presented by nibbishment

When I was 9, my parents, my brother and I house-sat for a couple who lived on a lakeside lot. This family happened to have a Nintendo with a copy of Super Mario Brother 3. My parents didn’t want us to waste our time playing it when there was so much natural beauty to behold. They had a point, of course, but my brother and I still set our alarm clocks for absurdly early hours so that we could sneak down to play it. Every day for two weeks, we would get to the same exact place in the game.

I wrote that up a couple of years ago when I was going through my list of favorite video game moments. This one was number 27, which seems just about right. We so badly wanted to beat this level and it just didn’t seem possible to do so. We had no problem getting here – whistles made that almost trivial. For some reason that I don’t seem to recall, we always used our P-Wings elsewhere, which (in one of this level’s – and indeed, this’ game’s – biggest failings) would have rendered this level stupidly easy.

Continue reading 3. Don’t Blink, Don’t Look Down →

presented by nibbishment

We* knew what this was all about. We had all heard that there were eight worlds in Super Mario Brothers, and there were only 4 levels per world, so in the closing moments of 8-3 (easily the hardest level in the game, btw. There was no easy way around those damn hammer throwers with the entire level taking place on flat ground. We died SO MANY TIMES on that level), we knew what was coming – the last level, the end castle… the final boss.

Of course, we had two lives left, so we died in the first room, unable to figure out the logistics of that first jump.

Continue reading 5. Actually, Your Princess Is In This Castle →

This week we had to write a story about two characters meeting for the final time, whether they know it or not. Word Limit: 400

Continue reading Survivor XV, Challenge 13: Final Meeting →

2013 was another successful here for the Troggles. Despite a baby muncher entering the picture, the Troggles continue to pump out daily posts as well as tripling their subscribers. And to kick-off 2014, they completely redesigned the site!

Notes

• I wanted multiple posts visible at a time for those who don’t come every day or have an RSS feed. With pictures for each post, I think you’ll find it more attractive.
• We couldn’t help but keep the white text, but at least now it’s on a gray background rather than black!
• You’ll notice there’s no sidebar on the main page. No worries. If you click on any individual post, the sidebar will appear.
• I realize the top menu is not symmetrical. Unfortunately, I cannot change this unless I upgrade to a paid site. Maybe someday.

Below is the annual report regarding the site. Enjoy and feel free to comment on the site redesign too!

Here’s an excerpt:

Your most commented on post in 2013 was Andy & Lana Wachowski

These were your 5 most active commenters:

• 1  spookymilk 205 COMMENTS
   
• 2  adobery 84 COMMENTS
   
• 3  TheAlmightyGuru 49 COMMENTS
   
• 4  shiva53 36 COMMENTS
• 5  mbnovak 31 COMMENTS
   

Click here to see the complete report.

Monday: Quentin Tarantino
Tuesday: Kevin Smith
Wednesday: Ron Howard
Thursday: Ivan Reitman
Friday: Sam Raimi

Cheers was my show growing up. I didn’t begin watching it until it was in its sixth or seventh season (it started when I was just a year old), but I instantly fell in love. I watched it with the family, and when it was on syndication, I was allowed to stay up until 11 pm on school nights so I could watch it.

When I was young, I loved the show for its simplistic humor. Norm’s quips, Carla’s jabs, Cliff’s speeches. Watching the show as an adult, most of those cheap jokes don’t do it for me anymore. Thankfully, the show had way more going for it, mostly superb performances by Ted Danson, Nicholas Colasanto, Kelsey Grammar, and Bebe Neuwirth. I won’t be giving much away that my favorite moments from the show heavily highlight those four actors.

They also heavily favor the Diane and Coach years. While Diane’s character had run its course, both from a romantic standpoint and a why-is-she-still-at-the-bar standpoint, the humor while she was there favored style and wit versus the farce and slapstick often present with Rebecca and Woody around. Still, I enjoyed the show from beginning to end and there are moments from the first episode all the way to the last.

