• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

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

Status
Not open for further replies.
Z

Zeed

Banned
PkunkFury said:
well that about settles it. The official word is in and it looks like things aren't exactly how the rumors portrayed them to be. This is why you shouldn't jump to conclusions folks. It's a good thing we got soem first hand information. Time to pack this thread up.
Click to expand...
Do you work for CNET or something?
 
PkunkFury

PkunkFury

Member
nestea said:
This is what Cnet has been saying all along. They didn't fire Jeff due to advertiser tension, they did so because of the "tone" of his reviews which we heard already and we've already concluded that is BS.

This "news" doesn't help clear up anything, just reaffirming what Cnet has been spouting all along.
Click to expand...

yes, but this is first hand information. Up until now everything has been from "sources" and "insiders" that aren't willing to divulge their identity. Up until this point, the whole 70 page thread has been fueled by misinformation
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
PkunkFury said:
yes, but this is first hand information. Up until now everything has been from "sources" and "insiders" that aren't willing to divulge their identity. Up until this point, the whole 70 page thread has been fueled by misinformation
Click to expand...

You're one of those people that believes everything that comes out of Bush's mouth, aren't you?
 
Petrae

Petrae

Member
PkunkFury said:
well that about settles it. The official word is in and it looks like things aren't exactly how the rumors portrayed them to be. This is why you shouldn't jump to conclusions folks. It's a good thing we got soem first hand information. Time to pack this thread up. Also, it's nice to see they're going to give Jeff decent send off after all of the trouble this has caused.
Click to expand...

This is sarcasm... right?

Believe what you will, but my take is that CNET is forcing GameSpot to spin damage control and make Jeff out to look like a good guy who simply parted ways. That doesn't compute if you read the reactions of his fellow GS colleagues.

Giving him a hero's sendoff after royally screwing him doesn't make the wound sting any less, and you can bet that these "tributes" will be more sterile than a man with a vasectomy.
 
S

Spire

Subconscious Brolonging
Thank god PkunkFury isn't a judge.

"The defendant says he's innocent and he was the only one at the scene of the crime who is still alive, so I believe him!"
 
Petrae

Petrae

Member
PkunkFury said:
yes, but this is first hand information. Up until now everything has been from "sources" and "insiders" that aren't willing to divulge their identity. Up until this point, the whole 70 page thread has been fueled by misinformation
Click to expand...

So... the editorial staff at GameSpot is in a morale tailspin of epic proportions for no reason? Come on. Perhaps not everything contained here is factual, but we may never learn the whole truth. I strongly believe that the reactions of Jeff's former colleagues speaks louder than any denial that CNET has made to this point.
 
V

Vennt

Unconfirmed Member
PkunkFury said:
yes, but this is first hand information. Up until now everything has been from "sources" and "insiders" that aren't willing to divulge their identity. Up until this point, the whole 70 page thread has been fueled by misinformation
Click to expand...

Read this blog, and follow it chronologically through the various staff & industry type blogs and you'll see the "big picture" - they are not calling this a black day for Jeff, but a black day for gaming journalism.

If you can't follow on and have to wait for "official statements" I suggest you stick to simpler concepts & topics :p
 
V

Vyse The Legend

Member
Vennt said:
Read this blog, and follow it chronologically through the various staff & industry type blogs and you'll see the "big picture" - they are not calling this a black day for Jeff, but a black day for gaming journalism.

If you can't follow on and have to wait for "official statements" I suggest you stick to simpler concepts & topics :p
Click to expand...

:bow

Vennt hath spoken. We are truly not worthy.
 
L

LizardKing

Member
PkunkFury said:
yes, but this is first hand information. Up until now everything has been from "sources" and "insiders" that aren't willing to divulge their identity. Up until this point, the whole 70 page thread has been fueled by misinformation
Click to expand...


really? so then who wrote the article?
 
N

nestea

Member
PkunkFury said:
yes, but this is first hand information. Up until now everything has been from "sources" and "insiders" that aren't willing to divulge their identity. Up until this point, the whole 70 page thread has been fueled by misinformation
Click to expand...

So what part about this "first hand information" clears any doubt of the rumours? And why is this very important news article posted by "Staff".
 
N

nightowl

Member
PkunkFury said:
yes, but this is first hand information. Up until now everything has been from "sources" and "insiders" that aren't willing to divulge their identity. Up until this point, the whole 70 page thread has been fueled by misinformation
Click to expand...

Are there hot chicks in fantasyland, or is it just you?

I started to write up a list of all the problems with this line of thinking and have thought better of it. If in addition to all of the background information that you've heard from admittedly anonymous sources *along with* the comments from current and former GameSpot employees don't lead you to a different take on this "press release", then I'm not going to waste my time trying to explain it to you either.

I hope for your sake your answer was yes to the hot chick thing.

:)
 
E

El-Suave

Member
Maybe we can all agree on the fact that if you're a prominent figure in any endeavor for over 10 years, you undoubtedly will have made some enemies. Unfortunately for Jeff at least one of them was in a position to fire him. I doubt the K&L fiasco was the lone reason but probably just the proverbial final nail in the coffin.
 
