Gamespot Editor Fired For Honest Review

[HumpX]

Its being reported on several sites at the moment but Penny Arcade has the best summary of what is really happening (http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/11/30)

Seems the guy gave Kane & Lynch a 6.0 and a video review which pretty much trashes the game. To be honest I never liked his reviews but in this case he was spot-on. Kane & Lynch is an awful piece of shit.......for $60 anyhow.

Anyhow, the big problem was Eidos, the publisher, had spent over 100K on whole-site advertising for the game. Gamespot claimed they had warned him in the past about his "tone" but lets be realistic, they made an example out of him.

[KakTheInfected]

Gamespot has probably been caving to publisher pressure for awhile now judging from some of their reviews in the past year. Gerstmann was part of it so fuck him, fuck Eidos and fuck Gamespot/CNet.

[HumpX]

Here's an even grimmer post. One of the gamespot guys posted anonymously on a blog and gave an overview of what happened from the inside (http://valleywag.com/tech/jeff-gerstmann/gamespot-editor-on-fired-writer-328775.php).

The guy was a 10 year veteran of that site and they locked his office and escorted him out of the building. great way to treat people with dignity. Fucking white collar management people are fucking spineless cunts.

[ruckstande]

Here's an even grimmer post. One of the gamespot guys posted anonymously on a blog and gave an overview of what happened from the inside (http://valleywag.com/tech/jeff-gerstmann/gamespot-editor-on-fired-writer-328775.php).

The guy was a 10 year veteran of that site and they locked his office and escorted him out of the building. great way to treat people with dignity. Fucking white collar management people are fucking spineless cunts.

That's not so shocking. That gets done in a lot of corporate offices.

[BravoSierra]

This is exactly the reason I never judge a game via game review sites. Reading forums after a release is the best way to do it.

[Plunkies]

Good job idiots, pick advertisers over readers.

Yahtzee is the only reviewer I trust at this point.

[HumpX]

Good job idiots, pick advertisers over readers.

Yahtzee is the only reviewer I trust at this point.

Yahtzee is my fucking hero.

[KneeKnee]

Fuck Gamespot. I havent trusted their reviews since that reviewed Ratchet and Clank.

I agree w/ Bravo Sierra, reading the forums and talking to people is the best way to see if a game is anygood.

Also, I use www.gamerankings.com a lot now, too.

[Grem]

Even though I don't like Gamespot, in this case the review seemed fair. Look at the other reviews for this game for the most part they are mostly 6/7 out of 10s :

http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/kaneandlynchdeadmen

[HumpX]

Fuck Gamespot. I havent trusted their reviews since that reviewed Ratchet and Clank.

I agree w/ Bravo Sierra, reading the forums and talking to people is the best way to see if a game is anygood.

Also, I use www.gamerankings.com a lot now, too.

Gamerankings is owned by Gamespot which is owned by CNet.......

[patbattlefield]

back door deals are killing the game industry

[KakTheInfected]

Gamerankings is owned by Gamespot which is owned by CNet.......

Gamerankings uses scores from many different websites though. Bullshit Gamespot scores are still in there, but I would assume most are fair.

[25133WhooOoAH]

So what If you spent alot on advertising on the site...If your game sucks it sucks...I would never even think twice about playing that turd...even before it got reviewed I knew it was shit. And that fat mess who got fired was honest on most of his reviews...Douchebag or not I trusted his scores.

[Xyn]

It's not like game reviewing is scientific. A reviewer gives their opinion and (hopefully) gives their reasoning behind it. You can agree or disagree with their opinions, but they key should be that they stay consistant. Firing a critic for their opinion is just silly.

[SOS]

It is an increasing trend that the reviews are directly tied into bonus to the company that made the game as games have surpassed movies in revenue. If the game does pass a certain mark, the company that made it gets less from the publisher because they have found (this will sound like common sense) that the better the review, the more games will be sold.

[BIV]

Is Gamespot the same guys as Game Informer? I've found that GI is almost always spot on. A couple of months ago I laughed at a scathing review that was right next to an advertisement for the same game.

[KneeKnee]

Gamerankings uses scores from many different websites though. Bullshit Gamespot scores are still in there, but I would assume most are fair.

Exactly. It shows you a shit load of reviews, if one says 10 and the rest say 5, I know it is a shit game...

