Zork Series Availability

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"Nikos Chantziaras" <realnc.TakeThisOut@arcor.de> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:fngllo$qs4$1@volcano1.grnet.gr...
> Jim Aikin wrote:
>> Nikos Chantziaras wrote:
>>
>>> Hope this won't become another Copyright Thread (TM)...
>>
>> Indeed. Been there, done that, bought the coffee mug.
>>
>> I found a site called thepiratebay.org that has some sort of torrent that
>> purports to include all of the infocom games.

Using a warez site and bittorrent to download IF - now that is what I call
overkill.
You can find all commercial IF games on abandonware sites.

Here are links to major abandonware sites:

Abandonia
http://www.abandonia.com/en/game/Text+Based
(has Zork I and Zork II)

Home of the Underdogs
http://www.the-underdogs.info/genre.php?offset=320&id=5&sort=name
(has Zork I, Zork II, Zork Zero, and Beyond Zork)

Abandonware Paradise
http://www.abandonware-paradise.fr/abandonware-us-Zork_III-44-fichedejeu.html
(has Zork III)
 >> Stay informed about: Zork Series Availability 

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In rec.games.int-fiction, Jim Aikin <midiguru23 DeleteThis @sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> Nikos Chantziaras wrote:
> >
> > IIRC, Zork was available legally from Activision at some point but was
> > pulled back later.

Yes, that was what happened. Zork 1-3 were downloadable as free
promotions for one of Activision's graphical Zork titles. (Probably
ZGI.) When the promotional web site went down, the free downloads
vanished again.

> Well, if the company (a) still exists and (b) has marketed the software
> within the last two or three years, I think a strong case could be made
> that copying it would be wrong. Absent those two factors, I would tend
> to agree with you.

Activision has licensed the Infocom catalog to Gametap. Gametap is a
rental service with a subscription fee ("play as many games as you
want from our list, as long as you keep paying the monthly fee").

(The Gametap client is sufficiently encrypted that I couldn't pull a
Zork game file out of it. Mind you, I only tried for ten minutes.)

I'm not going to argue that this qualifies as (a) or as (b), but the
games are not entirely off the market at present date. Go now and do
as you think right.

--Z

--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
It's a nice distinction to tell American soldiers (and Iraqis) to die in
Iraq for the sake of democracy (ignoring the question of whether it's
*working*) and then whine that "The Constitution is not a suicide pact."
 >> Stay informed about: Zork Series Availability 

Andrew Plotkin wrote:
> [...]
> Activision has licensed the Infocom catalog to Gametap. Gametap is a
> rental service with a subscription fee ("play as many games as you
> want from our list, as long as you keep paying the monthly fee").

Thanks for the info. I guess this settles the question of whether the
Infocom oldies are "abandonware" or not; they aren't. Can't say I agree
with the way Gametap works though; I want to buy the games and keep them
forever, not being cut off from them as soon a stop throwing dollars at
Gametap That's just wrong.
 >> Stay informed about: Zork Series Availability 

In article <fngjb1$arb$1@volcano1.grnet.gr>,
Nikos Chantziaras <realnc DeleteThis @arcor.de> wrote:

> So I choose to be an "outlaw" because I disagree with the law.
> Literature from 75+ years ago is still useful. Software from 20 years
> ago is not useful to the copyright owner anymore, but can be useful to
> others.

I expect the computer games I make to be just as useful to me twenty
years from now (neither more nor less) as any literature I'd write.

Rikard
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On Jan 26, 5:25 pm, Jim Aikin <midigur... DeleteThis @sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> What I couldn't find at the time were Enchanter, Sorcerer, and
> Spellbreaker. Are these available, either in MS-DOS or as .z5 files?
>
> Hoping....
>
> --Jim Aikin

You can play them online here:

http://www.geocities.com/samanddeanus/enchante.htm

http://www.geocities.com/samanddeanus/sorcerer.htm

http://www.geocities.com/samanddeanus/spellbre.htm

If you view the source, you can download the Z5 file and run it in
your own interpreter so you can save games.

This site also seems to have them:

http://www.the-underdogs.info/
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On Jan 27, 2:11 am, James Jolley <james.jol....TakeThisOut@homecall.co.uk> wrote:
> Is gametap only for PC or can us mac guys try it as well? I suspect
> there wouldn't be much for me as a blind player but my partner would
> enjoy it, we have XBox 360 games like Thrill Vill and she likes that.
>
> Best
>
> -James-
>
>
>
> Ryusui wrote:
> > Well, there's enough stuff on GameTap to warrant the subscription fee.
> > GameTap offers access to over 900 games, including its fair share of
> > adventure titles (including Myst Online: Uru Live) for $60 a year.
> > I.e., for the price of a deluxe limited collector's edition game, you
> > get a year's worth of GameTap access. That same amount might also buy
> > you six XBox Live Arcade titles, or eight to ten Virtual Console
> > games. (Though in their defense, you can't get Puzzle Quest, Rez, Sin
> > and Punishment or Super Metroid on GameTap. ^_^
>
> > I was a bit leery about the whole "once you stop paying, you lose your
> > games" scheme, but they offer a free trial now with unlimited access
> > to a small subsection of the GameTap library. If you're not impressed,
> > you can still keep your free account; they change up the roster every
> > month or so.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

You need an Intel Mac, but yes.
 >> Stay informed about: Zork Series Availability 

Hello.

Jim Aikin wrote in message ...
>I have a vague recollection that a couple of years ago I downloaded Zork
>I, II, and III in MS-DOS format, but I can't find them on my hard drive.
>Are they still available anywhere?

They are still free at Infocom (and one more):

http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/

Greetz, Katzy.
 >> Stay informed about: Zork Series Availability 

Katzy wrote:

> Hello.
>
> Jim Aikin wrote in message ...
> > I have a vague recollection that a couple of years ago I downloaded
> > Zork I, II, and III in MS-DOS format, but I can't find them on my
> > hard drive. Are they still available anywhere?
>
> They are still free at Infocom (and one more):
>
> http://www.csd.uwo.ca/Infocom/

Umm, that is NOT an official Infocom page. That's some fan page run by
a guy in a Candian university.




Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)
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Hello.

Default User wrote in message <604685F1p1543U1.DeleteThis@mid.individual.net>...

>Umm, that is NOT an official Infocom page. That's some fan page run by
>a guy in a Candian university.

Not? Years I have thought so...

Well, this one then:

http://www.infocom-if.org/downloads/downloads.html

Also not?

Greetz, Katzy.
 >> Stay informed about: Zork Series Availability 

In rec.games.int-fiction, Katzy <katzy.TakeThisOut@noname.at.all> wrote:
> Hello.
>
> Default User wrote in message <604685F1p1543U1.TakeThisOut@mid.individual.net>...
>
> >Umm, that is NOT an official Infocom page. That's some fan page run by
> >a guy in a Candian university.
>
> Not? Years I have thought so...
>
> Well, this one then:
>
> http://www.infocom-if.org/downloads/downloads.html
>
> Also not?

Also not. The "disclaimer" link is quite clear about it.

--Z

--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the borogoves..."
*
If the Bush administration hasn't shipped you to Syria for interrogation, it's
for one reason: they don't feel like it. Not because you're innocent.
 >> Stay informed about: Zork Series Availability