Dan "Shoe" Hsu Leaves 1UP

[Short Round]

As for here, long-time 1UP.com Editor-in-Chief and current 1UP Network site director Sam Kennedy will be taking over my role as Editorial Director. The group's in excellent hands with this guy. I've been working with Sam for years. He's smart, enthusiastic...and not addicted to Achievements, so he should be able to get a lot more done here than I was able to.


Check out his blog. (http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8697326&publicUserId=5379799)


What is happening to 1UP? With Shoe leaving and GFW closing shop, all in the period of one week, it doesn't paint a pretty picture.

[Scorch]

Wow. He's been with them for years.. this is weird.

[dmaul1114]

Yeah, very odd. Especially since he just recently moved from EGM Editor in Chief to the 1up Position.

[ryanbph]

maybe he is seeing the writting on the wall and left before egm went the way of games for windows...

[hiccupleftovers]

Holy shit! I'm speechless right now. I never thought he'd leave 1up/EGM. It's basically the house - er..magazine - that "Shoe" built. He's pretty much synonymous with them. I wonder where he's going. He could start up a gaming site similar to Kotaku or TechCrunch (please go work for Michael Arrington and start an online magazine conglemerate like the Gawker media group) and steal a lot of thunder from them. EGm has to be out of their minds for letting him go.....hmm...actually...he could go take the position over at Gamespot and bring that site some semblance of their former self

[dmaul1114]

maybe he is seeing the writting on the wall and left before egm went the way of games for windows...

He'd already left EGM a couple months back, is/was the top dog for the 1up gaming sites currently.

[Moxio]

Wow, that was unexpected.

[bigtymer]

Whoa...The whole of 1up is in some sort of turmoil. I bet this won't be the last big loss for them in the upcoming weeks, I can't see how the whole GFW crew will stay around after all the ragging they did about online only stuff on the podcast this week. I don't think that EGM will fold but I am not a huge fan of the new EIC, Mielke, and it seems that with all the ZD chapter 11 stuff going on there will be some cut backs (I know chapter 11 isnt the same as chapter 7 but it still means they want some protection from creditors).

[trunks982]

i bet hes joining Jeff's crew.

[jollydwarf]

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3790497#post3790497

Aw, yeah.

[InuFaye]

Gamers.com revival.

[taint mcgee]

Wtf. Is it just common place to leave video game jobs. Everyone from the 1up show is gone. People keep leaving gamespot. People are now leavin 1up and egm. It makes me sad, you become accustom to peoples personalities and styles then they are no longer there. Its like watching magnum PI then all of a sudden Tom Selleck has no mustache.

[Dark Slayer120]

People care about 1up?

[jollydwarf]

We need better review sites, says I.

"And you won't get 'em, cause we don't want 'em," says hardball-playing publishers and petulant fanfucks who can't stand to hear anything less that 100% undiluted gushing. You might have seen a few here.

Oh, people will try, but they'll stay on the fringes and not get many hits. And if they do start getting hits, start being potential marketing tools for publishers, it won't be long before "it's back...where ya started...here we go 'round again...." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEw0ZYlpYXE)

[javeryh]

Hmmm... I liked that guy. Oh well.

[gunm]

maybe he is seeing the writting on the wall and left before egm went the way of games for windows...

I'm inclined to agree, even though he claims that's not the case. I'm guessing he found another/better job elsewhere...

[blueshinra]

Hmmm... I liked that guy. Oh well.Yeah, that pretty much sums things up for me as well. He's one of the better game journalists out there, and this comes as a bit of a surprise, but aside from a couple of podcasts, I don't follow 1UP all that often.

[Metalic]

I remember my first EGM had shoe in it. I always thought of him as the EGM guy. Sad day.

[SL4IN]

Wow this sucks. Alongside Garnett Lee and Shane, Dan was the only other person over at 1up I liked.

[Short Round]

It's definitely a sad situation; I always pictured Shoe as the face of EGM, and 1UP.

[Chacrana]

A yo what the fuck? Shoe's been there forever... that's just weird he'd up and leave like that...

[XxFuRy2Xx]

This one definitely surprised me. Certainly doesn't paint a pretty picture for 1UP's future.

[rocksolidaudio]

He'd already left EGM a couple months back, is/was the top dog for the 1up gaming sites currently.

actually, he was editorial director for the 1UP Network, which includes EGM. just to clarify.

