Lusipurr.com – Presenting the Sundry Opinions of Lusipurr and Friends

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the opening of Lusipurr.com! Ring bells, bang drums, and wake the neighbours! Today, we are ONE!

Lusipurr.com has come a long way from our very first day of operation. Beginning with the Megaphones Ahoy! Podcast (Episode 1 aired on the 16th of February), and a staff consisting of Lusipurr, Nate, Ethos, Lee, and Thea, the fledgling site created on a whim by a few ex-Cat Fancy members rocked the internet with a whopping almost no hits at all in its first week!

Over the months that followed, we experimented with new ideas and types of content. The focus was quickly streamlined down to video game and industry news in an effort to be able to present at least something approaching a weekly summary. News and releases moved from weekly posts to the podcast, new staff members were hired, and countless features were devised: group playthroughs of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, and Valkyria Chronicles; a Summer Spectacular at Cedar Point with a live and in-person Podcast; a Christmas Spectacular at Castle Lusipurr complete with a trailer starring NATE LILES; and our scientific and unbiased evaluation of the year’s worst game.

Countless Megaphones Ahoy! Podcast-specific features were created as well–some completely by mistake! There were special podcasts focused on the Wii, XBox 360, PS3, Nintendo DS, PSP, and the PC; holiday podcasts for Easter, Oktoberfest, and the New Year (featuring the entire year of gaming in review); not to mention our massive E3 Coverage live from Los Angeles, the firing of Ethan and Oliver on the air, our first video game giveaway contest, the fastest podcast ever and the worst podcast ever; and all culminating in our landmark 50th episode.

But as if that wasn’t enough, there were so many other things besides! Who can forget (no matter how hard they try) the Lusipurr.com staff rendition of the Pokemon theme? And all of our other musical endeavours, too, from the dulcet tones of an Amazing Horse, to our Riddlethos goodbye outtake montage, and a cautionary song about the dangers of inserting objects of any sort into one’s mouth. Of course, we also had other little audio bonuses: Oliver declaiming the lack of exploration in a particular Nintendo game, Oliver professing his love for roosters and phalluses, and the co-effort of Nate and Eric who created a system to warn listeners of impending spoilers.

But lest it be thought that we cater only to those capable of hearing, we made sure the deaf had a good time as well–our way of helping to alleviate the frustration of never hearing the doorbell or the kettle. There were pictures of Ethan riding Oliver, of Nate and of Oliver drinking beer, of the exclusive new Mario Universe MMO, and of tea and biscuits.

It’s been a great year, readers–but we have you to thank most of all. With all our slow technological progress, with all our editorials and reviews, with all our podcasts, features, and spectacular events, Lusipurr.com would be nothing. It is the contribution of our readers through discussion on our comment threads that keep the site alive and interesting, fostering discussion that makes itself heard on the podcast and everywhere else. You, our readers, have been unfailingly loyal when podcasts went up late, when authors were unable to post, and when technical errors sabotaged our recordings visual and audio alike.

A year has come and gone. Three hundred sixty-five days ago we opened this site to a post that received, at the time, no comments whatsoever. Our first podcast received just seven comments–four of them from staff members, two from colleagues of staff members, and exactly one (1) from a reader. Since then, we have had posts with over a hundred comments. On our first day, we registered 17 hits. 65,000 hits later, Lusipurr.com only has you, our readers, to thank.

What about you? What are your favourite Lusipurr.com moments? Staff and readers alike, we’d love to hear from you in our threads. What is your first memory of Lusipurr.com, where did you hear about us, who have you told about us, and what keeps you coming back? What would you like to see in the future? We want to know.

On behalf of every member of the site, once again, we want to thank you. Here’s to another year of hilarity and dismay; of epic fails and best evers; of blu-ray releases and kissing it; of Jenifer Biggs, Lane Haygood, Virginia Herrell, Eric Jordan, Nate Liles, Oliver Motok, Ethan Pipher, and even me, Shawn Cooper.

~Shawn ‘Lusipurr’ Cooper
Site Coordinator, Lusipurr.com