EGM is dead, 1up.com gets bought by Hearst and is an empty shell

[dammitmattt]

Dude Emceegrammer is special, he said so himself, he has Asperger or something so it's not suprising he's unable to feel empathy. It's a disease.

Asperger's and furry obsession are prerequisites to be a current Nintard.  All other relatively sane Nintendo fans moved on to the 360 years back.

[Eel O'Brian]

i think i'm just about all done with gaming podcasts in general

cagcast had their games of 2008 podcast and fallout 3 wasn't mentioned once by any of them

giant bomb spent all of 3 minutes talking about it in their goty podcast, and ryan just called it boring in the new cast (smh like parkinson's)

none of the guys on gamers with jobs seemed to like it that much

i bring this up because the various 1up casts were the only ones (out of the casts i listen to) who ever spent any amount of time talking about it at all

that's my new gauge for listening to game podcast opinions, i think

if someone thought fallout 3 was boring, or it didn't even rank in their goty list, then obviously that person and i don't share any common gaming tastes and i no longer care to hear their opinion on video games

[dammitmattt]

i think i'm just about all done with gaming podcasts in general

cagcast had their games of 2008 podcast and fallout 3 wasn't mentioned once by any of them

giant bomb spent all of 3 minutes talking about it in their goty podcast, and ryan just called it boring in the new cast (smh like parkinson's)

none of the guys on gamers with jobs seemed to like it that much

i bring this up because the various 1up casts were the only ones (out of the casts i listen to) who ever spent any amount of talking about it at all

that's my new gauge for listening to game podcast opinions, i think

if someone thought fallout 3 was boring, or it didn't even rank in their goty list, then obviously that person and i don't share any common gaming tastes and i no longer care to hear their opinion on video games

I thought Wombat was the world's biggest Oblivion fan and would love Fallout 3?  I haven't listened CAGcast in months so who knows.

I generally like Giant Bomb, but that GOTY podcast was a joke, especially the way they disregarded every game on the list in favor of GTA4 and MGS4, two games that they only seemed to like for the story and emotional impact.  Are you fucking kidding me?  Jeff, you cried during GTA4 because a character was into meth?  Seriously?  The emotional impact of both games as minimal at best, laughable at worst, yet on a GAMING podcast you spend two hours talking about shit that's not even related to the game while dismissing the other 8 candidate, most of which were much better GAMES.  The only thing that gives me hope is that they were pretty much spot on for the rest of the games.

I tried to listen to Gamers With Jobs but outside of the Jeff/Shawn episode, they endlessly talk about WoW and other lame shit.  There are a billion WoW podcasts so why do they think that their listeners actually care about that shit?  Is it always like that?

[Brehvolution]

I guess its back to the Full Moon show for many of you then.

[cool breeze]

i think i'm just about all done with gaming podcasts in general

cagcast had their games of 2008 podcast and fallout 3 wasn't mentioned once by any of them

giant bomb spent all of 3 minutes talking about it in their goty podcast, and ryan just called it boring in the new cast (smh like parkinson's)

none of the guys on gamers with jobs seemed to like it that much

i bring this up because the various 1up casts were the only ones (out of the casts i listen to) who ever spent any amount of time talking about it at all

that's my new gauge for listening to game podcast opinions, i think

if someone thought fallout 3 was boring, or it didn't even rank in their goty list, then obviously that person and i don't share any common gaming tastes and i no longer care to hear their opinion on video games

try Idle Thumbs: http://www.idlethumbs.net/

it's the only podcast outside of the 1up ones that I actually enjoy just as much

[Eel O'Brian]

Matt:  dunno about gwj, i've only listened to a couple of casts - they're all a bit monotone

wombat hasn't really spoken about fallout 3, but cagcast is kind of boring in general lately

yeah, that giant bomb goty cast was three hours of horrible, i didn't make it to the end

i get big lulz out of listening to people talk about the mature and emotional storyline of gtaiv

the most "mature" storyline i noticed in any video game this year was the "agatha's song" quest in fallout 3 - just a simple plot  about an old lady who wanted her dead sister's violin, had a genuinely sweet little payoff at the end, and it only took about thirty minutes to finish.

