JaG says:
<BEGIN INTERVIEW>
JaG says:
Bobosama. How did you discover abandonware? And how did you first get involved with it?
BoboSama says:
Back in 98 or 99 I had discovered a site known as OldNet which featured a mixture of Abandonware and OldWarez such as Discworld, Doom, etc. I had visited the site for about a year thinking it was godly when one day an announcement was posted that the site had closed. One of their affiliates was a site known as 3k Industries so I clicked on the link and was redirected to Diskworld
BoboSama says:
Diskworld was a pure Abandonware site, it was currently at version 2.0. I found the design and content to be of the highest quality. From there I spanned off to find sites such as Classic Trash and the Home of the Underdogs. However, I was still an OldWarez fella and began a site known as Anime-Crib Abandonware. I ran an Abandonware site in early 99 and had a year left on the domain so I used it
BoboSama says:
The site lasted for about two weeks and I had contacted Diskboy to affiliate with him
BoboSama says:
he told me that my site had OldWarez and from there I found out all about clean Abandonware
BoboSama says:
at first, I wanted to create a site with thousands of games
BoboSama says:
I also wanted something that nobody had done
BoboSama says:
so I spent a few weeks downloading thousands of Apple IIe ROMS
BoboSama says:
testing them, zipping them
BoboSama says:
and started a site known as Anime-Crib Apple IIe Abandonware
BoboSama says:
it was purely HTML based with a layout consisiting of some frames and a single background image
BoboSama says:
I had over 2000 titles with nothing but file sizes, publisher names and download links.
BoboSama says:
It was this site that joined 4Ham and Diskworld initially (I hadn’t joined any rings yet)
BoboSama says:
Then I had come to realize the importance of screenshots and reviews for creating a quality site
BoboSama says:
Diskworld had just unleashed V3 and I payed Diskboy to create me a php coded site
BoboSama says:
we came up with the name wizardware and I bought the domain wizardware.org
BoboSama says:
so, the site known as WizardWare AbandonWare came to be
BoboSama says:
the reviews were short, the screenshots few
BoboSama says:
it received poor ratings and I was infuriated
BoboSama says:
I wanted to create a 4 to 5 star site, not a 2 star site
BoboSama says:
I realized that I must do it myself if I will ever become trully dedicated to the site
BoboSama says:
Diskboy had unleashed Diskworld V4 when I had closed WizardWare
BoboSama says:
He let me keep the name “EmuGateway” which he thought up for a site that never took off
BoboSama says:
Through some Streamload message boards I was sent 89 Neo-Geo roms
BoboSama says:
I was stunned by their quality and the fact that the system was abandoned and so little known
BoboSama says:
I had contacted NeoPickaze being a big fan of EchoRing and asked him if he could help me out with a layout for EmuGateway
BoboSama says:
he had previously made a layout for WizardWare V2.0 (back in 01) but I decided not to go through with it.
BoboSama says:
I had learned ASP, modified Neo’s template, bought the domain emugateway.com and unleashed the website
BoboSama says:
By its final days, the site had an impressive 79 games with full reviews and 5 screenshots each along with cheat codes and manuals.
BoboSama says:
It was well approved and beloved by all, receiving 500+ uniques a day
BoboSama says:
I prefered to call it my one success up until that day
BoboSama says:
But an average Neo-Geo game is about 10mb
BoboSama says:
and with that many visitors I soon couldnt afford the bill
BoboSama says:
so I was forced to close down the site
BoboSama says:
I attempted to reopen with only small games but the site lost its popularity because of that and eventually closed again with only 21 titles
BoboSama says:
I had reviewed 5 or so Neo-Geo games for Diskworld as I was given ownership of version 5.0. I had optimized a few things and updated a bit when I realized the same thing I realized with WizardWare, I did not create this, it doesnt belong to me, I have no connection to it and thus no motivation
BoboSama says:
For a while I simply sat around doing nothing
BoboSama says:
I had various people submit WizardWare 2.0 layouts but I wanted to create one myself
BoboSama says:
Before EmuGateway Gianni and I founded Creative-Eye
BoboSama says:
we had ripped off the layout from another site and got busted and combined with server troubles we split our different ways
BoboSama says:
however, Gianni had recommended me Fireworks MX as a program for image editing
BoboSama says:
since that day, I have been using it for all my graphics works
BoboSama says:
I fired up Fireworks MX on my Mac and in 4 hours of work came up with my own WizardWare 2.0 layout
BoboSama says:
I spent several weeks doing the code and bullet proofing it
BoboSama says:
Finally it was unleashed
BoboSama says:
but I no longer had the inertia to update after a database failure
BoboSama says:
so I added all the Neo-Geo games to it from an old database
BoboSama says:
and sold it off to Gianni
BoboSama says:
thats it if I dont mention Echo
JaG says:
Wow, quite a story indeed. But, now, I would like to know how you got the idea to resurrect EchoRing. Or why you were interested in running an abandonware ring, in general.
BoboSama says:
Back in the glory days of EmuGateway, Gianni was starting up the Emulation Ring
BoboSama says:
So I had decided to expand the EmuGateway into an EmuNetwork of sites
BoboSama says:
so I decided to create a ring known as EmuWare
BoboSama says:
I intended for it to be original but all of the things I incorporated had been done before
BoboSama says:
I was bashed my other ring owners as happens often when starting a new ring
BoboSama says:
we were just starting to pickup with about 7 or 8 members when I had to take down EmuGateway
BoboSama says:
and without the Network,
BoboSama says:
I saw no reason for EmuWare
BoboSama says:
I had only recently opened WizardWare 2.0 to find EchoRing hasnt been updated for once by its new owners
BoboSama says:
I was simply outraged
BoboSama says:
I was also thinking about reopening ACRing a few weeks back but I didnt think I could live up to the expectations
BoboSama says:
Vinny the Saint and I got a talking about buying back the ring but we had no reply from the owners
BoboSama says:
so he had said he has the .co.uk domain and he could lend it to me if I were to create a new EchoRing
BoboSama says:
jumping at the opportunity, in just under a week I designed and coded the ring
BoboSama says:
After some initial server trouble we were up and running with more members in the first few days than a lot of other rings which had recently opened
BoboSama says:
some people disapproved of the ring, others though there was no point to it while the true echo fans were delighted to see it ressurected
BoboSama says:
in the end, everyone came around in one way or another and EchoRing has prospered
JaG says:
Again, it’s really quite interesting, all these happenings of yours. And there isn’t really any other specific thing I’d like to ask. So, if there’s anything else you want to say, go ahead.
BoboSama says:
Haha, what a great interviewer you are .
BoboSama says:
Basically, like all people who enter the scene
BoboSama says:
I wanted to open the next HOTU, to get big and famous
BoboSama says:
but I didnt know the inner workings and who to trust
BoboSama says:
how that im more mature and better adapted I hope to open up a big site in the future
BoboSama says:
with a big crew and high quality
BoboSama says:
so stay tuned.
BoboSama says:
anymore questions?
JaG says:
Oh, yeah. That’s the other thing I was gonna ask. Any plans for the future? Well, now that we know that there very well may be, we’ll all be lying in wait to see what happens. Thanks for your time, Bobosama. Hope EchoRing lives on!
JaG says:
<END INTERVIEW>
