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Comment by Ste Pickford, added Fri, 16 May 2014 00:01:28 GMT

I don't understand the title, or even why wubba exists, but I will eventually become a patron nonetheless!

Comment by Guest Nick, added Fri, 16 May 2014 07:10:13 GMT

Haha! Perhaps we should explain the title on the patreon page?

Comment by JPickford, added Fri, 16 May 2014 07:37:20 GMT

>why wubba exists

Wubba is called into existence whenever a sufficiently deep body of water is created.

Comment by JPickford, added Fri, 16 May 2014 09:41:52 GMT

Wubba's face is hilarious!

Anyways, I want to become a patron. You really deserve it.

Comment by Guest Yanna, added Fri, 16 May 2014 10:45:06 GMT

Well that's actually false. They get paid by having annoying ads pop up every fuckin 5 seconds about candy crush and clash of clans. Oh and good luck with your patrons. I can't support you but I am in spirit. Also good luck on Plok 2. You are making a Plok 2 eventually right? RIGHT????????

Comment by Mr. Polygon, added Fri, 16 May 2014 15:34:02 GMT

@ J Pickford

So Wubba is a water spirit? Or a God?

Comment by Mr. Polygon, added Fri, 16 May 2014 15:36:38 GMT

He's a multiplier. And an ill-informed pundit.

Comment by JPickford, added Fri, 16 May 2014 15:38:23 GMT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEmsf9tvvjU

Comment by JPickford, added Fri, 16 May 2014 15:39:26 GMT

So Wubba is male?

Comment by Guest Yanna, added Fri, 16 May 2014 16:11:17 GMT

Only down to our lazy casting. We should introduce some female characters.

Comment by JPickford, added Fri, 16 May 2014 16:25:07 GMT

But the character that looks like Liza Minnelli in these comics is female, right?

Comment by Brad Silvia, added Fri, 16 May 2014 17:32:38 GMT

@ Brad Silvia

Um are you referring to that green haired person that could be your avatar? Yhea I wanted to know more about that person too. It says that persons from Plok. Was this a steryotipical princess that had to be saved by the fleas in Plok? Was she Plok's girlfriend? I:) ;)

Comment by Mr. Polygon, added Fri, 16 May 2014 17:58:18 GMT

From the fleas not by the fleas. That would be stupid.

Comment by Mr. Polygon, added Fri, 16 May 2014 17:59:33 GMT

@ J Pickford

Ooooooo that looks nice. Wetrix is a Tetris like game? So Wubba is a bad thing right?

Comment by Guest Mr Polygon, added Sat, 17 May 2014 02:54:54 GMT

No he's good.

Comment by JPickford, added Sat, 17 May 2014 11:44:05 GMT

Or maybe he is just pretending to be good. He is in it with the queen, alien guy thing, and the Xbox One.

Comment by Guest Nathan, added Sun, 18 May 2014 01:12:19 GMT

@Mr. Polygon:

I was trying to make a joke that The Queen looks like Liza Minnelli, but I guess it's okay that you butchered it.

Comment by Brad Silvia, added Sun, 18 May 2014 04:25:10 GMT

@ Brad Silvia

Oh my bad didn't mean to infest your parade. No seriously. Oh and PS the flea queen looks more like a contestant from ragpaul's Drag Queen. Y-U-C-K-Y

Comment by Guest Mr Polygon, added Sun, 18 May 2014 08:29:05 GMT

A question for the Pickford Bros (heh do you also wear matching clothes with the only difference being the colors?)

I was looking at another NES series you two have worked on; Wizards and Warriors, and I was always curious what Wizards and Warriors 4 would be like after I saw the ending of W&W3.

According to Wikipedia a sequel was suggested; Lasersword.

What would the sequel have been like? I can imagine some futuristic world a la Buck Rogers in the XXV Century, a mix of high tech cities and bases combined with a ruined post apocalyptic wasteland, with the wizard Malkil this time controlling Earth and the Solar System from a space station.

Comment by Guest Marten van Wier, added Sun, 18 May 2014 08:58:29 GMT

Hahaha, I love your comics.

I wanted to support you and become a patron but I am having problems (got lots of things happening). I will be cheering you guys on.

Keep up the great work with the comics. I hope to see Plok in a sequel game, he deserves one.

What kind of female characters are you going to introduce? (other than the flea queen). Will this female character be Plok's girlfriend? Does Plok has a girlfriend?

Comment by Guest WJC, added Sun, 18 May 2014 13:38:01 GMT

So I am reading on Wikipedia your page, and I see the list of all the games you worked on.

I hate to say it, but some of the projects you were assigned to do are very facepalm worthy (assuming that most of it is true). Not that I assume you had any say in those games (I could imagine the publishers forcing you to program them at gunpoint), but I would still say that Plok is still one of the best games of all time. You might want to edit that article to make it more accurate.

Maybe there is a reason why you picked only Wetrix as the only non-Plok game you put in the comic...