*cool, i'll try idle thumbs, swaggaz, thanks for the recommendation

[demi]

LOL because it wasn't a playable part duh

[Brehvolution]

Who could forget the great times like this?

[dammitmattt]

You know what pisses me off? That nobody EVER EVER said anything bout the gameplay in MGS4. I've listen to tons of MGS 4 talk on 1up but it's always like
"can't say anything about that part but it's really awesome" wtf is that supposed to mean??

Because it's incredibly mediocre during the rare times that you catch a glimpse of it.  Judging gameplay alone, MGS4 shouldn't even be in anyone's Top 100.

Who could forget the great times like this?

So what's wrong with that, again?  Have you played single-player Killzone 2 enough to determine that the AI isn't as shitty as it's appeared in every video?

I think EGM deserves credit for beating everyone to the punch on this one.

[Rman]

Sad to hear.  Those guys created great podcasts and vidcasts.  

[Brehvolution]

You know what pisses me off? That nobody EVER EVER said anything bout the gameplay in MGS4. I've listen to tons of MGS 4 talk on 1up but it's always like
"can't say anything about that part but it's really awesome" wtf is that supposed to mean??

Because it's incredibly mediocre during the rare times that you catch a glimpse of it.  Judging gameplay alone, MGS4 shouldn't even be in anyone's Top 100.

Who could forget the great times like this?

So what's wrong with that, again?  Have you played single-player Killzone 2 enough to determine that the AI isn't as shitty as it's appeared in every video?

I think EGM deserves credit for beating everyone to the punch on this one.

THis is all full of lulz assuming your are being serious.

But I can't say it any better than this:

Before the article was written, IGN and Eurogamer already praised the AI... so no. And even so, what kind of twisted editor would dare to compare the AI of a finished game against the AI of demonstrated product that wasn't even near completion?

I think EGM deserves credit for beating everyone to the punch on this one.

Oh, you...

[AdmiralViscen]

yawn

[dammitmattt]

I like Jeff Green.  I like Sam Kennedy.  But Jeff is right.

No, You're not the same 1up.

So, soon after posting my last entry, I decided that the best way to show my support and love for the dozens of my co-workers laid off yesterday was not to scribble on my blog, but to actually be there with them.

I rode my bike from EA up to San Francisco, where a lively and active and drunken wake was in progress at Steff's Bar, the dive bar next to the (now former) Ziff Davis offices that has served as the go-to watering hole for years now. Some of those fired--like my good friends Ryan and Anthony--were not there, and knowing both those guys, I'm sure that hanging at a bar was about the last thing they felt like doing, knowing that they no longer held the jobs that they loved so dearly. But mostly everyone was there--both the fired (who were unceremoniously shoved out the door, with security guards present) and the "saved"--as well as a bevy of alumni who also came to show their support: Karen Chu, John Davison, Dana Jongewaard, Demian Linn, and many more. It'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. Or maybe that's too dramatic and unfair. It's hard to say when it comes to something like layoffs. Emotions run high.

Which is why, after getting home from the wake, I got extremely upset when I read Sam Kennedy's "1up is Now Part of UGO" blog entry--which I'm not going to link to here because it doesn't deserve any more clicks. Now, Sam is an incredibly nice guy, one of those guys who never, ever has a bad word to say about anyone. He'd never write, for example, what I'm about to write. And there is no doubt in my mind that he's as bummed out as everyone else. He's in a horrid position here, having to put a brave face on what is an unequivocally ugly mess. So I wish no ill-will on the guy, and, more important, those following this story need to know that none of this is his "fault". All this shit happened way above him. He's just trying to make the best of a bad situation. And to that I offer him a heartfelt and sincere good luck.

