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1up Sold...egm Officially Closing.


joerocks1981

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http://kotaku.com/5124928/report-1up-sold-...on-egm-to-close

Courtesy of Kotaku:

What began as a rumour last month now seems to have escalated into full-blown fact; several sites, and sources, are reporting that Ziff Davis have sold the 1UP network to competitors Hearst.

Hearst - who own UGO, many of the nation's biggest newspapers along with ownership stakes in ESPN and the History Channel - will however only be taking ownership of the network's online presence.

According to sources at GameSetWatch, this means long-running print magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly won't be along for the ride (though What They Play, run by former 1UP man John Davison, say further details will be disclosed tomorrow). This will be the last month the magazine is published, bringing to an end nearly two decades of independent, influential games editorial.

If this pans out - as seems likely - RIP, games magazines.

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Sad, but it is a sign of the times. Too many people are wanting instant gratification.

QED

This will sadly end the chance of any real game magazine now. I guess that will make ALL game mags "Retro" now. /sigh

I just remember how awesome I felt when I got my first copy of Nintendo Power (issue 1). I still feel a small portion of that when I get a new EGM...well, when I USE to get a new EGM.

I am telling you. Next thing I know I will get a little card with my subscription that it is being moved over to Power Ranger Monthly or Chaotic or something else stupid.

It is a sad day for video games, video game magazines, and print media in general. If EGM can't make it with such a large and loyal base.....

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EGM is dead (finally!)

for those who don't want to click yet another link, here is the Kotaku article copied and pasted. All I can say is Good Riddance. EGM was such a rag in the last year, it was almost torture to read.

What began as a rumour last month has now escalated into full-blown fact; Ziff Davis have officially sold the 1UP network to competitors Hearst, owners of UGO.com.

Hearst - who more importantly own many of the nation's biggest newspapers along with ownership stakes in ESPN and the History Channel - will however only be taking ownership of the network's online presence.

Which means long-running print magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly won't be along for the ride. This will be the last month the magazine is published, bringing to an end nearly two decades of independent, influential games editorial.

RIP, games magazines. Below is an email sent to Ziff employees by company CEO Jason Young earlier today, courtesy of Gamasutra:

Team:

We are announcing today the sale of our 1UP digital business to UGO Entertainment, a dvision of Hearst Corporation.

Over the course of the last 4 years we have built the 1UP sites into a top tier gaming digital destination. While our growth has been sharp, it has become apparent that more scale is necessary to effectively compete in this market segment.

We made the decision that the best path to putting our award winning 1UP brand and content in a more competitive position was to combine it with the operations of another publisher. We received much interest from other parties.

After a comprehensive process, this morning we completed a deal with Hearst Interactive, the owner and operator of UGO Entertainment. 1UP.com, MyCheats.com, Gamevideos.com, and Gametab.com will now all be part of the UGO Entertainment business. Many of our employees will travel with this business and become part of the UGO team.

With this transaction happening, we have also made the decision to discontinue publication of
EGM
. The January 2009 issue will be the final issue of the publication. With demand for print continuing to decline amongst both advertisers and readers and the content being produced by 1UP no longer available for use in the publication, it simply did not make sense for us to move forward with this business any longer.

We will continue to operate the Filefront business as a part of the PCMag Digital Network. In the coming months we will determine the best ways to leverage the scale and functionality of this digital property to expand our business position.

The Ziff Davis position in the gaming market has been significant and important to our company and the market itself. While many of our assets in the PCMag Digital Network (including Filefront now) will continue to cover this market, it's important that we celebrate all that we have achieved over the last 25 years.

Our leadership in print for decades with titles like Computer Gaming World and
EGM
which in turn translated into the build out of one of the leading digital gaming media assets in 1UP are prime examples of the skill, passion, and expertise of our teams.and what they achieved.

It's incredible to compare the 1UP.com of today versus that of 12 months ago. I want to thank everybody in our Game Group for their important contributions over the years.

