UGO Isn't 'The Bad Guy'

[modeps]

A lot of people are not happy with the sale of 1Up to UGO, the closure of EGM, or the massive layoffs of their talent (http://evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73917). Sam Kennedy, 1Up Director, has come out (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/07/1up-director-sam-kennedy-says-ugo-is-not-the-bad-guy/) and stated that UGO isn't to blame here... that they're not "the bad guy" and the sale of 1Up was probably the last option the company actually had.

"UGO did what they could to, what I consider, 'save' 1UP. Obviously, all of us would have wanted to see things go differently - most of all me, considering I just lost many of my closest friends as coworkers and employees today ... If any company out there would have been willing to support us as we were, they certainly didn't step up. The only company that really did was UGO, and they did their very best to continue 1UP."

No matter what the intentions were, the layoffs were crap.

[BloodPack]

if you look at who was cut it was mainly video staff, and after you can the entire video department I dont really see a need for video editors... 2nd they cut new hires, including kefarkien (or whatever his name was), and 3rd they cut overpaid employees that didnt justify there cost to the company ie. James Mielkie and Shane Bettenhausen. To be honest most of the cuts made logical sense to me considering the direction they are taking 1up.

I am not trying to say its good to have layoffs, but it wasnt illogical what UGO did.

[Flatpicker]

A lot of people are not happy with the sale of 1Up to UGO, the closure of EGM, or the massive layoffs of their talent (http://evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73917). Sam Kennedy, 1Up Director, has come out (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/01/07/1up-director-sam-kennedy-says-ugo-is-not-the-bad-guy/) and stated that UGO isn't to blame here... that they're not "the bad guy" and the sale of 1Up was probably the last option the company actually had.



No matter what the intentions were, the layoffs were crap.


Dropping redundant positions is normal in this type of scenario.
I feel bad for them of course, but, it's par for the course.

[Zander]

Dropping redundant positions is normal in this type of scenario.
I feel bad for them of course, but, it's par for the course.

Except the people that were dropped were the reason I even visited the site or listened to the podcasts. I'm not alone.

Without those personalities, the site now has as much draw to me as UGO does. None.

[modeps]

Except the people that were dropped were the reason I even visited the site or listened to the podcasts. I'm not alone.

Without those personalities, the site now has as much draw to me as UGO does. None.

Right. UGO has never seemed (to me anyway) a really active outlet for the gaming world. 1Up actually made itself a presence and created a public face of an online organization. Does anyone here really know the folks that work at UGO?

Maybe their biggest strength was their podcast lineup, but it helped project them outwards.

[Flatpicker]

Right. UGO has never seemed (to me anyway) a really active outlet for the gaming world. 1Up actually made itself a presence and created a public face of an online organization. Does anyone here really know the folks that work at UGO?

Maybe their biggest strength was their podcast lineup, but it helped project them outwards.

Blame has to be laid at the feet of ZD for their terrible handling of the brand.

[dethnight]

Right. UGO has never seemed (to me anyway) a really active outlet for the gaming world. 1Up actually made itself a presence and created a public face of an online organization. Does anyone here really know the folks that work at UGO?

Maybe their biggest strength was their podcast lineup, but it helped project them outwards.

Could be just me, but I have NEVER visited ugo.com in my 10 + years of checking the internet for game news/info. Never recall seeing a link to their site regarding a breaking story either. If this is what they would like 1up.com to mimic, might as well cross them off my list as well. Will give them a chance though.

[modeps]

Blame has to be laid at the feet of ZD for their terrible handling of the brand.

I'm sure they're mainly to blame. Doesn't make it taste any better :)

[Reanimated]

Blame has to be laid at the feet of ZD for their terrible handling of the brand.



Or maybe the blame lies with the content producers within 1up that consistently put a worthless product on the market?

But I would agree that Ziff probably should have cleaned house at 1up a long time ago, so they are negligent in that regard.

The best move 1up made in YEARS was to hire Philip Kollar, so it really sucks that he was included in the layoffs.

