Bummer Morning: Nintendo Power Closing, PopCap And Funcom Layoffs [UPDATED]

No more Nintendo Power - that's the end of an era right there.

@MrKlorox: You are technically correct!

Which proves you didn't get my point.

@fisk0 said:

@mosespippy said:

@fisk0 said:

@mosespippy said:

The worst part is that it sounds like Nintendo Power would have been just fine if Nintendo would just let them make a digital version. Their refusal to adapt to the business models of modern technology will be their downfall.

Have Nintendo actually had anything to do with it since 2007? Never having read or really kept up with Nintendo Power I have no idea, but looked like Future Publishing took over in 2007, in that case I don't think Nintendo are to blame.

Nintendo wouldn't let Future publish a digital copy and Future can't make it profitable without it so they won't sign an extension on their deal. Nintendo doesn't want to publish the magazine themselves and no one else will without digital versions so the magazine will stop existing.

Oh, well, then I guess Nintendo deserves some blame. I thought they had just sold it off.

Countdown until someone buys the Nintendo Power name and makes it like EGM. Seriously, it's a strong brand, it may change but it won't die yet... well that or you'll get a nintendopower.com worth looking at

I am glad I do not work in this industry. You can't go a week in news without hearing some story about massive layoffs.

@mosespippy said:

@fisk0 said:

@mosespippy said:

The worst part is that it sounds like Nintendo Power would have been just fine if Nintendo would just let them make a digital version. Their refusal to adapt to the business models of modern technology will be their downfall.

Have Nintendo actually had anything to do with it since 2007? Never having read or really kept up with Nintendo Power I have no idea, but looked like Future Publishing took over in 2007, in that case I don't think Nintendo are to blame.

Nintendo wouldn't let Future publish a digital copy and Future can't make it profitable without it so they won't sign an extension on their deal. Nintendo doesn't want to publish the magazine themselves and no one else will without digital versions so the magazine will stop existing.

Oh, well, then I guess Nintendo deserves some blame. I thought they had just sold it off.

Is next month their last issue?

Motherfucker. If this leads to Funcom delaying or canceling Dreamfall Chapters further I'm going to be quite upset! I don't care about your dumb MMOs, continue your amazing series.

Sup Patrick! Glad your back! Congratulations on your wedding!

I had Nintendo Power back when it was Nintendo Fun Club! Very sad to see them closing

@MrKlorox: You are technically correct!

Which proves you didn't get my point.

Sad for Nintendo Power, I remember buying those mags when I was a little kid back in 1988. For me I think I stopped when I learned that they were bias towards Nintendo. Thats the main problem for a mag solely for one game console, but over 2 decades is a good score that no other console specific mag will ever hit (I'm looking at you PlayStation: The Official Magazine).

The video game industry's bubble is finally starting to burst.

Hopefully everyone laid off will be able to find work elsewhere.

Really enjoyed my time with The Secret World, but Funcom was trying to give it to me two ways with (not so)micro-transactions and a sub.

@ChrisTaran: 3 seconds with Google answers: no.

I read Nintendo Power back in the early 90s.

People coming in here to talk about the death of Nintendo Power as some kind of "long overdue progress-related casualty" is like somebody coming to your grandma's funeral to complain about how unfunny her jokes had gotten ever since the dementia set in.

Which is to say: "technically correct, but still, fuck you."

Nintendo Power was great in its heyday. But it hasn't been very good since the end of the N64 era. Perhaps a little before. I'm frankly surprised it lasted this long.
 
edit: I think I started around Issue 3 or 5. Still have nearly every one of them in boxes in my closet or garage or something.

I hate to say it but Nintendo Power has really really not been worth reading since about 2004 about when the Wii coverage started. They stopped reviewing games fairly and just started to say anything on the Wii was amazing. Not that I expected them to give anything put out by Nintendo a bad score but its far, far from the fair coverage they had back in the Snes and N64 days. I'm just surprised it took this long for them to close. Not that it's ever good for anything to shut down but the completely sychophantic coverage they've had was not really worth it for anyone involved.

wasn't Nintendo Power having problems about 5 or 4 years ago. Around the same time as EGM was closing?

