Since January 1st 2008, the following has happened to me:
*I directly started one podcast (the Level 3 Podcast), and helped to kick start another one (the Pressroom Podcast).
*Since starting both podcasts – I have learnt that in order to have the best possible podcast, you actually need to spend some money in order to have a decent (and smooth) recording process. That is, of course, if you're recording the conversation via the internet. When you're right next to one another, all that goes away – all you need to make sure is if your microphones are working or how the battery life is fairing.
*Helping to set up the Press Room podcast was also interesting – as I wanted to try go for a more...international podcast. We've achieved that – hell, we've even had people from three different continents contribute to a podcast at the exact same time, which was extremely awesome. What was not awesome though, was setting up a podcast. Time zones are a pain in the arse...
*Directly following the worst semester I've experienced at Uni (save for one class), the following semester was by far the most enjoyable I've experienced – and I achieved my best results for that semester....save for one class. Though that was my fault.
*Starting up the Level 3 forums was also something cool. In the space of six months, we expanded from 11 members to over 150. Granted, most of them don't post, but it's great to see that we've gotten a good community. The IRC chat has almost become a staple of the forums, and always worth checking out [/plug].
*In the space of a single day I met many people that I have so much respect for. These include: Will (and about five of the other writers) from Aussie Nintendo, Matt and Yug from Australian Gamer, Yahtzee Croshaw, Nate Burr (Blunty3000) and Noah Antwiler (creator of The Spoony Experiment) Needless to say, I slept well that night.
*While we're on the topic, kicking Matt & Yug's arses at game trivia was cool. Doing it in front of a live audience (who were mostly ZP/AG fans and AG staffers), awesome enough. Kinda embarrassing myself in front of Yahtzee and said audience? Priceless.
*Interviewing the PR heads of Nintendo Australia and EB Games Australia. Interviewing them was cool enough. The mere fact that we interviewed them with Singstar mics? Even better. I'd have taken a picture if Heather (Nintendo head) wasn't so adamant about not being caught with a Singstar mic. Maybe we should have brought the Guitar Hero mic....
*I finally caved in and bought Guitar Hero. Granted, it was last years version, but hey, when the bundle is LESS then $100, that's a bloody hard deal to say no to. Recently, I also picked up WT and am currently waiting for my five free songs. Over the course of 2009, I'll be hopefully picking up a drum set and Rock Band 2 – before it officially gets announced here. After the stupidly long wait that Australia had to suffer, they're not getting a cent of my money. RB1 will be mainly for the DLC.
So yeah, that's 2008 in a brief nushell. It was a good year, well for me anyway. Sure, there were things like the Global Economic Crisis (which I can imagine will be something to really worry about next year), but I don't believe now is the time for looking at the negative.
See y'all in 2009. I'm off to go play some LBP...