BEST OF THE WEB
 Hank Leukart's HomePage |
Keeping up with ever-changing landscape of computer games has been made a lot easier over the course of this year, thanks in part to Hank Leukart's outstanding home page. Hank Leukart, a college student and the original maintainer of
the Doom FAQ, provides the casual viewer an up-to-the-minute window into the latest happenings in the PC entertainment world.
Conveniently broken down into sections such as news, tips, and rumors, the design of this site blends the best elements of a fast load time and good graphics, making the latest information easy to digest. This site maintains its small size as news that 's over a month old slips off into the bits from which it came; however its compactness and frequent updates always mean there's plenty of new and timely things to read.
Hank Leukart's Homepage doesn't have much to offer to those outside of the DOS/Windows 95 arena, but for 90 percent of the people out there, this is the place to be. And for these users, perhaps the best quality of this site is its sheer energy and exc itement.
But be forewarned: this site can be addictive. Once you've given in to temptation, retrieved that long download, and conveniently linked to the page, you just might blow the rest of the afternoon playing the cool new demo that was just released today.
 Happy Puppy |
What Hank Leukart's page is to the brand new, the Happy Puppy is for the long term. Even though the Happy Puppy has a news area of its own that's nothing to sneeze at, its the massive collection of games, demos, and information that m
ake this site stand out among the rest.
One of the nicer features on this page is Mark Shander's Computer Fun Shop Radio Show, which is transmitted in Real Audio format whenever you want to hear it. Other resources include a game developers' page, a special Macintosh section, and The Nifty 5 0 Games Survey, which monitors how often game links are accessed to determine which games are the most popular. The overwhelming size of this site is indicated by another section called Lord Soth's 1000+ PC Games, and there's even a local pointer to get t he latest copy of Netscape.
What made this site stand out over other mega-game sites was the excellent navigational aids such as the "Other Happy Puppy Pages" table at the bottom of most pages. Once you get used to the resources available through this site, any trouble you had fi nding games on the Internet will be well behind you.
 ClubOpolis |
SimCity 2000 players should consider themselves lucky to have one of the most thorough online game resources dedicated to their favorite way of passing time. ClubOpolis not only has the tips, cheats, and saved games that you'd expect,
but also features on-going contests from which you can download the winning cities. There are also many strategies and theoretical papers for the would-be mayor, so you can figure out exactly how many hospitals are enough for a city of 100,000, for examp
le. One of the nicest features is a zip file containing the complete contents of the site so you can download it and view it locally, saving connect charges.
Overall I ranked this page so high because I was impressed by the slim, yet attractive, design, and the fact that the wide majority of the information was self-contained in the site. Lengthy jaunts back and forth across the Net were not necessary to fi nd the information I was looking for.
![[Best of the Rest]](bestrest.gif){kind=small}
| 4. The Game Zone |
The Game Zone, is a free service from Microsoft� and makes a variety of online, live interactive gaming available and fun. Card and board games have rooms with a casual atmosphere and a number of tables � a lot like your local cafe, but without waiters. Their action-game rooms have virtual environments, and in every game you can chat with your fellow players while you play. The Internet Gaming Zone is an online community where people who love the congeniality and fellowship of games and competition can get together. At "The Zone" you can play a wide range of great games, from the slow-paced Checkers to the high-octane, tooth-rattling Microsoft� Monster Truck Madness�. Other games include, chess, backgammon, reversi, hearts, spades, bridge, etc. Currently, only Microsoft� Internet Explorer is suported. (shocked?)
| 4.(tie) DoomGate |
DoomGate provides inveterate Doom players everything they've ever wanted to know about what is probably the most popular computer game of all-time. With links to every conceivable Doom resource on the planet, this is the ultimate place for people who c an't get enough virtual violence in their life.
| 5. LavaMind Games |
A game site can do more than talk about games, and LavaMind's site is a perfect example of what can be achieved. Despite hawking their latest game (Gazzilionaire), LavaMind's site has created a small virtual world with such amenities as short fiction pieces and a virtual pet cemetery.
| 5.(tie) Dust Home Page |
The perfect company-sponsored game site should not only give you a feel for how the game is, but should also be entertaining in its own right, and that's exactly what you'll find here. The Dust Home Page from GTE Interactive, with a little help from Re al Audio, gives players the illusion of being in an old west town from the comfort of their favorite browser.
