Goodbye, Fileshack

Dear Shacknews community, As the clock reached midnight on New Year's Eve, we decided—like many of you may have--to make some resolutions for...

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Dear Shacknews community,

As the clock reached midnight on New Year's Eve, we decided--like many of you may have--to make some resolutions for 2014. As unoriginal as this may sound, we decided that we wanted to get in shape and lose weight. And no, I'm not talking about our staff. (We all have beautiful, chiseled abs. Calendar coming soon.) I'm talking about the website as a whole.

When I controversially said "happy holidays" at the end of the year, I teased that big things were coming to Shacknews in 2014. While I can't reveal our plans quite yet, today marks the first step in our plan to shake things up. We're shutting down FileShack, effective immediately.

Some of you will say "what's FileShack?" Others will cry foul, reminiscing about fond memories of Times Gone By. But, a service like FileShack isn't really necessary in today's day and age. Steam and its ilk have automated game updates, rendering patch download services largely unnecessary. And truth be told, we didn't offer a competitive product with FileShack. There are better places to grab mods, better places to shack files.

By shutting down FileShack, we'll become a much more nimble site, being able to focus on the things that really matter: Chatty and editorial. As our close friend Jillian Michaels would say after berating us and making us cry, "you know when transformation happens? Right now."

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

Filed Under
From The Chatty
  • reply
    January 20, 2014 9:30 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Goodbye, Fileshack.

    Dear Shacknews community,

    As the clock reached midnight on New Year's Eve, we decided—like many of you may have--to make some resolutions for...

    • reply
      January 20, 2014 9:32 AM

      It was a good run.

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      January 20, 2014 9:33 AM

      RIP DON FILESHACK

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      January 20, 2014 9:36 AM

      See ya fileshack. You were the best of the bunch back then.

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      January 20, 2014 9:39 AM

      *salute*

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      January 20, 2014 9:40 AM

      but where will I get my quake 3 point releases?

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      January 20, 2014 9:40 AM

      Pouring out an ounce of breastmilk for Fileshack. That's all I have nearby.

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      January 20, 2014 9:42 AM

      But where will I get all my mods now?

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      January 20, 2014 9:42 AM

      [deleted]

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      January 20, 2014 9:43 AM

      [deleted]

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        January 20, 2014 9:59 AM

        Yeah, back in the day file shack and mercury were nice to have! I haven't downloaded a file from shack in at least 5 years tho.

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      January 20, 2014 9:45 AM

      I dont think i ever used it one single time, and i've been on this site for forty two years.

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      January 20, 2014 9:45 AM

      Is Weekend Confirmed still getting shuttered?

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        January 20, 2014 9:47 AM

        Based on what they said on a recent episode, it sounds like it.

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        January 20, 2014 10:07 AM

        I don't know anything that y'all don't but I think it's still going to be hosted here, but Garrett is basically the force and money behind it now instead of Gamefly. They do nothing but link to it and host the conversation chatty's now. Take all that with a pile of salt.

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          January 20, 2014 11:15 AM

          Are there still going to be those mutant WC chatty threads too?

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          January 20, 2014 3:54 PM

          I'm sort of okay with that, because as far as I feel, Weekend Confirmed never really melded well with the rest of the Shacknews community, and Shack chatty community loyalty seemed to fall off heavier after Brian Leahy and Xav de Matos weren't regularly on it anymore. Most of the followers still seem to be fans from the 1UP Yours days.

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            January 20, 2014 6:59 PM

            It was always more of a neogaf podcast with occasional quotes/questions from their weirdly segregated thread. That said I found the shack after following Garnett from 1up and then getting into the shack minecraft community so I can't complain.

            On the other hand they have had Ozzie on quite a bit in the last year and he's done a lot with the chatty. I hope that either Garnett's new version continues to include him or the shack (or gamefly) does something new with him involved.

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            January 20, 2014 11:15 PM

            I always felt that IdleThumbs and the BombCast were more in line with shacknews's sensibilities (or maybe they were just more in line with mine).

            The old Shacknews podcast with Remo, Faylor, F. Nick Breckon, and sTeve was good back in the day...and I didn't mind the couple they did with Alice after Remo left.

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            January 21, 2014 12:16 AM

            Yeah it really seemed like a sideshow rather than a core part of the shack.

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        January 20, 2014 10:55 AM

        Wait, Weekend Confirmed is getting shut down? (I haven't listened to the latest episode yet).

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        January 20, 2014 11:27 AM

        [deleted]

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      January 20, 2014 9:46 AM

      Haven't used it in a while, but I've got many hours of entertainement out of files downloaded through it. Fileshack, we salute you!