Still. That blog post? Not a good call. It reminds me a bit of George Bush, to be honest, in its tin-eared, feel-good myopic offensiveness ("You're doing a heckuva job, Brownie!"). Yeah, he had to say *something*, but this wasn't the way to say it--not in public. I only want to comment on two lines:

"We’re still the same 1UP, and we’ll still be producing the same content...we always have"

Well, no, you're not, and no, you won't. You're not the same 1UP because you just lost a gigantic chunk of what made 1up 1up. It may go on, it may in fact produce great things, but it won't be the same. All that a company ever is is a mix of specific personalities. That's all it is. Period. When you remove people, it may go on, but it's never "the same." Saying it's the same is a disservice to all the people who just got canned. And, no, you won't be "producing the same content" because those responsible for some of the most popular and distinctive content--the 1up Show, the podcasts--no longer work there anymore. So, again, you can't say it's "the same". It's not. (And since everyone on the Copy Desk got canned, too, it won't be as well-edited, either.) Better to just acknowledge that, since we all know it anyway.

"...having the support of UGO and Hearst is probably the best bit of news we've ever had."

Again, no. If this can be called "the best news", I'd hate to see the bad news. In fact, it might be the best bit of news that you and the others who kept their jobs ever had, since you now don't have to be looking for work at the start of a new year, in the worst economic climate this country has been in in the last 80 years. For everyone else--both those who lost their jobs and those who followed their work--it's just about the worst news possible. I'll give you an alternate choice for "the best bit of news" 1up.com ever had: The fact that so many talented, creative, funny, dedicated people busted their ass at that site to produce content they believed in, despite the fact that they were chronically underpaid, chronically under-appreciated and lied to by an incompetent upper management (I mean the New York suits) whose shitty decisions led the company to ruin, and chronically treated--ever since the Ziff family sold the once-great company--like nothing more than numbers on a bleeding-red-ink spreadsheet. That's the best news you ever had. What happened yesterday? Yeah. Not so much.

In the cold light of day, though, another truth remains: All those still at 1up are still great writers and editors, and will, in fact, produce great things. You cannot underestimate the talents of Jeremy Parish, Thierry Nguyen, Scott Sharkey, and everyone else, and they deserve our support. I'm glad for all those who survived the cut, and will continue to read their work. And I wish Sam all the best over this difficult time of transition.

But since he's obviously hamstrung by having to put a happy face on this bloodbath, I'll just say what would have been nice to read, instead: "Our website is decimated. Our new owners failed to recognize the talent we had, which comes as no surprise since their own website values lowest-common-denominator pandering over quality content. We will do our best to do what we can, despite the fact that they gutted us. This fucking sucks."

/end rant.

Good luck, all. Those now looking for a job, you know where to find me for references, advice, and beer.

--Jeff

[Kestastrophe]

Some of their special features were pretty good with insightful stuff, but their reviews/previews were pretty much par for the course as I recall (with the exception of GFW). The podcasts (again GFW.....1upYours was like listening to gaffot fanboys) and 1up Show were top notch though.

[cool breeze]

Almost the entire crew of Retronauts stayed at 1up (Parish, Barnhold, and Sharkey work there while Kohler just dropped by when he was bored), so who knows. 

[Eel O'Brian]

i guess stuff like that green post is pretty easy to write from your comfy ea office chair with that still-new smell on it

[Lone]

Hmmmmm....

[demi]

i guess stuff like that green post is pretty easy to write from your comfy ea office chair with that still-new smell on it

LOL exactly

[ToxicAdam]

i guess stuff like that green post is pretty easy to write from your comfy ea office chair with that still-new smell on it

That's not fair. I'm sure he's giving voice to people who got let go, but don't have the forum or the stable ground (ie. employment) to say it.

[Lone]

i guess stuff like that green post is pretty easy to write from your comfy ea office chair with that still-new smell on it

That's not fair. I'm sure he's giving voice to people who got let go, but don't have the forum or the stable ground (ie. employment) to say it.

There's nothing fair, in this situation, or most anywhere else, for that matter 

[dammitmattt]

i guess stuff like that green post is pretty easy to write from your comfy ea office chair with that still-new smell on it

You don't think that Sam could've handled it better?  I'm not advising that he writes anything remotely like Jeff's tongue-in-cheek closing sentence, but he didn't even acknowledge 1up's losses until his posts on GAF.  Why not incorporate something along those lines in the public statements?

