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

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S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Dot50Cal said:
I thought it was pretty obvious when they removed the video review, and then when people found out the php url to it still worked they killed it entirely. Or when Gabe and Tycho say its confirmed etc etc.
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Sorry, I just showed up to this legendary trainwreck thing just a short while ago.
 
J

JacksUsername

Member
"Wow" indeed. That really sucks for Gerstman. The idea of going over to another game site is being thrown around, but keep in mind he was the EIC for one of the "Big 3". That's not a position that's just thrown around or given out. It would be nice if a place would compensate him with that position, but most likely he'd have to settle for another position unless the company was lucky enough to be hiring for an EIC at the moment. Either way it would be a huge hit to a man's pride to take a lesser position after working for such a well known media outlet for 11 years. Despite disagreeing with some of his reviews, and enjoying the chaos that would ensue, I hope he gets a new job that engages him as much as his job at Gamespot seemed to do.

I want justice as well, but to be fair, banning Gamespot would affect even more honest reviewers that might be working there. Jeff seemed like he was good friends with a lot of the crew there, and I don't know if he'd want their jobs to at risk from dropped subscriptions due to Cnet's actions.

It looks like the only positive thing that might come out of this is the reaction and evaluation of game reviews and the grip that advertisers and host companies have over what we read. The topic has been escalating for a while, and now has finally come to a head. I hope the results benefit both the average reader, and the honest reviewer.
 
E

ezekial45

Banned
D3MO said:
Of course it won't...it'll suck...because 90% of the budget will go to paying GS to give it a 9.5-10
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I think you're placing too much, or probably all of the blame on Eidos. It was CNET that fired Gerstmann.
 
F

fortified_concept

Banned
neojubei said:
If gamespot gets someone to re-review K&L with a higher score, then they will lose all worth as a video game website. This makes me want to close my free account with gamespot.
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I doubt it after all this publicity. Although after what happened it's almost certain that the staff will follow more faithfully the "company policy" regarding reviews and impressions.
 
W

WHOAguitarninja

Member
If this is really what happened, then damn...Gamespot just lost all credibility for me, which is a shame as I used to find it to be one of the best review sites out there. I actually found that usually when Gerstman was not as impressed with a game as others, his impressions lined up precisely like mine.

Wherever he ends up I'm sure he'll do fine, but this whole thing is pretty damned awful.
 
stonedwal

stonedwal

Member
Whether you liked Jeff or not, this is some fucked up news right here. This is a sad day for games journalism/criticism. As a moderately experienced writer/budding freelancer/campaigner for free speech, I think it's up to us to punish C-Net/GameSpot and Eidos for this travesty, so will throw my support behind any GAF ban.
 
G

Geek

Ninny Prancer
It's 100% confirmed that Jeff is no longer at Gamespot, for those who doubt that part of the story.

As far the circumstances, no one will officially comment on that.
 
A

Anakinsella

Banned
NichM said:
I hope no one's cheering if this is true, Nintendo fan or no. There's supposed to be an iron wall between advertising and editorial, and if it's been breached, that's a really sad thing both for Gerstmann personally and GameSpot professionally.
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exactly

Despite his low score of Zelda:TP - i loved gerstmann as a reviewer (video reviewer)

i still remember watching his GTAIII review for ps2 :D
 
C

CrushDance

Banned
TwoForFlinching said:
Like the mods said...we should wait for confirmation. If he is gone, then we talk strategy.

If he is gone, I'm sure he'll be fine. He does a fair amount of work with mainstream media sources. Maybe, with his experience, he'll start his own site.

I'd like to see 1up consider Jeff for the fourth chair....Garnett, you keep telling us it's your podcast...make it fucking happen!
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What strategy?...Cnet and it's subsidiaries will be banned from Gaf and then...what?

This seems like a joke though. How can you fire a reviewer, over a review??
 
F

FirstInHell

Banned
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6182850&pid=934403&tag=prefs;button
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6182850&pid=934403&tag=prefs;button
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6182850&pid=934403&tag=prefs;button
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6182850&pid=934403&tag=prefs;button
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6182850&pid=934403&tag=prefs;button
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6182850&pid=934403&tag=prefs;button
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6182850&pid=934403&tag=prefs;button
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/popup.php?sid=6182850&pid=934403&tag=prefs;button
 
C

Chumly

Member
Zzoram said:
I really hope someone managed to save that video review. It will become Legendary in the gaming community.
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Its gone did someone save it? Gamefuckers already took it down.

NVM theres a secret link still
 
M

MC Safety

Member
No_Style said:
So I guess it depends on how angry Gertsmann is. Shit will hit the fan if all of this is true and he does not sign an agreement.
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If he doesn't sign, he doesn't get severance. He will sign.

