Monthly Archives - December 2022

The Death of Disney Animation (Part Two of Two)

If Disney animated films begin with, “Once upon a time there was a…”  Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl fleeing from an evil queen, into the woods… Once upon a time there was a little boy who didn’t want to grow up… Once upon a time there was a mermaid that wanted to walk on dry land… Once upon a time there...

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The Death of Disney Animation (Part One)

There is nothing Disney World hates more than the words “half-day park.”  Guests aren’t going to have more than one meal. They are likely to save their money for the “real parks.” It creates problems with the flow of people at night. Worst of all, guests cut their stay short by a day because they went from Hollywood Studios to Animal Kingdom It’s all ghastly, from Disney Park’s perspective. Animal Kingdom used to be a half-day park but the addition of...

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RE:Play Protostar – War on the Frontier

This one is kind of obscure but was decidedly a favorite of mine back in the day.   It wasn’t No Man’s Sky but it was fun and is still a decent game.  In 1992 the Chief Financial Officer of Sierra Entertainment, Edmond Heinbockel, had had enough.  I’m not sure what he had had enough of, but he had clearly had IT.  He led a walk out of Sierra and with the aid of several former Sierra game devs, started a new company in 1992, Tsunami...

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RE:Play Phantasmagoria

“The history of horror is basically a history of what we aren’t all that frightened of anymore. Horror began appropriately enough in France shortly after the Reign of the Terror.  Religion was officially outlawed.  The Catholic Church had been forced out of the country and if you were going to worship anything at all, it had to be the Goddess of Reason.  Graveyards were filled with dead people who were according to the First Republic, gone forever.  They were in an...

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RE:Play – Space Quest III

Good old Roger Wilco.  A legendary hero from the days when there was a Babbage’s in every mall. The galaxy’s most intrepid janitor. An every-man whose ambitions were constantly thwarted. A blue-collar hero that saved the day every time and never got a thimble full of credit for it. The Space Quest series ran from 1986 – 1995 numbering six games in total. All of which were produced by that Eighties gaming powerhouse Sierra Online. Sierra games covered just about every genre from...

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RE:Play The Dagger of Amon-Ra

Back in June of this year, the unthinkable finally happened. World of Warcraft became the second most played MMO.  If you strike at the king, you must rule or die and Square Enix now sits on the throne.  And Blizzard was indeed the undoubted king of PC gaming for twenty years.   Warcraft, StarCraft, Diablo, these weren’t mere franchises, these were legends. Nobody broke ground like Blizzard, nobody had the polish or the style.  Blizzard didn’t have releases, they had seismic events. Present at E3? No thanks we...

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