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1up.com: Past, Present, Future of 1up - big changes beginning May 21

i can't tell if my enthusiasm/life situation has just changed the way i perceive these sites in the past five years, or if they really have just gone completely off the freaking rails and are uninteresting and depressing (speaking broadly about all video game sites, not just 1up)

Its not you.
 
Certainly sounds like the direction they need to take and it's true that personalities and opinion have always been the heart of the good 1UP days. The problem is so many other people and sites already do that, so it's not like this is unplowed territory (the mainstream press even covers games in this way often). And with just four people you won't get a huge variety of viewpoints. Still, I might check it out once in a while.
 
The loss of GFW Radio killed the site for me. Those four were heads and shoulders above everyone else there when it came to not only talking about games, but just stuff, that it wasn't even funny.
 
Jeremy Parish is my spirit animal. For a while I thought the 1UP staff had dwindled to just him and Bob Mackey.

Hopefully the 21st reveals six shades of awesome over there.
 
i can't tell if my enthusiasm/life situation has just changed the way i perceive these sites in the past five years, or if they really have just gone completely off the freaking rails and are uninteresting and depressing (speaking broadly about all video game sites, not just 1up)

I mean, I'm not trying to sound cynical, but what's the point of trying to try and do stuff like 1Up did, or how Giantbomb currently does? Not trying to turn this into a shit on ign/Gamespot/Kotaku thread, but it's clear that what's usually successful is either being first, or getting exclusive coverage. The clawing and fighting to post a story 30 seconds ahead is sadly what brings in more page views and dollars.

It basically just becomes easier to create run-of-the-mill templates for your previews, reviews, and news by just turning it into an almost assembly line like style of creating content. At least that's what the case seems to sadly be.
 
In Jeremy I trust.

No, seriously, I do. I think he is a fantastic professional and I like the idea of him going with a small team into a desperado mission to redefine the page and forget the usual labels and structures of a videogames pages. There is potential for greatness there.

I will keep a close eye on it. Best of lucks Toasty!
 
Wow. It's super depressing that 1up is staffed with just 4 people now and it does seem 1up is gonna go through some big changes or w/e in a week or so.

Geez...I had no idea that 1up was only staffed by four people. Or anywhere ever close to that number. That's very impressive, but yeah, definitely sad at the same time.
 
I mean, I'm not trying to sound cynical, but what's the point of trying to try and do stuff like 1Up did, or how Giantbomb currently does? Not trying to turn this into a shit on ign/Gamespot/Kotaku thread, but it's clear that what's usually successful is either being first, or getting exclusive coverage. The clawing and fighting to post a story 30 seconds ahead is sadly what brings in more page views and dollars.

It basically just becomes easier to create run-of-the-mill templates for your previews, reviews, and news by just turning it into an almost assembly line like style of creating content. At least that's what the case seems to sadly be.

I just hate that so many of the guys whose opinions I trust and respect (note I didn't necesseraly mean agree with), are now out of this industry or scattered one or maybe two per site, and are constantly getting let go. Sad, it gives me this feeling that more and more, there is no real landed criticism outside of blogs and forums such as this one, and that gives publishers more pull on what the average gamer hears.
 
I just hate that so many of the guys whose opinions I trust and respect (note I didn't necesseraly mean agree with), are now out of this industry or scattered one or maybe two per site, and are constantly getting let go. Sad, it gives me this feeling that more and more, there is no real landed criticism outside of blogs and forums such as this one, and that gives publishers more pull on what the average gamer hears.

that's definitely how i interpret the decline in the past five years. what i perceived as the healthy, enthusiastic market for good gaming journalism and multimedia content must have been fictional--that, or it's just not being served aptly these days.
 
I just hate that so many of the guys whose opinions I trust and respect (note I didn't necesseraly mean agree with), are now out of this industry or scattered one or maybe two per site, and are constantly getting let go. Sad, it gives me this feeling that more and more, there is no real landed criticism outside of blogs and forums such as this one, and that gives publishers more pull on what the average gamer hears.

that's definitely how i interpret the decline in the past five years. what i perceived as the healthy, enthusiastic market for good gaming journalism and multimedia content must have been fictional--that, or it's just not being served aptly these days.

I agree, but I'm going to venture to guess that we're just going through a rough period right now. My mind wants me to think that the perfect storm of bad factors have caused what has happened in what Satellite mentioned. Hopefully, in 5 years, it will look completely different.

You couldn't be more right on the fact that it feels more cookie cutter these days compared to the past. Previews feel like they're just adding a few words between bullet points, and that goes for reviews as well. I watched that video with 1Up reviewing Condemned 2, I think it was, and I just thought to myself that you just don't see that anymore. It wasn't a review that consisted of going through the numbers, and then tacking on a score at the end, but it was a bunch of people actively discussing the good and the bad of the game, what worked, and what didn't. It felt...it felt organic. It feels real. It feels like you were listening to a bunch of your friends that just happened to be really knowledgeable about games. They go in-depth, but since there are several people, it never gets bogged down in details, and it fast moving and always interesting. It's just a shame that every single review is either just gameplay footage with a guy doing a VO from a script, or a guy standing on a green screen with gameplay playing behind him, as he reads from a script. iI's just not the same.

