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Penny Arcade 11/30/2007 Jeff Gerstmann fired from Gamespot, allegedly for K&L review

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A

ALeperMessiah

Member
so cnet reviews actually = corporate sponsered marketing tools?

This reflects badly on the entire cnet network. Never really got to worked up over gamespot reviews, but you don't fire someone for there opinion. Cnet's to blame here, even more then Eidos.
 
N

neojubei

Will drop pants for Sony.
Gowans007 said:
Gamespot Bookmark Removed

Podcast/RSS removed for

The HotSpot
On The Spot
& tho it pains me so much Gamespot UK
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Done
Done
Done.

Damn man, I'm not a Jeff Gerstmann fan, but damn how the frack can someone get canned for a review, especially someone whose been their from the beginning.

Jeff should join N'gai on his new trial podcast.
 
W

White Man

Member
So can we count on hearing some sort of confirmation, either from Gerstmann, or from one of the other journalist types here? If this went down as it appears, this is like, a very serious issue with the industry; the sort that needs to be reported on.
 
N

No Means Nomad

Banned
typhonsentra said:
... And we usually hear about things like this hours after they go down, not the following day from an unrelated party. How come he's made no statement yet? Doesn't he post here?
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GAF------>Internet--------->GAF was just a joke.


Mostly.
 
F

Fredescu

Member
GenericPseudonym said:
If he wants CNET's cheque, he writes CNET's review. If he wants to be his own reviewer then freelance for god's sake.
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You're defending the idea that a company should be able to pay for good reviews? GTFO.
 
R

RogueHobbit

Neo Member
Gary Whitta said:
If this all turns out to be true, I think the game community really needs to make their voices heard on this somehow. This kind of crap cannot stand.
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Absolutely.

Of course, people can be fired for a lot of reasons. Even those who have been working for a company a long time. Sometimes people have a bad day and do something really stupid, etc. Which is why it is prudent to hold off on passing judgment until the facts are confirmed. However, given the speculation going on, I think Gamespot has no choice but to clarify the circumstances. Otherwise they risk their credibility.

But even though many members here have issues with Jeff's reviews, that is no reason to be canned. It is his opinion. As long as he does a good job supporting his opinions, his career should not be in jeopardy.

And for those of you rejoicing at this...seriously, grow the fuck up. A man just lost a job he held for over a decade. Being unemployed is no joke. Have some compassion. The only way someone should be glad is if he was caught doing something illegal or unethical.
 
A

ant1532

Banned
Can a mod change the title please!?!? This shit needs to be known! If not someone make a new thread about this bullshit.

Fredescu said:
You're defending the idea that a company should be able to pay for good reviews? GTFO.
Click to expand...
.
 
K

Kodiak

Not an asshole.
neojubei said:
Done
Done
Done.

Damn man, I'm not a Jeff Gerstmann fan, but damn how the frack can someone get canned for a review, especially someone whose been their from the beginning.

Jeff should join N'gai on his new trial podcast.
Click to expand...


Don't think we know if this is fact yet. Lets not go crazy.
 
F

FartOfWar

Banned
mosaic said:
I only have second-hand information, so I don't feel comfortable relating any of it.

But, did y'all notice there was no "On The Spot" show today? And no reviews went up?

The staff are, to put it mildly, skittish.
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If facts match the strip's innuendo they should rightfully be terrified. It reads like an ads-for-scores scenario. Then again this could be artistic license.
 
W

White Man

Member
RogueHobbit said:
And for those of you rejoicing at this...seriously, grow the fuck up. A man just lost a job he held for over a decade. Being unemployed is no joke. Have some compassion. The only way someone should be glad is if he was caught doing something illegal or unethical.
Click to expand...

From here on out, I will be banning gloaters. The only reason I'm not banning the ones from earlier in the thread is because I'd feel guilty about not giving fair warning.
 
G

Ganondorfo

Junior Member
Now we will never know what he will give to his anticipated game super smash bros brawl.


WHY gamespot why

fire emblem also had adverts on the gamespot site and it got a mediocre score, did intelligent systems made a fuss about it? NO but neogaf did:lol
 
K

Kittonwy

Banned
Firestorm said:
Hm. Kotaku article actually makes this seem as if Kane & Lynch was the reason... From PA I just figured they were making fun of the coincidence. If Jeff really was let go because of this, then I say we should cause a shitstorm to try and change how this stuff is run.

Advertisers getting their claws into the reviews is one of the reasons most people don't trust sites with any impressions.
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It's not just advertisers, it's free swag, getting invites to parties, rubbing shoulders with game developers, and whoever is giving you the royal treatment, having one console but not another at home, all that shit ends up affecting how games are actually looked at, whether the reviewer is actually aware of it or not, that's why reviews are so damn subjective sometimes, because gaming is a very subjective hobby, moreso than movies.

