Sources say Ziff Davis parent company J2 Global on the brink of closing bargain deal to acquire gaming label from News Corp.
Sources close to ongoing discussions have told The Wall Street Journal’s AllThingsD that News Corp. is on the brink of closing a deal to sell IGN (and its network of sites) to Ziff Davis parent company J2 Global.
Exact terms of the reported deal were not disclosed, though sources said J2 Global scored a deal on IGN.
J2 Global is reportedly picking up the gaming unit for “considerably lower” than the $650 million News Corp. paid for it in late 2005. A report from October said News Corp. was hoping to get around $100 million for IGN.
IGN has been up for auction for the past six months, with past bidders reportedly including Break Media, SAY Media, and unnamed private equity firms.
IGN president Roy Bahat left the company in August.
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
Oh great, Ziff Davis is going to run another videogame reviewing property into the ground, like the did when the held the rights to "Official Playstation Magazine" and "Electronic Gaming Monthly" Ziff Davis published both, and closed shop. They were my two favourite gaming magazines and their demise is partly responsible for me no longer reading gaming magazines (I have 7 or 8 unopened issues of Official Xbox monthly) and might be part of the reason I never had any great interest in a PS3.
I love how you idiots think gamespot is better than IGN. they're horrible at reviewing games and sometimes really strict
Hope Greggy Ryan and Collin are safe with their jobs, mainly go to IGN for the beyond podcast and movie and comics news and some gaming
2 Like IGN to me is the worst gaming site out of the 'BIG 3'. Every article you go on and read the comments of, barely a single one of those comments has anything to do with the content of the article itself. It just descends into childish trash-talking. This isn't helped by some of IGNs very immature articles themselves. it's almost like a site run for children by children.
For me my fave gaming site is Eurogamer. They always have the most professional and interesting articles, that are incredibly well written, that sparks a number of relevant and interesting comments by users. Very rarely do you get an immature comment on them. If you do, it is just ignored. A site that very much caters for an older audience.
Gamespot lies somewhere in the middle. Their articles are generally more professional than IGNs but certainly not to the same well thought out standard of Eurogamer. In a similar fashion the users comments tend to have less irrelevant trash compared with IGN, but still significantly more than Eurogamer.
I hope the new IGN owners sort the site out. There is just too much childish waffle of there, it's almost impossible at times to find anything worth-while.
Eurogamer > Gamespot > IGN. It has been this way for quite a while
@Shingetsu Wow, that's actually what's wrong with the Gaming industry today.
You go to the Websites for their JOURNALISM, not the comments.
You are practically admitting you like Gamespot for their trollish comment section, on top of poor, atrocious journalism.
1 Like I did not even know this about IGN, but we will see what will happen next when the deal is final. If something does happen to IGN after this, I always have Gamespot as my backup.
Kinda ironic that ZD is buying them. Because they pretty said 4-5 years ago that they wanted out of the video game business. Which caused them to shutter(& later sell) EGM and sold 1up.com.
Now they're getting back in with this purchase. What's funny is that they're buying IGN, who actually owns the site that they originally sold(1up.com).
@SavoyPrime Considering this was probably for investors... I think it is pretty reasonable for Nintendo to be looking about the long term future.
3 Like I do go and check IGN, as they update often, even though it has movie news. In the end Gamespot is just more into it's community. They run 'Now Playing' and some of the staff will just play games for the community. It's a treat to sit back and watch a favorite editor play. The only thing I can find lacking, is some the of finer details on some Japanese games. (Rune Factory 3 still doesn't have a review)
1 Like I work as a journalist for corporate media. This would make my stomach turn. I guarantee some editors, reporters are getting ready to jump ship as we speak.
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@Tripwolf 7 is generally considered the average by most game reviewers, and 5 is the bottom for any game that is actually functional. Sub-5 scores are generally reserved for games that have woefully bad gameplay, tons of bugs, and are simply missing features. Just because 5.5 the middle point of a 10 point scale doesn't mean it is the average.
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16 Like @Tripwolf We've long been open about how our scores work, and I think it's necessary to point out that for a decade, at least on GameSpot's part, we don't see a 5 as the necessary mathematical average of scores. From our longstanding FAQ:
"The average rating on GameSpot lies between a high 6 and a low 7, which is fully in line with what we believe is the fairly good quality of the average game on store shelves. Because we do not strictly grade on a curve, we have not set 5.0 as our average rating. We believe the high end of our rating scale (the 8 and 9 range) works suitably well to distinguish truly outstanding games from all the others. However, most games really aren't bad."
Our current average score is 68, according to Metacritic. You start from an erroneous assumption: that we work from a position that a 5 is the mathematical average to which we aim. We don't evaluate that way. Each game is evaluated on its own terms based on a longstanding public policy. No film critic would start with an assumption that the average movie is 2.5 stars out of 5, and I doubt any game publication starts with an assumption that a 5 indicates the assumed mathematical average. Here, a 5-range score means "mediocre," and as we have maintained for a decade-plus, most games really aren't bad.
