[News] Reviewer fired for 6.0 score

What started out as an iffy rumor proved to be true yesterday as GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstmann (who you may remember as "the guy who only gave Twilight Princess an 8.8") was fired Wednesday morning for his less-than pleasant review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. Eidos, who had apparently spent lots of money on promoting the game through banner and "background" ads on GameSpot's site were outraged at the score, and pressured GameSpot to reprimand Gerstmann at their expense.

Destructoid.com has the whole story:

Quote:

Ladies and gentlemen, I would advise you to all to duck as there will almost certainly be a large amount of splatter coming from every fan near you as a result of the news I have to share.

Primotech has a story up claiming insider information regarding the firing of Gamespot reviewer Jeff Gerstmann. Mr. Gerstmann recently awarded Eidos' Kane & Lynch: Dead Men a 6.0 score while Eidos was pumping a large amount of advertising cash into Gamespot, and shockingly this pissed off some of the higher-ups. In a much less sarcastic instance of the word "shocking" instead of merely admonishing him -- which would have been unethical in its own right -- the powers that be fired Mr. Gerstmann (and may have slapped his wife).

Also, Gerstmann's video review of Kane & Lynch, the straw that broke the camel's back, has since been taken off the site, but it still available on YouTube.

There's no telling what could come of this, that's for sure. Let's hope Gerstmann gets some support from the industry.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I doubt there's a "video game reviewer" union or anything like that.

It's too bad that the advertising dollars are dictating website review scores these days, though.

On a scale from 8 to 10...

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Ha. Just more proof that reviews can't really be trusted.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

From now on, any game that has purchased advertising space on a gaming website will receive a perfect review on said website. Way to completely undermine the entire concept of a review. This will serve to further turn "reviews" into just another component of the hype machine leading up to any game's release. Not that anyone has taken professional reviews seriously in the past 10+ years, but still.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Oho, it was the same guy who gave Twilight Princess less than a 9? I bet that's what got him on the chopping block in the first place. Which is a shame, because he was the only person who dared give an honest review.

Not that it's news that review sites engage in payola, but they sorta left their fly wide open this time. I'm curious to see how this affects other sites; this is going to put a hell of a lot of suspicion on any other reviewers who pour praise all over this game.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Considering the lack of official statement, I dunno if Gerstmann was fired simply for this review, or if it was a culmination of things. I'm more inclined to believe the latter, at least for the time being.

And people pretending that reviews weren't based on moneyhats already is kind of amusing. Dirty, disgusting tactics? Sure. Unexpected? Fuck no.

I absolutely HATED the guy's writing, though, and he wasn't nearly as funny or amusing as he thought he was. So I couldn't really care less personally. Not like GS was the greatest source for this shit anyway.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Still seems a little unreasonable that they fired him because of that... Whatever happened to free speech?

FELIPE NO

What does games journalism have to do with free speech?

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Free speech only applies to gov't restrictions, not corporation.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

This just goes to show how currupt EVERY kind of business is. Even things that you think are opinion based have strings that are being pulled that you can't see.

This is why I've hated game reviews for years, and while I could never prove my suspicions, this goes to show that not everything can be trusted.

I liked Kane & Lynch and think it deserved a score higher then a 6. But at the same time, in no way do I think the guy should have been fired for it.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

He made pretty just criticisms, but alas this is the $$$ age in gaming. Might as well get the CNET board or Eidos to write the damn thing and post it on Gamespot themselves. Its pointless to be a reviwer if you can't 'review' a game. I wouldn't be surprised if he did launch a wrongful dismissal suit.

He wasn't a golden reviewer but what I did like about him was his honesty and willingness to point out that games even Halo had things wrong with them.



This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Well, maybe he can start his own gaming blog and start posting reviews there. I never did trust any of those gaming magazine reviews...

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Oh no, did a video game get a bad score.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Maybe Koei should start telling off Game Informer for giving there games bad reviews. Consider Game Informer gives them scores much lower then they deserve even if you want to criticize the games and yet their magazine is filled with advertisements for the games.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

GameSpot/CNet have issued an official statement:

“GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously,” the statement reads. “For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis. It is CNET Networks’ policy not to comment on the status of its employees, current of former.” - CNET

Gamespot issues short comment on Gerstmann firing - Joystiq

In addition, other GameSpot employees have left as a result of the debacle:

TimT's Profile - GameSpot

FELIPE NO

And I wanted to work as a "professional" game reviewer.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

For a second I was thinking the score was in regards to Assassin's Crap Creed. Then I remembered that reviewers were going apeshit over its mediocrity, and even after that I saw that it was Eidos who complained.

So yeah.

