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76-395: Computer Gaming World ( CGW ) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983 , it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through the 1990s and became one of the largest dedicated video game magazines, reaching around 500 pages by 1997. In the early 2000s its circulation

152-639: A 40-something audience and beyond", in comparison to more youthful rivals such as PC Gamer UK and PC Zone . In July 2000, Ziff Davis sold its publishing arm in Europe to Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen (VNU), including three magazines in Germany, three in France and four in the United Kingdom. PC Gaming World migrated with these publications. At the time, The Register reported that VNU saw PC Gaming World as

228-467: A CD-ROM based magazine with a circulation of 150,000 at its peak. The website was updated weekly during its active period from 1994–1996. Another publication, Intelligent Gamer Online ("IG Online"), debuted a complete web site in April 1995, commencing regular updates to the site on a daily basis despite its "bi-weekly" name. Intelligent Gamer had been publishing online for years prior to the popularization of

304-475: A circulation of 600,000 copies per issue by December 1985, increasing to 1 million in 1986. By 1992, British video game magazines had a circulation of 1 million copies per month in the United Kingdom. During the early 1990s, the practice of video game journalism began to spread east from Europe and west of Japan alongside the emergence of video game markets in countries like China and Russia. Russia's first consumer-oriented gaming magazine, Velikij Drakon ,

380-532: A collection of podcasts hosted by 1Up.com dealing with various aspects of gaming. Most of the shows, like 4 Guys 1Up , were about games and general gaming culture. Others were more specific, such as The Sports Game Guy's Sports Anomaly , which focused on sports games. The network also featured Retronauts , an audio retrospective series that chronicled various retro games and game series. The network had shown significant growth, with several new shows having been introduced in 2007–2008. However, in early 2009 1Up.com

456-413: A fraction of the game's content, but waiting any longer beyond the embargo date will harm viewership of their site. A good deal of information in the video game industry is kept under wraps by developers and publishers until the game's release; even information regarding the selection of voice actors is kept under high confidential agreements. However, rumors and leaks of such information still fall into

532-447: A guest appearance by Erik Wolpaw , formerly of Old Man Murray . For many years, CGW never assigned scores to reviews, preferring to let readers rate their favorite games through a monthly poll. Scores were finally introduced in 1994, but beginning in April 2006, CGW stopped assigning quantifiable scores to its reviews. In May of the same year, CGW changed the name of its review section to "Viewpoint", and began evaluating games on

608-528: A more diverse combination of factors than a its content. Elements considered include the communities' reaction to a game, developers' continued support through patches, and whether a game's online component continued to grow. The reviews were formerly based on a simple five-star structure, with five stars marking a truly outstanding game, and one star signalling virtual worthlessness. Three games, Postal² by Robert Coffey, Mistmare by Jeff Green, and Dungeon Lords by Denice Cook "...form an unholy trinity of

684-399: A negative review. In 2007, Jeff Gerstmann was fired from GameSpot after posting a review on Kane & Lynch: Dead Men that was deemed too negative by its publisher, which also advertised heavily on the website. Due to non-disclosure agreements , Gerstmann was not able to talk about the topic publicly until 2012. In a 2012 article for Eurogamer , Robert Florence criticised

760-538: A new name, Listen UP . However, with Lee's departure from 1UP in October 2009, the show would end, its final episode airing October 9, 2009. Retronauts also produced the supplement video podcast, Bonus Stage, which looked at specific retro titles more closely. After a long hiatus, Bonus Stage was finally updated in September 2009. Retronauts returned to producing video content with Retronauts Lunch Break, though this segment

836-451: A poor match for its business model, which left the magazine's future uncertain. The publisher sold PC Gaming World to Computec Media a month after the purchase, citing its lack of synergy with VNU's existing brand. This transition was set to be completed in October 2000. According to Golem.de , Computec planned to fold PC Gaming World together with its own PC Gameplay magazine, which it launched in 2000. PC Gaming World had closed by

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912-401: A print magazine, 1Up.com also hosted special week-long online cover stories that presented each day a new in-depth feature story, interview with the developers, game screenshot gallery, game video footage, and video of the game studio and creators. On February 21, 2013, Ziff Davis announced it would be winding down the site, along with sister sites GameSpy and UGO.com . 1Up Network was

