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View Full Version : Is Startopia abandonware?


Thorn
08-01-2005, 08:47 PM
Let me say that I'm a big fan of the Underdogs for years, its an incredible site and as a exhaustive game database an invaluable resource unique to the internet.

I'm not sure what to make of the quasi-legal status of abandonware. I do know that many older games have no existing inventory, no distribution, no plans to reissue or package them further in any way. They are in limbo and without any grass roots effort to keep them alive they would disappear into extinction.

That said. I have very mixed feelings about seeing a torrent link for a shoddy cd-rip by a well known warez group. No voice, music or video for one of the funniest, charming PC games ever. Not much of an homage, or act of preservation, to spread around the game in such a gutted state. Startopia is still for sale, both used and in shrink wrap. It can be easily found for purchase online.

If this "outs" any recent forum visitors, so be it. You're playing a pale shadow of a great game. Do yourself a favor and cough up a few bucks to properly enjoy the game as it was meant to be.

Jorpho
08-17-2005, 07:55 AM
Hello Thorn,

I post a lot at Underdogs and try to help out by keeping the site's buylinks up to date.

I did in fact purchase a boxed copy of Startopia at a local store a few weeks ago, but I do not know of any online store that ships internationally and that has a large number of brand-new copies on hand. Of course, eBay and Amazon ZShops are always options, but they aren't necessarily reliable.

So, when you say "It can be easily found for purchase online", do you have a particular site in mind? This information could be most beneficial! :)

Thorn
08-18-2005, 03:06 PM
Yes, easily found for purchase online.

Amazon currently lists nine retailers new and used. Ebay currently has ten used boxes on auction and links to fifteen retailers with stock. I'm sorry you haven't had a positive experience with either. So far, I have always received what I ordered used or new, typically in three to five business days via bulk rate shipping. I just bought Majesty for $3 not too long ago via Amazon and a 3rd party retailer.

The second route would be to search smaller online retailers individually via their respective web sites. You will find a lot of bargain bin gems this way, for while large retailers routinely cast off old stock, smaller outfits hold onto theirs. Still other small retailers specialize in stockpiling (from large retailers) out of print titles for resale.

A good starting point to find these would be searching "shopping computer games" at dmoz.org.

Example: found three in four minutes.

US http://www.gogamer.com/
UK http://www.play.com/
UK http://www.sold-out.co.uk Great deals here!

I didn't direct link to Startopia because they each use those temp url thingies, just search from main page.

Happy hunting.

Jorpho
08-18-2005, 03:42 PM
Quite so, quite so... It's also at http://shop.game.net/ and http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/ . With so many buylinks, I guess Startopia won't be up for download after Ms. Underdogs gets around to updating. :) (Note that GoGamer does not appear to ship outside the US.)

If you feel like giving something back to the site, feel free to stop by the forums anytime and join the search for updated buylinks. :)