Ten Years To Life.

Ten years ago? Yeah, I remember being 11, too. So innocent yet so malevolent. That was me. Uncorrupted, unburdened; and yet, strangely perverted and attuned to the ways of the world.
Ten years from now? I'll be a cougar, past my prime. I told him; yeah, a goddamn cougar. Women don't have much time before they're over the hill. But you can be in your fifties—yeah, he'd have his silver fox status, he said. And a 20 year old on your arm? I bit back; it was a weird way we joked.

And there you have it folks. Starting off the 2014 new year with a little creative writing. So, yeah, first blog post since 2012? Two years is a long time, huh? Trust me, I have my excuses. And really, this blog is just a place for my ego to sit. Let’s just face it:

 

 

I really want to do a top 5 list about freeware/abandonware/DOS games but I am really only going to be able to just brush the surface of that subject. So instead I will give out some links to my favourite web sites that offer them. I’m always looking for inexpensive, creative and legitimate ways to get my game on. Maybe you can make a top 5 of your own!

 

For your OCD listing pleasure, I present:
The Top 5 Legit And Legal Freeware Download Sites

in order from easiest to hardest install difficulty.

 

GOG.com – Formerly Good Old Games, you will get easy access to 5 freeware games when you sign up for an account. I like this company. They make it a point to search out abandonware games that have been forgotten and make them readily available for the masses. Even if the game only runs on DOS, they make it so all you have to do is click a button and you’re playing the game. Easy!

 

ScummVM – Script Creation Utility for Manic Mansion Virtual Machine. A program used for those old point and click games (you remember). These guys are pretty cool, you can download ScummVM yourself, and they have 6 freeware games for you to install and try out, as well as cut-scene packs for a couple other ScummVM games. Runs like DOSbox but more… point and click-y.

 

DOSbox – Really, no adventure into the realm of game’s past is complete with a little DOS struggle. It’s really worth the hassle, because once you know how mount virtual drives in DOSbox, you’ll feel like you can do anything. Instant genius points!

 

Infocom – I was sceptical about this site at first, but after some snooping, it just seems like a well intentioned fan company-site by someone who wished to share their love of Infocom and the text-based games they created. And I applaud it. This site offers downloads of the games Zork I, II, and III; which are technically abandonware, but abandonware that was offered by the licensee himself at one point. Awareness!

 

Elderscrolls.com Arena & Daggerfall – Downloads offered by Bethesda themselves, “as is”, of course. Great it you’re a fan of the series and want to see where it all started from. Or maybe you just want a good DOSbox challenge and you like deciphering conflicting instruction documents (yes, there are different ways to do the same thing).

 

Hopefully you can find something interesting with this visit, and if not, then maybe we are playing the same games? Leave a comment!

 

 

Happy trails.
(Oregon trails, maybe?)