988-630: A time when print magazines were struggling with the growing popularity of the Internet. Jones had been the editor-in-chief of CNET Gamecenter , and had before that been a staffer at CGW between 1994 and 1996. He was replaced by Jeff Green in the summer of 2001. On August 2, 2006, Ziff Davis and Microsoft jointly announced that CGW would be replaced with Games for Windows: The Official Magazine . The new magazine replaced CGW as part of Microsoft's Games for Windows initiative. In their press release, Ziff Davis indicated that much of CGW's core content and

1064-725: A total of 7438 pages covering 11 years of gaming. The archive was created by Stephane Racle, of the Computer Gaming World Museum, and is available in PDF format . Every issue was processed through optical character recognition , which enabled the creation of a 3+ million word master index. Although Ziff Davis has taken its CGW Archive site offline, the magazines can be downloaded from the Computer Gaming World Museum. CGW featured reviews, previews, news, features, letters, strategy, and columns dealing with computer games . While console games are occasionally touched on, these are primarily

1140-462: A year's subscription of six issues. These early bimonthly issues were typically 40–50 pages in length, written in a newsletter style, including submissions by game designers such as Joel Billings (SSI), Dan Bunten (Ozark Software), and Chris Crawford . Also, early covers were not always directly related to the magazine's contents, but rather featured work by artist Tim Finkas. In January/February 1986 CGW increased its publication cycle to nine times

1216-403: A year, and the editorial staff included popular writers such as Scorpia , Charles Ardai , and M. Evan Brooks. CGW survived the video game crash of 1983 , which badly hurt the market; by summer 1985 it was the only survivor of 18 color magazines covering computer games in 1983. In autumn 1987 CGW introduced a quarterly newsletter called Computer Game Forum (CGF), which was published during

1292-557: Is a model of New Journalism applied to video game journalism . A 2010 article in the New Yorker claimed that the term New Games Journalism "never caught on, but the impulse—that video games deserved both observational and personal approaches—is quite valid." It cites author Tom Bissell and his book Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter as a good example of this type of gaming journalism. As retrogaming grew in popularity, so did reviews and examinations of older video games. This

1368-441: Is becoming increasingly significant. A year ago, I would have advised any developer to get in touch with as many press outlets as possible, as soon as possible. I still advise this now, but with the following caveat: You're doing so to get the attention of YouTubers." Rose interviewed several game developers and publishers and concluded that the importance of popular YouTube coverage was most pronounced for indie games, dwarfing that of

1444-502: Is primarily due to feelings of nostalgia to video games people have grown up with, which, according to professor Clay Routledge, may be more powerful than similar nostalgic emotions caused by other artforms, such as music. 1UP Network 1Up.com was an American entertainment website that focused on video games . Launched in 2003, 1Up.com provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused content. Like

1520-967: The Gamergate controversy that started in August 2014, both Destructoid and The Escapist tightened their disclosure and conflict of interest policies. Kotaku editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo said writers were no longer allowed to donate to Patreon campaigns of developers. Kotaku later disclosed that journalist Patricia Hernandez, who had written for them, was friends with developers Anna Anthropy and Christine Love , as well as being Anthropy's former housemate. Polygon announced that they would disclose previous and future Patreon contributions. Reviews performed by major video game print sources, websites, and mainstream newspapers that sometimes carry video game such as The New York Times and The Washington Post are generally collected for consumers at sites like Metacritic , Game Rankings , and Rotten Tomatoes . If

1596-530: The Origins Award for Best Professional Adventure Gaming Magazine of 1987 . The New York Times repeatedly praised CGW, placing it as one of the premier computer game publications of its time. In 1997 the newspaper called it "the leading computer game magazine", In 1999 "the bible of computer game purists", and in 2005 "one of the top computer game magazines". Ziff Davis also published a sister magazine to Computer Gaming World , entitled PC Gaming World , in