For Ziff Davis Media, our attention and focus now shifts squarely to the
PC
Mag Digital Network. The proceeds from this transaction will be used to pay down debt. One of the primary objectives of our business plan is ensuring that we have plenty of room to service our debt obligations into the future, and manage for growth in what will be a challenging year in the advertising market.

While the market will be tough, we are confident our position is well aligned to where the demand is most active. We move forward as a 100% digital business with tenured brand position, and powerful capabilities to drive results for our customers. I look forward to sharing more updates in the coming weeks.

JY.

Interesting how he says "many" of their employees, not "all" of them.

It kind of sucks that they didn't make it to their 2o-year anniversary, but it's no real surprise. The magazine lately was brutal.

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Nothing to do about it sadly enough.

EGM lost me as a reader about 5 years ago when things started to change in such a way that weren't to my liking, and I never really liked 1UP tbh. But that's besides the point.

It's just another sign on the wall. The times aren't what they used to be and the industry has changed too much for it's own good in the last 10 years.

Seeing something quite similar happen to several top quality magazines, such as CVG and OSSM makes me feel a bit more indifferent about the EGM thing today.

If this would have happened 10 years ago it would have been much more tragic from my perspective. As I see it now it's more like they were dying a very slow death over an extended period.

Still sucks to see one of the big classics finally being put to rest though.

Perhaps a bit unrelated, but still worth mentioning I believe is that this is exactly the reason why we don't want to scan anything that is even remotely relevant today.

If you want quality magazines to survive then you will have to support them, otherwise within a couple of years there will be none left.

So instead of googling for pdf's of this months issue of whatever magazine, do the right thing and pay for them.

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This would have been pretty depressing a few years ago but the mag just took a total turn for the worse over the past year. Its still sad in a way though because I've been a subscriber since issue 45 or something and I can remember picking up issue 35 on the newstands only because I saw the Ninja Turtles on the cover LOL. Well, all I can say is thank goodness for real mags like Edge, Games TM, and Retrogamer.

BTW what ever happened to Ed Semrad?

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This is a VERY sad day for me! The part that actually upsets me most is I was REALLY looking to reading there reviews on the console versions of Street Fighter 4!!

I guess there is 1 good side to it all though, It will save me a bit of money (EGM is expensive to buy in Australia)

I wish all the writers/editors the very best in there future endeavors!

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This is a VERY sad day for me! The part that actually upsets me most is I was REALLY looking to reading there reviews on the console versions of Street Fighter 4!!

I guess there is 1 good side to it all though, It will save me a bit of money (EGM is expensive to buy in Australia)

I wish all the writers/editors the very best in there future endeavors!

Yeah. I hear you there. I didn't by any means live by their reviews, but they were fun to read. Not to mention the "rest of the crap" or where they would make fun of old games like Barbie's Big Adventure. It will be missed.

How expensive is it in Australia anyway?

Who else will miss the awesome April Fool's Joke every year? Sheng Long?

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The worst thing in EGM was that "REst of the Crap" crap written by that Seanbaby guy. I assume htat guy was trying to be humourous? IN any case, he failed big time.

Yeah, but you can't tell me that you didn't find his failure at attempting to be both "Cool" and "funny" at the same time to be hilarious.

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Sure I can. I found it annoying. Very annoying.

I disliked Seanbaby and his pages in the mag, something I felt could have been spent on something better (maybe more ads or something). Of course, they were probably trying to tap into a younger market or a market that enjoyed his stuff on the net (again, not me). Oh well, it is all said and done now.

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Guest DJ Crimson

Sad to see this happened, but I'm glad to have found this site. Makes me want to start a project of my own that is based on a different type of hobby. I'll try my best to support this site and help preserve some of the past magazines.

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I disliked Seanbaby and his pages in the mag, something I felt could have been spent on something better (maybe more ads or something). Of course, they were probably trying to tap into a younger market or a market that enjoyed his stuff on the net (again, not me). Oh well, it is all said and done now.

