While I love giving you what I know for free, at some eventual future point I am going to have to be able to sustain a comfortable living off of whatever I end up doing, whether it's this or something else.
To this end, I have my first set of affiliate links to have you guys help me test out. I know most of my readership either are Apple or Google guys (with the majority more than likely Google guys) but I would like some help test driving this regardless. I get at least a little bit of kickback when you click these links but since I'm so new to this I have no idea how much kickback I actually get.
The Doctor Who Podcast
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks (First Doctor story)
Agnetha Faltskog - A (new Agnetha of ABBA fame album)
Bonnie Tyler - Holding Out For A Hero (from the album simply believe)
Doctor Who - The Name of the Doctor (last season's much-talked-about season finale on the new incarnation of Doctor Who)
Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition for iPad (it's back!)
The Commodore 64 Book (an iBook about the C64. Since iBooks is coming to the next iteration of Mac OS X, best be ready, am I right?)
Star Trek: The Original Series - Fan Favorites, Vol. 1 (the top 10 episodes of the original Star Trek series, including the infamous episode The Trouble With Tribbles)
Star Trek: Into Darkness (yes, you can buy this right now off iTunes about 3 weeks or so before the DVD/Blu-Ray release! Cool, eh? I'll probably pass for now though. Seeing that one twice was enough for now)
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Tuesday, August 20, 2013
The Tech and TV Conundrum (Or The Lack Thereof)
Yesterday, I read an article on Time Magazine's website about why we want TV to be disrupted so badly, and I had a revelation: Why hasn't Apple or Google done that super-disruption of the TV space thus far?
First, a little bit of background: The music business, back in the late 90s and early 2000s, was racked by piracy and they had to find some way to save their business. The way they did it was they allowed Apple and their fledgling music application/store/service/etc, iTunes, to take over and see what happened. Not only did the music business suddenly start thriving, they realized they had backed themselves into a corner with their Apple / iTunes deal and the other pieces of the entertainment industry still has reason to be wary of Apple and iTunes.
Now, why hasn't that super-disruption happened? I think that negotiations are still ongoing, I have no idea (and I probably won't have any idea of when this will happen) and frankly I think the super-disruption will either start out small and grow bigger and bigger, like the iTunes Store did, or it'll start out with a bang and maintain its velocity like the App Store did.
I find it very interesting that, while the rumor mill is talking about gold/champagne iPhones and iPad iOS 7 delays (the latter I find highly unlikely), we've not heard much about the fabled iWatch or the fabled entry/disruption in TV. Heck, usually we would've heard about any surprise announcements for the (rumored but more than likely still on) September 10th event by now, but the rumor mill has largely stayed silent on this fact. The doubling down on secrets Tim Cook talked about has, in fact, been the rule.
Heck, I don't even know when Apple will debut new Macs and new iPads. They've talked about that gorgeous-looking new Mac Pro, but they've not yet specified price or release date other than "fall 2013" in a new movie theater ad spot that I will more than likely see on Wednesday when I go in to see "Jobs", the sadly bombing independent Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher as the titular late great.
Now, what can the movie/TV/video game businesses do to fight rampant piracy of their content? Take the example of GOG.com, CD Projekt RED's fabulous digital games distributor. They provide all the games they offer, both retro and indie, with star level treatment that the pirates cannot better, and they don't lock their content down with debilitating DRM, or digital rights management. They actually provide a better customer / user experience than the pirates.
Google does this pretty well also, much to their credit. I cannot tell if there's any way that their Google Play movies, music, and TV shows have DRM, but if they don't rear their ugly heads and get in users' way, then they can create an experience that isn't awful.
So, the movie and TV businesses need to get their digital strategies right. They need to stop fearing piracy and go full throttle into a new digital age. Fact of the matter is, it's the movie and TV businesses' collective fear of piracy that is, unfortunately, fueling piracy from those who either a) do not have the funds to buy things legitimately, or b) wish to access a movie or TV show on any device they choose, no restrictions to bump into, no hoops to jump through, and most certainly no restrictive formats. The column A people you'll never collect money from, so forget them. The column B people, on the other hand, are the people who are woefully underserved in today's horribly fragmented marketplace. So, serve those people and your piracy problem is pretty much solved.