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1672-567: The Southern Baptist Convention ministry. A fan of computer games, he realized in Spring, 1981 that no magazine was dedicated to computer games. Although Sipe had no publishing experience, he formed Golden Empire Publications in June and found investors. He chose the name Computer Gaming World ( CGW ) instead of alternatives such as Computer Games or Kilobaud Warrior because he hoped that

1748-615: The 'user-submitted' model, where readers write stories that are moderated by an editorial team, is also popular. In recent times some of the larger independent sites have begun to be bought up by larger media companies, most often Ziff Davis Media , who now own a string of independent sites. In 2013–2014, IGN and GameSpot announced significant layoffs. According to a 2014 article by Mike Rose in Gamasutra : "The publicity someone like TotalBiscuit ... can bring you compared to mainstay consumer websites like IGN , GameSpot and Game Informer

1824-458: The 2014 Gamergate incident , and increased transparency measures. Additionally, new approaches to gaming criticism, like New Games Journalism , emphasize personal experiences and cultural context, while review aggregation sites such as Metacritic have become influential benchmarks for assessing a game’s success. The rise of video-oriented platforms has also shifted the influence from traditional game journalists to independent creators, underscoring

1900-545: The GFW Radio Penny Arcade Expo reunion, Jeff Green claimed that the deal with Microsoft allowed CGW/GFW to continue operating, and that if it had not occurred, Ziff Davis would have shut down CGW . Simultaneously with the release of the final CGW issue, Ziff Davis announced the availability of the CGW Archive, which features complete copies of the first 100 issues of CGW , as well as the two CGF issues, for

1976-457: The Metacritic score and subsequent effect on bonus payment schemes. Eurogamer , prior to 2014, were aware that they generally graded games on a scoring scale lower than other websites, and would pull down the overall Metacritic score. For this reason, the site dropped review scores in 2014, and their scores are no longer included in these aggregate scores. Kotaku also dropped review scores for

2052-484: The UK —caused Eurogamer to self-censor. Eurogamer's editor-in-chief Tom Bramwell censored the article, and Florence consequently retired from video games journalism. According to a July 2014 survey by Mike Rose in Gamasutra , approximately a quarter of high-profile YouTube gaming channels receive pay from the game publishers or developers for their coverage, especially those in the form of Let's Play videos. Following

2128-462: The United Kingdom. It was the region's third-largest computer game magazine by August 2000. In 1998, journalist Stuart Campbell described PC Gaming World as a publication with a predominantly American bent, thanks to its "sober, serious, text-heavy style". He considered it to be out of step with the British game audience. Campbell later called the magazine an "oddity" that was "clearly aimed primarily at

2204-542: The Ziff Davis layoffs that left more than 30 people out of a job, including the entire cast of Broken Pixels. Furthermore, Seanbaby noted that he caused controversy with "media watchdogs" by his use of the term "faggotiest" in the Spiderman 3 episode at the end of season one. Most fans assumed that the show would not continue and that the segments they filmed would never be released, but season 2 premiered on February 6, 2009, with

2280-511: The acquisition. The first episode of Season 1 debuted on September 9, 2008, with the crew playing Robocop for the original Xbox . Former 1UP and GFW editor Shawn Elliott made a guest appearance on the WWE Crush Hour episode during this season. At the end of the Season 1 finale, a teaser was shown announcing that the second season would be premiering January 6, 2009. However, that was the day of

2356-410: The best video game podcasts, for covering historic games with a strong selection of guest commentators. Retronauts was also included on Kotaku 's list of best gaming podcasts, who praised its cast and depth of coverage on each topic. Polygon also recommended Retronauts and its host, with Chris Plante saying "when it comes to retro video games, I trust no one more than Jeremy Parish." The 1UP Show

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2432-527: The dedicated gaming publications. David Auerbach wrote in Slate that the influence of the video games press is waning. "Game companies and developers are now reaching out directly to quasi-amateur enthusiasts as a better way to build their brands, both because the gamers are more influential than the gaming journalists, and because these enthusiasts have far better relationships with their audiences than gaming journalists do. ... Nintendo has already been shutting out

2508-427: The dynamic nature of video game journalism in the digital age. The first magazine to cover the arcade game industry was the subscription-only trade periodical , Play Meter magazine, which began publication in 1974 and covered the entire coin-operated entertainment industry (including the video game industry ). Consumer-oriented video game journalism began during the golden age of arcade video games , soon after