It's not up to us to conform our scores based on your mistaken assumption of how they should work, but rather, we provide the information on how scores work on GS. I don't think any publication--and rightfully so--believes that we should base an entire evaluation system around shooting for a certain mathematical average. If so, we would not be evaluating games on their own merits any longer, and from my perspective, that would be a terrible thing indeed. If you wish to understand how a particular publication scores games, every major game publication I can think of offers that information up front. We don't all work with the same scale, as if we are using the same system across the board. Don't create your own scale and assume all publications must follow it; rather, understand their scales and what they mean, and use that information to help inform your understanding of the evaluation.
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@Tripwolf Because graphics and frames per second do not make a better game unless the differences are so staggering, that there's a drop in overall gaming quality because of it. Remember, at the end of the day, gameplay is what counts for the most. If we just wanted something that looked pretty, this would be an art site and not a gaming site. In saying that though, I have seen gamespot scores vary for the same game between different platforms when one of those platforms is inferior in some way that affects its overall experience, so they do take those factors into consideration even though you may not have noticed it.
As for mods, I'm not sure why any reviewer would factor that into their score. Mods are an unknown variable and you can't expect a reviewer to rate a game based on an unknown. They review the game as it is at that moment in time, not on how they think it might be given a few months after some mods are released for it. Otherwise we would also have to consider things like patches of fixes, or even addons or DLC, which can all change or improve a game's overall quality. I'm sure you can see how much of a logistical nightmare that would be.
I'm glad this disreputable site is both up for pawn and being left to street scrubs to be bought, mingling pornography and female-exploitation with gaming is a plague to the electronic arts I am anxious to have disassociated. It's been showing in their repulsive administration and nonexistent customer support and this hard crash is long overdue.
I loved ziff davis as a company, I used to buy every EGM (electronic gaming monthly)magazine since that batman issue back in 1989, and love their channel TECHTV until it was sold and became G4 a shadow of what it once was, I tried their 1up website but I didn't like the format and stayed here, love gamespot ever since.
11 Like Hey, i just found a new form of entertainment on gamespot. Laughing at people with 'website loyalties'.
I always thought the ps3 v xbox thing, was quite possibly the most petty, pathetic thing i have ever seen. Now i have just realised there's a whole other bottom to this barrel.
A bit off topic, but PS3 vs Xbox thing pales in comparison to Genesis VS Nintendo wars of my day. I'm guilty of trying to defend 8bit Nintendo against 16 bit Genesis, and even when SNES came out, Genesis fan boy's shot back with "Blast Processing!", but really Snes out shined genesis once Street fighter 2 came out for the consoles
@rision82 @shingui5 if there had been Internet then like there is now, i can't even imagine the amount of flaming and trolling that would be taking place.
@shingui5 Extreme, fanboy-level loyalty is indeed silly. Also silly: pretending every site is the same. It's smart to give your preference to the sites you think have an interesting point of view, useful content, or more credibility.
@shingui5 Nothing wrong with being loyal. Trying to force your opinion onto others and rejecting their opinion is, however.
1 Like @VeeArSick @shingui5 I agree tho your now forcing your opinion onto him by telling him what he should and shouldn't do in order to do whats right. It's a vicious never ending circle if you think about it best way to brake it is to put something nonsensicle and random like this ...............
Squirrels!
1 Like @bladetarsai @VeeArSick @shingui5 Where in my post did I tell him what to do? It's not even insinuated. It's just general wisdom on the subject of loyalty, whether he wants to heed it or not is completely up to him. If by offering my opinion I'm telling somebody what to do, that person needs therapy to overcome hyper-sensitivity issues with controlling their emotion and thought perception.
11 Like $100M? Ugh. Am I the only one that finds it sad that IGN is worth more than most of THQ's former developers?
Among the pros and cons of the gaming media, IGN had some good material for the gaming community and here's hoping that they can continue.
8 Like Gamespot, regardless of how bad you attempt to shine yourselves, the only people who like your rabbid website are troll enthusiasts.
IGN, Gameinformer, and Gametrailers will always be better than your pitiful website.
@alrepairs"the only people who like your rabbid website are troll enthusiasts."
You are an idiot, and that is a fact.
@alrepairs Why are you wasting your time commenting on here if this website is so pitiful?
3 Like @alrepairs IDK about gametrailers, but IGN and Gameinformer are pretty pathetic IMO.
9 Like @alrepairs I'm a little curious. If you share this view, then how did you end up here just now? Do you surf the web and comment every time IGN or another company you fancy is bad mouthed?
GameSpot only posted news here, anyway. Any bad mouthing came directly from its viewership.
