It's Dead, Jim...

     Well, I figure I'll finally call it. I simply don't have the time to do all the things I want to do and keep up with a blog. I may put together a "best of Goongala's Grumbles" post (completely my opinion, of course), but other than that I think this little experiment of mine deserves some closure. It's been a good run these past four years. Perhaps in the future when I have more time and motivation I can resurrect it, but for now I'm putting down the proverbial pen. Thank you, dear reader, for sticking with it.

     It was... fun...

Taking the Blog to the Cleaners...

     After looking back at some of my posts from the last few years, one word comes to mind: BLECH. Many of the posts were inarticulate blatherings that had no real point, re-posts of something I found on another blog, or poorly written video game reviews that may have been biased or unfair. Inarticulate blatherings and re-posts aside, I had envisioned Goongala's Grumbles as a video game review blog when it first began. However, I quickly realized that my reviews had no real structure, and many of the points were far too heavily opinionated. A good review should be objective, and that was something I didn't quite grasp at the time.

     Therefore, I've gone back through and "cleaned house". A few of the more recent video game reviews are still available to read, but most of the earlier ones are gone (either gone for good or at least until I can go back and re-evaluate them). What I want this blog to be is a place of educational topic discussion with a side of comedy. While I may not have certified credentials, I feel the need to try to help others understand my train of thought, a train fueled by logic and common sense, and to entertain them while doing so. I want the information written here to be "ammunition" for people to use in the battle on ignorance. But more than that, I want people to do something that not many people do these days: I want them to THINK.

What is this... "Scrub"?

     Recently I've read a small bit of a book titled Playing to Win, in which the author, a game developer named Sirlin, writes about the concept of... well, it's kind of obvious. When "playing to win", victory is the most important goal, and any method used to win is viable and acceptable as long as it still falls within the game's set of rules. While the bits I read focused on the competitive side of gaming, a side that I understand fairly well but am not terribly familiar with, many of the concepts and points stated can be said of non-competitive games or of competitive games played non-competitively. He makes some very interesting and excellent points, and also defines what it means to be a "scrub"... and I match the description.

TL; DR...

     Have you ever had a moment of stunning clarity? That moment where something finally *clicks!* in your head? Sure you have. Everyone has an epiphany every now and then. I just had one recently: Time is a very, very precious resource.

(Source)

May The Fourth Be With You, Always...

... or at least for today anyway. Happy Star Wars day!

Star Wars: Breaking Tradition...

     With (unofficial) Star Wars month just around the corner, I've begun to delve back into the series I love so much. From what I understand, production on Episode VII begins next month, and the Star Wars website has released a cast list. Sure, I'm excited about this: I'm happy to see that they've got so many of the original cast back along with such fantastic actors like Andy Serkis and Max von Sydow. In fact, neither the cast or the director that's got me grumbling... it's the release date. From what I've read, it's December 18th, 2015.

(Source)

Darks Souls II: My Vacation to Drangleic...

     After such a wonderful vacation last year in Lordran, I knew I had to get to get tickets to Drangleic as soon as possible. So I gathered up some souls (money), grabbed some lembas and Estus (pizza and Sunny D), and journeyed to my local market to buy the tickets (drove to Gamestop and bought the game). I used a homeward bone to get home (also known as "my car"), and off to Drangleic I went...

So gloriously incandescent... all over again... (Source)

Dark Souls and the Importance of Difficulty

     Here's a question for you: When was the last time you played a game that you weren't sure you could beat? Go on, think about it. Look at the shelf of games behind you. Out of those games, were there any you didn't think you could finish? When I look at my own shelf, every single game was bought with the assured foreknowledge that I would be able to finish them... save for one: Dark Souls. Back when I first tried Dark Souls, it didn't take long for me to rage quit. I blamed the game for being unfairly difficult, for not showing me the way, and for having clunky controls. What I didn't blame was the only thing that actually deserved to be blamed: Myself.

My bad...

'Attack on Titan' Speculation: "What we can share so far..."

     The greatest part of speculative discussion is that someone might point out something that I missed, allowing me to either improve or altogether abandon my own theories. However, the unexpected popularity of my Attack on Titan posts has created an unforeseen problem: the comments sections are a bit of a mess and the amount of edits I've made to each post is bordering on the ridiculous. The posts have become disorganized, and are much in need of abridgment. So, here we go... (WARNING! Spoilers up to Episode 25!)

2013: The Year In Review

     As a year comes to a close, I like to look back over the year and reflect on what happened. In years past, I would have struggled to remember what I was doing in February, but now I can simply bring up my blog archive and see what I was doing then. It makes reflecting easy... or at least easier.

What is this... "Fanboyism"?

     Over the past few weeks, the internet has been abuzz (read: "out of its mind") about the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary special. Every time I get on Facebook, my news feed has at least one Doctor Who post, sometimes as many as five or six. These range from "Check out this video" to "ZOMGOOGLES A NEW DOCTOR WHO VIDEO! I'M SO EXCITED! AASDFASDGASDFJASKBFASKLCJN!" Today, we're going to talk about the latter...

So... uncool...

What is this... "Hardcore Gamer"?

     While doing some research for an upcoming post, I stumbled upon the urban dictionary definition of what a "Hardcore Gamer" is. At first, I was amused. I'd be the first to say that anything from Urban Dictionary shouldn't be taken seriously, but I actually found myself agreeing with the definition. At least, that is, at first...