2584-450: The embargo as to be able to include specific criticism towards features that were marked off-limits in the embargo agreement, such as for 2013's SimCity . Additionally, modern lengthier games can offer more than 20 hours of content, and the amount of time journalists have to review these advance copies prior to the embargo date is limited. It has become a concern of these journalists that they are knowingly publishing reviews that cover only

2660-453: The entire staff will be transferred to the new magazine. Because of these announcements, Ziff Davis' actions appeared more on the order of a rebranding of CGW , rather than an actual cancellation. The final CGW -labeled issue was November 2006, for a total of 268 published editions. On April 8, 2008, 1UP Network announced the print edition of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine had ceased, and that all content would be moved online. At

2736-729: The first coverage of video games in Japan, with columns appearing in personal computer and manga magazines. The earliest journals exclusively covering video games emerged in late 1981, but early column-based coverage continued to flourish in North America and Japan with prominent examples like video game designer Yuji Horii 's early 1980s column in Weekly Shōnen Jump and Rawson Stovall 's nationally syndicated column, "The Vid Kid" running weekly ran from 1982 to 1992. The first consumer-oriented print magazine dedicated solely to video gaming

2812-465: The first half of 2001; Computec moved the publication's subscribers to PC Gameplay , which nevertheless struggled to grow its base. The company "relaunched" PC Gameplay as PC Gaming World in 2003, but did not release the new publication's subscriber count through the Audit Bureau of Circulations during the first half of that year. Writing for GamesIndustry.biz , Kristan Reed noted that this decision

2888-596: The first magazines entirely dedicated to video games began appearing in 1982, beginning with ASCII 's LOGiN , followed by several SoftBank publications and Kadokawa Shoten 's Comptiq . The first magazine dedicated to console games , or a specific video game console , was Tokuma Shoten 's Family Computer Magazine (also known as Famimaga ), which began in 1985 and was focused on Nintendo 's 8-bit Family Computer . This magazine later spawned famous imitators such as Famitsū (originally named Famicom Tsūshin ) in 1986 and Nintendo Power in 1988. Famimaga had

2964-546: The first two electronic video game magazines was the "first to be published regularly" online. Originally starting as a print fanzine in April 1992, Game Zero magazine, claims to have launched a web page in November 1994, with the earliest formal announcement of the page occurring in April 1995. Game Zero's web site was based upon a printed bi-monthly magazine based in Central Ohio with a circulation of 1500 that developed into

3040-399: The hands of video game journalists, often from anonymous sources from within game development companies, and it becomes a matter of journalistic integrity whether to publish this information or not. Kotaku has self-reported on the downsides of reporting unrevealed information and dealing with subsequent video game publisher backlash as a result. In 2009, the site published information about

3116-431: The information that you've been having to dig out of three or four or five (or six...). Get it." Page 6 reviewed Computer Gaming World and stated: "Quite apart from being an interesting read, you will get more out of your existing games and will have a much better idea of what to buy as your next piece of software. No other computer magazine that I can think of will give you reviews of such depth." In 1988, CGW won

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3192-454: The magazine to Ziff Davis —by then the magazine was so thick that a reader reported that the December issue's bulk slowed a thief who had stolen a shopping bag containing it—but continued on as publisher until 1995. The magazine kept growing through the 1990s, with the December 1997 issue weighing in at 500 pages. In January 1999, Wilson left the magazine and George Jones became editor-in-chief, at

3268-483: The magazine would both review games and serve as a trade publication for the industry. The first issue appeared in November, about the same as rivals Electronic Games and Softline (Sipe's religious background led to " Psalm 9:1–2 " appearing in each issue. His successor as editor, Johnny L. Wilson, was an evangelical Christian minister). The first issues of Computer Gaming World were published from Anaheim, California , and sold for $ 2.75 individually or $ 11 for