But when you have an advertiser forcing a site to let go of an editor because of a bad review, that site's credibility is basically unsalvageable.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
gray_fox224 said:
http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/gamespot-editor-fired-over-kane--lynch-review-328244.php

beaten confirmed.
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This mentions the reason was with the tone of the review instead of the actual content. How much of the written review has been changed, and what was in the video review that he supposedly did (was it him?)

If it was because of the tone of a review, as in being disrespectful and so forth, I could actually see this being a valid reason to let someone go (in CNet's eyes). Especially if an advertising partner applied pressure. It's one thing to give a game as a bad score, it's another if the tone was disrespectful and insulting.
 
H

hauton

Member
It's so funny to see PA trying to call out CNET's practices after they blew a fucking casket over IGN for calling PA out on their jism-gushing over AC.
 
P

Pewp

Member
I was not pleased when he wasnt on the last pod cast. Usually they say the week before if one of the members will be missing or not.

He was the only reason that I actually listened to The Hot Spot.
 
F

Firestorm

Member
Well, I really want to read Tycho's commentary tomorrow morning. How early does it usually go up? I always read it during my first class of the day or something.
 
A

Attack You

Member
White Man said:
So can we count on hearing some sort of confirmation, either from Gerstmann, or from one of the other journalist types here? If this went down as it appears, this is like, a very serious issue with the industry; the sort that needs to be reported on.
Click to expand...

Gerstmann has got to blow off some steam at this, and soon. It'll be anti-climatic otherwise.
 
J

jacobs34

Member
If the rumors are true, this sets a very scary precedent for people who reivew video games for a living. If pressure from the company advertising can lead to a firing without any kind of pushback from the industry at large, then expect this to happen more and more often in the future. Again, we don't have all the facts and I hope this isn't the case, I always enjoyed Jeff Gerstmann on gamespot.com, good luck to you man.
 
K

kaskade

Member
I agree, how can people be so cold. Whether you liked him or not show some respect he's out of a job.
I really liked him, he was probably the main reason I listened to the HotSpot.
 
E

Evlar

Banned
Firestorm said:
Well, I really want to read Tycho's commentary tomorrow morning. How early does it usually go up? I always read it during my first class of the day or something.
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Variable, but it's unusual for it to go up later than 12pm PST.
hauton said:
It's so funny to see PA trying to call out CNET's practices after they blew a fucking casket over IGN for calling PA out on their jism-gushing over AC.
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Yeah, that's fucking hilarious.

...

Actually, no, that doesn't seem to have anything to do with this it all.
 
F

fernoca

Member
Doesn't that mean that all Gamespot reviews are and has been somewhat.."tainted" by developers, meaning that some good games may have received low scores because they didn't received any money or stuff from the developers, or too high because they did received something in exchange?

Because going as far as firing someone from putting a bad review, sounds like he was against the company per se and decided to put the review anyway...
 
D

duckroll

Member
White Man said:
From here on out, I will be banning gloaters. The only reason I'm not banning the ones from earlier in the thread is because I'd feel guilty about not giving fair warning.
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Aw come on, you can desicrate a grave and you feel guilty about people that gloat about people losing their job? :(
 
M

Mefisutoferesu

Member
gertsmann should go write for that game reviews for parents site that was just opened. It seems like a pretty nice site and I'm sure they could use writers.
 
K

Kittonwy

Banned
hauton said:
It's so funny to see PA trying to call out CNET's practices after they blew a fucking casket over IGN for calling PA out on their jism-gushing over AC.
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Oh for sure there's serious appearance of conflict of interests there between PA and Ubisoft regarding AC, PA should really have stayed the hell out of the whole low review thing.
 
A

ant1532

Banned
Linkzg said:
if this is all true, 1upyours needs Gerstmann on the friday podcast.

arent both Gamespot and 1up really close to each other?
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Yeah, I'm pretty sure they are and that would be epic even though I never hear of any of the 1UP guys mentioning Jeff's name and vice versa. Oh yeah, if this is true, canceling my account at Gamespot asap.
 
D

Dartastic

Member
hauton said:
It's so funny to see PA trying to call out CNET's practices after they blew a fucking casket over IGN for calling PA out on their jism-gushing over AC.
Click to expand...

This isn't about "CNET's practices", or the whole advertising thing on PA. This is about a well known journalist losing his job for essentially not accepting cash for a good review. This is much different, and the ramifications for the industry are much different.

Firestorm said:
Well, I really want to read Tycho's commentary tomorrow morning.
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.
 