*Stereotypical Hardcore Gamer*

What is this... 'Cour'?

     When I watch an anime, I usually don't have anyone to talk to about it. Only a few of my friends watch anime, and they don't watch nearly as much as I do. While watching Attack on Titan over the past few months, I've had the unexpected pleasure of having someone else I know watch it as well. It's been exciting to be able to talk to someone about it, and I've bugged her about "getting caught up" so I can let my inner otaku out and gush about the twists in the story. However, she's not even close to being an "otaku", and so some of the things that are normal in anime strike her as odd. One of these things is the way anime seasons are set up. So, I've decided to lay it out plainly, both for her and anyone else that might be wondering...

So just sit back and pay attention...

'Attack on Titan' Ep. 25: Something's Odd About Those Walls...

     Wow. I just checked the stats for post views and this one has over 29,000 37,000 views! Thanks for all the feedback and discussion! Perhaps it's time to do another summary post...

WAIT A MINUTE!

     The greatest part of speculative discussion is that someone might point out something that I missed, allowing me to either improve or altogether abandon my own theories. However, these Attack on Titan posts have been edited and updated numerous times. They were in desperate need of abridgment, so I've summarized the theories here (WARNING: SPOILERS!):

Click Here! >> "What we can share so far..." << Click Here!

     That said, feel free to read the following post. However, most of these theories have been disputed, so be sure to read the summary post!

     Truth be told, I put this off as long as I could. Episode 25 is the last episode of Attack on Titan, and I really didn't want it to end. I hope this is just the last episode of 'this season', and not 'THE' last episode. Of course, with a cliffhanger like the one they threw out at the end of the episode, I don't know how they can just leave it at that... (Major Spoilers: Up to Episode 25!)

This is the battle we've been waiting for, and it did not disappoint...

On Miyazaki's Retirement...

     Miyazaki has apparently quit before, but from what I've read it's for real this time. He's had health problems and such, so I really can't blame him. What I would like to point out is that he's retiring while he still has the love and adoration of his fanbase. While not everyone liked his latest movie, he didn't quite hit rock bottom... unlike certain other directors I can think of. Although I could praise the brilliance of the works he has created, I don't think anything I say could top this:

     *Manly tears...* Thanks, Siny, for such a beautiful video. Makes me want to go watch a Miyazaki-thon...

'Attack on Titan' Ep. 21: Learning Lessons From Titans...

     After watching episode 20 last week, I found myself in a particularly odd place: do I watch the new episode and enjoy my weekly adrenaline rush dosage, or do I put it off and enjoy that supreme feeling of suspense that I love so much? I put it off for as long as I could but eventually caved. Although, had I known it was going to be so brutal and destroy my emotions I might have put it off a little longer... (Spoiler Warning: up to episode 21.)

'Attack on Titan' Ep. 20: A Fit of Rage Unlike Any Other...

     Never in my entire life have I felt such varied and simultaneous emotions as I did at the end of episode twenty of Attack on Titan. As I've said before, those "To be continued..." screens are absolute killers. I was literally on the edge of my seat, hands over my mouth, waiting as the "camera" panned around the mysterious hooded figure, when...

BAM! DENIED!

     I threw off my headphones (an $80+ piece of equipment, mind you) in a fit of rage as I slapped my hands over my face and groaned loudly. I slammed my fists on the armrests of my chair, stood up and jumped up and down, and ran to the bathroom and screamed inaudibly (you know, tried to go super saiyan without all the yelling). Then something amazing happened: I threw my hands over my mouth again and began giggling like an adolescent school girl. I thought to myself, "THIS SHOW IS SO AWESOME I CAN'T EVEN HANDLE IT RIGHT NOW!" Happiness washed over me. I literally lost it. I couldn't even use the bathroom. And you know what? I ain't even mad... (Spoilers: Up to Ep. 20!)

Violence in Video Games: I Just... I'm Done...

     So apparently this happened:

Read the Kotaku article here...

     And there is but one thing I can say for it: *giant resounding sigh*

SONY: Advertising Done Right

     Most of the time, watching a video game commercial is groan inducing. They're often uninteresting, vulgar for no reason, or make me angry about the state of gaming. Some companies just don't know how to advertise, whether it be for a game or a console. Sony is not one of those companies. I'm not talking about specific game commercials, I'm talking about their incredible PS3 ads, like this one:



     And this one:



     Then there's this gem:


     Although that last one doesn't really matter anymore, it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. To see a major company come out with a tasteful and official "smack" to their competition is amazing. With the first two, I felt something I hadn't really felt with other video game commercial: pride. I was proud to be a gamer. It made me feel excited. It made me want to play video games. The point is, Sony knows how to make a commercial.

'Attack on Titan' Ep. 17-18 Speculation: Who's Blondie?

WAIT A MINUTE!

     The greatest part of speculative discussion is that someone might point out something that I missed, allowing me to either improve or altogether abandon my own theories. However, these Attack on Titan posts have been edited and updated numerous times. They were in desperate need of abridgment, so I've summarized the theories here (WARNING: SPOILERS!):

"What we can share so far..."

     That said, feel free to read the following post. However, most of these theories have been disputed, so be sure to read the summary post!

     So, episode 17 of Attack on Titan aired last Saturday, and I've just found the time to watch it. After several episodes of character and backstory building, I was beginning to wonder when the action was going to return. And return it did... in force. (Warning: Spoilers up to episode 18) (UPDATED!)