Comment by Guest Nathan, added Mon, 19 May 2014 02:56:47 GMT

@Nathan:

Well, keep in mind that The Pickfords only own a few IPs that they worked on, with Wetrix being owned by their defunct Zed Two development studio.

I seriously hope they eventually re-release their catalog of games. Once again, I feel video games should be treated like film and music and should be given the same treatment by being available for more people to enjoy. I can't stress this enough.

Comment by Brad Silvia, added Mon, 19 May 2014 04:13:12 GMT

@Nathan

To me the Pickford Brothers' ludography looks like a pretty standard list of games that you work on in a video game development career: mostly work for hire and inbetween very few chances in bringing your own game concepts to fruition.

I agree with Brad's sentiments about video game restoration. If it wasn't for emulation I guess most games would have fallen through the cracks of time.

Comment by NameThatNobodyTakes, added Wed, 21 May 2014 06:42:45 GMT

@ NameThatNobodyTakes:

And why should we rely on doing something illegal in order to preserve an art form? It's hard for me to explain this, but I feel that it is selfish and asinine that companies or even people who own the rights to games let them stay locked up forever instead of doing something with them. And with the availability of digital download services like Steam and GOG.com, there is absolutely no excuse to never re-release these titles.

This is one of the reasons why I support Night Dive Studios who are doing what I think all companies should do. Their stance that video games should be treated like music and film and should be re-released is what everyone should believe. They even managed to re-release System Shock 2, a game that had one of the most complex rights issues in the history of video games. And now they are working on No One Lives Forever. That is deserving of respect and support.

The Pickfords own the rights to a few games that I would love to see re-released on GOG.com, Steam, PSN, Nintendo eShop, XBLA, etc. Honestly, if they want my support, they would have to put effort into supporting video games as an art form and preserving the ones they own in such a way that many people would get to experience them. If they decide to make a Patreon campaign that helps them get games like Plok and Wetrix up on these services, I'll be first in line to give them my support. In the mean time, I feel a comic of one of their IPs is only teasing us and should not be their only method to garner support.

Comment by Brad Silvia, added Wed, 21 May 2014 16:44:08 GMT

@ Brad Silvia

Nintendo Sega and Capcom and even some other companies re release their old games. Take Yoshi's Island for the SNES. Let's see they made a remake for the GBA (which I have) they also made a sequel for the Ds (which I also have) and just recently they released Yoshi's new island (don't have it yet but I'll get it). Also Sega re released the original Sonic the hedgehog Videogames for the Genesis on the Xbox,Playstation,and GameCube. They even released it on the Gba even tough it's ear rape to some. Also let's not get started on how many times they remade Megaman. Let's see Wily Wars. Powered Up, The Anniversary Packs. The complete Works. I even heard that they released a Metal Gear Anniversary Pack some time ago as well. So companies do revive old series. It's just sometimes Altered or change to fit the demand of the consumer. However Making or Remaking games is hard work and requires Money. John and Ste may not have the Resources to bring back Plok . Also since TradeWest has bit the dust. It's pretty much impossible to re release Plok. Yes I understand that You believe games should be treated like an art and re released. I am learning how to develop games myself and I do plan to re release. However there is only so much one can do alone to try to rerelease a game. And you know it would be nice if they re released Magical Pop'n. Oh well.

I guess the Picks don't have the appropriate people and recourses to bring back Plok. But surely they can make a sequel and that could count as saving Plok from the cracks of time.

Comment by Mr. Polygon, added Wed, 21 May 2014 17:24:25 GMT

Also I would like to point out that John and Ste are bombarded by people who want Plok to be re released. I'm sure they would have not hesitated to put it on XBOX live and the E shop. However they can't because they don't own the rights to the games. This comic May be the only thing they can do right now. Maybe later when all the Plok cults realize this comic's existence, Plok can have a shot at a sequel. Also they did mention not wanting to be attached to the old Plok and try some new stuff. (LIKE BETTER SAVE STATES AND LESS BOBBINS AND LOGS. AND LESS LILY MACES AND ROCKYFELLAS!!!!!!!!!!!) but hey Plok is still on EBay. So I am looking forward to a Plok2 rise of the Shprouts yep. I actually made that idea up on my own.

Comment by Mr. Polygon, added Wed, 21 May 2014 17:42:07 GMT

@ Mr. Polygon:

If you actually bothered to read the comments in the last comic, you would have found out that John Pickford seems to think they actually do own the rights to the first Plok. Why are you so adamant about spreading misinformation?

Comment by Brad Silvia, added Wed, 21 May 2014 18:46:25 GMT

And before you respond, please actually bother to thoroughly read every single comment in the last comic and absorb the information accordingly.