[Ugamer_X]

rocksolidaudio has a Dan Hsu shrine hidden under his beard.

[jbroush99]

EGM is going bankrupt because half of their subscribers are CAGs that have free subscriptions through 2039!

[Short Round]

Hey rocksolidaudio, great job on your recent 1UP Yours appearance. Oh, and if you would be so kind, could you tell us where the hell you're actually from?

[bsesb2003]

EGM is nowhere near as good as it used to be IMHO. The mag is much smaller -- absolutely tiny. I prefer GameInformer or the UK Games magazine nowadays.

I always enjoyed Shoe's reviews and writing.

[olde_english]

I lost much respect for Shoe after the whole bad Assassin's Creed review=Ubisoft backlash thing. It's one thing to say that a game sucks, offend some people, and then tell the readers what happened... it's a whole other thing to crow about it, telling everyone who will listen about integrity and not caving to publishers and their filthy lucre, only to subsequently stick your tongue up Nintendo's proverbial bunghole by having multiple collectible covers for SSB:B a month or two later. Whatever. I'll stick to Edge where they display their Namco/Rare/Lionhead bias proudly.

[bobo2k4]

Unexpected but working 11 years anywhere is a long time. Maybe he wanted some change?

[hawkhogan]

EGM is going bankrupt because half of their subscribers are CAGs that have free subscriptions through 2039!

LOL!

[hiccupleftovers]

EGM is nowhere near as good as it used to be IMHO. The mag is much smaller -- absolutely tiny. I prefer GameInformer or the UK Games magazine nowadays.

I always enjoyed Shoe's reviews and writing.

I just got my free subscription in (after having to pay for a year), but there's practically no content in it anymore. It's a ton of ads and very little content.

[rocksolidaudio]

Hey rocksolidaudio, great job on your recent 1UP Yours appearance. Oh, and if you would be so kind, could you tell us where the hell you're actually from?

thank you much sir. and my origins remain a mystery, though the info is out there (they involve a meteor).

I lost much respect for Shoe after the whole bad Assassin's Creed review=Ubisoft backlash thing. It's one thing to say that a game sucks, offend some people, and then tell the readers what happened... it's a whole other thing to crow about it, telling everyone who will listen about integrity and not caving to publishers and their filthy lucre, only to subsequently stick your tongue up Nintendo's proverbial bunghole by having multiple collectible covers for SSB:B a month or two later. Whatever. I'll stick to Edge where they display their Namco/Rare/Lionhead bias proudly.

i will never understand why people think of the Ubisoft editorial as a bad thing. and i'm not sure what you mean about the SS:BB covers...are you implying they affected the review?

[Roufuss]

EGM is going bankrupt because half of their subscribers are CAGs that have free subscriptions through 2039!

Shit, with the quality of the mag these days, I'd imagine the only subscribers ARE the free ones.

The mag seems to get skinnier every month, and this month was full of reviews for games that are mostly already out... not to mention I read all about Socom 3 before the mag even came in =/

Shoe was one of the main reasons I cared about EGM, though.

[fart_bubble]

not to mention I read all about Socom 3 before the mag even came in =/

and there is the reason why print media is dying

[Roufuss]

and there is the reason why print media is dying

Well, to it's credit, Game Informer always manages to keep a lid on its exclusives until the magazine is actually in people's hands. PC Gamer did, too, with Red Alert 3.

I read shit about Socom 3 on 1up before the mag had even shipped, and Maxis themselves along with other sites already had tons of information up on Sims 3 before Games for Windows covered it in the magazine.

It also seems like EGM never has any real exclusives... all the information I read in the mag is usually the stuff that was on the internet two - three weeks ago.

[TC]

Always liked Dan. Seemed like a no bullshit kind of guy. Best of luck.

[thorbahn3]

My guess is that Shoe either got offered a better job, saw the writing on the wall or figured he'd try to get a different job and could always go back to EGM like he did when gamer.com died.

But with print media slowly dieing and ZD's current situation, I doubt EGM will be under Ziff's control for much longer. I mean, we are talking about a company that use to publish XBN, GMR, Gamenow, GFW and OPM. And now there is only one. :(

[DQT]

We need better review sites, says I.