3344-582: The market for video game magazines in North America. Computer Gaming World (CGW) reported in a 1987 article that there were eighteen color magazines covering computer games before the crash but by 1984 CGW was the only surviving magazine in the region. Expanding on this in a discussion about the launch of the NES in North America, Nintendo of America's PR runner Gail Tilden noted that "I don't know that we got any coverage at that time that we didn't pay for". Video game journalism in Japan experienced less disruption as

3420-405: The more recognized examples, members of Obsidian Entertainment were to have gotten bonuses from Bethesda Softworks for their work on Fallout: New Vegas if they obtained a Metacritic score of 85 or better out of 100. After release, the game only obtained an 84 aggregate score from Metacritic, one point away, and Bethesda refused to pay them. Video game reviewers are aware of their impact on

3496-469: The most widely followed games like Counter-Strike , League of Legends , and Dota 2 . While self-made print fanzines about games have been around since the first home consoles, the rise of the internet gave independent gaming journalist a new platform. At first ignored by most major game publishers, it was not until the communities developed an influential and dedicated readership, and increasingly produced professional (or near-professional) writing that

3572-495: The music for the series being composed by Ryan O'Donnell. The show consisted of previews and reviews of video games as well as debates and discussions on videogame news. The podcast contained some scripted content, but mostly consisted of unscripted discussions. The 1UP Network was sold by Ziff Davis to the UGO Network on January 7, 2009, and two days later Matt Chandronait announced on 1UP.com that The1UP Show would be ending due to

3648-433: The nature of interactivity with video games creates unique challenges in how these embargos are executed. In agreements with publishers, media outlets will get advance copies of the game to prepare their review to have ready for this date. However, embargo agreement may include other terms such as specific content that may not be discussed in the review. This has led to some publications purposely holding off reviews until after

3724-412: The network to accept a position at the then-Microsoft game development studio Bungie . On August 24, 2007, Mark MacDonald was declared the show's official fourth chair member. John Davison then announced that he was leaving the 1UP staff, though he would continue his participation with the podcast despite his change in career. The last officially branded 1UP Yours was recorded on January 17, 2009, and

3800-484: The off-months of CGW . The newsletter never became popular; only two issues were published before it was cancelled. Some of CGF's content became part of CGW , which became a monthly. The magazine went through significant expansion starting in 1991, with page counts reaching 196 pages by its 100th issue, in November 1992. During that same year, Johnny Wilson (who started as a contributor in 1983), became editor-in-chief, although Sipe remained as publisher. In 1993, Sipe sold

3876-609: The only games in CGW history to receive zero-star reviews." According to MDS, CGW had a circulation slightly above 300,000 as of 2006. In this regard, it was slightly behind industry arch-rival PC Gamer . Bruce F. Webster reviewed the first issue of Computer Gaming World in The Space Gamer No. 48. Webster commented that "I strongly recommend this magazine to computer gamers, and just one reason alone will (in my opinion) suffice: You can now start getting from just one publication

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3952-418: The process terminating Electronic Gaming Monthly and over 30 employees, including Shane Bettenhausen and Andrew Pfister. In the wake of the announcement the future of 1UP Yours was uncertain. On January 16, Garnett Lee confirmed the continuation of the series with a new cast consisting of John Davison, David Ellis, and Garnett Lee and new regular addition Sam Kennedy. However, the show would have to continue under

4028-498: The publication into a separate print property in February 1996. Future Publishing exemplifies the old media's decline in the games sector. In 2003 the group saw multi-million GBP profits and strong growth, but by early 2006 were issuing profit warnings and closing unprofitable magazines (none related to gaming). Then, in late November 2006, the publisher reported both a pre-tax loss of £49 million ($ 96 million USD ) and

4104-525: The publisher. In November 2015, the site reported they had been "blacklisted" by Bethesda and Ubisoft for at least a year; they no longer got review copies, nor received press information from the publishers, nor can interact with any of their company's representatives. New Games Journalism ( NGJ ) is a video game journalism term, coined by journalist Kieron Gillen in 2004, in which personal anecdotes, references to other media, and creative analyses are used to explore game design , play, and culture. It

4180-498: The relationship between the video games press and publishers, characterising it as "almost indistinguishable from PR", and questioned the integrity of a games journalist, Lauren Wainwright. In the controversy that followed, dubbed "Doritogate" (after a video of Geoff Keighley emerged of him sitting in front of bottles of Mountain Dew, bags of Doritos and an ad banner for Halo 4 ), the threat of legal action—the result of broad libel laws in