I love that George Broussard is our go to for layoff news.

Hrm funcom layoffs don't bode well for that other dreamfall/TLJ game ever getting made. Dang.

@iAmJohn said:

Okay seriously, what the fuck does George Broussard even do anymore? It seems like his job ever since 3D Realms closed down has been breaking studio closures and downsizings on Twitter.

Came here to say this. How does that guy know everything?

Maybe it IS nostalgia talking, but I felt Nintendo Power could've been more if it just did more viral stuff and made every Nintendo product not always seem like "the shit" (seriously, I think they only hated Geist as far as Nintendo-made fare is concerned). I guess the latter's a lot to ask, given it being ridiculously in close ties with Nintendo itself. Still, I'd-a been interested in how Chris Hoffman would sound like in a podcast, vlog, or something. When it went to Future, it felt more fake than it may have already felt, and I guess it was only a matter of time. Still, I'd like to see some of these guys out there more.

@Lucidlife said:

@ShatterShock said:

@WilliamHenry said:

@ShatterShock said:

The internet age doesn't need dead tree magazines, and the end of Nintendo Power is no loss to anybody but the nostalgic.

And the people who lost their jobs right?

Such is the nature of the beast. I'm sure that the people who were good at their job will be able to find positions elsewhere.

You must be very young to think in such a way. No life experience. No fear of making the rent. In short, you must be living with mom and dad because no mature logical thinking person would react that way. It's incredibly scary to lose a job right now. It's even worse if you have a mortgage and a wife and kids to support. So take that apathetic-everything-will-be-okay crap somewhere else. The real world doesn't work that way.

Please, stop swinging at the dark. It makes you look desperate.

I would think a mature logical thinking person would know that technology is a natural job killer, always has been and always will be. Is it bad that people lost their jobs? Yes, and I've never said otherwise. I genuinely wish the best for these people. However I'm not going to give these people a disproportionate level of empathy just because they happen to be involved in a hobby I'm passionate about.

Man, I always hoped the best for Funcom. Anarchy Online pretty much was responsible for any semblance of a social life I had in high school. Never got into AoC or TSW -- which probably means I'm part of the problem -- but I always hoped they did well.

@Lucidlife said:

@ShatterShock said:

@WilliamHenry said:

@ShatterShock said:

The internet age doesn't need dead tree magazines, and the end of Nintendo Power is no loss to anybody but the nostalgic.

And the people who lost their jobs right?

Such is the nature of the beast. I'm sure that the people who were good at their job will be able to find positions elsewhere.

You must be very young to think in such a way. No life experience. No fear of making the rent. In short, you must be living with mom and dad because no mature logical thinking person would react that way. It's incredibly scary to lose a job right now. It's even worse if you have a mortgage and a wife and kids to support. So take that apathetic-everything-will-be-okay crap somewhere else. The real world doesn't work that way.

You are right, the mature course of action in this situation would be to panic, roll up in a corner of the room, start crying and wait for the end to finally arrive?

People lose jobs, people get new jobs. You know what kind of people don't? Those that are not willing to adapt or lower their standards.

No, it's not nice and it's not easy, but that's life in a nutshell. The "real world" doesn't care how unfair or sad losing a job is, the "real world" just keeps on going. As such, mature and logical thinking people usually have some reserve assets build up for such cases. Even more so if you work in an industry where personnel is shifting rapidly and often like the videogame industry.

Btw: If you are having trouble making your rent each month, you should consider moving to a place you can actually afford. That would be the logical and mature course of action..

Rough seeing Nintendo Power go but it seemed inevitable.

The only thing I care about:

Does anyone know if Jeff Green was affected by this?

@ShatterShock: It's a loss to the many people who lost their jobs as a result. It's never a good day to see good companies fail, regardless of whether or not you think they are outdated.

Really sad to hear about Nintendo Power. I feel bad that I haven't been subscribed to it recently. I remember loving the older issues though. They will be missed.

Bummer about Nintendo Power. Hope the best for people affected at PopCap.

I'm sad about Nintendo Power, but not so much about the layoffs. Yeah, it's unfortunate that some people are now out of work, but it was coming eventually. Social games are starting to wind down, and that means they're not worth as much.