"And you won't get 'em, cause we don't want 'em," says hardball-playing publishers and petulant fanfucks who can't stand to hear anything less that 100% undiluted gushing. You might have seen a few here.

Oh, people will try, but they'll stay on the fringes and not get many hits. And if they do start getting hits, start being potential marketing tools for publishers, it won't be long before "it's back...where ya started...here we go 'round again...." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEw0ZYlpYXE)

rocksolidaudio pointed this out in a letter to the cagcast. Until the community grows up that is exactly the scenario that will continue to play out. I wholeheartedly agree.

How the hell did you get that prediction? I don't think they'll be hit with a scandal editorially, because they do have veterans in their staff to maintain a solid environment.

[Richlough]

Wow .

[donkeydrop]

The move to 1up was implied to be a promotion, but I think it's pretty clear Hsu was pushed out of EGM and wasn't popular with management in the company. A lot of people have been leaving Ziff-Davis because they are almost bankrupt, but the fact that he doesnt even have a new job to go to makes it clear that this was in effect a firing. Happens all the time; want to get rid of someone without making a big fuss, you transfer them to a new position that they don't want, sit back and wait for them to quit.

[jollydwarf]

How the hell did you get that prediction?

The Force? I turned a failsafe key?

No, really, it was a combination of seeing a trend developing at 1up and my ability to be correct roughly 15% of the time on this board and gloat about it when I am.

P.S. For what it's worth, this is the second year running I've predicted Wombat leaving the podcast. Last year it was totally a sincere prognostication, this year I'm...half-joking.

[yukine]

The hell? Wasn't he just promoted?

[tangytangerine]

From the sounds of his last EGM editorial, he didn't exactly sound thrilled moving into to the "videogames" editor for 1up. Mostly likely, he quit cause it wasn't working. Although it makes me wonder if it was a result of ZD filing bankruptcy.

As for EGM, I give it 9 months before Milkman totally destroys any respect that magazine has left. In his first editorial, he claims GMR was a tremendous success. Uh yeah, wasn't it canned shortly after the 2 year mark? Even then all it did was rip-off Game Informer. So don't be surprised if EGM moves "to the digital era" before the end of the year.

[The Mana Knight]

Yeah, I heard the news and it doesn't really surprise me. Although I've known him for quite a while, many gaming news media are seeing people leave all of a sudden (plus 1UP did declare for Chapter 11).

[Koggit]

I think it's pretty clear Hsu was pushed out of EGM

BS

I think it's clear he left by choice.

$20 says Dan writes for Jeff on GiantBomb.com this summer. Mark my words.

[Gentlegamer]

We need better review sites, says I.

"And you won't get 'em, cause we don't want 'em," says hardball-playing publishers and petulant fanfucks who can't stand to hear anything less that 100% undiluted gushing. You might have seen a few here.

Oh, people will try, but they'll stay on the fringes and not get many hits. And if they do start getting hits, start being potential marketing tools for publishers, it won't be long before "it's back...where ya started...here we go 'round again...." (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEw0ZYlpYXE)One of my favorite amature review sites: www.videogamecritic.net

[dmaul1114]

Here's Sam Kennedy's (Shu's replacement at 1up) blog response.

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8697952&publicUserId=4561231


I agree with others that things aren't looking good for 1up or EGM. I don't care about the site much, never really bothered with gaming sites beyond the forums here much. EGM I'd like to see stick around as I respect their reviews and it's a good mag to read on the shitter with the short reviews etc. And that's about the extent of my interest in reading about games since I just get most of my info, impressions etc. here. And even then don't use them much as I mainly just stick to the AAA releases in genre's I like with the limited gaming time I have these days.

[yukine]

One thing is clear, there's very little future in video game journalism.

[DesertEagleXIX]

Here's my 'Tyson Rios' conspiracy ;)

EGM has been under fire from advertisers/publishers for some time, while Hsu has been advancing 'journalistic integrity'; He stood my MacDonald through the whole Too Human-preview incident, for one example.

After the MLB 08: The Show Review, Sony got pissed and pulled some of their ads and access. In the magazine biz, access is nearly everything.

I'm thinking a higher-up spoke with Hsu, who stood his ground and quit. He'll be picked up soon. Giant Bomb sounds about right.

[DesertEagleXIX]

One thing is clear, there's very little future in video game journalism.

