Welcome to the end of 2012 everyone! We’ve survived the apocalypse that never came (or did it?) and with about 1 hour to go till 2013, let’s take a quick look back at the year that was and which articles were bringing in the readers.
For the sake of this post, we only looked at articles that were posted this year, and narrowed it down to 12 different topics (i.e. one topic may have more than one popular article). Also, as we’re looking at total number of views throughout the year, it’s to be expected that the older the post, the more likely it appears on this list.
12. (Re-)Launch of X-Treme X-Men
We begin, interestingly enough, with the first time one of our posts gets Reddit-ed. Though more of a rant than anything, the post I called “Seriously, Marvel? Seriously?” was reposted on Reddit, and garnered enough attention within a day to make it to this list. Happily, since the article was written, both X-Treme X-Men and Astonishing X-Men have been well-received.
11. Real Escape Game in Singapore
It’s rather amazing to realise that there have been three editions of the Real Escape Game this year alone, but when the concept was still fresh (and the ticket prices still low), there was a lot of interest at the beginning of the year with the Escape from the Mysterious Chapel. This was followed by the Escape from the Werewolf Village, and then the Crazy, Last Will of Dr. Mad (which we didn’t write about because we were very disappointed about not completing it).
10. Dark Heresy RPG review
A long review (that would probably have been longer) from contributor Benjamin Mok has been receiving a consistent amount of attention over the year. In the meantime, we wait with bated breath for Benjamin to finish his obligation to the country and hopefully come back to write for us.
9. Invasion! Toys and Collectibles relocates to Funan
This website was created with the intent on ensuring local geek news got covered, and we’re vindicated that people have kept coming back to the site to find out more about this “newest” comic book store in Singapore. With guests like Mark Brooks and Mark Torres, as well as a very active Facebook presence, we hope to see Invasion! grow from strength to strength.
8. Painting Super Dungeon Explore
Kakita’s ongoing Super Dungeon Explore project began late last year, and his several tutorials on painting different groups found among the horde of miniatures the game utilises have gotten a lot of attention over past twelve months. We’ve even found links originating from Google Translate where his articles are being read in Spanish! Now that’s impressive.
7. “Hacking” XCOM: Enemy Unknown
We were so excited about the return of (now hyphenless) XCOM that Kakita wrote five articles in the space of the month of its release. What really got the public’s attention was the fact that the game’s demo (released ahead of the full game) was “hackable” to get a more engaging and challenging experience. With not one, but two articles helping you to “hack” your demo, XCOM remains one of our more memorable gaming experiences this year.
6. Gaming previews
Direcow’s previews of two new MMO games: SD Gundam Capsule Fighter Online and The Secret World were really popular in the days leading up to and after the launch of the respective games. Unfortunately, while interest still remains relatively strong in the third-person shooter, it has all but died down for The Secret World RPG.
5. Dance Central 3
It’s the Harmonix game that keeps on giving – Dance Central 3 ensures that there’s never a dull moment when there’s an X-Box Kinect around. Though it is the game’s song list that keeps drawing people to the site, we’re not forgetting that this year, we met Marcos, Matt and John, and talked Halloween, weddings and Gangnam Style, among other things.
4. Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention 2012
It’s not surprising that the flagship geek event in Singapore continues to be the source of our popular articles this year, but it was commenting on the experience of one Power Girl cosplayer that really got a huge response, initially in the month after the event, but then a resurgence when Gail Simone shared it on tumblr. This year’s STGCC was quite a milestone, as it was the first time the local organisers were given full rein, and I think it paid off with an overwhelming response from visitors from the region.
3. Nickelodeon’s Avatar franchise
Not one, but two aspects of the Avatar universe (not the one with James Cameron’s big blue furries) were extremely popular this year – the comic book sequel The Promise and the animated sequel Legend of Korra. This is hardly surprising, of course, the Avatar universe continues to inspire and excite both the young and young-at-heart that despite a terrible live-action movie and a slightly too convenient ending to the first twelve episodes of the animated sequel, we’re still looking forward to more.
2. Free Comic Book Day 2012
Our FCBD post is traditionally one of the most popular each year, mainly because we’ve always been blessed to get a huge referral in the form of Singapore’s “Blogfather” mrbrown on Twitter. This year’s FCBD was marked by the appearance of Earth-2 artist Nicola Scott, who would later draw G&B Comics’ boss Bernard in a comic book. It also marked the first year anniversary of Harris Planerds – unfortunately, the first-ever geek-themed branch of a major bookstore in Singapore closed soon after.
1. Lock & Load 2012
Our most popular articles of the year are, ironically, written by guest contributor KK and are regarding Privateer Press’ miniatures convention, their second. The most popular post has ironically the least words in any article (I wonder what that implies).
Thanks for taking this journey down memory lane! See you in 2013.