D

Dot50Cal

Banned
madmook said:
This fucking blows. After Kasavin, Gerstmann was the only name I knew from GS. I enjoyed him on HotSpot and OnTheSpot.
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Same, though I got to know a few more from the Hotspot, this is still a huge blow to GS. Looks like I wont be visiting the site anymore.
 
F

Firestorm

Member
hauton said:
It's so funny to see PA trying to call out CNET's practices after they blew a fucking casket over IGN for calling PA out on their jism-gushing over AC.
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I don't see how it's the same? Penny Arcade (or I guess Gabe) said that he did enjoy Assassin's Creed and was remarking that he'd just realized that being a game reviewer (aka finishing the game asap) can make the game less fun. He posted that. Gabe and Tycho both do these posts from time to time, they're informal reviewers really.

IGN then kinda blew up about the critique from my understanding and Gabe blew up at them again, as he does every now and then.

This is about firing a reviewer due to marketing reasons. Which is one of the biggest problems with this industry. Reviewers are too afraid to speak their minds half the time. I've read articles about people who write their first bad review and have publishers cursing them out over the phone because of it.
 
K

Kabuki Quantum Lover

Member
Mefisutoferesu said:
gertsmann should go write for that game reviews for parents site that was just opened. It seems like a pretty nice site and I'm sure they could use writers.
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1.) Does Jeff even have kids?
2.) Does that site even do that type of reviews?
 
The Lamonster

The Lamonster

Member
Holy shit, I read the comic but I didn't know it was talking about specific real shit. That sucks, but I bet the guy will easily find work elsewhere.


I'm really glad the Penny Arcade guys are stirring this shit up. They're awesome.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
ThePeacemaker02 said:
I agree, how can people be so cold. Whether you liked him or not show some respect he's out of a job.
I really liked him, he was probably the main reason I listened to the HotSpot.
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Are you new to the world? People "gloat" over firings all the time. They routinely call for the firing of people in all facets of LIFE. Hang out around some sports fans, they will gladly tell you who should be fired and how big of a celebration they will do when it happens. It sucks when anyone loses their job, but this is no different than anything...well, ever.

People should stop being so sensitive because there's been moments that you have wished for someone, somewhere, to be fired.
 
W

WrikaWrek

Banned
Kintaro said:
This mentions the reason was with the tone of the review instead of the actual content. How much of the written review has been changed, and what was in the video review that he supposedly did (was it him?)
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He just talked about how flawed the game was. It got some action sequences right, but then he goes on to talk about how bad the game is.

I agreed with him. It's a shitty game, even a 6 is too much.
 
O

OnWarmerMusic

Member
Completely shameful, if true. Hopefully someone will put the screws to Gamestop for this decision, because they really can't be allowed to get away with something like this. I hope Gerstmann has something else lined up soon, if not already.
 
T

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
ThePeacemaker02 said:
I agree, how can people be so cold. Whether you liked him or not show some respect he's out of a job.
I really liked him, he was probably the main reason I listened to the HotSpot.
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Agreed.

I'm a big fan of the HotSpot but without Gerstmann in the last episode it became clear it won't be anywhere as entertaining. No offense to the remaining crew but he added a hell of a lot to that podcast.
 
D

DeaconKnowledge

Member
I completely agreed with Gerstmann's review of Zelda.

He did shit that I didn't like, but at least he had integrity. That's more than I can say for most of these "journalists" in the game industry.
 
T

Thunder Monkey

Banned
White Man said:
From here on out, I will be banning gloaters. The only reason I'm not banning the ones from earlier in the thread is because I'd feel guilty about not giving fair warning.
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I say hang them. :D

Anyone that could rejoice after the loss of a job, needs no forewarning.
 
E

Eric WK

Member
Kintaro said:
Are you new to the world? People "gloat" over firings all the time. They routinely call for the firing of people in all facets of LIFE. Hang out around some sports fans, they will gladly tell you who should be fired and how big of a celebration they will do when it happens. It sucks when anyone loses their job, but this is no different than anything...well, ever.

People should stop being so sensitive because there's been moments that you have wished for someone, somewhere, to be fired.
Click to expand...

Absolutely. Obviously this seems like a situation where someone who probably didn't deserve to be fired has been let go, but come on. A ban on gloating over someone being fired? Do people pay attention to real life?
 
S

Sylar

Banned
I didn't know Gallup left Gamespot...he's like, the only game journalist from New Hampshire. Or was :/.

1Up should've hired Gallup and Gertsmann though. I'm not going to make a lowball troll at 1Up, but they keep letting these guys who could help them out slip through the cracks.
 
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