Hoecs Games

Oh boy. Looks like the sale of 1UP to Hearst hasn’t gone as smoothly as you’d expect. Rather than simply move house, it seems most of the site’s most experienced/popular writers have instead been let go.

Looks like when Ziff CEO said “Many of our employees will travel with this business and become part of the UGO team”, he actually meant “we’re taking the interns and tea lady and that’s about it”.

According to twitter posts, GAF posts and phonecalls to MTV, around 30 staffers were let go today, including Skip Pfister, Ryan O’Donnell, Philip Kollar, Jay Fresh, Cesar Quintero, Nick Suttner, Anthony Gallegos, Matt Chandronait, Shane Bettenhausen and former EIC James Mielke.

Also cut were most of the Gamevideos.com team, as well as production of the 1UP Show.

Leaving, what, Sam Kennedy and Garnett Lee? That’s a day of long knives if ever we’ve seen one.

EGM Shuts Down, More Than 30 Ziff Davis Employees Laid Off [MTV]

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PSWii60 writes:

"Is the gaming media really biased? Welcome to the Killzone 2 Press Preview. Here, I will outline what we can expect from various web and magazine outlets and their subsequent review scores before and after Killzone 2 is released.

For ps3 owners like myself, we have gotten used to ps3 exclusive games coming under extreme scrutiny from the media. The equation usually goes like this:"

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See the comparison between the review and the preview build of Killzone 2

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Battery maker Energizer wants to be more than just your battery maker of choice. It wants a slice of that sweet video game accessories revenue, announcing four controller charging stations in advance of CES ‘09.

Why simply buy rechargeable AAs when you can enjoy the luxury of dedicated charging stations? Plugging your mini-USB cable into the top of your DualShock 3 is so late 2006! Energizer implores you to buy one of its “Power & Play” charging systems, for your Wii Remote, Xbox 360 controller and PlayStation 3 controller recharging needs.

It even touts a dedicated Wii Fit charging station, but doesn’t provide photos. Perhaps the company just wants to get the keywords “Wii Fit” into its press release. Regardless, we’ll be hunting down Energizer public relations reps while in Las Vegas to find out just why one would need such a thing.

Naughty pics of controllers being recharged after this.

GALLERY



END

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DivX has announced the latest version of DivX 7, featuring enhanced support for high definition video output and surround sound audio.

"The new release of the popular video software is based on the cutting-edge H.264 video compression standard, which allows for high-performance, high-quality digital video at up to 1080p HD resolution," the company’s press release informs us.

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A comprehensive list of the differences between Pokemon Platinum and Pokemon Diamond/Pearl has been compiled.

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Spong Write: She’s like Abraham Lincoln you know.

Debra Taylor Tate has resigned from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) - the US government agency charged with "regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable".

Debra who? Yes, we thought you’d ask that. Last year she stated that we might all, "find it alarming that one of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction - such as World of Warcraft - which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide."

Yes, Ms Tate blamed computer game addiction for college drop-out rates. She did so in a speech with no actual facts or studies to back her up. Her resignation speech was almost as revolting as that lack of responsibility - but in more of a nausea inducing manner. Although you can read the full speech here… you might not want to based on the following extract.

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Relic has revealed the system requirements for Dawn of War II, its highly-anticipated real-time strategy game, on the game’s community web site. Posted below are the minimum and recommended technical specifications:

Minimum Requirements

* Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista SP1

* P4 3.2 GHz (single core) or any Dual Core processor

* 1 GB RAM (XP), 1.5 GB RAM (Vista)

* A 128MB Video Card (Shader Model 3) - Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT / ATI X1600, or equivalent

* 5.5 GB of Hard Drive space

Recommended

* Windows XP SP2 or Windows Vista SP1

* AMD Athlon 64×2 4400+ or any Intel Core 2 Duo

* 2 GB RAM (XP and Vista)

* A 256MB Video Card (Shader Model 3) - Nvidia GeForce 7800 GT / ATI X1900, or equivalent

* 5.5 GB of Hard Drive space

In addition to releasing the system requirements, Relic also announced that it would reveal how players can get access to the Dawn of War II beta on the game’s web site come January 6.

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Now isn’t the best time to be buying into the games mag business. Times are tough. But hey, if you’re not swayed by this harsh reality, Hardcore Gamer are for sale. And for only $42,000!

And that’s not even the best part. No, the best part is that owners Double Jump Books are selling the magazine on eBay. So to get it, you’ll have to bid. $42,001 is as good a place as any to start.

Not sure you should bother, though, as crassly, when settling on a sales pitch, Double Jump haven’t exactly chosen to extol the virtues of the magazine’s contribution to the medium. Instead, they’re flogging it off as a swag-n-junket extravaganza.

Want your own video game magazine and have all the big game companies beg you to cover their latest games before they’re released? Want to be wined and dined by Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Rockstar, Capcom, and Konami, to name a few? Want to have your editors flown on all expenses paid press junkets to Japan, the UK and all across the US? Want exclusive-access passes to attend closed, industry-only trade shows, like E3 and GDC? Good luck with that if you’re starting from scratch. We’ve already got what takes years to build right now and it could be yours now instantly.

Enticing, sure, but with a corrupt attitude like that, it’s no wonder they’re being forced to sell it off in the first place. What is this, 1994? It’s 2009, that kind of shit just doesn’t fly.

Besides, as the EGM shuttering has shown, these days it’s survival of the fittest, not survival of the fattest.

Nationally distributed video game print magazine [eBay]

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I had the great good fortune to check out X-Blades for the PS3 today and have fresh screenshots to share with all of you.

Hit the jump and ogle away.

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X-Blades is scheduled for a Feb. 10 release on PS3.

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