EGM shuts down; Ziff Davis sells 1up to UGO/Hearst

[Lord Scottish]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21759

[Leo]

Just learned of this. I don't know what will come out of it, but it's not looking good so far. I hope the podcasts are left untouched. They're what I love most of the site. Really sucks about EGM. I subscribed to them not too long ago. There goes that.

[Eusis]

1up sounds like it's getting fucked up pretty badly. The 1up Show is canned, and I think the podcasts are too. Shane Bettenhausen and James Mielke have gotten the axe, as did several more. Dammit, they were my favorite game site too.

[Ashtrot]

Aw fuck.

This is the end of a God damn era.

[Wild Armor]

Guuh, there goes another one. I miss my Gamefan...

[Leo]

Man, I hope to all those who got laid off, they band together and open up a game site, with the exact same content they had going on 1up; podcasts, video shows, only I suppose on a smaller scale. Because I can guarantee that's not what UGO-owned 1up will be about now. I've heard rumors of Giant Bomb taking them in, but who knows.

I didn't mention it on my first post, but to all those who got laid off at 1up, I wish you all well. Good luck out there. You made my weekends fun.

[Losfer]

I am incredibly disappointed over this.  I listened to almost every fucking podcast on 1up.com.  Retronauts was the /best thing/ on the internet, but now with almost everyone fired...

What a load of shit.  A supreme steaming pile of shit.

I hope all these guys and gals can find somewhere new to work sometime soon, they deserve to be heard.

Jeremy Parish, Shane Bettenhausen, Garnett Lee, Ray Barnholdt...  FUCK.  I will honestly miss listening to these guys every week.

[Eusis]

The ones you mentioned other than Shane are still around at least. If you want what is apparently the full list of people fired, here. I'm downloading the podcasts so I can listen to them should they get pulled or something stupid.

[Losfer]

Thanks for the list, Eus.

To be the ever pessimist, I'm just going to guess that even if the staff that remains /do/ carry on, it just won't be the same without the people who have left.

[Blace]

This is exactly how I felt when Gamespot fell apart. It was easily my favorite gaming site (this was before the fan) and as soon as all those people left it felt like the soul of the site had been ripped out. All of the personality was gone, and the only thing left is people I don't really care about. They don't do button mashing anymore (which I loved), the HotSpot sucks, and On the Spot isn't as fun as it used to be.

I didn't really ever visit 1up, but I wish those people well. It seems like gaming journalism is falling apart...

[Losfer]

See, when Jeff Gerstmann left Gamespot though, he started up giantbomb.com.  They're the only other podcast I listen to, cause they are funny and smart guys.  Hoping the 1up guys get something going soon too.

[Parn]

Between NeoGAF and Kotaku posting info as it comes in, in all honesty... I barely spend any time on major game sites.  I don't even look at the front page of this site.  By the time 1up, Gamespot, IGN, and all these other sites post anything, it was already on NeoGAF or Kotaku many hours, sometimes days prior.  There's also the issue of their reliance on ad revenue, and a lot of folks browse with ad blockers as it is (gamers tend to be a little more internet savvy and more likely to use stuff like Firefox w/extensions), which doesn't help sustain their business model.

More casualties of the ever-adjusting American economy.  Hope those folks find new work soon.  It's going to get uglier in the coming months.

[Superflat]

This sucks copious amounts of dick. 1UP was easily my favorite game related site, and I listened to the grand majority of their podcasts for my weekly entertainment. I was really sad when GFW fell apart, but this is even worse.

It would be pretty awesome though if GiantBomb picked up a bunch of the ex-1UP staff.

[Aeolus]

I'm also disappointed with this news. I'm definitely going to miss Broken Pixels. ;_;

Man 5 years ago I started visiting that site and now they're gone, and they were one of the most reliable sites out there.

The ones you mentioned other than Shane are still around at least. If you want what is apparently the full list of people fired, here. I'm downloading the podcasts so I can listen to them should they get pulled or something stupid.

Bless you man!

[Eusis]

By the time 1up, Gamespot, IGN, and all these other sites post anything, it was already on NeoGAF or Kotaku many hours, sometimes days prior.

I tend to just use RSS bookmarks. That way if a headline catches my interest I read up on it, and Kotaku/Joystiq bug me enough that I don't pay much attention to them. Game|Life is usually pretty good though, and I hit Neogaf on a semi-frequent basis for the same reason you said.

Edit: Good news for those worried about Retronauts though.