Hey, that's a solution that is almost too easy, right? Actually, it's common sense. Treating your paying customers like pirates only increases the order of magnitude in which piracy affects the business of entertainment. But giving the customers what they want (which seems to be such a difficult proposition for these movie and TV studios) and NOT treating them like they'll "just pirate this stuff anyway" is actually going to help them make MORE money, instead of losing it to "piracy".
First, a little bit of background: The music business, back in the late 90s and early 2000s, was racked by piracy and they had to find some way to save their business. The way they did it was they allowed Apple and their fledgling music application/store/service/etc, iTunes, to take over and see what happened. Not only did the music business suddenly start thriving, they realized they had backed themselves into a corner with their Apple / iTunes deal and the other pieces of the entertainment industry still has reason to be wary of Apple and iTunes.
Now, why hasn't that super-disruption happened? I think that negotiations are still ongoing, I have no idea (and I probably won't have any idea of when this will happen) and frankly I think the super-disruption will either start out small and grow bigger and bigger, like the iTunes Store did, or it'll start out with a bang and maintain its velocity like the App Store did.
I find it very interesting that, while the rumor mill is talking about gold/champagne iPhones and iPad iOS 7 delays (the latter I find highly unlikely), we've not heard much about the fabled iWatch or the fabled entry/disruption in TV. Heck, usually we would've heard about any surprise announcements for the (rumored but more than likely still on) September 10th event by now, but the rumor mill has largely stayed silent on this fact. The doubling down on secrets Tim Cook talked about has, in fact, been the rule.
Heck, I don't even know when Apple will debut new Macs and new iPads. They've talked about that gorgeous-looking new Mac Pro, but they've not yet specified price or release date other than "fall 2013" in a new movie theater ad spot that I will more than likely see on Wednesday when I go in to see "Jobs", the sadly bombing independent Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher as the titular late great.
Now, what can the movie/TV/video game businesses do to fight rampant piracy of their content? Take the example of GOG.com, CD Projekt RED's fabulous digital games distributor. They provide all the games they offer, both retro and indie, with star level treatment that the pirates cannot better, and they don't lock their content down with debilitating DRM, or digital rights management. They actually provide a better customer / user experience than the pirates.
Google does this pretty well also, much to their credit. I cannot tell if there's any way that their Google Play movies, music, and TV shows have DRM, but if they don't rear their ugly heads and get in users' way, then they can create an experience that isn't awful.
So, the movie and TV businesses need to get their digital strategies right. They need to stop fearing piracy and go full throttle into a new digital age. Fact of the matter is, it's the movie and TV businesses' collective fear of piracy that is, unfortunately, fueling piracy from those who either a) do not have the funds to buy things legitimately, or b) wish to access a movie or TV show on any device they choose, no restrictions to bump into, no hoops to jump through, and most certainly no restrictive formats. The column A people you'll never collect money from, so forget them. The column B people, on the other hand, are the people who are woefully underserved in today's horribly fragmented marketplace. So, serve those people and your piracy problem is pretty much solved.
Hey, that's a solution that is almost too easy, right? Actually, it's common sense. Treating your paying customers like pirates only increases the order of magnitude in which piracy affects the business of entertainment. But giving the customers what they want (which seems to be such a difficult proposition for these movie and TV studios) and NOT treating them like they'll "just pirate this stuff anyway" is actually going to help them make MORE money, instead of losing it to "piracy".
Friday, August 16, 2013
As The Steam/GOG Turns #7: Lucky Seven Edition
Welcome back to As The Steam/GOG Turns, the continuing story of two competing digital distribution services that compete for everyone's attention.
This week's releases are, to be frank, a tad bit stark on the GOG side but the Steam side is amazingly rich and broad (and expensive...) this week, so let's get going!
First up in Steam-only releases is the game I just wrote and put up a review for, DuckTales: Remastered. Capcom, Disney, and WayForward did a fabulous job and it is SO worth the $15 if you are nostalgic for your childhood and your childhood consisted of the Disney Afternoon.
Next is Europa Universalis IV. The granddaddy of grand strategy games has returned, better than ever! $40 is a tad pricey for a game that seems the slightest bit same-y, but then again people like NorthernLion on YouTube are doing videos about it, so who knows.