R

Ryun1

Member
PkunkFury said:
yes, but this is first hand information. Up until now everything has been from "sources" and "insiders" that aren't willing to divulge their identity. Up until this point, the whole 70 page thread has been fueled by misinformation
Click to expand...

First-hand information from a suit at CNET. They couldn't even get a Gamespot staffer to write that. That quote is misinformation, pure and simple, from the 8th dimension. And good misinformation at that--some people are buying it.
 
F

Fun Factor

Formerly FTWer
PkunkFury said:
yes, but this is first hand information. Up until now everything has been from "sources" and "insiders" that aren't willing to divulge their identity. Up until this point, the whole 70 page thread has been fueled by misinformation
Click to expand...

EXCEPT:
-Mosaic, who actually works at Gamespot as a freelancer.
-Every one of the staff of Gamespot posting editorials about this mess & how Jeff was screwed.
-Several unnamed sources that have posted confidential information only an employee would know on several sites.
 
N

nightowl

Member
El-Suave said:
Maybe we can all agree on the fact that if you're a prominent figure in any endeavor for over 10 years, you undoubtedly will have made some enemies. Unfortunately for Jeff at least one of them was in a position to fire him. I doubt the K&L fiasco was the lone reason but probably just the proverbial final nail in the coffin.
Click to expand...
Could be, but I'd put money more on new management and a desire to have more advertiser friendly content then anything.
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071025/20071025006333.html

Still a shame of course.
 
L

LizardKing

Member
and i'm sure that quote from ryan is what he feels and what he believes because it's what he really wants. or else he probably wouldn't be staying there. but really, it's not really all up to him now is it?
 
C

chespace

It's not actually trolling if you don't admit it
Looks like everybody was wrong and there was absolutely no shadiness involved here at all.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled system wars.

Gamespot is a-ok once again.

Hmm, I feel like eating some McGriddles suddenly.
 
D

Drewsy

Banned
chespace said:
Looks like everybody was wrong and there was absolutely no shadiness involved here at all.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled system wars.

Gamespot is a-ok once again.

Hmm, I feel like eating some McGriddles suddenly.
Click to expand...

Gamespot was never A-OK, Che.
 
V

Vennt

Unconfirmed Member
One day that tongue will pierce that cheek che and blood will go everywhere. :p
 
Z

zenbot

Member
That Gamespot news post was shameful. Seriously shameful.

kylej said:
that Ryan quote reads like he had a gun to his head when he wrote it
Click to expand...
Seriously.

Ryan MacDonald said:
Though he will be missed by his colleagues, Jeff's leaving does not affect GameSpot's core mission of delivering the most timely news, video content, in-depth previews, and unbiased reviews in games journalism. GameSpot is an institution, and its code of ethics and duty to its users remains unchanged.
Click to expand...
That was written by a PR flack. "Core mission"? Man, come on. They're not even trying for sincerity!
 
D

Dizzy

Banned
Nice explanation from Gamespot about what happened.

So I guess the blogs that the editors have been putting up since Jeff left were all part of our imagination right?
 
M

Mar

Member
That crappy PR spin just makes Gamespot lose more cred. I mean seriously. If they are just going to attempt to gloss over this whole thing and act like everything is fine and dandy, then I hope the site has a horrible painful death.
 
M

M3wThr33

Banned
Mar_ said:
That crappy PR spin just makes Gamespot lose more cred. I mean seriously. If they are just going to attempt to gloss over this whole thing and act like everything is fine and dandy, then I hope the site has a horrible painful death.
Click to expand...

It's funny, you know it means absolutely nothing when the video review in question got removed from the site.
 
I

InterMoniker

Member
PkunkFury said:
well that about settles it. The official word is in and it looks like things aren't exactly how the rumors portrayed them to be. This is why you shouldn't jump to conclusions folks. It's a good thing we got soem first hand information. Time to pack this thread up. Also, it's nice to see they're going to give Jeff decent send off after all of the trouble this has caused.
Click to expand...
:lol That article was such bullshit.

"The accusations in the media that it has done so are unsubstantiated and untrue. Jeff's departure stemmed from internal reasons unrelated to any buyer of advertising on GameSpot."
Click to expand...
Yeah right.
 
K

Kabuki Waq

Member
PkunkFury said:
well that about settles it. The official word is in and it looks like things aren't exactly how the rumors portrayed them to be. This is why you shouldn't jump to conclusions folks. It's a good thing we got soem first hand information. Time to pack this thread up. Also, it's nice to see they're going to give Jeff decent send off after all of the trouble this has caused.
Click to expand...


lol wtf? how does that settle anything?
 
N

nightowl

Member
starnix17 said:
New EGM Live is up, but it doesn't seem like they mention it. I'll skim through it more.
Click to expand...
I believe EGM records on Thursday or Friday of the previous week, so they either didn't have much(anything?) to go on or probably decided they didn't know enough to comment.
 
