Amadeo Plaza

It's hard to believe it's been a year. The crusty eyed, late nights during the site's creation seem as though they were only yesterday. Looking back, fond memories come to mind, such as our E3 2004 coverage, which attracted many of our Japanese friends who ogled in awe at our Final Fantasy XII gameplay video. Or even better, last October when News Editor, Andrew Giese, broke the story of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas going gold. You can't imagine how much traffic we got that day! Now a year has passed and the staff is much larger. Through the past twelve months we've gone from being a small independent site to... well a bigger independent site. Some may not consider the changes big, but from our side of the fence, we've made progress.

The road we traveled to get here was a perilous one, fraught with Super Sized Cokes, unruly staffers, and above all, stiff competition. Those in the know are aware that what we do is quickly becoming a high demand job. It came to a point where there were more people looking for a position than there were publications willing to hire. This resulted in the sharp increase of online media outlets that we see today. A year ago, was it any different' Not much, if not at all. So what sets us apart from our competitors' What makes us any better than them' Nothing; at least nothing we can say to make you want to read our work over theirs. Those questions can only be answered by you, the reader. That's what this whole game is about, gaining the interest of the reader.

We can't win going head on with the likes of big-name publications such as Gamespot, IGN and Gamespy. We are of humble origin, remembering back to the days of VGamin where we would shamelessly advertise ourselves like a cheap three dollar prostitute. We also remember that as if it were yesterday; in fact, it probably was yesterday. We can't push out pieces in the same volume as Gamespot. But I'll be damned if we don't try. These outlets, or the Big Three, as we like to call them, are fully established publications with paid employees. For the past year, all of our writers have been doing their best to provide you with up-to-date coverage with no compensation. We do what we do for the love of it, not because our jobs are on the line. So if there is anything that we have over our competitors, it's heart; it's people like Chris Barrett, who although may not be the best writer on the site, has more dedication than many others I have worked with over the past four years in this industry. That's what sets us apart from the rest.

However, I digress. The point of this feature was not to tell you of how we got here, but rather where we're going. After a year of service, IGO is ready for some changes. We've been studying our readers' requests, and after a year are ready to take action. However, the changes you see later this month will not be subtle. In fact, for all intents and purposes, they will be huge. According to Ubisoft, we're considered a 'Tier 3' site. Quite frankly, Tier 3 isn't good enough. I'm not saying we're going to be the next IGN, but we're going to give it our best shot, and to do that changes have been put in order. Some may already know of the upcoming changes, as believe it or not, they've already been announced elsewhere. To those few readers, I ask that you keep our plans between us. To those who don't know, enjoy the IGO you currently know while it lasts; because come later this month we will be going through a major transformation.

Growth is inevitable.