Next is Payday 2, the sequel to Payday: The Heist. If you liked the first one, you're more than likely to like this, so there you go. It's $30 or your regional equivalent, so if you enjoy that sort of thing then hop to it. The rest of us can wait till it goes on significant sale.
Next is a game called Guncraft. I guess this is for those who are fans of games like Minecraft, but since I am not a fan of these open-world sorts of games I will steer well clear, thanks. $15 isn't too much but I'll wait till it goes on significant sale.
Next is a game called Catan: Creator's Edition, which is (finally, at long last) a PC version of the legendary board game Settlers of Catan, along with its Seafarers and Cities & Knights expansions. It's $16.99 regularly but is on sale till the 21st of August for 10% off.
Next is Worms: Clan Wars, the latest in Team17's venerable series of artillery games with full Steam Workshop support. If you like crazy games like this, then go for it, and go for it now.
Penultimately in the Steam-only releases, is Gone Home, a Myst-style exploration game. Not bad, but not something I'm really that interested in, so I'll pass, thanks.
Finally in Steam-only releases is a preorder for Full Mojo Rampage with included Steam Early Access. I know next to nothing about this game, so I will not say anything more.
Next up is the "I don't know if I have covered this already" file, with the lone game King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition, which is an updated version of the console fighter from two years ago with supposedly much improved netcode.
Next is the dual Steam/GOG releases. And apparently the time has come for people who want to to preorder Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, the newest in the Amnesia series of horror games. And that's the only dual release this week.
Finally is the lone GOG-only release this week: Wargame: European Escalation, which is YARTSG (yet another RTS game). The less said about this the better.
And before I go I will go into what I've been playing. First I've been playing DuckTales Remastered and thoroughly enjoying that, and I've also been playing and enjoying Worms: Clan Wars as well. Single-player is pretty good, and I haven't really done any multiplayer matches yet but I am enjoying what I've seen and/or played thus far.
So, that does it for this week. And until next time, the Steam/GOG conflict ever turns...
This week's releases are, to be frank, a tad bit stark on the GOG side but the Steam side is amazingly rich and broad (and expensive...) this week, so let's get going!
First up in Steam-only releases is the game I just wrote and put up a review for, DuckTales: Remastered. Capcom, Disney, and WayForward did a fabulous job and it is SO worth the $15 if you are nostalgic for your childhood and your childhood consisted of the Disney Afternoon.
Next is Europa Universalis IV. The granddaddy of grand strategy games has returned, better than ever! $40 is a tad pricey for a game that seems the slightest bit same-y, but then again people like NorthernLion on YouTube are doing videos about it, so who knows.
Next is Payday 2, the sequel to Payday: The Heist. If you liked the first one, you're more than likely to like this, so there you go. It's $30 or your regional equivalent, so if you enjoy that sort of thing then hop to it. The rest of us can wait till it goes on significant sale.
Next is a game called Guncraft. I guess this is for those who are fans of games like Minecraft, but since I am not a fan of these open-world sorts of games I will steer well clear, thanks. $15 isn't too much but I'll wait till it goes on significant sale.
Next is a game called Catan: Creator's Edition, which is (finally, at long last) a PC version of the legendary board game Settlers of Catan, along with its Seafarers and Cities & Knights expansions. It's $16.99 regularly but is on sale till the 21st of August for 10% off.
Next is Worms: Clan Wars, the latest in Team17's venerable series of artillery games with full Steam Workshop support. If you like crazy games like this, then go for it, and go for it now.
Penultimately in the Steam-only releases, is Gone Home, a Myst-style exploration game. Not bad, but not something I'm really that interested in, so I'll pass, thanks.
Finally in Steam-only releases is a preorder for Full Mojo Rampage with included Steam Early Access. I know next to nothing about this game, so I will not say anything more.
Next up is the "I don't know if I have covered this already" file, with the lone game King of Fighters XIII: Steam Edition, which is an updated version of the console fighter from two years ago with supposedly much improved netcode.
Next is the dual Steam/GOG releases. And apparently the time has come for people who want to to preorder Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, the newest in the Amnesia series of horror games. And that's the only dual release this week.
Finally is the lone GOG-only release this week: Wargame: European Escalation, which is YARTSG (yet another RTS game). The less said about this the better.