Some might say there's not much journalism in the present...

[Matt Young]

He'd already left EGM a couple months back, is/was the top dog for the 1up gaming sites currently.

No. He was no longer EIC but was still with EGM in the latest issue.

[tangytangerine]

Here's Sam Kennedy's (Shu's replacement at 1up) blog response.

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8697952&publicUserId=4561231

So from the sounds of that blog, Shoe left after the issue that he was no longer EiC went to print. Just to make sure that nothing was screwed up after he left. Also makes it look like he didn't want the position from the start.

[dmaul1114]

No. He was no longer EIC but was still with EGM in the latest issue.

Various 1up staffers contribute to EGM. Doesn't mean they are technically on the EGM staff. The site and magazine are affiliated, but they do have separate staffs.

[trq]

i will never understand why people think of the Ubisoft editorial as a bad thing. and i'm not sure what you mean about the SS:BB covers...are you implying they affected the review?

I don't understand this, either -- there were multiple SSBM covers, so there must have been Nintendo payola? Huh?

I also don't understand the "Gerstmann as Last Bastion of Game Journalism Integrity," but whatever. I guess it goes to show that writing previews of video-games is "journalism" about as much as what Jenna Jameson does is "acting."

[dmaul1114]

Yeah, multiple covers has nothing to do with any payola schemes. It's just a way for magazines to rake in dollars from collectors and fanboys who will want every cover.

[yukine]

Nintendo wouldn't of even needed to pay. Who wouldn't want tons of exclusive advertising for one of the most anticipated games of the year?

[SL4IN]

BS

I think it's clear he left by choice.

$20 says Dan writes for Jeff on GiantBomb.com this summer. Mark my words.

I sure hope not.

[Chase]

Some might say there's not much journalism in the present...

I blame the Internet - and that damned Perez Hilton.

But yes, when I first heard about Shoe leaving, I got sad. Really sad. Now I'm just a angry at the Ziff-Davis/EGM/1Up collective. Way to get rid of your best person. Fantastic work at pissing off people.

[jollydwarf]

The supposedly 'obvious' scenario of "Shoe" going to Giant Bomb is the flipside of the same situation where the freshly-fired Gerstmann was a 'no-brainer' for 1up.com, which means it won't happen, either.

Let's face it: the console makers and prominent publishers are going to strangle the integrity out of each and every major gaming site out there, if they haven't already. It's the new paradigm, sadly. Those who want honest appraisals will just dig deeper, hit whatever blogs are 'cool' at that point in time, and/or cut through the PR bullshit, and the insufferable GameFAQs types and thirtysomethings that don't have time to do anything but skim Gamespot once a week (right after hitting ESPN.com and the Drudge Report) will continue to just be spoon-fed whatever the companies want them to hear.

Don't think it works like this? See: Assassin's Creed and subsequent fulfillment by masses of self-designated 'AAA' franchise. No, the guy watching SportsCenter has no idea who Jade Raymond is ("That a porn star??"), but he sure as hell saw the endless ads and inferred that "Hell, this must be a great game!" They're working it on both ends.

[DQT]

Why would the head of 1up.com leave so he can write in a blog that has yet to establish itself in the gaming community? That makes no sense.

I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and take his word that he really needs a break. I do believe he probably got a job that's probably more hand-on with games like quite a few other games journalists.

[dmaul1114]

Why would the head of 1up.com leave so he can write in a blog that has yet to establish itself in the gaming community? That makes no sense.

I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt and take his word that he really needs a break. I do believe he probably got a job that's probably more hand-on with games like quite a few other games journalists.

It's either that, or those saying that the higher ups wanted the reviews to stop being so harsh to quit pissing off advertisers (see the Assassin's Creed review, Ubisoft pulling ads and advance copies, and Shoe's editorial in response) led him to resign.

Certainly seemed like in the last EGM some reviews got scores higher than their text of complaints seemed to warrant. i.e. Okami with all the bitching about the controls (even listed in the "the bad" section) Or Frontlines saying the single player is too short and the online "a glitchy mess" yest still getting two B- scores (the C+ is ok).