5 Like @SicoWolf Ah,
So you think because I have an account, that I worship this website and have no right to badmouth it?
This is the internet dude, and i've had this account since the year 2000. You might want to open your perceptions a bit and stop believing that one who has an account cannot criticize.
If anything, that should further support my perceptions, because I've grown to witness the alternations of what keeps this site going over the years, also having an account to ALL gaming websites, you know, because I am a gamer.
This website is trash and is most supported by trolls, dude. That is the unfortunate reality of it.
@alrepairs @DarkSaber2k @SicoWolf
alrepairs, I can't help but feel like your embarrassing preaching of this site's shortcomings is just an immature way to satisfy your insane desire to get the Gamespot staff to take notice of you and your opinion, and that you believe they will - upon reading your thoughts - decide to magically fix everything in order to restore it to what you would consider to be its previous glory. Maybe it's because you have some underlying resentment towards them having somewhat ruined the experience for you over the years.
Am I right?
@alrepairs @DarkSaber2k @SicoWolf Quite frankly it is and I don't support anything any of these sites have, here is what I come here for, what I want, the fucking news around the awesome world of gaming, and neither of these shitty ass sites influence me at all, though I like a good argument.
@DarkSaber2k @SicoWolf @alrepairs Funny,
MichaelDBZ liked SicoWolf's comment, but at the same time liked yours.
As i've said, contradiction and confusion at its' finest. Those who support him, are in the same boat.
This website is borderline catastrophe.
So you have an account and come to a website you hate and browse through random articles to tell us all you hate the website and others are better then you say we are trolls .Riiight gotcha. Nurse - this one hasn't been taking his pills again!
2 Like @SicoWolf @alrepairs Aaaand the fanboy outs himself. You were doing semi-decently up til there.
@SicoWolf @alrepairs Easy, under my own free will.
Coming here once a week to confirm what the problem is; Gamespot's Bias and the trolls who love them.
I didn't pull you into anything. Trolls simply refuse and deny what drives this website. This website simply put, is utter junk - a former shadow of what it used to be.
Oh, and don't bother replying, since you claim "I pulled you into this." Now that you're aware of your claim, don't.
4 Like Flying off the wall is asking a simple question?
You never answered by the way: how did you end up here?
It's one of the two assumptions I've already made, I'm sure.
Again, you can badmouth GameSpot all day long. Have at it. I'm just trying to understand why you're here wasting your time on a website you clearly despise. To troll, right? Oh wait, GameSpot viewership are the trolls. I guess you're half right. You certainly pulled me into this!
@alrepairs @SicoWolf
You know, just because you're a gamer doesn't mean you need to have accounts at all gaming news websites. If you despise GameSpot so much why bother having an account? If you're in it for the news you can just come here and read it.
This article presented all facts and no opinions from any GameSpot staff, so how is it trying to "shine" itself?
1 Like @SicoWolf @alrepairs Good, don't let it.
Nobody said it had to. You flying off the wall to defend Gamespot shows how you not caring of my opinion "Is proved otherwise.
You know, Contradiction.
Reading Comprehension.
1 Like @alrepairs @SicoWolf Your, frankly stupid, opinion of GameSpot and its viewership has not influenced mine at all. That's the point of sharing opinions, right? To influence others.
Tell me, where's the contradiction in that?
1 Like @SicoWolf@alrepairs Oh?
"I don't care what you think of GameSpot. Your opinion doesn't influence me in any way. But I do find your discretion rather pathetic."
"Don't Care what you think of Gamespot, doesn't influence me in anyway" *contradicts "I do Find your discretion rather pathetic".
2 Like @SicoWolf @alrepairs That's unfortunate.
I made myself very clear above. Reading comprehension, buddy.
2 Like @alrepairs @SicoWolf I'm not even sure what you're trying to say. I'm not sure you know what you're trying to say.
Oi, I should know better than getting into arguments with idiots over the internet.
3 Like @SicoWolf@alrepairs"I don't care what you think of GameSpot. Your opinion doesn't influence me in any way. But I do find your discretion rather pathetic."
A bit contradictory, don't you think? Of course someone in your state of mind would support this website.
Like you, those who usually do cannot debate accordingly, and exist to make others' in a constant state of confusion. That = Troll.
Good job in further supporting what I claimed above.
4 Like @alrepairs @SicoWolf Yet this article is very recent. You must frequent here, no?
If you don't frequent, then some whiney brat posted a link here from somewhere, and avid fanbois of IGN came here to white knight its honor? Honor against what, I'm not sure. Factual news articles that don't even contain opinion pieces I guess?
I don't care what you think of GameSpot. Your opinion doesn't influence mine, certainly. But I do find your discretion rather pathetic.
Ziff Davis parent company J2 Global confirms acquisition of IGN Entertainment for undisclosed sum.
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