Not to toot my own horn, but you will see that Mr. J. Pickford's last comment in that thread is "I'm beginning to think Brad might be right." That's in reference to the actual research I had done to determine who owns the rights to the first Plok. The Pickfords own both the copyright AND the trademark rights to Plok, as documented by the United States Patent Trademark Office and Copyright Office. This cannot be debated. If Tradewest and/or Software Creations owned anything to these titles, they would have been listed under the copyright filing.

Since that's squared away, all that's left is for The Pickford Bros. to actually invest the time in getting the game to be distributed through digital download services.

Comment by Brad Silvia, added Wed, 21 May 2014 18:56:56 GMT

I did read it. But before they said that they weren't interested in the SNES Plok they said that if or when they made a new Plok it would have new elements and not be heavily base on the old one. Oh yes I did read all of that and if the Picks want they can take it to court. Problem solved.

Comment by Guest Mr Polygon, added Wed, 21 May 2014 19:32:28 GMT

I also mentioned that they apparently don't have the resources to bring the game back. Also did you read the Patron Blog? It explains how bringing Plok back is not easy. But hey facts are facts. If they truly own it then cool. But they don't seem sure about it.

Comment by Guest Mr Polygon, added Wed, 21 May 2014 19:43:23 GMT

@ Brad Silvia

I'm not trying to shoot you down or anything but knowing and thinking are two different things. They did indeed say that they only own rights to the character. That's a true statement. You also seem to refer to American Copyright. However The Pickford Bros are from the UK and I'm not familiar with their Copyright laws. But I'm starting to agree with you that they may own the game. However with out the sincere knowledge that they own the game, they can't do anything with it. It would be a risk to just bluntly put Plok up for download. But still I'm not against The Pickford bros Remaking Plok. And I'm not saying that they could not indeed own the game to its entirety. But not being 100% sure of something is a bad thing. And the Pickford bros are definitely not 100% convinced that they own the game. If they were to take it to court. Then that is the safest way they can figure out if they own it or not. But I do respect your research and your efforts to get to the bottom of this.

Comment by Guest Mr Polygon, added Wed, 21 May 2014 20:08:35 GMT

@ Mr. Polygon:

I'm glad you are understanding where I'm coming from.

I'd also like to add that in the United Kingdom, copyrighted works do not need get filed and the rights are automatically given to the creator(s) of the work. So in the case with The Pickfords branding Plok with their names following the copyright symbol, they've set it in stone that they own it. It's that simple. If Tradewest/Software Creations wanted to at least own part of the copyright to Plok, they would have contested and made sure they were also included after the copyright symbol.

Comment by Brad Silvia, added Wed, 21 May 2014 21:20:25 GMT

Hey guys, apparently an affiliate of GOG.com has uploaded an executable of the PC version of Wetrix that works with all current Windows OSs-

http://www.xtcabandonware.com/game/1034/wetrix

It's not as good as the N64 version, but at least those of us who never got a chance to play it when it first came out now have a chance.

Comment by Brad Silvia, added Wed, 21 May 2014 21:56:20 GMT

Great

Comment by Guest Mr Polygon, added Thu, 22 May 2014 00:36:37 GMT

@ Brad.

Went to that site. Found a game I played a lot in my childhood (Sim Theme Park). Unable to get it to function with a Virtual Disk Clone thing. And the other ones didn't work out. To add insult to injury, it is incompatible with a 64 bit system, none the less one that can't even mount the .iso image (much less have it function to begin with).

Sucks

Comment by Guest Nathan, added Thu, 22 May 2014 01:57:56 GMT

@ Nathan:

Yeah, I guess you should stick with titles produced by The Pickfords. Because then you'll know they'll work. ;)

Comment by Brad Silvia, added Thu, 22 May 2014 03:52:02 GMT

So pickfords, any word on this comic ad?

ht tp://oldgamemags.tumblr.c om/post/72204612633/its-therealplok-for-the-snes-follow (I spaced the coding 'cause I apparently cannot add links for some reason)

I don't suppose you made it, since it's the first I've heard of Penkino the Wizard

Comment by Guest Trance, added Thu, 22 May 2014 23:28:51 GMT

Oh cheers! I've not seen that one. It's one of the adverts for the US release done by Tradewest. We had no knowledge of these ads, no approval, no influence, no input or anything like that. The first we knew about them was when we saw them in US video game mags (which we had to find for ourselves).

Comment by Ste Pickford, added Thu, 22 May 2014 23:59:17 GMT

Oh yhea so Plok wasn't made by an old man who put a spell on his coat and hat and accidentally made his dogs fleas huge? Great cuz that story is cheesier than Doritos. I'm sorry Tradewest took a giant crap on your game. You guys worked really hard on it and deserve more credit than what you get. I still think Plok is great. Keep tossin your arms Plok! :)

Comment by Mr. Polygon, added Fri, 23 May 2014 03:57:20 GMT

In the last panel, what is Plok doing with his left hand? It looks like it could be related to the "whale meat" comment.

Comment by Goyangi, added Thu, 16 Sep 2021 20:21:09 GMT