RIP Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM): 1989-2009

UPDATE 4: Crispin Boyer and Dan Hsu, notable EGM alums, weigh in on EGM and 1UPs woes over at their blog, Sore Thumbs. The lengthy reminiscence can be found here.

UPDATE 3: Anthony Gallegos, Nick Suttner, Philip Kollar, Matt Chandronait, Ryan O’Donnell, and friends have (quickly) posted their first post-1UP podcast over at eat. sleep. game., which can be found here.

UPDATE 2: Former EIC of Computer Gaming World/Games for Windows Magazine, Jeff Green, weighs in on Sam’s thoughts on his personal blog, Greenspeak.

http://jeff-greenspeak.blogspot.com/2009/01/no-youre-not-same-1up.html

UPDATE 1: 1UP Founder and Site Director, Sam Kennedy, has posted to NeoGAF regarding the situation surrounding the purchase of 1UP by UGO. He explains why this was the best outcome they could have hoped for, and aims to calm those who are directing their frustration to UGO. That post can be found here:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=14274125&postcount=2629

Original Post: Ziff Davis announced late Tuesday that its online 1UP Network properties have been sold to UGO Entertainment, Incorporated. Lost in the shuffle is venerable print magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly, who would have been celebrating its 20th year in operation later this year.

As you can see (for the time being at least) if you visit the Ziff Davis website, the 1UP and EGM brands are two of their three core businesses. Also this month, Ziff killed off its other marquee print production, PC Magazine, moving to a strictly-online model. While PC Magazine’s demise was announced in mid-November, the sudden closure of EGM and the widespread layoffs and departures of 1UP Network staff members is surprising and deeply saddening to many people in the community.

Personally speaking, EGM has always been a classy lady. Before publishing on the internet became a common thing, EGM was my source for video game news and editorial opinion. There was nothing more exciting than walking up to the store with my weekly allowance and investing in a copy of EGM, something that would bring me hours of enjoyment.

A shift occurred on the internet during the late 90s and early 2000s as websites like Next Generation (and its print brother), Daily Radar, The Gaming Intelligence Agency, and Videogames.com (which later became Gamespot), took hold as catch-all sources for general videogame news. There were many other genre-specific sites, but these were the forebearers of “mainstream” websites like IGN, 1UP, and Gamespot. There’s of course dozens of notable sites now spread throughout the world, but these guys are the big players in the U.S. and have been for a while now.

Over the past several years, 1UP has become one of my favorite destinations on the internet. I’d like to think it’s because of my childhood fondness for EGM, but when it comes down to it, the people there –their opinions and their personalities– are what drew me in. The 1UP Yours, 1UP FM, Retronauts, and LAN Party podcasts and their weekly video production, the 1UP Show, are some extremely notable casualties in this change, and I’m having a hard time coming to grips with the loss of those forms of entertainment hitting my eyes and ears every week. While many websites kept their editorial staff behind closed doors, 1UP realized early on that giving readers a ways to personally connect with their staff was one of, if not the best way to cement a returning user base. This tremendously successful effort on their part has the unfortunate side effect of making the loss of their productions and so many of their staff that much harder to take.

For more information and some initial thoughts from remaining and departing staff, click on below.

• Jeremy Parish (Senior Editor, Expanded Content, remaining)
• Shane Bettenhausen (Sr. Executive Editor, departing)
• James Mielke (Editor-in-Chief, departing)
• Matt Chandronait (Video Producer, departing)
• Ryan Scott (Executive Editor, Reviews, departing)
• Tina Sanchez (Community Manager, remaining) – She’s included a useful list of departing staff’s Twitter handles as well

I’m sure more will be commenting sooner than later. For more actual news on the Hearst acquisition of 1UP and the closure of EGM, check out Gamasutra’s coverage here.