Either way, what a brash move by Gamespot. Did they really think that firing a reviewer because of pressure from an advertiser would allow them to keep any of their dignity?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Eidos: We'll give you lots of money to slow your already bloated with shit website down to a crawl with themed advertising!
GameSpot: It's a deal!
Eidos: Also here's the final version of our latest game, we see you've already given it blowjobs with glowing previews as usual because apparently every single game ever gets a good preview on GameSpot, time for the review!
GameSpot: We'll give it to Jeff! Jeff, make sure you give it a good review! You know how it goes, we bog down computers with horrific full screen Flash adverts, give said game a great score, life goes on.
Jeff: NO. I AM A REBEL TODAY.
GameSpot: But Jeff!
Jeff: AUUHGHUGUHAUHAUHAHUA
GameSpot: Fine we'll just give it to another reviewer.
Jeff: Not if I type up a review real quick and submit!
GameSpot: DON'T YOU DO IT JEFF.
Jeff: I'M GONNA BE A HERO ON GARBAGE FORUMS LIKE NEOGAF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT.

*GameSpot boss and Jeff both slowly waddle towards the giant red 'submit review' button on wall*

How ya doing, buddy?

@Matt
It was the investor who pressured GameSpot to fire the guy. It wasn't GS's choice. Not that it really matters. It's still a sad joke.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Infernal Monkey

Jeff: I'M GONNA BE A HERO ON GARBAGE FORUMS LIKE NEOGAF. IT'LL BE WORTH IT.

It's fucking disgusting over there, isn't it? Holy SHIT.

And for the love of Christ guys, no one here knows the exact reason. It could be more than just "the Kane and Lynch review". Cool your jets, assholes, and stop making up fake proof when all the info you've heard is 15th hand, good lord.

For all you know he had it coming and this is the whole staw/camel's back thing. If it IS just because of Eidos here, than that's even dirtier than the current situation already is, but fucking come on. It's far more likely this isn't JUST related to this one isolated event.

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Quote:

For all you know he had it coming and this is the whole staw/camel's back thing. If it IS just because of Eidos here, than that's even dirtier than the current situation already is, but fucking come on. It's far more likely this isn't JUST related to this one isolated event.

That's true, we don't know the whole story yet. All GameSpot has told us so far is that they can't comment on their employees, which is fine, so Gerstmann himself will probably have to come forward. After all, maybe there was some internal issues at GameSpot/CNET we wouldn't know about.

What we do know, however, comes from an anonymous colleague of Gerstmann's who says this review, if not the primary reason, was definetly a catalyst for him being let go - and that's the big issue here. It's something he shouldn't have been punished for, let alone fired. To me, it's more of a morality thing than anything else, but I won't press the issue, nor will I condemn any one party until someone gives us more info. Too many names have been sullied already, and darn it, I like GameSpot - their news anyway. That busy website design I can do without.

I was speaking idiomatically.

There could be a multitude of reasons for this, you're right. And I'm going to take all news related to this with half a bag of salt. Office busybodies are not the greatest source of news ever. I can't imagine they had a small meeting where they called in all of Jeff's closest co-workers and said "HEY GUYS THIS IS WHY HE WAS FIRED". There's that whole confidentiality thing that most businesses subscribe to. They might know more if they were told, but then again they might not. I don't know. I don't PRETEND to know (like some other people in this thread [not you Nall]), and I'm certainly not going to pass judgement on SHIT until more CONCRETE details surface.

Right now I can certainly agree with the catalyst theory. It certainly seems that way from the information we're given. You're gonna have to excuse me for being skeptical about assuming it's the sole or even primary reason behind this, though.

How ya doing, buddy?

I always liked Gerstmann's brutal honesty and he was one of the main reasons I bothered to check out GameSpot's reviews. And unlike the majority of the people there, his video reviews were actually entertaining to watch.

This here is also a very interesting link. Someone called "gamespot" posted in a comment on a blog what seems to me like a very credible account of the current internal state at GameSpot.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Pyocola

This here is also a very interesting link. Someone called "gamespot" posted in a comment on a blog what seems to me like a very credible account of the current internal state at GameSpot.

Wow, now that's a scary report.

Gamespot's essentially lost all credibility with the one demographic it catered to: hardcore gaming nerds. These are the people who expect honest reviews (and Gamespot always rates a little lower than IGN or Gametrailers.com, etc...) and would be pissed at this exact situation.

The last paragraph, where reviewers at GS are now scared about giving a bad review is especially important. The whole website could crumble if no fans consider it an honest source now. Already people are canceling their online subscriptions.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I remember waaaaaaaaaaaaay back like in 99/2000 when I used [video] game spot. It was pretty decent, had decent reviews, etc. Nowadays, I keep hearing about how it has gone south with quality, and so on.

The interesting thing is, given that this is an online site, this actually DOES affect things. Usually, if someone doesn't like, say, nintendo, and stops a few people from buying games/using their services, said company does really care. However, Gamespot focuses on online business concerning reviews and the like. Hence, if it is true people are cancelling their subscriptions, then this could have a serious impact on them.

Jam it back in, in the dark.