From the corner of the world where sad news is generated, a.k.a. the internet, we have learned today that gaming magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly will see its last issue this month and a digital version of February 2008′s issue sent out as the final hooray for the publication. Just moving out of the awkward teen years, the 20-year old publication has been a treasured favourite for many over the years, and is a staple of the online gaming journalism site 1UP.com. This news comes out with the fact that Ziff Davis Media has sold off 1UP to Hearst, specifically to their UGO Entertainment division. This means that 1UP will be merging with that group, and will shift a few of their staff and features off as a result. Most notably it seems is the 1UP Show, their popular video podcast, which will be shutting down production due to the change in management.

It’s a pretty big mess, and a crying shame considering the history of the publication and the quality of the work that is provided by the 1UP guys on a daily basis. It has consistently been one of my favourite websites to visit for news, and especially for podcasts, and the news of the schism within the group and destruction of their print publication is in no way good news. A few of the 1UP staff have noted being laid off and have confirmed that most of the GameVideos staff have been shown a similar fate, noted on 1UP Show producer Matt Chandronait’s Twitter service. A quick check of a few other staff there shows a lot of the same thing. It’s a shame, and we don’t really know what impact it will have on the site as a whole. While it’s not an industry changer, this news is a demonstration that even the most storied publications are under the gun for the “print is dead” parade, and even online publications are going through hard times.

While the blog culture is still thriving when it comes to the distribution of information in online media, there is always something to be said about a group of journalists together at a publication pushing content out in a traditional format, whether it is print or digital. While 1UP might not have the same rumour brigade as other groups, they have gathered a group of some of the most eclectic and interesting people to discuss and disseminate information about video games, and their work with podcasts are hardly easy to compare to any other online group. While it seems that many of the group still remains, with a gag order over a lot of the remaining staff, it seems as if a majority of the video team has been let go and we wish them all the best. It’s a tough industry to crack, but any group with talent won’t go unnoticed for too long.