Ziff Davis Says Goodbye to Another Staffer

You heard about Ziff, man? He's gettin' played! First, his boy Luke Smith leaves for the comfy community manager seat at Bungie Studios. Then, his mentor (one of the head kahunas!) John Davison parts ways to start up something regarding children, parents and videogames. Oh, and he got punked the worst when his main man Mark McDonald left to simply wander the earth (a lot like Kane in Kung-Fu.) I don't know if he's gonna make it through this time -- Editorial Director Dan "Shoe" Hsu is leaving!

We could go on with our personification of the Ziff Davis Media group as a single man (named Ziff Davis -- how clever!), however, it's running pretty thin. For the purposes of full disclosure, personally, I'm a big fan of Electronic Gaming Monthly. Even furthermore, I'm a big fan of the integrity Dan "Shoe" Hsu brought to my favorite gaming magazine for the past gaggle of years. (Some examples of why he deserves this respect can be found here and here, among other places.)

Though we're pretty sure this doesn't spell the end for Electronic Gaming Monthly, it certainly doesn't help with public perception, especially in the context of their recent Chapter 11 filings. Shoe tries his best to soothe public reaction by noting in his personal blog, "This is my own decision; I'm not being forced out or laid off or anything like that. And this is not related to the recent news about Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (and I hope I'm not stealing any thunder away from those guys -- that's not my intention here). It's just time for me to move on."

In the meantime, Sam Kennedy (formerly Site Director of 1UP.com) has taken the reigns as Editorial Director of the 1UP Network (meaning the website, the magazine, etc. -- the whole shebang.) While there's still plenty of talent floating around the Ziff Davis offices, we hope the future of EGM isn't currently in question by the men in suits with the money. Again, on a personal note, I've been reading the magazine since I was eight years old and it would be a sad sad day to see them go. We're holding fast hope for the future of the Ziff Davis Media group. Let's hope y'all out there on these giant interconnected tubes feel the same.

Ziff Davis Plays Editorial Musical Chairs

Ziff Davis Media, owner of always controversial Electronic Gaming Monthly (in addition to the rest of the 1UP Network), announced in a press release yesterday morning an official changing of the guards. As we've known, current EIC Dan "Shoe" Hsu, is stepping down from his position in order to fill a new position as Editorial Director of the 1UP Network.

Until yesterday morning though, we were unaware who would be replacing him. And now, well, now we do. According to the press release, "All 1UP Network editors will now be under one main editorial umbrella, split into to three primary areas --- 'Videogames,' 'PC Games,' and 'Video.'" What that means, in the words of 1UP.com's now former EIC James Mielke, is, "....what it basically says is that I'm now the Editor-in-Chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly as well as the videogames portion...." Oh my!

Seriously though, we here at QPHQ will miss Dan Hsu's professionalism and the level of expertise he brought to one of (what we would consider to be) the hardest jobs in the industry - - as well as one of the most sought after. And to you Mr. Mielke, good luck sir. You may very well need it.