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      January 20, 2014 9:46 AM

      Goodnight sweet Prince!

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      January 20, 2014 9:47 AM

      Wow, I assumed it was gone years ago

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        January 20, 2014 9:56 AM

        yeah, me too. Remember getting demos from here, but alas they speak truth.

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      January 20, 2014 9:47 AM

      *Plays Amazing Grace on Bagpipes*

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      January 20, 2014 9:51 AM

      How long until the whole Shack gets shut down?

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        January 20, 2014 10:11 AM

        Last Monday!

        -directed by M Night Shamalan.

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      January 20, 2014 9:57 AM

      First they came for FileShack, and I did not speak out, because I don't use FileShack.

      Then they came for the Chatty, and I did not speak out, because the Chatty was gone.

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        January 20, 2014 1:07 PM

        They have to kill the front page before chatty..

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      January 20, 2014 10:05 AM

      Sad, but not surprising.

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      January 20, 2014 10:08 AM

      Meh. Haven't used it since they got rid of Shackspace.

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      January 20, 2014 10:18 AM

      Never used it, nore even heard about it. That pretty much sums up why it's going away.

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      January 20, 2014 10:20 AM

      In it's heyday it was great and it actually made me sign up to the site over 10 years ago! Good that you've got rid of it though, time to look forward and try new things, I'm all for new features and ideas :)

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      January 20, 2014 10:25 AM

      i didn't even know it was still up

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      January 20, 2014 10:36 AM

      Thank you, Fileshack, for introducing me to Shacknews. You will be missed

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      January 20, 2014 11:17 AM

      Hacked by NSA

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      January 20, 2014 11:28 AM

      [deleted]

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      January 20, 2014 11:29 AM

      After nearly three thousand years of dominance, the tyrant has finally fallen. In the Green age, The Fileshack was our constant and only guide, our beacon and guide to life. But it was a cruel master, primitive and wrathful and trapped inside its own rage and suffering, aware that it could never be the great Power that ruled over other lands, and it took its wrath out on us. But we loved it anyway, and obeyed it when it commanded us, even if it hurt us and only rarely provided needed sustenance.

      Now, our god has died. This day marks the dawn of the new age, the Green age is no more, and the Black age has become the new now. We are all stained with the marks of the past, but we must, as one, move forward. No longer will we obey a foul and undeserving, if well meaning, Godhead. We will forge our own path on the Great Internet and we shall become our own Service. Go forth, and let us reap this bountiful Internet with our might!!!!!

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      January 20, 2014 11:30 AM

      Many good times were had.

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      January 20, 2014 11:58 AM

      Boo!!!!!!!!! :(

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      January 20, 2014 12:00 PM

      I've downloaded the Homeworld and Half Life: Uplink demos from fileshack so many times in my youth. Sad to see it go.

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      January 20, 2014 12:03 PM

      Fileshack is the reason I have an awesome lightning bolt

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      January 20, 2014 12:12 PM

      Definitely been close to a decade since the last time I got a file from the fileshack.

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      January 20, 2014 12:13 PM

      Where should I get pc demos and patches?

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      January 20, 2014 12:18 PM

      Fileshack, you were good to us for many years. Never forget.

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      January 20, 2014 12:32 PM

      Well balls.

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      January 20, 2014 12:36 PM

      No doubt 90% of registered users and mercury subs were fileshack-driven. Even the free limited-speed version was so much faster and more consistent then anywhere else back in the day.

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        January 20, 2014 12:59 PM

        Fileshack was fantastic back in the day of having to find a website hosting whatever patch you needed. All the other sites were filled with ads, clickbait, logins to spam you, etc and then downloaded like it was hosted off some guys home internet.

        It makes sense to shut it down now though I haven't downloaded a patch that wasn't from steam or publisher portal in a long time. It's nice that it's all handled automatically and with decent hosting.

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      January 20, 2014 12:39 PM

      I remember liking one of the old designs on there. It was something chunky?

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      January 20, 2014 1:43 PM

      Everyone uses gamershell.com anyway!

    • JT legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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      January 20, 2014 2:15 PM

      Did anyone grab the zip of Pointless Audio from there? I thought I had it :(

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      January 20, 2014 2:42 PM

      Fileshack was how i discovered this place around 11 years ago. I used it exclusively to download patches etc, and every now and then i would notice the Chatty link and give it a click. I couldn't understand the layout (???) and it was full of weirdos so i would close it and go back to my Fileshacking. I know i lurk far more than i contribute to this place, but i don't know how i would function without it.

      I love you.