And shit, it's not like Jeff (or anyone in the industry outside of Nintendo) is completely safe these days.  You're acting like he has a free ride at a company with absolutely no issues.

[ManaByte]

i guess stuff like that green post is pretty easy to write from your comfy ea office chair with that still-new smell on it

You don't think that Sam could've handled it better?  I'm not advising that he writes anything remotely like Jeff's tongue-in-cheek closing sentence, but he didn't even acknowledge 1up's losses until his posts on GAF.  Why not incorporate something along those lines in the public statements?

And shit, it's not like Jeff (or anyone in the industry outside of Nintendo) is completely safe these days.  You're acting like he has a free ride at a company with absolutely no issues.

Just wait until Disney buys EA and decimates the Sims team to make Sims: Faries for DS and Wii.

[T234]

i guess stuff like that green post is pretty easy to write from your comfy ea office chair with that still-new smell on it

That's not fair. I'm sure he's giving voice to people who got let go, but don't have the forum or the stable ground (ie. employment) to say it.

There's nothing fair, in this situation, or most anywhere else, for that matter 

Yeah, ask our friend Dammitmattt how fair it is that his school hired Gene Chizik when the rest of the list of candidates all had better records.

On a more serious note; between my family, the encouragement of certain members of the 'bore, and the weekly release of GFW kept me from wanting to drop out of school, give up my dreams of the computer field, and haul moonshine for a living. I was extremely fucking close to doing just that too.

[Bocsius]

Unless you are an affected employee, I don't see how it matters what Sam wrote. Who cares.

[dammitmattt]

Unless you are an affected employee, I don't see how it matters what Sam wrote. Who cares.

Or if you are friends with the affected employees (like Jeff Green).
Or if you like/respect some of the affected employees (like me).
Or if you can't believe the insane comment that it's still the same 1up (like everyone).

Don't even begin to act like you haven't been upset about situations that don't directly affect you on behalf of someone else.

[Bocsius]

Games journalism, serious business

[EmCeeGrammar]

This is the best news I've heard in awhile.  I can't feel sorry for people losing their jobs when they did such a bad one for so long.  I originaly started reading egm when they were packing in preview dvds and it was nice being exposed to new stuff I wouldnt have looked at on my own.  But after a few issues the template "journalism" (lol) they used for interviews/previews/reviews/toptenlists! became tired. You want an example of a good mag, read Edge.  Fuck most UK game mags are competent.  They almost make me believe in "games journalism".  Egm felt amateurish and it never improved.

We already knew this, but Jesus Christ are you ever an idiot.  Not only did EGM close down, but so did 1up and all of its video/audio content.  Over 30 good people lost their jobs during the worst economic crisis in years.  EGM might not be the best (although it's still light years better than it was during my adolescence), but the 1up network consistently created much better content than any of the other major gaming sites like Gamespot and IGN.

And is your life really that sad and pathetic that the closure of a company and the loss of dozens of jobs is the "best news you've heard in a while?"  What are you, 12?  Go masturbate to the upcoming December NPDs or something.

I already knew everything you posted.  I would definitely agree with the other guy that my lack of empathy makes me not give a shit.  I guess gamevideos was a nice resource, but why should I care if a bunch of annoying "personalities" lost their mental masturabation outlet?

[Crushed]

jesus christ emcee

wtf

[T234]

This is the best news I've heard in awhile.  I can't feel sorry for people losing their jobs when they did such a bad one for so long.  I originaly started reading egm when they were packing in preview dvds and it was nice being exposed to new stuff I wouldnt have looked at on my own.  But after a few issues the template "journalism" (lol) they used for interviews/previews/reviews/toptenlists! became tired. You want an example of a good mag, read Edge.  Fuck most UK game mags are competent.  They almost make me believe in "games journalism".  Egm felt amateurish and it never improved.

We already knew this, but Jesus Christ are you ever an idiot.  Not only did EGM close down, but so did 1up and all of its video/audio content.  Over 30 good people lost their jobs during the worst economic crisis in years.  EGM might not be the best (although it's still light years better than it was during my adolescence), but the 1up network consistently created much better content than any of the other major gaming sites like Gamespot and IGN.