While there might be a couple of spoilers here and there, it’s a comedy, so I wouldn’t worry about this list ruining anything if you plan on watching the show in the future. Besides, many people could reasonably have an entirely different Top 20 for the show and have it be valid.

Death By Troggles has now been around for almost a year and a half, and while most of my site visitors are still people I know, people are starting to get to my site through some bizarre search engine terms. Here are my favorites:

weather girl brii los angeles

I wrote a story about a vapid weather girl who is willing to eat Milk-Bones for a story and I intentionally borrowed the name of a Los Angeles weather girl because it fit the story. From the looks of the other sites that popped up with this search, most people type this into a search engine to read lists of the “hottest weather girls” or something. I can only hope Bri was the one who typed this and she misspelled her name.

episode where counselor troi gets horney

That episode would be Man of the People, so I guess this person got what they were looking for. I just love that Troi’s randy state was what triggered their memory and that even though they can’t spell it still got them the right answer.

february 21 2012 4.20 am

This is a bizarre search term anyway, but the post that it brought this person to was episode 4.20 of TNG that I posted on February 21st, 2012. I couldn’t have been anything close to what they were looking for

troggles down on me

Aww, the troggles love everybody. Munch, munch.

softball, so what? amazonia

I have no idea

klonopin suicide afterlife

That’s awfully specific research

survivor fuck you marcus

So apparently there is a forum called “Survivor Sucks” and there’s a post therein titles “Fuck you, Marcus.” Well, in one of my Survivor writing entries, someone says that line as well.  Awesome.

sub rosa orgasm and work fucking k’ehleyr

I heard somewhere that the internet was created because of Star Trek and pornography. So there we go.

being intubated and diapered fetishism punishment

for the record, I’m the first result for this search because I have one page that has the words “fetish, diaper, being, intubate, and punishment” though certainly not in this order. Sheesh.

recent deaths due to devils

I hope my site helped.

50 reasons why i love you for sex

Easily the most popular post on my site is the only personal one, “50 reasons why I love my mother.” This is the funniest way someone got there.

picard saying engage mother fucker

Make it so!

Company appearances in the countdown

Sierra: 17
LucasArts: 9
Legend: 4
Infocom: 4
Virgin: 3
Interplay: 3
Valve: 2
Access: 2

Sierra’s total looks impressive until you remember how many adventure games they actually made (sixty-two, if you’re wondering).  Still, that’s over 25% that made the list.  But then you look at LucasArts, who had 9 games make the list, which is exactly 60% of their catalog. I am guessing that if I played Telltale’s entire catalog, it would rival LucasArts’ percentage.

So here’s a poll for you all.  Check out the list of games here and write in the comments how many games you’ve actually played. Then, if you can, recommend an adventure game I haven’t reviewed (even if it’s not for the PC).  And The Walking Dead doesn’t count, because I already own it and just haven’t gotten around to it yet.  And, just for fun, if you recommend a game that makes my worst list, I’ll post that review tomorrow.

I have now added to the “Video Games” tab an ongoing list for the current countdown, making it easier to look back for ones you may have missed.

This current list should end in about a month.  Anything in particular you would like to see?  I’m working on my favorite 50 music albums list, and while music is not something I keep up with, or have particularly good taste in, I thought it might be fun to discuss.

I also have about 70 more reviews of PC Adventure games sitting on my desktop ready to go.  One way to post most of them would be to do a worst of list, as a lot of the remaining ones I cannot recommend.  For adventure fans, it could be a good tool to know what to avoid.  For others, it could be fun to read as my reviews get a little more surly as the games get worse.

I also have not done anything on this site regarding movies.  A top 100 movie list could certainly be done, though most of my reviews would be shorter than what you’re used to.  Many movies I’ve seen only once (and sometimes several years ago) so I wouldn’t feel comfortable with in-depth discussion.  I could also do a worst list, but something less unwieldy, like a bottom 20.  I could also discuss favorite scenes, lines, directors, actors.  I’m open to suggestions.

So, if it suits you, take a vote in the poll and comment below if you have any thoughts.