim city 2000 is avaliable – 3000 could follow suit shortly). Popular historical equivelents such as Caeser 3 are also avaliable (as are some of the Egyptian and Greek variants). Sports fans might like Championship Manager games and some of the Need For Speed Classics!

The two that alarmed me most of all though: Sid Meier’s Civ 3 (and the first of Activison’s copies under the Call To Power name). The other big win Command and Conquer: Red Alert! Some websites are better than others for this; one of the better sites I found was http://www.gameswin.info/. Some sites out there for abandonware try and make their site look like old operating systems (and of course the great user interface that comes with!). Oh well almost wrote a whole article without a sarcasm, but not quite!

In time a whole historical archive of games are becoming avaliable for free (as alarming as it sounds). Best of all free legal entertainment! I almost forgot too; if you fancy the classic that is Sim Tower then be my guest!

Popularity: 28% [?]

A Dutch prisoner Angelo MacD has gone to court in The Hague. He unusally argues that he is ‘too big’ for his cell and should be allowed to serve his sentence at home. What? Lose some weight then big guy!

His lawyer, Bas Martens, told a court in The Hague that at 6ft 9in tall and 36 stone his client is too big and too fat to fit in the cell he was assigned. Ok right, he might be quite tall but 36 stone is stupidly overwieght. Get to the prison gym!

Martens claims: ‘He is not obese. He is a giant. He even walks like a giant, like out of the comic books.’ Oh of course he’s just big boned! If he loses some weight it’ll be better for him and his cell might magically grow!

MacD, who is serving a two-year sentence for fraud, has a long list of complaints!

Suppossedly; his bed is apparently too small, forcing him to sleep on his side ‘with one eye open in case he falls out of bed’. Lose weight and you might not roll off!

He also claims he has to crouch under the shower, keep toilet trips to a minimum as the seat is too low and small, and has nowhere to sit in the prison canteen. Again, lose wieght and you might just fit on the toilet seat!

Martens states that his client’s living conditions violate the European Convention on Human Rights! He wants MacD to be allowed to serve the rest of his sentence at home under house arrest. He must be barking mad! All he needs is a gym trip or too!

He claims that the oversised fraudster isn’t trying to get out of serving his sentence, but that he ‘just wants to serve a comparable sentence without pain.’ Of course on the outside, in the comfort of his own home with all the homely luxuries he has brought fraudulently. Of course it’ll also be really cheap on the Dutch and European taxpayers to pay for constant surveillance too. Keep him locked up properly he might not do it again then!

A ruling on the case is expected next month. For goodness sakes where will the stupidity end!

Popularity: 28% [?]