EDIT: I just went back and realized that Condemned 2 video was a preview. A fucking preview! They put that much effort and had an awesome discussion like that in a preview! I thought they were having an in depth review of the game, and instead this is only a preview of the game...well, shit. This only proves my point. Think of previews from other sites. Usually the same deal as the reviews. A guy mumbles over some gameplay footage and kind of dances around the quality of the game, as not to give away their review score early. The quality of the video, and the fact that it is only a preview just made me even more sad that this 1Up is gone.

Here's the Condemned 2 video preview for anyone who cares.
 
It's just a shame that every single review is either just gameplay footage with a guy doing a VO from a script, or a guy standing on a green screen with gameplay playing behind him, as he reads from a script. iI's just not the same.
These are just way cheaper to produce. If people watch that just as much, why pay for three or four guys to discuss a game instead of one. Sad but true.
 
These are just way cheaper to produce. If people watch that just as much, why pay for three or four guys to discuss a game instead of one. Sad but true.

Less likely to anger the viewer, and also going deep tends to be for naught as most are looking for a score or hype only, not details on cleverness or landmark interest in some title that hasn't got the hype train a chuggin'.
 
Back in the day, the people at 1up were genuinely concerned about the quality of video game journalism (if there is such a thing). Listening to those podcasts and hearing everyone voice their concerns made me hopeful that we were headed for better days.

Now that group has split in a million different directions. Many of them jumped ship for development houses. And I'd argue that gaming journalism is as bad now as it has been over the past years. I'm not asking for a truly ground-breaking approach to writing about games -- the main concern is simply putting together a staff of writers who take their jobs seriously and are true professionals.

It's the easiest thing in the world to throw up a a few dozen "Top 10" lists and suck dick for the occasional exclusive. Gaming journalism has to get away from that. It doesn't help that there's almost no one in the industry who is a good writer. That's the first step -- hire people who are both knowledgeable about games and skilled with a pen. Then we can worry about how the term "video game journalism" is an oxymoron.
 
can someone give me a synopsis on what happened to each individual after luke left to go work for bungie? I remember Shane left to go work for a company in Japan or something like that. I've been so out of the loop but I've got fond memories of the 1 up show. I think my favorite guy was on the pc side, Sean something? cant remember his name currently but he was an awesome griefer lol
Garnett Lee, John davidson? where are these guys.

Here's a little "where are they now" info:

Luke Smith= Community Manager at Bungie
Shane Bettenhausen= Now works at Sony Entertainment
John Davison= VP of CBS Interactive
Garnett Lee= Editorial Director of Gameshack
Sean Malloy= At Blizzard
Shawn Elliot= At Irrational Games
Jeff Green= At Pop Cap Games
Ryan Scott= Freelancer, podcasts over at Geekbox.net
Mark MacDonald= At 8-4, Inc in Japan
 
Here's a little "where are they now" info:

Luke Smith= Community Manager at Bungie
Shane Bettenhausen= Now works at Sony Entertainment
John Davison= VP of CBS Interactive
Garnett Lee= Editorial Director of Gameshack
Sean Malloy= At Blizzard
Shawn Elliot= At Irrational Games
Jeff Green= At Pop Cap Games
Ryan Scott= Freelancer, podcasts over at Geekbox.net
Mark MacDonald= At 8-4, Inc in Japan

Luke moved up to Game Designer from Community Manager. Seems most of them end up doing so, like Sean.
 
So I check to see if there's a new Oddcast and... god dammit. It's over! I love this fucking podcast. It has provided me with many laughs over the past couple years or so. Honestly, it was a nice contrast to all the OMG SO SERIOUS gaming podcasts (and, really, podcasts in general) out there. I hope they can get together and bring it back in some other way in the future. Games, movies, life in general... it was always just a fun podcast to listen to no matter what the topic was.

Looks like 1Up is turning into a shell of its former self like so many gaming sites before it. It's rough out there. At least we still have Giant Bomb.

Anyway, thanks for The Oddcast, 1up (and more specifically, Tina, obviously). *salute*
 
The podcasts from 1UP are probably the only ones I followed regurlarly. They were diverse, funny, interesting. Shame it has come to this.

Regarding the editorial, I think the "let's wait a while and give our own impressions" is their best chance to survive and remain an interesting site. I actually prefer that kind of papers. I wish them to succeed.
 
Retronauts was my first podcast ever. T-Frog, Shane, Ray Barnholt and friends dicing it up over all my favorite old franchises, so good. Must be time for a restart and listen to them all again.
 
So... Did anything happen? It's the 21st.
I'm trying to find something about this, but I can't? And nothing about it on the latest podcast.
 
Check this thread for more information.

So they just do hypothetical speculation? Thats all there is to the 'big changes'?

Reminds me of old marvel comics in the 90s.
njhp-334493-2.jpg
 
Jeremy Parish came into my work about two weeks ago and bought a blue petticoat I think, was that a part of the changes???
 
No joke, I think it's time we somehow arrange a giant clusterfuck of a 1UP reunion weekend in LA or wherever. Fellow current and former 1UPers, I know you're reading this.
 
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