4256-521: The resignation of the show's co-host Shane Bettenhausen led host Garnett Lee to change the show's name and structure to Listen UP . Several former employees also started their own projects after the firings as well, including Co-Op , the spiritual successor to The 1Up Show , Rebel FM , the follow-up to 1Up FM , and The Geekbox , Ryan Scott's replacement for Lan Party podcast. The initial four-man lineup included Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, Luke Smith and John Davison. However, Smith later left

4332-415: The review. Within the industry, Metacritic has become a measure of the critical success of a game by game publishers, frequently used in its financial reports to impress investors. The video game industry typically does not pay on residuals but instead on critical performance. Prior to release, a publisher may include contractual bonuses to a developer if they achieve a minimum Metacritic score. In one of

4408-410: The reviews are scored or graded, these sites will convert that to a numerical score and use a calculation to come out with an aggregate score. In the case of Metacritic, these scores are further weighted by an importance factor associated with the publication. Metacritic also is known to evaluate unscored reviews and assign a numeric score for this as well based on the impression the site editors get about

4484-632: The rise of eSport popularity, traditional sport reporting websites such ESPN and Yahoo launched their own eSport dedicated sections in early 2016. This move came with controversy, especially in the case of ESPN whose president, John Skipper, stated eSports were a competition instead of a sport. The response to the shift was either great interest or great distaste. However, as of January 2017, ESPN and Yahoo continue their online coverage of eSports. Yahoo eSports ended on June 21, 2017 In addition, ESPN and Yahoo , other contemporary eSport dedicated news sites, like The Score Esports or Dot Esports, cover some of

4560-435: The sale—in order to reduce its level of bank debt—of Italian subsidiary Future Media Italy. In mid-2006 Eurogamer 's business development manager Pat Garratt wrote a criticism of those in print games journalism who had not adapted to the web, drawing on his own prior experience in print to offer an explanation of both the challenges facing companies like Future Publishing and why he believed they had not overcome them. With

4636-423: The same reason. Eurogamer later reverted to scoring reviews. Frequently, publishers will enforce an embargo on reviews of a game until a certain date, commonly on the day of release or a few days ahead of that date. Such embargos are intended to prevent tarnishing the game's reputation prior to release and affecting pre-release and first-day sales. Similar embargos are used in other entertainment industries, but

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4712-414: The sites gained the attention of these larger companies. Independent video game websites are generally non-profit, with any revenue going back towards hosting costs and, occasionally, paying its writers. As their name suggests, they are not affiliated with any companies or studios, though bias is inherent in the unregulated model to which they subscribe. While most independent sites take the form of blogs ,

4788-483: The success of 1978 hit Space Invaders , leading to hundreds of favourable articles and stories about the emerging video game medium being aired on television and printed in newspapers and magazines. In North America, the first regular consumer-oriented column about video games, " Arcade Alley " in Video magazine, began in 1979 and was penned by Bill Kunkel along with Arnie Katz and Joyce Worley. The late 1970s also marked

4864-409: The territory of CGW's sister magazine. Electronic Gaming Monthly . In 2006, two of the most popular features were "Greenspeak", a final-page column written by editor-in-chief Jeff Green, and "Tom vs. Bruce", a unique "duelling-diaries" piece in which writers Tom Chick and Bruce Geryk logged their gameplay experience as each tried to best the other at a given game. "Tom vs. Bruce" sometimes featured

4940-419: The then-upcoming PlayStation Home before Sony had announced it, and Sony severed its relationship with Kotaku . When Kotaku reported this on their site, readers complained to Sony about this, and Sony reversed its decision. Kotaku has also published significant detailed histories on troubled game development for titles such as for Doom 4 and Prey 2 , as well as announcing titles months in advance from

5016-466: The time, it was called "the first national videogame magazine found only online". Game Zero Magazine ceased active publication at the end of 1996 and is maintained as an archive site. Efforts by Horwitz and Shubert, backed by a strong library of built up web content eventually allowed IG Online to be acquired by Sendai Publishing and Ziff Davis Media , the publishers of then-leading United States print publication Electronic Gaming Monthly who transformed

