Comments on: Eulogizing 1UP and EGM, sort of

By: Vanessa Alvarado (former Marketing Manager @ 1UP)

Vanessa Alvarado (former Marketing Manager @ 1UP) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:07:07 +0000

HMMM – I thought something was fishy with those markers!!! oh well, i forgive you! i miss the 1UP office antics. serious. sometimes it felt like it was too good to be true. i’m happy for the memories though. those were some good times! we rode the waves while we could but i guess it wasn’t meant to last forever. maybe i’ll end up back in the gaming industry someday, we’ll just have to see.. cheers to the ziff davis alumni!

By: librarian

librarian — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:49:01 +0000

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntr.....Id=4561231

By: chewing pixels » Detroit is Dying

chewing pixels » Detroit is Dying — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 14:46:34 +0000

[...] a week of yet more painful game media closures and web cutbacks, I found the following quotation, in which LeDuff steels himself against [...]

By: librarian

librarian — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:50:04 +0000

Thanks for the Dtoid link, Samit. Looks like your boss and I were up till the wee hours thinking and scribbling at the same time. Except that, probably, the average SF Ziff employee probably made much less than he approximates (hah!), he really has a grip on the whole mess.

More notably, hidden inside this news article, there’s his own personal worry: What will happen when you get so big that you no longer can rely only on yourself? Frightening stuff, and he puts it into words.

By: Ken

Ken — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:41:35 +0000

Owh and yeah hey it was really great read Jenn It was touching to see the insight from someone close to this… And yeah I think as Shoe put it, I think you guys post-1up will be doing fine since you all are a talented bunch and we all hope that the economy reinforces that theory because we all want to hear from you guys again. Godspeed to you and the rest yea : )

By: Ken

Ken — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 22:30:28 +0000

This is scary.. I mean I’m studying journalism now.. I wanted to be part of gaming culture in media print.. But seeing something as established as EGM go… It is really hard… I mean.. just what am I to believe now… EGM was the magazine to go to for nearly 20 years . Sure there were some down points but I think most of us who have been gaming before 2D died know that EGM was an integral part of the gaming world. Suxhi – X, Shen Long, Shoe changing the game with the interview with Moore… It was also the one magazine that I really respected because I could tell the people behind the print seemed to genuinely love their job and it showed. We are all going to miss this mag.. Yeah.. horrible way to begin 09…

By: Samit Sarkar

Samit Sarkar — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:16:57 +0000

Oh, here's the link for the "as my boss put it" part: http://www.destructoid.com/economics-or-stupidity-1up-podcast-firings-to-save-ugo-2-5-million-annually--117195.phtml I'm new to this Textile markup thing.

By: Samit Sarkar

Samit Sarkar — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 09:12:10 +0000

This was such a great read, Jenn. One of the few good things to come out of this mess so far, for me, has been the spate of wonderfully written, heartfelt farewells and eulogies from the gaming community — whether laid-off 1UP/EGM employee, current 1UP/UGO staff, fan, or gamer. This one was particularly beautiful.

While I never had a subscription to EGM, and I only read 1UP.com casually, it still was shocking and saddening to see a fellow gaming website — especially a fellow community-based site like 1UP — lose so many talented individuals; gutted is a term that comes to mind.

I was discussing the situation with some of my fellow editors, and we concluded that while it’s easy to make UGO out to be the bad guy, the real culprit is Ziff Davis; as my boss put it, what’s shocking here is how a major media company could be so “bloated and mismanaged.” As you said, we all knew it was coming, but I don’t know if you can ever truly prepare yourself for something like this.

What can anyone say? It’s a damn shame, is all.

By: @ex1up

@ex1up — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:24:16 +0000

demian_linn: Skip lays it out: http://tinyurl.com/9xzr2o And so does Jenn: http://tinyurl.com/a3q6fk [Demian Lin.. http://tinyurl.com/799gng

By: Chris "Papapishu" Person

Chris "Papapishu" Person — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 20:24:11 +0000

We’re all mourning this different ways.

http://bohemiangamer.com/post/.....alled-home

Great Job Jenn. I expect nothing but the best from yah.

By: @demian_linn

@demian_linn — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:43:39 +0000

Skip lays it out: http://tinyurl.com/9xzr2o
And so does Jenn: http://tinyurl.com/a3q6fk

By: DH.Jin

DH.Jin — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:03:00 +0000

trying to think of something nice to say, something meaningful or something. been with 1up almost 3 years and really loved all that time. aww f*** it.

thank you.

great post.

By: @talkingorange

@talkingorange — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:44:29 +0000

Poetry from @jennatar: http://tinyurl.com/a3q6fk One more life indeed.

By: SixSp33d

SixSp33d — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:53:25 +0000

Wonderful post. You are a talented writer.
I would buy your book as well

By: Mr. Recycle

Mr. Recycle — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:26:08 +0000

Mother’s shuttered its factory?!? whaaaat? What a 1-2 punch… Not that i ever did it, but what would be better than eating Mother’s circus animal crackers while listening to CGW podcast…

By: @seanmolloy

@seanmolloy — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:17:33 +0000

@jennatar @demian_linn When I uprooted to SF to write about games, I felt invincible. Thanks for reminding me. http://tinyurl.com/a3q6fk

By: jc

jc — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:41:41 +0000

Jenn:

I’ve been trying to leave a comment about this post all day, but I keep typing something and deleting it. I’ll be brief in the interest of actually making it to the send button: this was absolutely beautiful, and it completely wrecked me this morning.

By: Austin Boosinger

Austin Boosinger — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:02:31 +0000

Beautiful blog.

I’ve been feeling hopeless about blogging as well (thinking about it 24/7; blogging bimonthly). But all the things you said were absolutely true, and passion prevails!

We’ll all find our place.

And if it’s any consolation, this is by far the best blog I’ve read in a while, and easily the most human, honest blog about games I’ve read in months.

By: Snake Link Sonic

Snake Link Sonic — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:31:34 +0000

...I actually remember Gamers.com.

I was mad too when that transitioned into 1up, and I used that partially as a testament to leave my blog behind yesterday for a new one I started today. I won’t pretend to empathize with everyone of the loss of the editors, as I have faith that they’ll land on their feet graciously & I think that hits members like Cody more than me. I was extremely picky with who I sided with and I really lost a chunk of my love there when John Davidson left (at least he was back on 1upYours for the holidays). I always appreciated the distinct personalities the editors offered, but there was always a barrier between that side of the camp and all the crap I did on the site. The only thing I’m worried about right now is the fracturing of the community itself now. I really hope it doesn’t wither and die now.

_sLs

By: Craig Ostrin

Craig Ostrin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:15:14 +0000

When I walk into a GameStop and see how poorly managed and utterly disgusting the store is, it doesn’t make me want to go to work there. It makes me want to open my own retail shop. And do it better.

Likewise, when I learn about how Ziff criminally mismanaged their properties, driving their very best talent away before flushing 1UP down the toilet—leaving the survivors to mutate in a toxic sewer system (but at least they’ve got jobs, right?)—it doesn’t make me want to write for them. It makes me want to open my own publisher. And do it better.

In any case, thanks for a touching post. As someone said above, it’s amazing how close we the readers feel to the 1UP staff, just through enjoying their work. Really shows you the magic of the place and the people.