A lot's been going on for me in gaming since the beginning of the year, other than World of Warcraft completely recapturing my soul. The first thing I need to talk about is the collapse of 1up.com.
Ok, collapse isn't the correct term and does a severe disservice to those who remain, though it certainly represent my perception of the transition. But before I get to that, some background is in order: When I was in eighth grade I bought my first non-Nintendo Power gaming mag, and it was an early issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM). I'm not sure whether it was the first issue or not, but it was easily in the first six months. For the next ten years it was a primary source of gaming information in my life. Until the internet came along.
With the advent of on-line publishing, print media began to slowly die. Many gaming sites popped up in the mid to late 90s but none of them clicked for me. None of them until
1up was begun in 2003. It should come as a surprise to no one that 1up was the online presence of Ziff-Davis' games publishing arm. The same group that made EGM. A huge part of the success of 1up should be attributed to the podcasts and the 1up Show. Those podcasts and the video podcast provided a lot of coverage of the gaming industry and community from such a natural perspective. It was the only online general gaming coverage that felt like it was really presented by people who knew, loved, and lived games - at least to me. Others may cite CAGcast and the like, and that's fine. But for me it was all about the guys and girls at 1up.
After a string of print cancellations in the ZD games publishing wing and a number of the old guard leaving the organization, it all came crashing down. In early January it was announced that ZD had sold the games publishing division to UGO. With that sale, ZD shuttered EGM and layed off a massive number of staff members, notably many who were involved with the podcasts, and the 1up Show staff was completely let go. At one time EGM alone had something like 15 editors... and now there's that many in all of the 1up offices. Sad times.
But all is not lost.
Garnett Lee is going to be able to continue the podcast he hosts, though the 1up Yours name will be leaving in a nod to new beginnings. The guys from 1up FM podcast are now putting out their own material under the name Rebel FM, and can be found at
eat-sleep-game.com. And best of all
Ryan O'donnel and Matt Chandronait, along with a bunch of the other 1up Show guys, are working on their own video project, the first episode of which is due soon. You can read all their updates at Matt's personal site
talkingorange.com. I wish them all the best and I'll be there for whatever they produce.
Shane Bettenhausen is moving on to work for Ignition Entertainment, the company that's bringing KOFXII to our shores, and that sounds like a great fit for him. Haven't heard a thing about what James Milkman Mielke is moving on to, but I hope it's something that I'll be able to follow.
The 1up glory days will forever be remembered. Good luck to all who have moved on by choice or by force. Keep producing, and I'll keep listening, reading, and watching. UGO may not be completely responsible for the lay offs (or they might, you never know) but there's no way they can possibly realize what they lost in the aqcuisition.
Hopefully in the next few days I can return with the other gaming issue taking up my mind currently: Street Fighter IV, and those beautiful Tournament Edition arcade sticks.