[beefyjr]

Yeah, I don't think that UGO is necessarily to "blame" for anything, but I really question their decision to buy a company like 1up whose biggest asset by far are their personalities and the content those personalities produce and then completely gut out everything that made that site successful. That seems like an awful lot of money to spend on what amounts to a domain name.

[drakkarim]

i'm sure kennedy's crying all the way to the bank with his bonus...

[Johan]

Or maybe the blame lies with the content producers within 1up that consistently put a worthless product on the market?

EGM in particular was a mess. I've been a subscriber (free sub) for a few years, and I've always been shocked at how badly they would treat their subscribers who dared to write a letter to the editor. They would verbally rip those people to shreds. That had lessened of late, thankfully, but the magazine was a mess.

[Flatpicker]

Yeah, I don't think that UGO is necessarily to "blame" for anything, but I really question their decision to buy a company like 1up whose biggest asset by far are their personalities and the content those personalities produce and then completely gut out everything that made that site successful. That seems like an awful lot of money to spend on what amounts to a domain name.

Actually, Their biggest assets are probably the brands and the advertising revenue they can generate.
1UP and EGM as a name can be used in connection with UGO or can replace the UGO brand.
Remember also, by doing this they have cut their competition down there fore advertisers have less options as to where to spend their money.

[ElektroDragon]

How the heck did UGO have the assets to acquire 1UP when UGO is a nobody with a terrible portal. Is there some bigger parent company behind this?

[Zander]

How the heck did UGO have the assets to acquire 1UP when UGO is a nobody with a terrible portal. Is there some bigger parent company behind this?

UGO is owned by the Hearst Corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Corporation).

[ElektroDragon]

UGO is owned by the Hearst Corporation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Corporation).

Thank you... as I assumed, this is a case of media giant with an amazingly poor market segment representation (UGO) attempting to buy themselves a better one. If UGO didn't have Hearst cash, it would have ceased to be long ago. I haven't visited the site in years, and when I did today based on this news, I couldn't close my browser tab fast enough!

[Flatpicker]

Thank you... as I assumed, this is a case of media giant with an amazingly poor market segment representation (UGO) attempting to buy themselves a better one. If UGO didn't have Hearst cash, it would have ceased to be long ago. I haven't visited the site in years, and when I did today based on this news, I couldn't close my browser tab fast enough!


You got it.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the UGO branding go away to be replaced by 1up.
The content doesn't change, but the names will. This never was about the "talent" on the 1up side of the fence.
The sad thing is that we really are losing the gaming journalism genre.

1up is gone.
Gamespot sells their reviews.
GiantBomb is underfunded.
The Escapist is not American, so releases are not the same schedule.
GamesRadar seems to be slow to update.
Joystiq is low quality.
GamesIndustry is not consumer focused.
Xplay had potential, but G4 ruins it.

The rest are just blogs or message boards like EVAV. We aggregate info but don't have the clout to get it 1st person.

[saulob]

Could be just me, but I have NEVER visited ugo.com in my 10 + years of checking the internet for game news/info. Never recall seeing a link to their site regarding a breaking story either. If this is what they would like 1up.com to mimic, might as well cross them off my list as well. Will give them a chance though.

Me too. Still today I never visited this site.

I remember that I started reading gaming sites with the old HappyPuppy.com. A looooong time ago.

[Johan]

We aggregate info but don't have the clout to get it 1st person.

I wonder what it is about this particular industry (gaming) that makes it so hard to maintain a viable business-plan around journalism/reporting? I have my suspicions as to the reasons (none of which are directed particularly at 1UP or EGM):

* Access to content online is quite often free/ad-supported, and the economy right now is struggling mightily, with ad revenue down tremendously.
* the average age of the typical gamer is 35, (http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp) but the content of many gaming sites and/or magazines is, frankly, incredibly adolescent/immature, poorly written, and badly sourced.
* Print is struggling/dying across the country.

Any other ideas, anyone?

[Demo_Boy]

I actually avoid sites branded with the UGO tag as it's a clear signal the content is Maxim-style junk reviews.

[riposte101]

1Up was hemorrhaging cash for a long time. There were several reports I remember reading about them not being profitable. This has been coming for a long time.