And before I go I will go into what I've been playing. First I've been playing DuckTales Remastered and thoroughly enjoying that, and I've also been playing and enjoying Worms: Clan Wars as well. Single-player is pretty good, and I haven't really done any multiplayer matches yet but I am enjoying what I've seen and/or played thus far.
So, that does it for this week. And until next time, the Steam/GOG conflict ever turns...
Life Is Like A Hurricane Week Conclusion: DuckTales: Remastered (PC) Review
Before I get into this review, I just want to say this for the record: I bought this game myself and as such, no matter if I get review codes or not, I will give my honest thoughts on the game.
INTRODUCTION AND OPENING THOUGHTS
Oh. My. God. I grew up with DuckTales on the Game Boy and the cartoon. This melds everything that was so great about the DuckTales cartoon and the DuckTales videogame into one melting pot of pure, unadulterated awesome. I felt just like a kid again as I played the game, and that felt SO good.
I want to break this review up into parts so that I can talk about every aspect of the game equally.
STORY: 10
The story in the original DuckTales game was... shall I say... thorny at best. Thankfully WayForward took what was kinda lacking in the original and gave it a superb, overarching story that includes a new tutorial level that is set in Scrooge McDuck's money bin and a brand new final confrontation level after all the original levels (Amazon, Transylvania, African Mines, Himalayas, and The Moon) are completed that I *dare* not spoil because it is one of those things that MUST be experienced firsthand and even my describing it is technically a spoiler. All I will say is that Flintheart Glomgold, Magica De Spell, and the Beagle Boys are in the story and more integrated than they were in the original NES/ Game Boy title.
GRAPHICS / CONTROLS: 10
The graphics are fantastic and highly colorful, and the controls are just as they were in the original Game Boy title... that is, a tad on the slippery side. They got every single nuance down pat and I love every minute of it. However, if you have a really bad D-pad, ya might want to invest in a controller for your PC that has a really good D-pad. Once the Xbox One's controller does work on PCs in 2014, I think this will be a thing of the past.
SOUND: 10
Jake Kaufman did one heck of a good job with all of the music in the game. Each level is unbelievably good, the voice acting in the game is top-notch, and the sound just makes the game totally sing. Great job, Mr. Kaufman, along with Capcom and the amazing people at Disney. Please put the soundtrack out, somehow, some way. I would buy it in a New York minute.
RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS
This game is definitely a game that, if you are of a certain age and you love you some DuckTales, then this game is for you. Even if you aren't of that age where you remember and love the show, this is still a game that must be experienced. Yeah the cutscenes are a bit overly long, but the story is kind of dependent on these cutscenes and you miss something by automatically skipping every cutscene. I give DuckTales: Remastered on PC a solid, highly recommended 10 out of 10. An instant classic that deserves to be played.
INTRODUCTION AND OPENING THOUGHTS
Oh. My. God. I grew up with DuckTales on the Game Boy and the cartoon. This melds everything that was so great about the DuckTales cartoon and the DuckTales videogame into one melting pot of pure, unadulterated awesome. I felt just like a kid again as I played the game, and that felt SO good.
I want to break this review up into parts so that I can talk about every aspect of the game equally.
STORY: 10
The story in the original DuckTales game was... shall I say... thorny at best. Thankfully WayForward took what was kinda lacking in the original and gave it a superb, overarching story that includes a new tutorial level that is set in Scrooge McDuck's money bin and a brand new final confrontation level after all the original levels (Amazon, Transylvania, African Mines, Himalayas, and The Moon) are completed that I *dare* not spoil because it is one of those things that MUST be experienced firsthand and even my describing it is technically a spoiler. All I will say is that Flintheart Glomgold, Magica De Spell, and the Beagle Boys are in the story and more integrated than they were in the original NES/ Game Boy title.
GRAPHICS / CONTROLS: 10
The graphics are fantastic and highly colorful, and the controls are just as they were in the original Game Boy title... that is, a tad on the slippery side. They got every single nuance down pat and I love every minute of it. However, if you have a really bad D-pad, ya might want to invest in a controller for your PC that has a really good D-pad. Once the Xbox One's controller does work on PCs in 2014, I think this will be a thing of the past.