F

FartOfWar

Banned
nightowl said:
I believe EGM records on Thursday or Friday of the previous week, so they either didn't have much(anything?) to go on or probably decided they didn't know enough to comment.
Click to expand...

This is likely but then EGM also records throughout the week, which means that today's show was taped last week. We'll dive into it on tomorrow's GFW, but focus on the state of the industry and the way that mags, websites, publishers, and developers interact. We know no more about the specifics of this incident than you, however, and won't speculate there.

Here's the intro: http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/16479

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rr1mRG1giM

Note that it is not intended as serious commentary, and is a satirical take on the state of the "blogosphere".
 
N

nightowl

Member
FartOfWar said:
This is likely but then EGM also records throughout the week, which means that today's show was taped last week. We'll dive into it on tomorrow's GFW, but focus on the state of the industry and the way that mags, websites, publishers, and developers interact. We know no more about the specifics of this incident than you, however, and won't speculate there.

Here's the intro: http://www.gamevideos.com/video/id/16479

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rr1mRG1giM

Note that it is not intended as serious commentary, and is a satirical take on the state of the "blogosphere".
Click to expand...
Maybe I said it wrong but that's what I meant about EGM recording. :)

Nice intro, as we've come to expect. I figured given your Holiday Buyer's guide takes last week that your meat tooth would find this most recent event well worth chewing. "Quality Stitching" doncha know :)
 
N

nightowl

Member
TheWolf said:
i guess the video review removal was just a coincidence.
Click to expand...
The exchange on this issue with the Stick that is Joyful was very bizzare:

While we had Cain on the line, we also asked her about the odd disappearance of Gerstmann's video review of the game from the GameSpot site. She responded by pointing out a note at the bottom of the still-running text review for the game, which states that "this review has been updated to include differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions and a clarification on the game's multiplayer mode."

When pressed for clarification, Cain said that this note applied to the video review as well. "At the bottom of the post of the [text] review we made a note that we have updated the review, and we made those decisions based on our own editorial standards," she said. "It was our decision to take down the [video] review." Given this justification, we can't help but wonder why GameSpot couldn't just edit the video review, as they did the text version. Why remove the entire thing if the problem was really just a "clarification?" When asked just that question, Cain reiterated her initial statement.
Click to expand...
If it was tone/quality of his work, why not just say that the work that was removed from the site failed to meet GameSpot's quality standards, blah blah blah?

Seems obvious that they didn't like his work (he's gone right?), so why dance around things you don't have to dance around. Its this type of horrible PR that has made this mess into something worse. They don't give us very good reasons to take a leap of faith on them do they?
 
S

SatelliteOfLove

Member
Petrae said:
This is sarcasm... right?

Believe what you will, but my take is that CNET is forcing GameSpot to spin damage control and make Jeff out to look like a good guy who simply parted ways. That doesn't compute if you read the reactions of his fellow GS colleagues.

Giving him a hero's sendoff after royally screwing him doesn't make the wound sting any less, and you can bet that these "tributes" will be more sterile than a man with a vasectomy.
Click to expand...

MANY days later, I might add; weekend be damned.
 
K

Kabuki Waq

Member
If they lie about the reasons for the firing can Jeff Respond then? i mean if they lie he has the right to respond gag order or no gag order right?
 
A

A Link to the Past

Banned
Kabuki Waq said:
If they lie about the reasons for the firing can Jeff Respond then? i mean if they lie he has the right to respond gag order or no gag order right?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure CNET probably used their team of high-priced lawyers to bound, gag, and hang him from a helicopter with a 1/4 tank of gas over a volcano filled with used syringes in order to ensure that he didn't contradict them.
 
P

ParticleReality

Banned
AniHawk said:
Do you need this bullet-pointed for you?
Click to expand...

No. This banning thing is still getting fucking stupid. Didn't penny arcade have a Hellgate ad up on their site even when they claimed they only let GOOD games get ad space on their sites? We should ban them too.

Why stop here? Every gaming site ever should be banned, you can't trust them at all. Sure 1up went down there and did their little protest and that made them look cool for doing it. But do you honestly think they don't give a little love to the Game Publishers that buy assloads of ads for their site?
 
S

Son of Godzilla

Banned
I just watched the K&L video review and honestly? I can understand why someone would be fired over that, especially if he'd been talked to about his demeanor before. It is excessively negative. It's one thing to be uninterested in a game, but he seemed uninterested in doing the review. In this age where these people are as much personalities as reviewers, I don't see how saccing someone for not maintaining one is such a crime, especially if he's been approached about it before.

ParticleReality said:
No. This banning thing is still getting fucking stupid. Didn't penny arcade have a Hellgate ad up on their site even when they claimed they only let GOOD games get ad space on their sites? We should ban them too.
Click to expand...

PA wrote that off by saying they greenlight ads well in advance and only demand playable copies of the game indicate something worthwhile. It's not like they can know beforehand how fucking much they will dick up the servers and other similar stuff.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom