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

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H

hauton

Member
How are they different whatsoever?

PA and Ubisoft have worked extensively together to promote AC. At PAX, on the site itself, etc. AC gets bad reviews, PA comes flying to the rescue and acts outraged when anyone calls them out on it.

Eidos and CNET work extensively to promote K&L. K&L gets a bad review from Gerstmann and CNET comes flying to the rescue with the unemploymenthammer on Gerstmann.
 
V

VOOK

We don't know why he keeps buying PAL, either.
Are we forgetting Eidos in this entire thing? They are the ones who put the stand over tactics to Gamespot.

hinch_narrowweb__200x317.jpg


Gamespot and Edios, shame shame shame.
 
W

WrikaWrek

Banned
DeaconKnowledge said:
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.
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It's true.

Not to mention, what the hell man. Great movies get bad reviews all the time and people don't get fired over it, much less fired for shitting on shitty movies.
 
F

FartOfWar

Banned
zenbot said:
If it is the case that Jeff was let go due to advertiser pressure, it is amazing that CNET management could be so short-sighted. Did they think that the news wouldn't get out? Or do they just think it's not that big of a deal?

Once a review site loses their credibility, what the fuck else do they have?
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People on Gamespot forums seem fond of bitching when scores are "too low." I don't think most enthusiasts will really care, as much as I wish with every bone in my body that they did.
 
T

TekunoRobby

Tag of Excellence
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.
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I think you missed something. Here, let me help you:
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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T

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
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.
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I expect some kind of comment on 1up Yours...
 
A

ant1532

Banned
Sylar said:
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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Gallup isn't a game journalist... Or a journalist at all for that matter. Hes a producer/video editor/writer.
 
A

Alex P

Member
mosaic, would you face any repercussion if it became public that you were responsible for coming out with this information (knowing full well your real name, at this point)?
 
F

fallout

Member
FartOfWar said:
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.
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I could swear that you guys were joking about this very scenario on the podcast a few weeks back, when you were talking about publishers calling in about low scores. Anyway, scary shit, if true.

Alex P said:
mosaic, would you face any repercussion if it became public that you were responsible for coming out with this information (knowing full well your real name, at this point)?
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Pfft. It's not like they'd fire him or anything.
 
C

Chipopo

Banned
So let's say we were to start an initiative to boycott Gamespot (in a non-reactionary manner)...what would be an effective procedure?

1) Demand a statement from CNet within a limited time-frame?

2) After said time-frame, online petition, stating reasons for boycott?

3) Boycott?

4) ???

5) Profit?
 
D

duckroll

Member
If Eidos' involvement in his termination can be verified, I'm never buying an Eidos game again. It's not that hard, because they've been releasing crap and stuff I'm not interested in for years now, but even when there's something I'm interested in, I'll just pass it up for some other game not published by Eidos. I put my money where my mouth is, and I don't stand for bully tactics by publishers.
 
E

Evlar

Banned
hauton said:
How are they different whatsoever?

PA and Ubisoft have worked extensively together to promote AC. At PAX, on the site itself, etc. AC gets bad reviews, PA comes flying to the rescue and acts outraged when anyone calls them out on it.

Eidos and CNET work extensively to promote K&L. K&L gets a bad review from Gerstmann and CNET comes flying to the rescue with the unemploymenthammer on Gerstmann.
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Because Penny Arcade shat all over Prince of Persia 2 from a vast height with banner ads promoting that game inches away. In other words, they did exactly what Gerstmann got fired for doing and took the heat from the advertiser, and swear they'd do it again if necessary. They are NOT the hypocrites here.

So unless you are prepared to say it is IMPOSSIBLE Penny Arcade legitimately enjoys Assassins Creed then kindly stuff your conspiracy theory up your own ass.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
TekunoRobby said:
I think you missed something. Here, let me help you:
Click to expand...

You might want to take a look at my post to see where I was gloating. Here's a hint. I wasn't.

However, I did point out that YOU (and people) should open your eyes and notice people do "gloat" or whatever all the time and it's hypocritical to say it's "low" now.
 
beat

beat

Member
hauton said:
How are they different whatsoever?

PA and Ubisoft have worked extensively together to promote AC. At PAX, on the site itself, etc. AC gets bad reviews, PA comes flying to the rescue and acts outraged when anyone calls them out on it.

Eidos and CNET work extensively to promote K&L. K&L gets a bad review from Gerstmann and CNET comes flying to the rescue with the unemploymenthammer on Gerstmann.
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"acting outraged" == "firing someone" ???
 
B

Belfast

Member
Wowow. What the hell? I feel like a Johnny-come-lately, but this sounds downright vile. Unless Gerstmann went on some profanity-laced, racial slur breakdown during his K&L review, there is NO reason for him to get fired over this.
 
T

TheDarkKnight774

Member
wow

i've not really agreed with GS reviews as of late, or Gertmann's reviews in general, but if this is true thats total BS and they are forever discredited in my eyes. It was bad enough when GS used to go back behind the scenes and alter scores. This is taking it to a new low

Why is the video game review system so shady and appears to be corrupt? From exclusives to site and their advertising influencing scores, etc. Nevermind the promotional free stuff that comes with some games.

What a mess
 
H

hauton

Member
They're both unethical decisions. Obviously one has much bigger implications, but still, like kittowny said, PA shouldn't have stuck their heads into the low review thing.
 
S

Sylar

Banned
ant1532 said:
Gallup isn't a game journalist... Or a journalist at all for that matter. Hes a producer/video editor/writer.
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Technically he's a game producer/video editor/ writer. And he would've done wonders for the 1Up Show that -in my opinion - the current staff isn't doing very well as of late.

But I've heard that Gallup is one of the Video editors for Harmonix now, so whatever.
 
D

Defuser

Member
If gerstmann really gets the sack,I hope 1up invites him and it will be the most glorious 1up podcast ever.
Wow,the only person left worth going to GS is Alex N.
 
N

NotWii

Banned
I may not agree with his TP review (complaining over not being able to read the sign textures, complaining that it's a Zelda game WTF?!)

But firing over a bad review?!
Gamespot have totally sold out.
 
C

chespace

It's not actually trolling if you don't admit it
Dante said:
To put it mildly the state of video game reviews is a total mess right now.
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For once, we agree.

The wall between editorial and advertising has been chipped away at for years -- now it's just being pulled down wholesale by a jackhammer.

From the shit I hear constantly, it truly saddens me.
 
K

Kittonwy

Banned
Firestorm said:
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.
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Obviously it's not the same since Gerstmann gave K&L a low score despite Eidos putting up ads on gamespot and there being a vested financial interest for Eidos to get a good score, and Ubisoft paid PA for their comic for the game and Gabe went out of his way to defend AC from the low reviews that other sites gave AC.
 
K

Kintaro

Worships the porcelain goddess
gketter said:
Why is the video game review system so shady and appears to be corrupt?
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I dunno, maybe if they advertise featuring games that actually kicked ass, that would be a start. :lol
 
N

Nab

Member
Lame. Really, ****ing lame.

So... Which game website will some of you guys all be migrating to? Looks like I need a new place for interesting weekly videogames videos, podcasts and content.
 
H

hauton

Member
You can't really blame the dev, you can only blame Eidos who put the pressure on (if true).

And to boycott all of Eidos' games would be unfair to all the devs under their umbrella. The true culprit here is CNET, if anybody. This sort of "pressure" exists all the time and it's on the media to not accept it.
 
T

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
FartOfWar said:
People on Gamespot forums seem fond of bitching when scores are "too low." I don't think most enthusiasts will really care, as much as I wish with every bone in my body that they did.
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I don't know. Doesn't that go against being an enthusiast, Shawn? (I, perhaps, have too much faith in the community)

This shit is a fucking outrage. Is something going to be said on GFW? Being outspoken hasn't stopped you guys in the past. Hell, Jeff regularly rags on the magazine's own sponsor. People need to hear from other journalists that this shit cannot stand.