SOUND: 10
Jake Kaufman did one heck of a good job with all of the music in the game. Each level is unbelievably good, the voice acting in the game is top-notch, and the sound just makes the game totally sing. Great job, Mr. Kaufman, along with Capcom and the amazing people at Disney. Please put the soundtrack out, somehow, some way. I would buy it in a New York minute.
RATING AND FINAL THOUGHTS
This game is definitely a game that, if you are of a certain age and you love you some DuckTales, then this game is for you. Even if you aren't of that age where you remember and love the show, this is still a game that must be experienced. Yeah the cutscenes are a bit overly long, but the story is kind of dependent on these cutscenes and you miss something by automatically skipping every cutscene. I give DuckTales: Remastered on PC a solid, highly recommended 10 out of 10. An instant classic that deserves to be played.
Life Is Like A Hurricane Week: The Influence of Carl Barks On Other Media
I am celebrating DuckTales Week in style and talking about DuckTales-related topics. Deal with it, folks. Review will be up later today.
Carl Barks, also known as "The Good Duck Man", created Uncle Scrooge and the whole world of Duckburg. But he didn't just influence future Disney comics. Oh no, he actually influenced some amazing filmmakers and the future creators of the show DuckTales. So, today during DuckTales Week I am planning to detail some of what Carl Barks influenced, most of it might be a tad mite surprising, while others might not be as surprising.
First., I have to get the really obvious ones out of the way. The DuckTales TV show, that I am celebrating this week, is a fabulous series, most of which is based on the work in comics that Carl Barks did.
However, I cannot make any post about the late great Carl Barks's influence without mentioning the infamous boulder-rolling scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which came from the story "The Seven Cities Of Cibola" where the Beagle Boys trigger pretty much every trap in one of the temples and figure out that the boulder is rolling down after them, just like Indiana Jones does in the famous opening sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Now for the... not so obvious ones. First is an episode of Mythbusters called "Ping Pong Rescue", in which Adam and Jamie test a myth about whether you could raise a boat using only ping-pong balls... exactly like what Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie did in the very first Carl Barks comic book story, "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold", which was based on an unused Donald Duck story idea for one of Donald's short cartoons.
Next is a big one that I think most of us would be intrigued by. Osamu Tezuka, known as the father of manga and the godfather of anime in Japan, has confirmed that his pioneering manga work was totally influenced by Carl Barks's creation, Scrooge McDuck. So, you can thank Carl Barks for creating a world of manga and anime... and in a roundabout way, you can thank him for Toonami's main thrust of its lineup, both back in the day and now.
Finally, I think almost anyone who has read the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich would confirm them as being fun reads, but Janet Evanovich is actually someone on whom Carl Barks had (and has) a pretty major influence. So much so that at one of the comic cons a few years ago when she was promoting her Troublemaker graphic novel from Dark Horse, Evanovich pretty much flat-out stated that she based the Stephanie Plum books on Uncle Scrooge and that she still subscribed to the Uncle Scrooge comics. So we can thank Uncle Scrooge (and Carl Barks) in a roundabout way for the Stephanie Plum books.
Carl Barks, also known as "The Good Duck Man", created Uncle Scrooge and the whole world of Duckburg. But he didn't just influence future Disney comics. Oh no, he actually influenced some amazing filmmakers and the future creators of the show DuckTales. So, today during DuckTales Week I am planning to detail some of what Carl Barks influenced, most of it might be a tad mite surprising, while others might not be as surprising.
First., I have to get the really obvious ones out of the way. The DuckTales TV show, that I am celebrating this week, is a fabulous series, most of which is based on the work in comics that Carl Barks did.
However, I cannot make any post about the late great Carl Barks's influence without mentioning the infamous boulder-rolling scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, which came from the story "The Seven Cities Of Cibola" where the Beagle Boys trigger pretty much every trap in one of the temples and figure out that the boulder is rolling down after them, just like Indiana Jones does in the famous opening sequence from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Now for the... not so obvious ones. First is an episode of Mythbusters called "Ping Pong Rescue", in which Adam and Jamie test a myth about whether you could raise a boat using only ping-pong balls... exactly like what Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie did in the very first Carl Barks comic book story, "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold", which was based on an unused Donald Duck story idea for one of Donald's short cartoons.
