It's True: 1UP has Reached Its End

[buzz_n64]

"It's True: 1UP has Reached Its End
A message from the now-former editor-in-chief.
By Jeremy Parish, 02/21/2013

The corporate version:

Today, Ziff-Davis announced that as part of a restructuring of its new property IGN Entertainment, three of IGN's smaller secondary sites -- namely, 1UP.com, Gamespy.com, and UGO.com -- would be "winding down." As is often the case with such reorganizations, some of 1UP's staff was laid off while others will be moving over to work as contributors at IGN.com. No timeline was given for 1UP's closure or if its servers would continue to run indefinitely.

The human version:

As of today, 1UP will be entering the sunset into which all former websites eventually must ride. This comes as huge disappointment for me -- not because I'm editor-in-chief of the site, but because I've been with it since the beginning. That's nearly 10 years of my life invested in this website through all its ups and downs... and ups... and dooooowwwwwns.

It's been a fantastic (almost) 10 years. Even in its most frustrating and even dispiriting moments (there were some pretty dark times before IGN bought us in 2011), 1UP has always been fueled by the sincere enthusiasm of everyone writing for the site. Dozens upon dozens of people have moved through the various doors of our assorted offices, and each of them brought passion and talent to their work. I'm proud to have been a part of something so much larger than myself, and to help guide it as gracefully as possible to its slow halt since taking over the role left behind by my predecessors, Sam Kennedy and James Mielke.

Read through the site's archives and you'll find some truly amazing content. In-depth interviews with legendary developers, insanely detailed explorations of the niche and obscure, brilliant coverage of the top news of the day. You'll find revolutionary video programs and trendsetting podcasts. Incisive reviews and comprehensive blogs. God, there's so much here we need to archive in case someone does pull the plug on the servers.

But most of all, 1UP has always been fueled by passionate readers. No, you guys are more than readers -- you're participants. You've called in for podcasts, shaken our hands at trade shows and conventions, flagged us down on the street, berated us in comments, and chimed in to express your own take on the topics of the day. 1UP has played a huge role over the years in changing the perception and nature of the gaming press from broadcast to conversation. And the outpouring of memories and affection today on forums, on Twitter, and in our blogs has only served to reinforce the impact 1UP has had on countless people. You guys are awesome."

http://www.1up.com/news/true-1up-reached

[Parodius Duh!]

Wow, ....gamespy and UGO I can see, but 1UP? Seriously?! a grillion people use that site. Ign is making a foolish decision if you ask me.

[Tanooki]

I said it a bit already in the G4TV goes byebye thread in another part of the board, but really, it's no loss and perhaps it's a strong lesson to be learned. The gaming media isn't media and it has taken a long time for people to catch onto it. They're paid fanboys who hate for senseless reasons or suck up with blinders on. Pretending to be objective only lasts so long, same with having paid for reviews when people keep scooping up A-rated D quality garbage. Perhaps a lesson can be learned here by IGN and the rest that not being objective and honest can only go so far before people tune out, you go under, and people seek amateur efforts with a more honest track record.

[pseudonym]

I said it a bit already in the G4TV goes byebye thread in another part of the board, but really, it's no loss and perhaps it's a strong lesson to be learned. The gaming media isn't media and it has taken a long time for people to catch onto it. They're paid fanboys who hate for senseless reasons or suck up with blinders on. Pretending to be objective only lasts so long, same with having paid for reviews when people keep scooping up A-rated D quality garbage. Perhaps a lesson can be learned here by IGN and the rest that not being objective and honest can only go so far before people tune out, you go under, and people seek amateur efforts with a more honest track record.

That's not really fair, 1up in particular was one of the better gaming/news sites out there, and personally I'm sad to see it gone.

[G-Boobie]

I said it a bit already in the G4TV goes byebye thread in another part of the board, but really, it's no loss and perhaps it's a strong lesson to be learned. The gaming media isn't media and it has taken a long time for people to catch onto it. They're paid fanboys who hate for senseless reasons or suck up with blinders on. Pretending to be objective only lasts so long, same with having paid for reviews when people keep scooping up A-rated D quality garbage. Perhaps a lesson can be learned here by IGN and the rest that not being objective and honest can only go so far before people tune out, you go under, and people seek amateur efforts with a more honest track record.

Says the dude who has a tattoo of Miyamoto riding Yoshi on his scrotum.
You're 0 and whatever your post count is for worthwhile contributions so far; that's even worse than Aswald and Diskoboy for whatever it's worth.

1UP was a Hell of a site that produced some of the best of the new games journalists, podcasts, developers, and personalities. If it wasn't what it used to be during the EGM days, it at least still had an original voice. It'll be missed.