5092-691: The video game press for years." He concluded that gaming journalists' audience, gamers, is leaving them for video-oriented review sites. Journalism in the computer and video game media industry has been a subject of debate since at least 2002. Publications reviewing a game often receive advertising revenue and entertainment from the game's publishers, which can lead to perceived conflicts of interest. Reviews by 'official' platform-specific magazines such as Nintendo Power typically have direct financial ties to their respective platform holders. In 2001, The 3DO Company 's president sent an email to GamePro threatening to reduce their advertising spend following

5168-461: The web, originally having been based upon a downloadable "Intelligent Gamer" publication developed by Joe Barlow and Jeremy Horwitz in 1993. This evolved further under Horwitz and Usenet-based publisher Anthony Shubert into "Intelligent Gamer Online" interactive online mini-sites for America Online (AOL) and the Los Angeles Times' TimesLink/Prodigy online services in late 1994 and early 1995. At

5244-465: Was Computer and Video Games , which premiered in the U.K. in November 1981. This was two weeks ahead of the U.S. launch of the next oldest video gaming publication, Electronic Games magazine, founded by "Arcade Alley" writers Bill Kunkel and Arnie Katz. As of 2015 , the oldest video game publications still in circulation are Famitsu , founded in 1986, and The Games Machine (Italy) , founded in 1988. The video game crash of 1983 badly hurt

5320-401: Was "never a healthy sign". Computec sold its entire British game magazine branch to competitor Future Publishing in late 2003. Video game journalism Throughout its history, video game journalism has grappled with ethical concerns, especially around conflicts of interest due to advertising pressures and publisher relationships. These issues have led to both controversies, such as

5396-406: Was a weekly videogame podcast produced by the website. The show premiered on October 21, 2005, and featured editors from 1UP.com, Electronic Gaming Monthly , and Games for Windows: The Official Magazine . The show was initially created by Jane Pinckard and Ryan O'Donnell, and Che Chou. The theme song was created by Jane Pinckard (who previously played in the band Dealership ) and Eric Haller, with

5472-402: Was about 300,000, only slightly behind the market leader PC Gamer . But, like most magazines of the era, the rapid move of its advertising revenue to internet properties led to a decline in revenue. In 2006, Ziff announced it would be refocused as Games for Windows , before moving it to solely online format, and then shutting down completely later the same year. In 1979, Russell Sipe left

5548-599: Was launched in 1993, and China's first consumer-oriented gaming magazines, Diànzǐ Yóuxì Ruǎnjiàn and Play , launched in mid-1994. Often, game reviews would be accompanied by awards, such as the C+VG Hit, the YS Megagame or the Zzap!64 Gold Medal, awarded usually to titles with a score above 90%. Other features would be gameplay hints/tips/cheats, a letters page, and competitions. There are conflicting claims regarding which of

5624-518: Was not available as a podcast. Bob Mackey has also crossed over with the Laser Time podcast network. After 1UP was shuttered by Ziff Davis , Retronauts survived as its own entity. The podcast raised money through crowdfunding, and was later promoted through the USGamer website, a subsidiary of Eurogamer . Retronauts is now fully crowdfunded on Patreon. Digital Trends has hailed Retronauts as one of

5700-415: Was purchased by UGO and its parent company Hearst Corporation from Ziff Davis . This resulted not only in the closure of Electronic Gaming Monthly , but also the loss of over 30 jobs, including several hosts and producers of the site's many podcasts. Because of this, more than half of the network's shows were abruptly discontinued, leaving only a few remaining. While 1Up Yours did not cease to exist,

5776-486: Was released on January 22, 2009. On September 30, 2009, Garnett Lee announced he would be leaving 1UP to become the editorial director for Gamefly Media. It was replaced by 4 Guys 1UP hosted by former fourth chair David Ellis. Lee stated he will create a new show for Gamefly Media titled Weekend Confirmed . On January 6, 2009, it was announced that Ziff Davis would be selling 1UP.com to the Hearst Corporation, in

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