I don't agree with Gerstmann's reviews in quite a few situations, but I'll be damned if I'm going to silence him from giving it, ESPECIALLY when he gets PAID to do so, and his opinion sways the purchase decisions of hundreds (if not thousands) of gamers out there.
 
M

mosaic

go eat paint
Alex P said:
mosaic, would you face any repercussion if it became public that you were responsible for coming out with this information (knowing full well your real name, at this point)?
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Considering all I've done is post the PA link and confirm that Jeff was let go, it'd be a real bitch move to lose my freelance work for pointing out a comic and news that Penny-Arcade and other sites had already put up. Someone would have posted a link to the comic on GAF eventually.

But, if it happens, so be it. And if it does happen, that'd confirm the worst, wouldn't it?

Again, let me be clear, I've not spoken to anyone from any news site, and I've taken great strides not to spill inside info here. I'll continue to do that. Not just to protect myself, but others too.
 
S

sc0la

Unconfirmed Member
I don't know why Nintendo fans would be happy about this. In hindsight the 8.8 was spot on.

If the strip is even a hallow shell of what actually happened the gamespot can FOAD. Advertising should never affect editorial content. Gertsmann may have had his faults, occasionally scoring games lower than fanboys or publishers wanted was certainly not one of them.
 
A

armubaba

Member
If this is true, this is colossal bullshit. Sure, there were times I didn't agree with the man, and, sure, there were a couple of odd scores here and there, but that doesn't stop the fact that this is a load of crap. I hate this whole pay-for-review shit, and I'm happy that, at the very least, the P&A guys have the balls to stand up to it and stir some stuff up.
 
F

fernoca

Member
Lazy vs Crazy said:
Do you honestly believe it is limited to Gamespot?
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Nope..
I know of a few......

But seeing how many of this sties and magazines have this .."fans" that defend them all the way,. and thrust their reviews and only buy games that get good reviews from them..where are they going to put their faith next? ..since the rest of the magazines/websites deny it (constantly).. :p ..
 
D

duckroll

Member
Kittonwy said:
Ubisoft paid PA for their comic for the game and Gabe went out of his way to defend AC from the low reviews that other sites gave AC.
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Can you really prove that? I enjoy AC quite a lot and I've recommended it to friends who were considering twice because of some of the bad reviews. Am I also on Ubisoft's payroll? You mean it's not possible that some people actually *gasp* like the game? Seriously.
 
H

Howard Alan Treesong

Member
We're never going to see this officially "confirmed," but it seems about as confirmed as any piece of industry scuttlebutt can be at this point.

Incredibly horrifying precedent. Hard to imagine the chain of events that culminated in Jeff losing his job. My condolences to him, and a big FUCK YOU to CNET and Eidos for making this happen.
 
T

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Nab said:
Lame. Really, ****ing lame.

So... Which game website will some of you guys all be migrating to? Looks like I need a new place for interesting weekly videogames videos, podcasts and content.
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Um...you went somewhere else besides 1up in the past? They have the best videos, podcasts and content in the business.
 
B

Blueblur1

Member
Defuser said:
If gerstmann really gets the sack,I hope 1up invites him and it will be the most glorious 1up podcast ever.
Wow,the only person left worth going to GS is Alex N.
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Agreed 100%. He can finally let loose and curse his soul out.
 
L

Lazy vs Crazy

Member
This could really turn out to be a good thing though, if only because it will open people's eyes to something that happens that they may never otherwise think about.
 
S

skip

Member
This shit is a fucking outrage. Is something going to be said on GFW? Being outspoken hasn't stopped you guys in the past. Hell, Jeff regularly rags on the magazine's own sponsor. People need to hear from other journalists that this shit cannot stand.
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I want more details before saying anything more, but should these circumstances be confirmed, I hope to see a lot of commentary.
 
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