1up ours

It's been obvious to anyone paying attention that publishing company Ziff Davis has been in dire financial trouble for years. It's also been no secret that they have been trying to offload the 1up network for quite some time.

Even so Ziff's gutting and subsequent sale, of 1up hurts like hell. I really fail to see the point of UGO buying it if they aren't going to hire the large number of Fired Ziff employee's that made 1up stand out from the crowd of online gaming news sites as a source of trustworthy information and entertainment. Sure, there are still good people there like Sam Kennedy and Scott Sharkey, but it was the crazy mix of Talents that made 1up so great.

It was the people that have made me a religious listener to Podcasts such as 1up yours, 1up FM, Retronaunts, CGW/GFW/LAN party, and viewer of The 1Up show.

According to Joystiq the following people were laid off:

Adrian Frieg

Amy Mishra

Amy Moran

Andrea Garcia

Andrew Fitch

Andrew "Skip" Pfister

Anthony Gallegos

Cesar Quintero

Christina Rosa

CoyLou Steel

Derek Chinn

Doug Parsons

Eric Ellis

Giancarlo Varanini

Greg Ford

James "Milkman" Mielke

Jason Bertrand

Jason Wilson

Jervilyn Jaramillo

Justin Frechette (J Fresh)

Leslie Gelfand

Marci Yamaguchi

Matt Chandronait

May Tong

Meredith Stowe

Michael Donahoe

Monique Convertito

Ndubuisi Madu

Nick Suttner

Norris Boothe

Philip Kollar

Rey Serrano

Robert Bowen

Rosemary Pinkham

Ryan O'Donnell

Ryan Scott

Shane Bettenhausen

Simon Cox

Tammy Ross

Tipler Ubbelohde

In a gut wrenchingly sad blog entry, one of the few "survivors" Sam Kennedy says that we shouldn't be angry at UGO, or even Ziff. I suppose so. there is plenty of blame to go around, from both inside and outside. Believe it or not it could have been worse.

I hope that if the podcasts return and manage to capture the same qualities, that they adopt an inexpensive subscription model. I personally would have gladly paid a monthly fee to keep 1up Yours and the 1 up show around.

To all those who lost their jobs, I wish you the best of luck. To those who have been such a big part of my week these past 2 years, you will be missed.