It was at PAX last year that I truly understood the impact and import of all the fun, creative games coverage that's been coming out of EGM and 1UP in recent years. Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen and Andrew Pfister were scheduled to record an episode of their podcast "1UP Yours" live on stage. PAX organizers had clearly underestimated their appeal. The stage was mobbed by a standing room only crowd who hung on the games journalists' every word. It was obvious that these people hadn't come to this panel to get the latest news on gaming. They came here to be entertained around gaming. And judging from the laughter rippling from the audience, they got what the came for.

That's why this week's ruthless dismantling of the 1UP crew and the cancellation of EGM is such a blow. There are plenty of places to read reviews and previews online. There are tons of ways to get up-to-the-minute news. What's lost here isn't just a handful of podcasts and a failing print magazine. We've lost a great intangible – something that can't be manufactured or replicated. EGM and the many blogs, podcasts and videos that grew from it managed to distill the new gaming zeitgeist – something that built a bridge between the competitive frat appeal of hardcore gaming, the intense 'dorkiness' of fandom and a growing hipness, a geek chic.

In the weeks to come many will bemoan the loss of 1UP's popular podcasts. But I'll most miss the "1UP Show." I still recall watching it for the first time. I admired the way the show presented the editorial environment, especially how each writer's enthusiasm for games was able to survive the crushing tedium of print deadlines. There was a perceptible undercurrent of weariness onscreen that made the love for games feel all the more real. Particularly important was the way that the show portrayed female staffers as real people, genuine geeks with their own unique perspectives on games. Women like Jane Pinckard, Karen Chu, Kathleen Sanders and Jennifer Sanders may have been outnumbered in these clips, but they didn't let that quiet their voices or change their opinions. In this way the 1UP Show's contribution to the girl gaming movement was more than substantial.

It's now fair to say that EGM was a vastly under-appreciated publication. Many times I've called EGM the Entertainment Weekly for games. Perhaps the comparison was more curse than compliment considering the fact that EW's staff was thinned by a quarter last year. But the comparison holds. In its later years EGM was a fun read – full of opinion, attitude and insight. It was the best looking game magazine on the newsstand (yes, I'm counting Play) and the level of editorial rigor was astounding. EGM had a voice – a consistent tone that can only be achieved by assured editorial oversight and a killer copy desk. No other gaming magazine this side of the Atlantic was as well written, as clear, colorful or concise. I'm not suggesting that the rest of the American video game magazine field doesn't do line editing and copy editing. I'm saying that the crew at EGM were really good at it. This is the kind of work that is largely invisible to readers and one of the cornerstones of old school journalism. And it's all too rare in gaming, where stories frequently get no more than a cursory once over for typos before they're posted.