[Quikjr]

Sad to see Dan leave 1UP, he was a pretty cool dude. Not to mention that prank he pull with Bungie on that big dude was seriously funny.:)

[trq]

Let's face it: the console makers and prominent publishers are going to strangle the integrity out of each and every major gaming site out there, if they haven't already. It's the new paradigm, sadly. Those who want honest appraisals will just dig deeper, hit whatever blogs are 'cool' at that point in time, and/or cut through the PR bullshit, and the insufferable GameFAQs types and thirtysomethings that don't have time to do anything but skim Gamespot once a week (right after hitting ESPN.com and the Drudge Report) will continue to just be spoon-fed whatever the companies want them to hear.

Don't think it works like this? See: Assassin's Creed and subsequent fulfillment by masses of self-designated 'AAA' franchise. No, the guy watching SportsCenter has no idea who Jade Raymond is ("That a porn star??"), but he sure as hell saw the endless ads and inferred that "Hell, this must be a great game!" They're working it on both ends.

I think you're giving gaming outlets too much of a free pass. They want to hang on to their integrity? No problem -- they should cut loose the things that publishers can hold over their heads: previews and ad space. Look, we all know previews are bullshit (or at least we should ) -- they're nothing more than PR pieces, since the writer is typically loathe to bad-mouth a work in progress, leaving nothing more than positive platitudes that feed the hype around games that people are literally predisposed to like. If gaming outlets didn't need to be first with coverage, even at the expense of having to kiss ass to obtain it before their competitors, there would literally be nothing to indebt them to publishers. And ads? Easy. Just don't sell them to the companies you cover. Court "lifestyle" ads instead -- they'd all be Axe body spray and Mountain Dew, but that's better than letting EA control your editorial content. Oh, it would work -- it's basically a union for gaming outlets. But they have to care about the end product enough to do things the hard way.

[dmaul1114]

While those are good ideas on the surface, I don't think either would work.

Lack of previews, for one, would hurt as people expect them. EGM has had hardly any for a while and people are always bitching about it. People know they aren't reviews and aren't meant to be statements on quality. People just like to know what's coming out and previews are the mechanism for that.

As for the ads, I don't think they could get enough revenue for having only non-gaming ads. People pay to advertise to their target market. They can get some stuff like bodyspray, mountain dew etc. that at least is aimed at males in the gaming age group, but I doubt they could get enough of those lifestyle type non-gaming ads to keep their ad revenues the same or better.

[SkippyDoorknob]

Rather than joining up with Gerstmann at Giant Bomb, what are the odds he lands at What They Play with other former 1-Upper John Davison?

[InuFaye]

Still alive, are we?
INFRACSHUNS.

[Skylander7]

You guys are really missing the business side of this:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a6bISm6.ln5E&refer=home

Ziff Davis filed for bankruptcy last month.

Dan, being the editor and chief (and a highly unusual opposition to the pressures of the industry to provide positive reviews in exchange for advertising dollars) at the largest printed source of gaming industry material, was in a position to guide consumers to purchase or not purchase product. EGM is owned by Ziff Davis megacorp. Well, by providing honest authorship in reviewing.. that meant reviewing final versions of games.. thus, fewer reviews than the competitors.

So what do you do when you are a bankrupt media publisher with advertisers holding wads of cash and asking for positive product promotion in a media with a high number of readers? Well.. sell out of course.

Game reviews can make or break a game's mainstream sales. Numerous developers have admitted that in interviews. So now.. they'll pretty much turn into a Gamepro 2.0.. who knows, maybe they'll even get a new editor in chief that believes that calling himself a Major and assuming the appearance of a Battletoad will give his journalism credibility.

On a side note.. I find it very interesting that Games for Windows was shut down. Goes to show how quickly PC gaming is losing the faith of retailers, advertisers, and general reduction in market. Hardware manufacturers and developers have priced their consumers out of the hobby and become that niche... people have woken up to the cost of participation vs. that in console gaming.

This is purely theoretical.. but what if Maxim expanded their video game coverage to a few pages, and Hsu was put in charge of it? A more mainstream magazine that has a large subscription base.. it would probably be a decent bump in pay too.

[trq]

While those are good ideas on the surface, I don't think either would work.

Lack of previews, for one, would hurt as people expect them. EGM has had hardly any for a while and people are always bitching about it. People know they aren't reviews and aren't meant to be statements on quality. People just like to know what's coming out and previews are the mechanism for that.

