First GameHippo and now Home of the Underdogs (the URL no longer works so don't even bother clicking), the old vanguards of free online downloadable games are dropping like flies! So what kind of site was HoTU? The site was founded in 1998 by Sarinee Achavanuntakul, who goes by the name Underdogs or Fringer on her own blog.
The site is a big collection of abandonware, games (mostly DOS and Windows games) that were no longer supported by their publishers and were no longer commercially available. HoTU offered these games (and their manuals) as free downloads. There were also reviews and rankings and other goodies. Of course sometimes the site found itself in the legally gray area thanks to its hosting of out-of-print games without the consent of their creators/owners, but no one seemed to mind for the most part.