Eidos has a history of this kind of boorish behavior. When I worked for Wizard: The Comics Magazine, we did a tiny review for Deathtrap Dungeon, a cruddy PS1 game. And we were honest in describing the game as a piece of wet feces left in the sun.

Sure enough, Eidos complains, and threatens to pull advertising. As a result, I am called into the boss' office and told reviews published in Wizard can no longer be critical.

It's surprising how fast Wizard caved. I guess CNet folded similarly.
 
A

armubaba

Member
This is a travesty. Poor guy.

The next 1up Yours should definitely get Gerstmann on as a fourth chair. Could make for an awesome, yet at the same time depressing, segment.
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
Geek said:
It's 100% confirmed that Jeff is no longer at Gamespot, for those who doubt that part of the story.

As far the circumstances, no one will officially comment on that.
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Not even a badly drawn up lie for us?
 
P

painey

Member
if this is true, its really not Eidos' fault.

Theres no doubt saying "give us a good review or we revoke our advertising" is childish and poor form, there was no backbone from Cnet. The second the demand was made, Cnet should have just said "Fuck off". Giving in to advertisers shows no journalistic integrity. The state of reviews is already pretty sketchy due to advertising and promotions.. how can I trust a games site giving Halo 3 10/10 when the publisher has just sent them $800 worth of goods? How can I trust a games site giving positive previews and reviews to console specific games, only for the employees to go on and work for the company the games are for, etc, etc. There needs to be lines drawn that advertising and promotions doesnt entitle you to anything extra, else reviews are just down to who's being paid how much by whom.
 
S

shintoki

sparkle this bitch
Dragona Akehi said:
OR CAN WE?
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neogaf1.gif

:lol

Looking over the forums now...Its starting to look like how Zelda review was...A bunch of locked topics with the same content:lol. Not nesscarily a bad thing in this case since it does seem like gamespot is being extremely hush on the topic.
 
S

sprsk

force push the doodoo rock
Instead of banning CNet why not just keep people from posting reviews from gamespot?

I'd be down for locking all those threads.
 
H

hellclerk

Everything is tsundere to me
damn, this thread exploded big time. and not in an amusing way (unless you count the BURN THE WITCH/BAN THE CNET :lol).

now, i've never been a big fan of gertsmann. it's difficult to figure exactly what he's looking for in alot of games, but i would never wish something like this on him. Gertsmann is really a reviewer that needs to be limited to a 5-point scale. 10.0 point scales can really warp sentiment in his reviews, if he were only able to give a 1-5, you can't really complain that much. what lost him his job (if he has and it has to do with K&L) is probably closer to the poor review scoring system that plagues the industry. funnily enough, a 3/5 game is still marketable. a 6.0/10.0 game is shit. this should not be.
 
E

Evlar

Banned
Geek said:
It's 100% confirmed that Jeff is no longer at Gamespot, for those who doubt that part of the story.

As far the circumstances, no one will officially comment on that.
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That's probably as close to "official" as we're ever likely to get.
 
C

Crushed

Fry Daddy
Firestorm said:
Oh hey you're back. What'd you get banned for? I missed it.
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I still don't really know, but whatever.

Y2Kev said:
hi esrushed

how you be
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SUPER MARIO GALAXY WAS AWESOME.


But this news certainly puts a huge damper on things. Oh well, hopefully this will provide a successful cover; if you're all paying attention to this, you won't all start going crazy and following me around.
 
K

kaskade

Member
Yeah, I think it would be great if he went on 1up Yours. I would actually like to see him speak with more freedom than what the gamespot podcast allowed.
 
B

BuRT!

Member
I don't read gamespot reviews as much as I used to but damn that is lame, now I really don't have a reason to check out their site.

p.s. slow down, you're all posting faster than I can read. let me catch up!
 
N

neojubei

Will drop pants for Sony.
If the mods ban cnet and gamespot then it should ban eidos as well. I feel bad for Jeff, this isn't how a guy like him should go out. I doubt I can trust gamespot scores anymore.
 
D

Drinky Crow

Banned
gaf celebrity drinky crow condemns cnet and eidos for this bullshit, and pours one out for jeff gerstmann (even if he did overrate zelda tp and r&cf).

also, assassin's creed is fuck amazing, possible goty candidate
 
R

rollingstart

Banned
Drinky Crow said:
gaf celebrity drinky crow condemns cnet and eidos for this bullshit, and pours one out for jeff gerstmann (even if he did overrate zelda tp and r&cf).

also, assassin's creed is fuck amazing, possible goty candidate
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but he didnt rate Ratchet and Clank.

Slavik81 said:
Is that Gurren Lagann?
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only Lagann
 
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