[Griking]

Wow, ....gamespy and UGO I can see, but 1UP? Seriously?! a grillion people use that site. Ign is making a foolish decision if you ask me.

Personally I'll miss Gamespy more than 1UP because of their PC gaming news.

[Berserker]

That's not really fair, 1up in particular was one of the better gaming/news sites out there, and personally I'm sad to see it gone.

I'm sad to see them go as well. 1UP seemed to be one of the first mainstream sites to pay much attention to the indie gaming scene, and while I've never followed them terribly closely or regularly, I've always thought they were well ahead of the curve as far as the big name outfits go.

Can't say that I feel the same about Gamespy or UGO though. To my mind they were basically the IGN of the late 90s/early 00s, paving the way and setting the example for huge monolithic networks that swallow up and homogenize better sites and produce little of value themselves.

[Bojay1997]

I said it a bit already in the G4TV goes byebye thread in another part of the board, but really, it's no loss and perhaps it's a strong lesson to be learned. The gaming media isn't media and it has taken a long time for people to catch onto it. They're paid fanboys who hate for senseless reasons or suck up with blinders on. Pretending to be objective only lasts so long, same with having paid for reviews when people keep scooping up A-rated D quality garbage. Perhaps a lesson can be learned here by IGN and the rest that not being objective and honest can only go so far before people tune out, you go under, and people seek amateur efforts with a more honest track record.

The game media is as much a part of the media as any other entity covering pop culture. There are some good journalists and some bad just like in all media. It's sad that you are so blind to the difference that you lack any objectivity at all in the matter and frankly, your opinion shows just how uninformed you are.

[homerhomer]

I'm not going to start going to IGN anytime soon or anyother Ziff Davis company.

Screw them!

[danawhitaker]

I'm not going to start going to IGN anytime soon or anyother Ziff Davis company.

Screw them!

I had been using Gamespy's release date list as a way to keep track of new releases for my personal database. I guess I'll have to find an alternative. Does anyone have any suggestions? Joystiq has a weekly thing that I get in my RSS feed, but I've noticed that there's stuff that shows up on Gamespy that never shows up on there. IGN seems to have a list, and it looks fairly thorough, so maybe I'll just migrate to that. But if anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears (or eyes, as the case is here).

[Trumpman]

1UP had some great features, especially before EGM melted down (the first time?). And I used to love Gamespy way back before IGN bought it (in 2004? man I feel old). They had a unique voice back then.

I will definitely miss 1UP, although I'm sure the talented writers will find another place to publish.

The real lesson here is: be careful if you sell to a larger company, because you're always at their whims.

[kedawa]

I still miss FGN Online.
I haven't checked game news regularly since they shut down.

[xelement5x]

Yeah, makes me wonder what will happen to all their content. Presumably Ziff Davis still owns it all, but i hope it doesn't just disappear into a puff of smoke. They had some quite nice editorials and articles.

[The 1 2 P]

I'm not going to start going to IGN anytime soon

I occasionally use the IGN app on XBL but I don't go to their site and I don't think I've ever really used the 1UP main site for any extended amount of time. I usually ended up there while tracking down game info. Same thing with Gamespy, just ended up there in the midst of game searches.

[RCM]

I didn't realize 1UP was still around until recently. Parish will likely land on his tiny feet. Nice dude, but small!

[Kitsune Sniper]

Yeah, makes me wonder what will happen to all their content. Presumably Ziff Davis still owns it all, but i hope it doesn't just disappear into a puff of smoke. They had some quite nice editorials and articles.

I contacted some members of Archive Team and let them know about this. They said that they're working on how to save all their content.

IGN is the site that needs to be shot in the head. 1Up had a lot more heart than IGN has had for years.

[Aussie2B]

I'm not terribly surprised by this. I had already noticed the agglomeration of game media going on in the last few months. j2 Global acquired Ziff Davis, then they acquired IGN, which had already acquired 1UP, Gamespy, and UGO. With all these companies merging into one, they're going to cut out the perceived redundancy.

It's a shame, but it won't affect me much. I don't really visit any of the big gaming news sites, outside of Googling for some info or being linked to something by somebody. When I did read something on 1UP, though, it seemed to be of higher quality than the average article on similar media sites.

[Tron 2.0]

I'm gonna miss the retronauts podcast

[Az]

I'm gonna miss the retronauts podcast

That was my exact thought upon seeing this thread title.

[Tron 2.0]

That was my exact thought upon seeing this thread title.

Yeah that was the only thing i liked about 1up.Sure there podcast were not all ways correct far as facts go,but i enjoyed listening to it.