And is your life really that sad and pathetic that the closure of a company and the loss of dozens of jobs is the "best news you've heard in a while?"  What are you, 12?  Go masturbate to the upcoming December NPDs or something.

I already knew everything you posted.  I would definitely agree with the other guy that my lack of empathy makes me not give a shit.  I guess gamevideos was a nice resource, but why should I care if a bunch of annoying "personalities" lost their mental masturabation outlet?

And I thought I was bad sports trolling in this thread.

EmCeeGrammar, you just officially made the list.

[EmCeeGrammar]

Trolling means being disingenuine. I'm not. But I'll leave now.

[AdmiralViscen]

nintendo sucks

[Bocsius]

The appropriate response is "It sucks about people being out of work, particularly during this economic climate." Feel free to add "However, I will not exactly miss the content" as your own commentary.

It's just the way it works. When you get fired from Burger King, we'll say the same about you, even if we don't really mean it.

[Vyer]

I'm shocked that UGO is actually still an entity at all.  I remember it from a long time ago, but hadn't thought about that place in years.

Though if it was backed by Hearst I guess it had the money to keep going.

[dammitmattt]

He was probably instructed not to.  In fact i guarantee he was.

And yet he can speak more honestly on a fairly popular message board?  That does not compute, my friend.

[Kestastrophe]

I already knew everything you posted.  I would definitely agree with the other guy that my lack of empathy makes me not give a shit.  I guess gamevideos was a nice resource, but why should I care if a bunch of annoying "personalities" lost their mental masturabation outlet?

Is this the same person that loathes hardcore gamers because of their "sense of entitlement"? Nice double standard you have going on.

[bud]

isn't emcee crushed's alt? i always thought that was the case lol.

[y2kev]

isn't emcee crushed's alt? i always thought that was the case lol.

me too lol

bud

in fact i was almost positive it was him on gaf, but then he started posting here

[cool breeze]

same here

tho, emcee has a god hand avatar on gaf, so he can't be that bad

[Bocsius]

I thought MCGrammar was Campster. Whatever.

[drew]

hes not that bad

hes worse

[CurseoftheGods]

Who do you think is Shane, swaggaz?

It's Zen

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8869213&postcount=190

Wow.

[recursivelyenumerable]

yeah, 1up frequently pissed me off, but it was still better than any other "major" game site that ever existed.

[drohne]

the unspoken term in mcg's argument is 'IF THEYD COVERED WII MORE POSITIVELY THEY WOULD HAVE DESERVED TO LIVE'

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I hated the personality driven aspects of 1up, which admittedly, is most of it.  Still, those personalities were the ones that made 1up what it is.  Replacing these people will make it a different animal

[tiesto]

Hopefully Toastyfrog and Retronauts will still remain. Say what you want about Parish and some of his more controversial reviews, but at least he covers the retro and niche games, which I love.

[drew]

a day later and im still laughing

huahauhauahauhauahauahauhauahauahuahauahauahauahahuahauahahauhauahauahauahauhauahauahauhauahahauahauauahhahahhahuahajauahauhauahauhahau

[cool breeze]

final issue of EGM cover shot

it's gonna be released digitally

[Purple Filth]

The final round issue. 

[CurseoftheGods]

Feb. 2009? At least it made it to its 20th anniversary.

[ch1nchilla]

(Image removed from quote.)

final issue of EGM cover shot

it's gonna be released digitally

Digitally?

[CurseoftheGods]

Free.

[EmCeeGrammar]

Gee whiz you guys are giving me all the negative attention I could ever hope for.

kidding btw

I should skim the gaf thread for all the peeps who said theyre getting teary-eyed over the end of their beloved podcasts.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

this is a test

[close]

[Rman]

a day later and im still laughing

huahauhauahauhauahauahauhauahauahuahauahauahauahahuahauahahauhauahauahauahauhauahauahauhauahahauahauauahhahahhahuahajauahauhauahauhahau

Why?