As for the ads, I don't think they could get enough revenue for having only non-gaming ads. People pay to advertise to their target market. They can get some stuff like bodyspray, mountain dew etc. that at least is aimed at males in the gaming age group, but I doubt they could get enough of those lifestyle type non-gaming ads to keep their ad revenues the same or better.

Both good points, but to add some final comments:

1) Oh yeah. People love previews. I actually deleted a whole paragraph from what I wrote about how the fans are ultimately responsible for the situation, because they just love to be told that some game is gonna be awesome. But after that, I'd disagree: sure, people know they're not reviews, but when they hear nothing but glowing praise, they frequently assume that's the whole story. That, my friend, is how hype begins, and that's a) not helpful to the industry, because it leads to the rush to cover games early, which leads to the power being placed firmly in the hands of the publishers, and b) not good for fans, because one-sided previews -- and there are no other kind -- are largely what convince people they need these games in the first place.

2) Actually not true about the ads. Some smaller print outlets would have trouble in the way you describe, but not buying ads from the very people you cover is common practice among places where "journalistic integrity" is valued. It's exactly this situation that defines "conflict of interest." And if we're going to keep calling game reviewers "journalists," isn't it time we held them to journalistic standards?

[yukine]

You might have something there.

[dmaul1114]

Both good points, but to add some final comments:

1) Oh yeah. People love previews. I actually deleted a whole paragraph from what I wrote about how the fans are ultimately responsible for the situation, because they just love to be told that some game is gonna be awesome. But after that, I'd disagree: sure, people know they're not reviews, but when they hear nothing but glowing praise, they frequently assume that's the whole story. That, my friend, is how hype begins, and that's a) not helpful to the industry, because it leads to the rush to cover games early, which leads to the power being placed firmly in the hands of the publishers, and b) not good for fans, because one-sided previews -- and there are no other kind -- are largely what convince people they need these games in the first place.

2) Actually not true about the ads. Some smaller print outlets would have trouble in the way you describe, but not buying ads from the very people you cover is common practice among places where "journalistic integrity" is valued. It's exactly this situation that defines "conflict of interest." And if we're going to keep calling game reviewers "journalists," isn't it time we held them to journalistic standards?

On previews, the key is for them to just provide screen shots and a description of the game--what genre it is, the setting/story and things of that nature and not to hype it up, make any quality judgements etc.

The problem is most previews go beyond that and turn into fluff pieces.

As for ads, we'll just have to agree to disagree. There are only so many non-gaming products out there willing to pay the same as a gaming company to get there ads in a magazine read only by gamers.

While it would be good for integrity, it's just not very feasible for specialized magazines. It's easier for magazines with a more general user base, tougher for one skewed to younger males--and to be sterotypical younger male geeks.

[DQT]

It's either that, or those saying that the higher ups wanted the reviews to stop being so harsh to quit pissing off advertisers (see the Assassin's Creed review, Ubisoft pulling ads and advance copies, and Shoe's editorial in response) led him to resign.


What would shoe resigning do for the higher ups? Ubisoft still won't send them send them review copies, and the guy who reviewed Assassin's Creed still works there.

I really think everyone is trying to turn this into another Gerstmann scandal when there isn't one. I do agree that they probably have to deal with tons of PR bullshit, and that would be good incentive to want to quit.

Edit: About the ads, I think they could do nongaming ads and still make money. Comic books have no problem receiving ad revenue from tv shows, movies, snacks and other items their target demographic buy. Gaming magazines, which is a more mainstream topic should be able to do as well if not better.

[dmaul1114]

What would shoe resigning do for the higher ups? Ubisoft still won't send them send them review copies, and the guy who reviewed Assassin's Creed still works there.


Maybe they wanted Shoe to not stand up to publishers so much. Maybe not so much wanting him to soften reviews, but maybe to at least not speak out so much in his editorials.

He wasn't willing so he resigned.

Who knows, that's just one possibility and there may be nothing to it like you note.

Whatever the case game sites and magazines are getting to be even more of a joke than the used to be...and they've always been a joke since they're largely filled with gamers trying to write rather than writers who happen to like games.

I quit reading any gaming sites a couple years ago, EGM was the only mag I still got and that was just shiiter reading the past few years anyway. I'm pretty much to the point of just buying the big AAA games in genres I like and keeping up with them on these forums these days.