Another Dead Hero...

Well the big news of the day, and probably the week, is that the 1up Network is pretty much dead. 

As of yesterday UGO Entertainment took over EGM and it's sister site 1Up.com. If the story had ended there it probably would have been fine, however it sadly did not. UGO in corporate buy-out fashion, swung the mighty axe of Destruction +1. They put an end to one of, if not the best, gaming magazine left out there. As an avid reader of this magazine, almost since the beginning, I feel like i have come to really know most of the writers and editors there. Granted i have never met any of them, but if you read something from a group of people each month for years, you feel close to them. 

When Ziff decided to kill off the "Official Playstation Magazine" i felt almost the same way. Seeing as how most of the former writers there were absorbed into the EGM/1up scene it wasn't so bad. I still could catch up on projects that everyone was working on, where they were headed and what they wanted to do next. 

This, again, is not where the story ends. When UGO shut down EGM, they also sent most of their stars from the 1up network packing as well. Shane Bettenhausen, Ryan O'Donnell, Nick Suttner, Philip Kollar, James "Milkman" Mielke, Ryan Scott, Matt Chandronait, Jay Frechette, and Greg Ford. That is just a few of the 40 employees that were part of the lay offs. This is the truely sad part of everything. 

Again i have been reading, listening, and watching videos, podcast and articles from these guys for years now. It feels like you just lost touch with friends that you have had for years and now you may never know what they are up to next. 

Talent was one thing that the group had for certain. I defy you to watch any of the 1up show episodes and not find something informative, or funny in every single one. I guess that is why it is so hard to understand why UGO would cut most of it's star lineup. 

No more 1Up Yours, no more 1Up Show, no more 1Up FM... i don't understand it. I am not trying to be melodramatic here but it's really sad. I loved getting my news from those guys, finding out what was the next big thing, or the next flop. Seeing all the fun they were having making the 1Up Show made me want to be a better writer so that i could one day have a job like that. Seriously, i started this blog with the thought in the back of my head that one day i could be part of a group of people that produced informative well balanced shows like them. 

I can't imagine what Garnett, David Ellis, Jeremy, and the rest of the guys that are left, are going through. To have to go back to that empty office where they all had so much fun, spent so much time together. It must be torture. I guess if there is a bright side at least they still have jobs to go to. 

I can only hope that the members that have been separated can find some way of getting back in the game. Though it has changed a lot over the past several hours, i look forward to the future projects that they all work on. I hope they keep us (the gaming public) updated with everything they are doing, and where they plan to go next. 

So sorry to see it end this way 1Up. I know i am not the only out there that will miss the weekly updates from your podcasts and such. Good luck to everyone in whatever you do next. And to all those that are left at their desks, keep doing what you have been for years and you will still have loyal fans willing to give you candy, and even booze once in a while. 

End of the world, no. End of something great, positively.