I don't think they could have filled those pages with ads. It looked like they were struggling to get the ads they already had. That's why their magazines were so skinny. Back i nthe 90's they said that any good magazine runs on 50-50; about 50% content and 50% ads. The December 2008 issue only had 22% ads. His stuff might have been filler, like how I feel GamePro uses the Opening Shots and Parting Shot pages as an easy way to get a few more pages in the magazine for cheap.

So long EGM, long live GamePro. It won the magazine war between the two.

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I also had many fond memories of receiving my magazines in the mail. I did not have another way to get news, cheat codes or walkthroughs before the Internet and always looked forward to the reviews.

I remember the SNES Street Fighter II days and the Mortal Kombat II Arcade days. I used to buy every magazine hoping for nuggets of information.

Well print media based around news information is dead, but on the bright side we may be able to upload more current issues for this site as the publishers become defunct.

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Yeah. I hear you there. I didn't by any means live by their reviews, but they were fun to read. Not to mention the "rest of the crap" or where they would make fun of old games like Barbie's Big Adventure. It will be missed.

How expensive is it in Australia anyway?

Who else will miss the awesome April Fool's Joke every year? Sheng Long?

In Australia it costs $12AUS plus we get it 2 months late!

I will indeed miss the April fools day jokes as well! Long live Sheng Long/Gouken!

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Kotaku posted an article, saying that 1up.com is going to post their final Feb 2009 issue (ads and all) on their site. They have the SFIV cover up their now. And it's a sad chronicle in their last day.

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=897783...cUserId=4549175

I don't think it was written with it being their final issue in mind, and it is really sad that they missed the 20 year mark.

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In Australia it costs $12AUS plus we get it 2 months late!

I will indeed miss the April fools day jokes as well! Long live Sheng Long/Gouken!

An he will in Street Fighter 4. Thanks to EGM he will now be a real character I'm so excited about that.

Anway... I wonder what they will do with my left over subscription?

I know when the Dreamcast magazine tanked they stared sending me PSM as a replacement. But EGM dosent do any other magazines that I know of.

Well this economy has really broght down what was left of the great magazine I wonder who's next.

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An he will in Street Fighter 4. Thanks to EGM he will now be a real character I'm so excited about that.

Anway... I wonder what they will do with my left over subscription?

I know when the Dreamcast magazine tanked they stared sending me PSM as a replacement. But EGM dosent do any other magazines that I know of.

Well this economy has really broght down what was left of the great magazine I wonder who's next.

Ziff-Davis might switch you over to their PC Magazine digital subscription. That is their only other magazine. Or they might do nothing. They still have no money.

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Ziff-Davis might switch you over to their PC Magazine digital subscription. That is their only other magazine. Or they might do nothing. They still have no money.

Yeah...as far as I can tell there really are no other choices. I HIGHLY Doubt it will be a refund. I think they should give out all of the cool stuff you know they have hanging around the EGM office. I wouldn't mind some of those promo games etc.

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Yeah...as far as I can tell there really are no other choices. I HIGHLY Doubt it will be a refund. I think they should give out all of the cool stuff you know they have hanging around the EGM office. I wouldn't mind some of those promo games etc.

They will give you a refund. Just call 800-779-1174 and request a refund.

Sad to see EGM go. I bought every issue since #0 (1989 Buyer's Guide), but in a way I am relieved. I didn't care for the magazine for the last few years. Maybe if they had done a few things different they would still be around. As soon as all the original editors and reviewers left they seemed to be replaced by kid's who didn't care about the classics. Other than a tiny sidebar and a page or 2 they seemed to have forgotten their past. It's also not like they have been running out of space lately either. Their magazine has been getting skinier than the Olsen twins. I remember the magzine being so damn big the spine could barely hold together! 400-500 pages if I remember correctly.

I think since they couldn't compete with news on the internet they should have focused more on collecting and classic gaming. There are a few magazines now that focus only on that aspect of gaming and they are gaining momentum. Oh well... RIP EGM

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