What a year it’s been here at Geek Native! We’ve had expos and conventions, an anime festival, a new creative director/editor, celebrity interviews, podcasts, mega deals for our readers… and we’ve even been flagged up for being naughty!
So, without further ado, let’s take a look at some of Geek Native’s biggest highlights and things of note from 2023.
When Bronwen came aboard and raised the tone significantly
Since our new co-editor/creative director came onboard, a new podcast has occurred (more about that below). Professionalism and productivity have soared. So have xenomorph references and digs at Star Trek: Picard. It all has to balance out somehow.
The introduction of a new podcast and contributor
Thanks to Girdy’s success with his own podcast, Audio EXP – and his unwillingness to share – Bronwen decided to start her OWN podcast, and brought new contributor, Fenn, into the fray at the same time!
The podcast has only just started, and it’s called Perception Check: Trailer Edition, covering movie, TV and video game trailers that have caught our attention this week. Fenn will mainly be contributing trailer news to the site, and he’s a wonderful addition to the Geek Native team!
That article Girdy wrote that got flagged by FB for hate speech
Not that our founder would ever actually publish hate speech. Bronwen Winter Phoenix, Creative Director and Co-Editor of Geek Native, said: “I just think it’s funny how we got flagged for a post entitled ‘Men are idiots’, written by a man being an idiot!”
An interview with Matthew Lillard and Bill Rehor
A fun Q&A with Matthew Lillard and Bill Rehor about Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! … which utterly failed to unearth any scoops, quirk any eyebrows but did get into drag!
UK Games Expo
Girdy took time off his day job, splashed the cash on a Hilton hotel room and then ran around exhausting himself at the UK Games Expo. Fun, he says.
He’ll be back in 2024 and maybe Geek Native will be successful enough in the future that one year more than one of the team could go down. In the meantime, if you’re a game publisher and fancy a chat in Birmingham, get in touch!
Big Heckin’ Two-Day Prime Day
For the first time in Geek Native history, Girdy and Bronwen dedicated a big heckin’ chunk of time to Amazon’s Big Heckin’ Two-Day Prime Day. Did it pay off? Not so much. Were lessons learnt? Definitely.
There’s a Winter Sales/Boxing Day megathread live right now, for example.
Scotland Loves Anime
Bronwen also got to experience her first ever Scotland Loves Anime! Although Girdy went in hardcore, seeing 12 films in four days and reviewing all but one, Bronwen only accompanied him for Blue Giant – and chose well, as it actually won the audience choice award!
RedHack 2
Patrons get to vote candidates into the RPG Publisher Spotlight as Geek Native attempts to thank site supporters and highlight all the talent in the hobby industry.
In these RPG Publisher interviews, Girdy often cheekily asks about future plans and struck gold when speaking to Petros Moro of TheNatOne, who kindly announced The RedHack 2e, aka RH2e was on the way.
Scoop!
The Thinimblin Line
Professional GM Ben Jackson-Ellery continued to write for Geek Native and with the RPG tips series Genre Police.
Girdy says he likes them all but a personal favourite is The Thinimlin Line, which is when the world lore becomes so complex it’s also a risk.
The Caribbean with Undead
Charles Dunwoody has continued his world-building-by-reviews series, and while there have been many articles this year with the Year Zero Engine, Girdy calls out Pirate Borg: Infest the Dark Caribbean with Undead as an especially good one.
Abandoned for Fringe!
For the first time ever, our parent company (Zebra Eclipse Limited) was media accredited to cover the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – so, during the month of August, Geek Native was pretty much an abandoned child in favour of Bronwen and Girdy reviewing all the Fringe shows for Edinburgh Reviews.
It was a rewarding but utterly exhausting month. Phew!
Amazing Patrons
A special thanks to all the loyal patrons. Did you know not one penny of Patron monies goes to paying tech costs? It all goes to human contributors like artists and writers. On that note, Geek Native’s AI content policy is now well over a year old.
To sum it up…
It’s been an unforgettable year, and we’ve come so far! It’s been great having you along for the ride, and we hope you’re as excited as we are for what’s to come next.
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