| 7. Magnet Interactive Studios |
Magnet Interactive Studio has taken its collection of games and transformed them into a Web event. Each game gets equal treatment on this page, which often includes demos, a mini-magazine, and a special online event specific to each product.
| 8. Trilobyte |
This page from the makers of the 7th Guest and 11th Hour looks like one of Trilobyte's games. The butler can tell you what's new, but you have to explore the map to get to the VRML 11th Hour sample.
| 8.(tie) Game Zero |
Game Zero is an online gamer's magazine as hip as -- and more up to date than -- anything you'll find on the stands. Aside from the mixture of reviews and commentary that you'd expect from a regular online magazine, Game Zero also takes the initiative with contests and online events.
| 10. Pop Rocket |
Besides making an excellent page to delve into its Total Distortion CD-ROM, Pop Rocket has added a number of nice touches that stand out among company Web pages. One is a video trading post where you can exchange saved games. You also get two mini onli ne games created with Macromedia's new Shockwave Netscape plug-in.
| 10.(tie) Viacom New Media |
Despite being a newcomer to the computer gaming world, Viacom is making up for lost time by putting major initiatives into things like Web pages. Zoop is one of its new games listed here and the most complete with demos and other downloadable files.
| 12. Interplay |
Interplay, maker of the 3D game Descent II, has spiced up its site with over 20 demos of some of its most popular games. The demos, combined with a smooth design that makes navigating a snap, made it one of my favorites.
| 13. Virgin Interactive |
Consumerism gone bonkers is perhaps the best way to describe this site, wherein Virgin invites you to enjoy Zesty Bytes made specially for your CD-ROM. In this stylish setting you'll find out as much as you could possibly want to about Virgin and its v arious affiliates. An interesting feature of this page is is an online chat protocol that, unfortunately, relies on a telnet client to use.
| 13.(tie) New Type Gaming |
This is another stylish online magazine that offers reviews and previews of the very latest in the computer-game industry. New Type Gaming offers links and reviews covering the console and arcade scene as well.
| 15. Gaming Central |
This site offers some of the most up-to-date game news as well as walkthroughs of the latest games and more. Although the site is affiliated with a game store, I found the game reviews on this site to be honest and well worth reading.
| 16. Bungie |
The makers of the 3D Macintosh game Marathon have created an interesting Web page that looks great and provides insight into its games. Other niceties include the standard demo and unique online chat service that works over different Web browsers.
| 17. LucasArts |
In highlighting its Windows game, The Dig, LucasArts has created a small movie to set the scene. Just take the online tour and the story will unravel by itself.
| 18. Sanctuary Woods |
These multimedia mavens have created an easy to navigate site where you can find plenty of information about all of their games as well as the people who created them. If you like what you see, you can order a demo CD-ROM.
| 19. Games Domain |
This site is a soup-to-nuts listing of online game resources including FTP and Web sites as well as game FAQs and hints. The biggest liability for people on this side of the Atlantic is the lack of a U.S. mirror.
| 20. Burn:Cycle |
The full graphics option of this page will plunge you into an interactive introduction to this game. This combined with online contests and great graphics make it a site worth checking out.
| 20.(tie) Digital Pictures |
This highly stylized site opens with nine pictures that plunge you into one of Digital Pictures' creations, such as Night Trap. In the spirit of fair play, Digital Pictures has even included some footage of the senate sub-hearing that this game helped launch.
| 22. Velocity |
This well-designed site includes VRML preview to one of Velocity's new games and demos of the older ones. A nice addition is the online contest to name characters found in one of its games in progress. First prize is payment of the winner's electric bi ll for a year.
| 23. Westwood Studios |
This site from the makers of the game Command & Conquer have found a unique way to spice up tech support. It offers a customized Windows IRC client that lets you talk live with tech support during certain hours while the site is open.
| 24. Rocket Science |
The hype-meisters have put together an impressive collection of propaganda about their games and their business. This, combined with some online game contests and downloadable demos, make this a site definitely worth checking out.
| 25. Nintendo |
Part of the main attraction on this page is the Donkey Kong Country 2. It also features a rock-scissors-paper style game that works over a conventional browser.
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