I'm on a course!
...all week, so my review of S4 Ep6 on PinkRaygun.com will be slightly delayed. So let's mix it up a bit. Between now and Friday why don't you tell me your favourite bits of "Weird Respawn" and I'll include them in my review? Either leave a comment here or via Twitter. Got to go - bye for now!
The Guild Season 4 knocks it up a notch
If you haven't seen this week's episode, watch it now!
My full review of "Loot Envy" is on PinkRaygun.com, and you can find my reviews for the rest of Season 4 (plus all of Season 3) there, too. One of the things I talked about was the way The Guild is taking Season 4 in a new direction - and interacting with the fans in a whole new way.
There be spoilers ahead, mateys!
Cyd Sherman has a new job! Yes, our sometime Guild Leader has taken a step into the world of work and is now the social media hub of Cheesybeards. And not content with just playing out this new storyline as part of the weekly series, there is a new website, Facebook page and Twitter account for Cheesybeards. There is even a Yelp entry for Cheesybeards!
A C health rating is a good thing??
More interestingly still - Cyd's struggle to get bums on seats in Cheesybeards is being played out through these different websites right now. The Yelp entry above is from a not-very-satisfied customer how mentions the C health rating. 'Ollie C' (who must be Cyd since Ollie has never even turned his computer on) replies: "We worked really hard to get that C rating :("
And dealing with difficult customers has driven Cyd to complain about them on Twitter already:
I wonder who would ring from Brazil.....?
Having fun with Cyd
A quick look at Facebook, twitter and Yelp shows that fans are already enjoying dipping into the world of Cheesybeards and are being rewarded with replies. If you fancy doing your own Yelp review about the spicy wenches or asking about the cute redhead in the back office (which seems to be popular) then why not give it a go? Who knows how long Cyd will have this job...?
Season 4 Outlook: Epic with a side of gAArlic fries (or garrrrrrrrrrlic fries?)
This expansion of The Guild 'verse is a welcome new sideline but only part of what is going on this Season. Many fans are already saying this is their new favourite and it's hard not to agree (although I hate to pick a favourite). There are many other storylines going on - Zaboo vs his mum, Tink and Clara vs enterprise, Codex vs ho-baggertry - and plenty more. Who knows what will happen? And will we ever find out what 'incident' took the 'Sea's Bounty' off the menu?
The most tantalising part of the Cheesybeard's menu
How time flies...!
August 16th 2008 was the day I first uploaded a video to YouTube on my EvilWorldofHiglet account. Act 1 of 'Evil League of Evil Application Processing Office' marked the beginning of a new an exciting venture into the world of webseries.
Outtakes you never saw...
It took many, many attempts to get this recorded. For one thing, I couldn't say "Evil League of Evil" properly (and still have trouble with it). "The Evil League of Eagles" was what I said the most, followed by a stream of swearing. And you see the bag of 'stuff' I'm holding up in the picture, above? That was soil from the garden. Hubby went and foraged for it. He obviously got more than soil, too, as a bug of sort was wandering all over the desk in one of the takes, but we only noticed it afterwards. We never did find it....
Onwards and upwards!
As we prepare to unleash our newest creation upon you ('Project X'), it's interesting to take a look back at where it all began. I wrote about the way we record things - the Bodyline technique - over on HigletFilms yesterday. This is where is all started. Thank you for your continued support and we hope you'll enjoy our new webseries. We'll be launching very soon and you can find out all about how things are going over at HigletFilms.com.
Excelsior!
PS I'm assuming you've all watched Dr Horrible's Sing-ALong Blog! If not you can download via iTunes here or buy it:
So, that happened....
Thanks to Lisa at PinkRaygun.com I had the chance to listen to - and talk to - one of my childhood heroes this morning. Lindsay Wagner played The Bionic Woman and will forever hold a special place in this geek's heart. I even got to ask her some questions. As Monday mornings go, that's pretty hard to beat.
Buy Game On - NOW!
As I blogged yesterday, after the online, FREE release of "Game On" on MSN/Zune network last week, today saw the official release of "Game On"via iTunes, Amazon and other outlets via Tunecore.com. It wasn't long before it was rising in the charts. Since iTunes is regional, I could only check on how it fared in Canada, but @TheGuild, @FeliciaDay and a cadre of Guildies was monitoring it around the world.
The UK was the first to take it to #1, and @GrrArgh broke the joyful news:
Game On had knocked off Shakira and Lady Gaga in the UK:
Back in Canada...
...I was watching as Game On hit number 4, then number 3 and finally rested at number 2:
The Guild had beaten Shakira, Eminem and Master Bieber - only Katy Perry withstood the assault. It was the same in the US.
What an amazing result!
Going head to head with massive, established stars and winning is a huge triumph for an independent webseries. Think about it for a moment. All the advertising and constant rotation these songs and stars get were no match for the power of The Guild. Awesome! To make things easy to find in your country, Dani has put a list of International links on on watchtheguild forums.
Behind the Scenes
If you want to know more about the shooting of Game On, I reviewed it on PinkRaygun last week - and here's a video from our good friend Greg Benson from the set!
MORE Guild Goodness!
Something else happened today, too - Season 4, Episode 3 was released! My review on PinkRaygun will be up tomorrow, and you can see the epsiode here:
How do you top 'Date My Avatar'?
...by going to Bollywood! The epic new music video from The Guild, 'Game On', mixes a toe-tapping Bhangra beat with 'Gamer Pride' lyrics and features amazing costumes, dance moves and AN ELEPHANT! You will be able to buy it from iTunes and Amazon tomorrow, but you can see for yourself how awesome it is now:
Lyrics and credits are on WatchTheGuild.com and Felicia Day has also blogged about it, explaining why she really didn't want to do this video and how happy she is with the result. I reviewed it on PinkRaygun last week and Knights of The Guild have a suitably epic microcast from Behind the Scenes. 'Microcast Episode #19: Quest for Bollywood' features interviews with Felicia Day, Sandeep Parikh, Kim Evey, Sean Becker - and so many more! Highly recommended.
Legend of Neil - Season 3 premieres!
'Quitters Never Continue' picks up from the end of Season 2 and quickly fills us in on all that has happened to Neil since we last saw his woe-begone face. Things are on the up-and-up for Neil and he is safe in the bosom of his family. The joy never stops. But corn dogs and family bosoms aren't good enough for Neil, and he is still banging on about how he got trapped in that game and...some people just never know when to quit, do they? Lucky for us he is soon back where he was meant to be. Naked and sparring with a cranky old man.
There is the usual NSFW-ness, cracking dialogue and some new, vaguely familiar faces...Enjoy!
Season 3, Episode 2 will be out on August 10th (they are following a bi-weekly release schedule).