I remember Nintendo Power. I got a CD of live orchestrated Smash Bros. music from them.

A sad day indeed.

@Shuborno said:

Maybe it's unreasonable of me to think of this as such, but the dots connected in my mind this way:

1. PopCap acquired by EA

2. PopCap lays off a bunch of people a year later

Isn't that what always happens with the big guys (eg. EA, Activision) acquiring the little guys?

It's called restructuring, it's shit, but sometimes it has to be done.

My father owned a car paint shop, and as his business grew, he bough a already established full car shop (metal workers, painters, mechanics, electricians, etc..) but he had to let go most of the painters and metal workers, since he already had his own from his own business - it's super shit, but else he would make no profit and all those guys would have nothing to do but to sit there and turn thumbs. If he had an abundance of money, he could have kept them, but he really needed mechanics and electricians + all the equipment that's why he invested in the purchase.

His shop still runs and makes profit 20 years later and all the old staff that wasn't let go on the merger is still working there, except people who went into pension.

@ShatterShock said:

@WilliamHenry said:

@ShatterShock said:

The internet age doesn't need dead tree magazines, and the end of Nintendo Power is no loss to anybody but the nostalgic.

And the people who lost their jobs right?

Such is the nature of the beast. I'm sure that the people who were good at their job will be able to find positions elsewhere.

You must be very young to think in such a way. No life experience. No fear of making the rent. In short, you must be living with mom and dad because no mature logical thinking person would react that way. It's incredibly scary to lose a job right now. It's even worse if you have a mortgage and a wife and kids to support. So take that apathetic-everything-will-be-okay crap somewhere else. The real world doesn't work that way.

And to think I had finally made up my mind to let my subscription run out.

Very sad about Nintendo Power. I haven't had a sub in ages, but those memories.

A bit of nostalgia: http://hn.iodized.net/main.htm (Howard and Nester archive)

man thats a damn shame that they are closing the mag down, gonna have to go dig out my past mags to look through

First off, very sad to hear about Nintendo Power. Holy shit. I learned to READ because of Nintendo Power. Future was doing a good job with it too from what I've seen, whenever I would pick up an issue. I'm sad to see it go, but I will definitely pick up the final issue.

Also sad to hear about Funcom. Figured this would happen though, since Secret World's launch didn't exactly rock the world.

As for Popcap, I say, "Fuck you EA". I don't even hate EA, but I loathe it when huge, publicly traded mega publishers buy talented developers. EA, Activision, Microsoft, etc. It doesn't matter. They all have proven in the past that they're about investors, not gamers, or game studios. When investors demand blood - and those greedy fucks ALWAYS want more money - than operating costs have to be lowered. Costs must be cut. Which means shutting down studios and firing staff. That's not how studios like Popcap should operate. Selling out to EA was a dumb, dumb decision - if they didn't know that before, they do now.

@Fungiefips said:

Hits me right in the childhood.

Stings doesn't it?

I'm honestly kind of depressed right now.

Meeeeh, I had Nintendo Power a few years back and it was pretty awful. Sad to see people losing their jobs but at the same time it's been an outdated, lame publication for a long time. And its reviews are useless.

100 jobs lost from Popcap in Dublin, tough blow for our recent burgeoning video game industry, tough break for all employees layed off, hopefully they can all find work, but probably not it Ireland which is really rough.

Hits me right in the childhood.

I can't really fathom the idea of Nintendo Power stopping.

Sad to see Nintendo Power go.

I thought Popcap were rolling in it?

Im a bit upset about the nintendo power. I still remember the first n64 previews in that magazine and how that felt at the time when I was young. I still have some issues at my parents house that I have looked at when Im feeling nostalgic. Its not at all surprising, however, that a nintendo print magazine is no longer viable.

Nintendo Power has been dead for years, Future was the final nail in the coffin.

At least I have my three tubs of NP to go back to whenever I'm feeling nostalgic.

Or want some quick cash.

Maybe it's unreasonable of me to think of this as such, but the dots connected in my mind this way:

1. PopCap acquired by EA

2. PopCap lays off a bunch of people a year later

Isn't that what always happens with the big guys (eg. EA, Activision) acquiring the little guys?