about 1Up.

Upon hearing that 1Up was purchased by the Hearst Corporation last night I felt much as if a good friend had died, or to be more specific, I felt like I'd been sucker-punched in the gut with a sledgehammer. After several years with 1Up always always being there for me when I called on it to entertain or inform me, finding out that not only had the website and magazine been purchased, but that the majority of the writers who made it all what it is had been laid off was a hell of a shock. Of course how I felt must be nothing compared to how the forty or so talented employees, (many of them writers I look up to) felt upon learning that they had lost their jobs.

Frankly, what a fucking disaster. As Jeff Green, (formerly of GFW and 1Up), said on his blog, 1Up will not be the same anymore. 1Up was made what it is by the people who worked there and they are gone so 1Up as I lovingly knew it is dead. What 1Up becomes may well be worthwhile but it won't be the same. I don't care if anyone tries to tell me it's "still the same 1Up," it just isn't. In fact, where 1Up is now reminds me of the son in the movie Changeling.

So here's a toast to 1Up and all the folks who made it what it was. This comes from the heart:
Thank you all for being writers I can look up to and for people who understood the value of your community and for being champions of the value and relevance of video games. Thank you for entertaining, informing and interacting with all of your fans and readers. Thank you for not bending to the will of the lowest common denominator straight to the very end. Thank you all and the best of luck in all your endeavors.

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Former 1Up employees who are now without a job