1Up Network Sold – EGM, Podcasts Dead

With the internet becoming such a bigger part of people’s lives, it’s really not all that surprising. I think it’s only a matter of time until the rest of the mags go down with them. Especially considering this industry has such a prolific amount of sites dedicated to the topic (whether general news like IGN or Joystiq, or even more specific like this one). Pretty soon I bet none will be left.

So much for the gaming industry being recession proof, huh?

What was UGO even buying 1up for if they were gonna just gut everything I visited the site for?!? The podcasts, 1up yours and the 1up show were a staple of my week, now my weekends will never be confirmed and I’m gonna never know what to do. So thank you UGO, thank you for permanently canceling weekends, die in a fire.

Hope those guys go on to pull a Giantbomb and make a truly awesome website, specially the podcast crew guys. But yeah, I really do hope everyone that got the axe does land on their feet quickly, GOOD LUCK!!!

Now I’ve noticed that the “4cr network” (4cr + tiny cartridge + phantom leatp + rising stuff) is the last thing I still read about commercial games.

Indie gaming all the way!

One of my biggest secret pleasures is pulling out one of my old EGM mags from the early nineties and looking up all the cutting edge games, which I then go and find on underdogs or bit torrent, and play them through as if they had just come out

Very sad about the news…

I haven’t read 1up for so long now and I certainly haven’t used their podcasts as I find listening to things like that a bit dull. EGM was always a poor cousin to some of the better British gaming magazines and as such, was never any interest to me.

My advice would be to get over it. Companies are fighting for existence right now. Some of them will fall by the wayside, some will survive and become stronger because of it.

The poeple who used to work for them will find other work very quickly if they really are good at what they do. One or two may even decide to go it alone and perhaps set up another online gaming site.

Oh and do yourself a favour and take those old magazines to your nearest recycle centre. Start to say to yoruself, ‘do I use this anymore. Have I used it in the last 6 months’. If the answer to your question is no then you can safely get rid of the stuff. I did this about 4 years ago, ditching plenty of stuff, such as an entire back catalogue of Edge magazine and hundreds of VHS tapes, and it feels great.

its a sad day for me. 1up yours was a great podcast. retronauts too. sad to see them leave.

Definitely a surreal moment, when the people covering and commenting on all the developer layoffs feels the same pain of the axe. This economy sucks all around, and I am sure it is going to get worse before it gets better.

My only hope is that the people left standing in this industry are the best of the best, and not just those that were safest in their decisions. Because then instead of a strong, technicolor rainbow of awesomeness, we are going to have nothing but vanilla for EVERYTHING.

EGM was awesome back in the 90s. The issues kept getting thicker and thicker in the heyday of the SNES and Genesis. Unfortunately later they shrank down to pretty much pamphlet size in later years.

I loved the Review Crew, the in-depth articles, and the news on Japanese and upcoming games. It was a great video gaming magazine that I thought was much better than Gamepro.

Such a sad sad day. EGM was practically a part of my childhood, and I still have a subscription actually. Sad about 1up and Gametrailers too…I doubt they’ll really be the same. What a wonderful way to alienate the current fanbase of the sites UGO!

Here is a great read from what Sam Kennedy, editorial director of 1Up, had to say about the situation. Good to get something from someone that understands both sides of the situation.

http://geminibros.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/think-children-what-does-it-all-mean/

From a publishing standpoint it isn’t surprising – most of us simply don’t get our gaming news from magazines anymore, and even those of us who have subscriptions to EGM still probably either got it free or at a severe discount. I enjoy the magazine, but I can completely understand it no longer being a viable business model.

The loss of the podcasts, however, *is* a serious blow. Listening to 1UP FM, Retronauts, 1UP Yours, and watching the 1UP Show have been highlights of my week for a long time now, and I will seriously miss that content. If there was a way for me to just keep that stuff afloat, I would contribute to it.

There goes the last great gaming magazine…It really is sad.

Kennedy had a post on NeoGAF that’s pretty revealing. I guess 1up hasn’t made money in quite a long time and Ziff Davis has been looking to let go for it for a while. UGO was the only place to bite.

It sucks, but it gives the impression that if it wasn’t for this, *everyone* there would be gone soon.

Everyone there is talented. I’m certain most of them will get new jobs soon… whether it’s a site, a magazine or even a game company.

Still, it’s kind of surreal.

@Johnny WashNGo

GOOD FOR YOU! GOOD FOR FUCKING YOU!! You must be really proud of yourself. Bravo! Bravo! *Claps hands for Johnny WashNGo* We can’t all be like you Johnny WashNGo. So fuck off! Mr.I’m above all of this U.S. printed magazines and videogaming websites closing down.

Now, why don’t go drink some tea and eat one of those disgusting British cookies you guys love so much over there.

@ Johnny WashNGo
I agree with most of what you said but I don’t understand throwing away old magazines. For me, if I play an old game or read an old magazine I get all nostalgic and old memories start coming back to me, it’s absolutely fantastic. It’s a way to remember simpler times when you we’re younger. I can understand throwing magazines away if you had a really shitty child hood and reading them just conjures bad memories, or you have absolutely no more room in your house. I can’t wait till I get old and look at all the stuff from when I was a kid.

@Johnny WashNGo & NASEDASE

I couldn’t agree more with Nasedase. I never really enjoyed EGM because of their seemed bias towards “hardcore games” and tend to ignore great games that don’t involve headshots.

However, if you loved the magazine, you really should hold onto it for the sake of nostalgia. I still have Nintendo Power magazines from 2003. (I’m relatively young and didn’t get into NP until 2001). It’s also fun to laugh at predictions magazines make, like EGM’s prediction that the PSP would sell better than the DS and wondering after the first video for Twilight Princess what would ever happen to “Baby (Toon) Link.”

@Johnny WashNGo, Nasedase, and everyone

Johny was harsh with his comment, but i agree with him partly. This day in age, magazines are just going bust. The internet has taken over our lives and the lives of the young crowd.

Look, the economy sucks. Right now, we need strong companies to survive on all sectors. If they were hemorrhaging money, then that has to happen. One simply has to accept this as “the strong live, the weak die”.

I Love their shows, but will miss wholeheartedly their voices whether spoken or written. but right now companies has to survive, even if we have to loose those companies we love.

is it still possible for those 40 axed writers to start up a new smaller company and work their way up like before? I’m sure all the loyal fans of 1UP would definitely shift over.

@Everyone saying this has anything to do with survival of the economic fittest.

While it may be true that EGM/1up was a sinking ship, it really had very little to do with EGM/1up. Ziff Davis was crappy upper management that didn’t support 1up properly, refer to ex GFW EIC Jeff Green’s blog for a better explanation than I could ever give.

“t’s the one thing about Ziff Davis. No matter how fucked up and ill-managed of a company it was—and, boy, was it–they always managed to hire great people who stick together even years after their departure. Alumni of that company always feel the same bond. Maybe because it was so fucked up and ill-managed. Those who get out are kind of like ex-convicts–survivors who laugh and shake their heads at their former incarceration and feel for those left behind.”

I certainly hope they weren’t buying the 1up ‘brand’ – because I certainly was not that into 1up until I realized the value of all of the writers, the podcasters, etc. It was those people and the work they did that made 1up great.

I say this because I probably won’t be reading too much 1up anymore. Instead, I’ll be reading the blogs of all of those journalists, and following their work, whatever the URL.

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