Next is a big one that I think most of us would be intrigued by. Osamu Tezuka, known as the father of manga and the godfather of anime in Japan, has confirmed that his pioneering manga work was totally influenced by Carl Barks's creation, Scrooge McDuck. So, you can thank Carl Barks for creating a world of manga and anime... and in a roundabout way, you can thank him for Toonami's main thrust of its lineup, both back in the day and now.
Finally, I think almost anyone who has read the Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich would confirm them as being fun reads, but Janet Evanovich is actually someone on whom Carl Barks had (and has) a pretty major influence. So much so that at one of the comic cons a few years ago when she was promoting her Troublemaker graphic novel from Dark Horse, Evanovich pretty much flat-out stated that she based the Stephanie Plum books on Uncle Scrooge and that she still subscribed to the Uncle Scrooge comics. So we can thank Uncle Scrooge (and Carl Barks) in a roundabout way for the Stephanie Plum books.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Life Is Like A Hurricane Week: The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa
Because I haven't gotten to play with the newly-released DuckTales: Remastered yet, I decided today would be a perfect day to talk a lot about my experience with the original DuckTales game from Capcom. It's unique, and it'll certainly help explain why I am mondo excited for the new Remastered game, which I am more than likely to pick up tomorrow (Wednesday). But until then, I am celebrating DuckTales Week in style and talking about DuckTales-related topics. Deal with it, folks.
Now, for the second post of DuckTales Week, I want to talk about a comic that means quite a bit to me, and that is the epic 12-part series "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" by the legendary Duck artist, Don Rosa. He's sadly retired now due to health concerns, but his epic legacy of Life and Times lives on.
First, I want to talk about where I'd first heard of Life & Times, and that will involve how I first got into the amazing world of Disney comics, and it was even a part of my very first Disney Comics issue that I remember buying with my own money, and that is Donald Duck Adventures #29, published by Gladstone Comics (an apt name if ever I heard one) in December of 1994. The cover was by (ironically enough) Don Rosa, and this issue was also my very first exposure to a man whose whimsical Disney Comics art style still enthralls me to this day: William Van Horn. So, basically this comic launched me into the Disney Comics stratosphere.
So, why do I bring up DDA #29? Because, near the back of the book, is a page that talks about what else is in the other Gladstone Disney comic books that month, and besides DDA #29, we have advertising for Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #594 which features another William Van Horn story as well as a Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse comic story, and Uncle Scrooge #289, which featured chapter five of the Life & Times epic, The New Laird of Castle McDuck, whereby a young Scrooge returns to his native Scotland to reclaim his ancestral castle.
Well I never really read Life & Times until a couple years ago, and the instant I did, I knew this was a classic beyond classics. You can put Life & Times up against just about any epic adventure comic nad it seems to hold up just fine on its own. And when I finally did read Life & Times in the graphic novel form, I just fell in love with the art style and the amazingly well-crafted story immediately.
In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, you find out in this story how Scrooge got his Number One Dime, why his Money Bin is where it is in Duckburg, and so much more. Even better, it actually dovetails quite nicely into how we find him in his very first comics appearance in Carl Barks's classic story "Christmas on Bear Mountain".
I have to say I love what Don Rosa did with this story, along with all the cool little details he threw in. If you can find a copy, and the price is right, get it, read it, and enjoy it as it comes HIGHLY recommended.
One issue, however: Life & Times and every single other story from Don Rosa is NOT available for legitimate purchase in any digital format. Even worse, you can't really find any Carl Barks stories for legitimate purchase in digital form, nor William Van Horn. Floyd Gottfredson (the man behind Mickey Mouse's very best comic stories ever) is getting more reprint love right now from Disney and Fantagraphics than any of the other Disney Comics legends combined, including the late Donald Duck comic strip artist, Al Taliaferro! Please, somebody fix this injustice. Now.
Now, for the second post of DuckTales Week, I want to talk about a comic that means quite a bit to me, and that is the epic 12-part series "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" by the legendary Duck artist, Don Rosa. He's sadly retired now due to health concerns, but his epic legacy of Life and Times lives on.
First, I want to talk about where I'd first heard of Life & Times, and that will involve how I first got into the amazing world of Disney comics, and it was even a part of my very first Disney Comics issue that I remember buying with my own money, and that is Donald Duck Adventures #29, published by Gladstone Comics (an apt name if ever I heard one) in December of 1994. The cover was by (ironically enough) Don Rosa, and this issue was also my very first exposure to a man whose whimsical Disney Comics art style still enthralls me to this day: William Van Horn. So, basically this comic launched me into the Disney Comics stratosphere.