[Flatpicker]

I wonder what it is about this particular industry (gaming) that makes it so hard to maintain a viable business-plan around journalism/reporting? I have my suspicions as to the reasons (none of which are directed particularly at 1UP or EGM):

* Access to content online is quite often free/ad-supported, and the economy right now is struggling mightily, with ad revenue down tremendously.
* the average age of the typical gamer is 35, (http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp) but the content of many gaming sites and/or magazines is, frankly, incredibly adolescent/immature, poorly written, and badly sourced.
* Print is struggling/dying across the country.

Any other ideas, anyone?


I still stand by the concept that one of the problems with games journalism/criticism is that the writers want to join the industry. It colors the perceptions.

[Froggy]

* the average age of the typical gamer is 35, (http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp) but the content of many gaming sites and/or magazines is, frankly, incredibly adolescent/immature, poorly written, and badly sourced.
?

Quoted for truth. I'm sick of reviews with typos and frankly inexcusable grammatical errors. When teachers grade papers, we assume the challenge of weighing the quality of ideas as well as assessing how well a student utilizes the language (ahem, and grammar). If a reviewer is assuming the responsibility of assigning a grade, he/she could do us the courtesy of editing their work. You know, so we all don't look like morons.

[ElektroDragon]

You got it.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the UGO branding go away to be replaced by 1up.
The content doesn't change, but the names will. This never was about the "talent" on the 1up side of the fence.
The sad thing is that we really are losing the gaming journalism genre.

1up is gone.
Gamespot sells their reviews.
GiantBomb is underfunded.
The Escapist is not American, so releases are not the same schedule.
GamesRadar seems to be slow to update.
Joystiq is low quality.
GamesIndustry is not consumer focused.
Xplay had potential, but G4 ruins it.

The rest are just blogs or message boards like EVAV. We aggregate info but don't have the clout to get it 1st person.

You forgot IGN and Kotaku. Maybe Kotaku is just a blog, but then so is Joystiq really. IGN though, is huge.

[Flatpicker]

You forgot IGN and Kotaku. Maybe Kotaku is just a blog, but then so is Joystiq really. IGN though, is huge.

I included Joystiq because it owned by AOL. I did forget about IGN though.
I don't go there and it slipped my mind.

[Tempest261]

I went to UGO's site for the first time and saw their "BABE OF THE DAY" section and I then went elsewhere. I mean, I love babes as much as the next guy, but gamers will forever be treated like idiotic frat boys or 30 year old dorks living in their mom's basement as long as sites like that flourish.

No thanks, UGO. How about you lay off your staff instead.

[jacktion]

No blame should lie with UGO. 1up EGM and Ziff Davis fucked up their own affairs and UGO just picked up the tattered pieces.

I used to check out the podcasts and articles and news from 1up and EGM but eventually I got the feeling that it was just a bunch of stupid kids running around in an office building getting drunk while acting immaturely. Is it really any surprise that they went out of business?

If they could have brought in an adult to run things while keeping the personalities that some people love, (i.e. shane, etc...) then maybe they could have cut costs and produced interesting content.

I for one got sick of listening to podcasts of drunk people shrieking randomly into the microphone and hurting my f-ing ears. Good riddance.

[Grumsh]

I wonder what it is about this particular industry (gaming) that makes it so hard to maintain a viable business-plan around journalism/reporting? I have my suspicions as to the reasons (none of which are directed particularly at 1UP or EGM):


* the average age of the typical gamer is 35, (http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp) but the content of many gaming sites and/or magazines is, frankly, incredibly adolescent/immature, poorly written, and badly sourced.




Maturity is the big factor for me (hence why I seem to generally gravitate towards Evilavatar.com. Generally this site attracts a more mature gamer on the average). Another site I enjoy for a more mature crowd is Arstechnica.com, granted its more of a tech site vs. a pure gaming site, but it does list gaming material/info.

As for magazines and maturity its a pretty barren landscape. Gameinformer is actually done decently, but I am always leary of their reviews seeing who their parent company is. Also Play magazine is pretty decent maturity-wise, but it is laced with too much fanboy-ism so I stopped subscribing.