The advent of the Internet Gold Rush has attracted many would-be millionaires to the Web in search of the ultimate prize. As is often the case in America, one good idea quickly spawns a collection of imitators hoping for lightning to strike twice or more. The dominance of the large portal sites covered in my last column has likewise spawned numerous copycats who so far have failed to match the success of the major starting pages. This is not so much a comment on minor site quality--some are quite good. They are just not as popular, or as profitable, as Yahoo, Excite, et al.

Snap (www.snap.com) is the most likely challenger to the major portals. Snap is a joint venture of NBC and CNET, although NBC plans to buy CNET's share and create a new entity in the near future. Snap offers the usual game channel, chat rooms and message boards, but its strongest feature is its selection of online games, including many military and strategy games not found on the larger sites. Snap offers free web pages through an arrangement with Xoom (www.xoom.com) and this service will also be merged into NBC's new portal.

About.com (www.about.com), formerly known as The Mining Company (mining the Internet, get it? You can see why they changed the name), specializes in an expert approach to the Web. Volunteer guides amass links, write and collect articles, publish electronic newsletters, run bulletin boards, and host chat rooms in the area of their expertise. So far, the game category has nine divisions, including war and role-playing, each with its own editor.

Go2Net (www.Go2Net.com) is probably better known for its Crawler search engine, and for Hypermart which offers free web page hosting for businesses (all you budding game publishers please take note.). Go2Net also has comprehensive game links, message boards, and online games.

AltaVista (www.altavista.com) only recently began a serious transition from highly regarded search engine to portal. This site is changing almost daily, but for now its game channel (mostly links, reviews, and news), and translation service (not too good, but better than nothing for those nonEnglish game sites) are worth visiting. AltaVista is allied with LookSmart (www.looksmart.com) which offers decent links of its own.

Netscape's Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) is using volunteers to build the largest collection of Internet links. Each category has an editor, and so far there are over thirteen thousand listed game sites. InfoSpace (www.infospace.com) uses the project's list while offering chat rooms and bulletin boards of its own. Your Portal (www.yourportal.com) also uses ODP material, but actually its link collection is larger and complements its superb collection of online Java-based games well.

Planet Direct (www.planetdirect.com) often serves as a start page for small ISPs who do not provide their own. It includes boards, chat, reviews, and links. CMPnet's NetGuide (www.netguide.com) is more oriented towards computer games. My Starting Page www.mystartingpage. com) and HotLava (www.hotlava.erupt.com) offer links, but not a lot of them. Starting Point (www.stpt.com) is similar, but it also had the bad taste to list Academic Gaming Review as a featured site. Internet Starting Point (www.s-point.net) has always been noted for its quirky content, but it is undergoing renovation at this time. Still, its site offers a link toSpaceCowboy.net, a comprehensive space exploration site which includes gaming links. SpaceCowboy should be visited by science fiction fans and gamers, space program buffs, and anyone with imagination.

Four portals rely on either message boards or Usenet for their content. Delphi (www.delphi.com) was one of the first online services but was left in the dust by AOL. Since giving up this approach, Delphi has focused on providing chat and board services, along with hosting simple web pages. Talk City (www.talkcity.com) does the same, but also actively encourages e-zine publishing. Much gaming material can be found in both. Deja.com (www.deja.com. formerly Deja News) archives Usenet discussions while hosting bulletin boards of its own. Remarq (www.remarq. com. formerly Supernews) also collects Usenet postings, but not to Deja's degree. Both allow people without a news server to participate in Use-net, and offer an easy way to search the various gaming groups.

Since last issue, Go has added chat and boards, and Yahoo has backed off its claim to GeoCities members' web page content. Other services, such as theglobe.com (www.theglobe.com), still assert a proprietary right. Theglobe does offer game forums for its members, and indexes to gamers' pages on its site. MSN recently began a messaging service which, along with Yahoo's and Prodigy's, was compatible with AOL's Instant Messenger for a while. AOL has changed its code several times to protect its 90%+ share of instant messaging users by keeping the other services out of its IM and ICQ networks. People interested in this approach for gaming should also look at PowWow (www. powwow.com) which has gaming communities and boards, as well as online play through its system. The portal world changes rapidly, so be ready for more developments.