So, why do I bring up DDA #29? Because, near the back of the book, is a page that talks about what else is in the other Gladstone Disney comic books that month, and besides DDA #29, we have advertising for Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #594 which features another William Van Horn story as well as a Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse comic story, and Uncle Scrooge #289, which featured chapter five of the Life & Times epic, The New Laird of Castle McDuck, whereby a young Scrooge returns to his native Scotland to reclaim his ancestral castle.
Well I never really read Life & Times until a couple years ago, and the instant I did, I knew this was a classic beyond classics. You can put Life & Times up against just about any epic adventure comic nad it seems to hold up just fine on its own. And when I finally did read Life & Times in the graphic novel form, I just fell in love with the art style and the amazingly well-crafted story immediately.
In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, you find out in this story how Scrooge got his Number One Dime, why his Money Bin is where it is in Duckburg, and so much more. Even better, it actually dovetails quite nicely into how we find him in his very first comics appearance in Carl Barks's classic story "Christmas on Bear Mountain".
I have to say I love what Don Rosa did with this story, along with all the cool little details he threw in. If you can find a copy, and the price is right, get it, read it, and enjoy it as it comes HIGHLY recommended.
One issue, however: Life & Times and every single other story from Don Rosa is NOT available for legitimate purchase in any digital format. Even worse, you can't really find any Carl Barks stories for legitimate purchase in digital form, nor William Van Horn. Floyd Gottfredson (the man behind Mickey Mouse's very best comic stories ever) is getting more reprint love right now from Disney and Fantagraphics than any of the other Disney Comics legends combined, including the late Donald Duck comic strip artist, Al Taliaferro! Please, somebody fix this injustice. Now.
Life is Like A Hurricane Week: BJ's Experience With The Original DuckTales
Because I haven't gotten to play with the newly-released DuckTales: Remastered yet, I decided today would be a perfect day to talk a lot about my experience with the original DuckTales game from Capcom. It's unique, and it'll certainly help explain why I am mondo excited for the new Remastered game, which I am more than likely to pick up tomorrow (Wednesday). But until then, I am celebrating DuckTales Week in style and talking about DuckTales-related topics. Deal with it, folks.
My experience with the original DuckTales from Capcom and Disney is... shall I say... a tad bit unique. First, a bit of history: I kind of had a bit of a strange childhood, as my father got a bunch of increasingly good jobs and we moved around quite a bit in my youth.
I got a super-cool (at the time) Nintendo Game Boy for my 5th birthday, which in those days was the giant jobbie with the green screen, the soft purple buttons, and a game called Tetris packed in. As a result, most of my most treasured gaming memories came on that little green-screened, purple-buttoned wonder. I first experienced the Pokemon series on it, and I first played DuckTales on it.
Now, fast forward to the early 2000s. DuckTales for the Game Boy had haunted my nightmares for years and years and years. I booted it up on whatever new Game Boy was in my hot little hands at that time, and decided enough was enough, I had to beat this game, no matter what. I started on Easy, went through each level in order, and beat that game senseless. (Even then I wondered why Magica DeSpell and Flintheart Glomgold were teaming up to steal Scrooge's Number One Dime when we only saw Magica in the Transylvania level and we never saw Glomgold at all...)
Anywho, I started kicking the game while it was down, beating it senseless on the other two difficulties. And after all of that... I didn't want to play that game again for a long time. The fun, unfortunately, evaporated from that game for me. So the fact that DuckTales: Remastered is out now (and was announced back in March on my birthday weekend at PAX East in Boston) makes me super happy, and I am 150% ready to experience what I loved about the DuckTales series and the game all over again.
Now, the fact that I played DuckTales on the Game Boy is significant because on the Game Boy version of the game, you only did the pogo move with a single button, i.e. you didn't have to hold down on the Control Pad like you did on the NES version, like the difference between Easy Pogo and Hard Pogo in DuckTales Remastered. So, as a result, I've... never really gotten to play the original NES version, but once I start to beat this game senseless all over again, I will probably more than likely want to play the original NES DuckTales.
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