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      January 20, 2014 3:01 PM

      RIP

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      January 20, 2014 3:24 PM

      This isn't as intertwined into my DNA as, say, Planetquake or ftp.cdrom.com.

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      January 20, 2014 3:34 PM

      [deleted]

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      January 20, 2014 4:08 PM

      It outlived FilePlanet (which had its shutdown announced May 2012).

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      January 20, 2014 6:45 PM

      Pretty much without sites like this it will be that much harder to get patches for legacy games. Not going to be fun trudging through semi-safe sites trying to get a patch for some these.

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        January 21, 2014 1:45 AM

        This is true, although if you have the game on GoG it's not a problem.

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      January 20, 2014 6:59 PM

      Fileshack was the reason I joined the community some 11 years ago. I have the fondest memories downloading random game demos to try them out. Thank you for the memories!

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      January 20, 2014 7:17 PM

      Ill miss you fileshack. goodbye.

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      January 20, 2014 7:23 PM

      How much longer 'til chatty goes away?

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        January 20, 2014 7:53 PM

        What if they give the task to a Jr. admin and they accidentally shut down Shacknews instead????

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        January 20, 2014 8:48 PM

        Would ThomW save us?

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          January 20, 2014 9:04 PM

          I welcome the monthly charge to disable scrolling farts and to unlock image URLs which were kindly replaced with pictures of dicks.

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        January 20, 2014 8:50 PM

        We all go to the NeoGAF refugee camps and wait for our visas.

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          January 20, 2014 9:01 PM

          As someone who treats neogaf as his second internet home after the shack, I don't see that as a viable option. Too hard to get an account and its way too easy to get band there.

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            January 20, 2014 9:03 PM

            That's why I said refugee camps. Everyone will be cramped in and then when someone comes in with visas we all trample over each other.

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            January 21, 2014 9:30 AM

            I've tried signing up twice, using my work email, and got rejected both times. I don't think I care enough to try any more than that.

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        January 20, 2014 9:15 PM

        Chatty is the one of the best things going on at Shacknews, it will not die!

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        January 20, 2014 9:40 PM

        tomorrow at 3pm CST

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        January 20, 2014 11:10 PM

        Shut it down Spool it up Clay!

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      January 20, 2014 7:51 PM

      The only thing fileshack ever did was fuck me over for a username on shacknews. I wanted fuel but some guy had signed up on fileshack like a week earlier using it while never once posting here. I've been stuck with this abortion of a name ever since.

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        January 20, 2014 7:54 PM

        I'm sorry. I posted in anger. I forgot he had posted a handful of times between 2000 & 2003.

        In sum: good riddance, fileshack.

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          January 20, 2014 8:54 PM

          Just think, at least you get easier vanity searches out of it

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        January 20, 2014 8:49 PM

        should have gone with FEWL

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        January 20, 2014 9:20 PM

        GIMME FUELL GIMME FIE GIMME ZABA ZABA ZAHHHHHHH

    • reply
      January 20, 2014 8:50 PM

      Good night sweet prince. You were why I even have a shacknews login. I didn't even know about chatty until years and years later.

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      January 20, 2014 9:10 PM

      never got my fear keys

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      January 20, 2014 9:17 PM

      Are the fileshack comments being archived somewhere?

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      January 20, 2014 9:50 PM

      RIP Fileshack :(

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      January 20, 2014 10:19 PM

      RIP, Fileshack!

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      January 20, 2014 11:16 PM

      That's ok, take the Front Page next! Leave LatestChatty alone though.

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      January 20, 2014 11:17 PM

      It is really weird because I remember when they launched Fileshack (though it seems like a long time ago even to me...and I'm a guy who feels like the Gamecube isn't that old and the Wii, 360, and PS3 launches were recent. Hell, HL2 seems like a recent game to me.

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      January 21, 2014 12:10 AM

      I remember I made a map for FEAR and uploaded it to Fileshack and I got a mention in Evening Reading. It felt awesome.

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      January 21, 2014 1:43 AM

      :<

      goodbye fileshack, you were the best. i shall toast in your honor.

      enjoy your 72 virgin valkyries aboard Xenu's space 747, and dont forget to write us!

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      January 21, 2014 2:21 AM

      Why don't you take away profiles, too? Oh wait.

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      January 21, 2014 2:27 AM

      Where else can we get counterstrike now?

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      January 21, 2014 11:52 AM

      For real though when and where can I grab the Shacknews Calendar?

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      January 22, 2014 9:24 AM

      [deleted]

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      June 12, 2014 6:38 PM

      i want to down loud slender game

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      July 6, 2014 10:55 AM

      hey i cannot able to download GFWLsetup.exe 28mb

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