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GameTap Gives Editorial the Axe

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish dept.

GameTap has announced that it will be giving their editorial section the axe and concentrating solely on the distribution business. "We have had a lot of successes over the last year and the move to the web has been a good one for us. While we have been very happy with the work done by our editorial and video teams, we've made a decision to focus the business on our biggest strength, which is our game catalog. As a result, we will be restructuring the site to focus exclusively on gameplay."

6 of 25 comments (clear)

  1. Translation? by Serenissima · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The companies who pay us lots of money told us they didn't want bad reviews of their games displayed.

    --
    Give a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day. But light a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
    1. Re:Translation? by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Funny

      They got Kane and Lynched.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  2. Not a big loss by ckotchey · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I first tried GameTap after reading some article online in which the author talked about the rather pleasant experience that GameTap could be - browse a few games, start a download, watch some of their vids, etc., while waiting for your download to finish, etc. After subscribing, I too enjoyed this aspect of it - particularly seeing the "A Day in the Extra Life" vids ("Rick Allen Rocks! Doozh Doozh Doozh!")
    Then, one day, the client updated itself and all of the built-in, integrated "browsing" features disappeared, and instead of viewing the vids, news, etc., within the client, it simply launched the web browser and took you to their website.
    For me, this was a prime example of an application "upgrading" in such a way that it totally ruined the "eXPerience" of the application itself. No longer was it a single integrated gaming and news "world", it was now a nice game launching application with a pathetic hook into your web browser. That marked the day that I never did anything with GameTap again - other than simply to play the games.
    So, as I said - this isn't a big loss - they already shot themselves in the foot by making it harder to reach their news & editorials, so no wonder they are finally dropping it anyway.

    Now, if they could only add more games, and return the great games that they once had on their service but then later removed.

  3. They are incorporating them into the game section? by Jonah+Hex · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "What this means to our visitors is that instead of having a separate 'READ' and 'WATCH' section of the site we will be incorporating written and video content directly into the game pages. Doing this will allow us to improve and expand the gaming library and community aspects of our business.
    So they are going to have the reviews and videos on each games page? Doesn't sound like a mass firing to me...

    Jonah HEX
    --
    Horror & SciFi Erotic Nudes
  4. Re:They are incorporating them into the game secti by Brianech · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Yeah this article is a little confusing.

    Apparently, those who are not involved with actually running the games service will be let go in mid-June. They seem to be assuming this, and they dont provide any sort of a source. This doesn't really surprise me that much, but I dont fully understand why they assume this. As the parent pointed out, they are restructuring the site to have video and written articles on the games page. Some one still has to write dont they? Unless they are going to get web designers and programmers to write editorials they still need their editors.

    Like I said, I could be wrong, but reading the article, and message board link on it, I dont see any word from gametap that they are firing all their editors. One poster linked to the article saying there would be layoffs, but there has been no reply from the staff. Guess time will tell (IE editors saying they got their slips, or even the less likely case of the company confirming the layoffs in advance).
  5. I dig it by fat_mike · · Score: 2, Informative

    I signed up when I heard that the Sam & Max games would be available and I was was shocked at the amount of games they had. Maybe it was nostalgia but I still think it is worth every penny of the $12.95 a month I spend on it.

    I have never experienced any spam or other crap from them. I get an email telling me new games have been released and that's about it. I forgot my password once and had to call support and a real human answered the phone, fixed it for me and was pleasant to work with.

    The only thing I would really like would be the ability to play the games offline. Sitting in the airport I don't want to have to pay another $9.99 to access their wireless so I can access Gametap.

    Plus - THEY HAVE SAM & MAX!