[Blue Heeler]

They need to fire all of their reviewers, close down the website and burn the building down. Gamespot is biased, corrupt and agenda driven, as someone stated above, once they gave Ratchet & Clank an average review it pissed off anyone that has played the game. Many other mags and review sites gave R&C a 9.5 or a perfect 10. Also, the Uncharted review was a complete backstab...seems if the game has a PS3 Exclusive tag, they drop it a few points.

btw, Chester, go buy/rent Uncharted, it's probably the best PS3 game to date. Naughty Dog did an excellent job.

(You being the world champ of Madden and all...) wakka wakka

[HumpX]

More news:

Looks like things are not going well over at Gamespot (http://kotaku.com/gaming/gamespot-on-the-spot/gamespot-may-see-mass-resignations-over-dismissal-329822.php). The staff are NOT happy campers because not only did their friend and editor get shit-canned for questionable reasons, their long cultivated reputations are tied in with this even though they are just collateral damage. Looks like they are planning a walkout.

[KakTheInfected]

Wow, they only gave Uncharted an 8? I haven't played it yet but judging from the other reviews, that really is awful.

But yeah, Gamespot has sucked for a long while now. A 6 for Radiant Dawn? A 9 for Bioshock but a 9.5 for Halo 3? And like I said earlier, Gerstmann was a part of it too so I wish people would stop sympathizing with him so much.

[KneeKnee]

Wow, they only gave Uncharted an 8? I haven't played it yet but judging from the other reviews, that really is awful.

But yeah, Gamespot has sucked for a long while now. A 6 for Radiant Dawn? A 9 for Bioshock but a 9.5 for Halo 3? And like I said earlier, Gerstmann was a part of it too so I wish people would stop sympathizing with him so much.

Dude, that isnt even the biggest load of shit from them against PS3. Look at their review of Ratchet and Clank.

An overall ranking of just under a 9 and yet, some how, the guy at gamestop gives it a 7.5, the lowest score on the net.

http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/932369.asp

[tourettesguy]

Here's an even grimmer post. One of the gamespot guys posted anonymously on a blog and gave an overview of what happened from the inside (http://valleywag.com/tech/jeff-gerstmann/gamespot-editor-on-fired-writer-328775.php).

The guy was a 10 year veteran of that site and they locked his office and escorted him out of the building. great way to treat people with dignity. Fucking white collar management people are fucking spineless cunts.

This is why it still boggles my mind why people give two weeks notice anymore when they quit.

I just quit when I feel like quitting, and I leave. Easy. Things aren't how they used to be, so giving two weeks notice anymore is just stupid. Companies will do shit like this as soon as the resignation notice hits the bosses desk. Don't give a company anymore respect than they give you.

Thanks.

[SKRI]

fired over a video game review thats special.

Kane and Lynch wasn't too bad, it has a great engaging story, pretty fun co-op, and an original multiplayer mode. the frames take a hit and bullet hit detection is sometimes not what it should be, and the games difficulty ramps WAY THE FUCK UP without warning near the end of the game. T'aint Bad T'all

[BlackNinja]

well hopefully next time eidos makes a game, they dont put fake 5/5 reviews on the game's web site
http://kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/12/klrev1.jpg
http://kotaku.com/gaming/eidos/did-we-give-kane-lynch-5-stars-329539.php
http://kotaku.com/gaming/kane-%26-lynch/kane--lynch-site-fibbing-about-reviews-scores-329529.php

[sniper]

Been following this story, it's a shame for the rest of the staff. I never trusted GS anyways, like knee said, I trust forums and rottentomato-like sites and weed through the fluff. This story reminded me a lot of what happened to hexus.net when they gave a bad review of an Alienware laptop and Alienware refused to give them anymore test boxes. That's courting good reviews, what's happening at gs is worse.

[Plunkies]

Yahtzee just reviewed Assassin's Creed...

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/zeropunctuation/2694-Zero-Punctuation-Assassin-s-Creed

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v494/Thudpics/zpma7.jpg

[HumpX]

The site is getting hammered. No doubt his popularity is skyrocketing (as it should)

[Plunkies]

I've been watching the gametrailers.com video reviews and they seem really good. They tell you what's good about the game, what's bad about the game, and the entire video is all high quality gameplay footage. Those shitty Gamespot videos are usually some fat guy's head babbling in front of a TV screen for 4 minutes.

I watched the Assassin's Creed review and the game looked pretty badass. But they also showed the main character kill a guy in front of a guard and stroll away as the guard ran right next to him and wondered aloud as to who the murderer was. Thought it was hilarious that escaping a crime scene essentially amounted to walking away casually and whistling to yourself like a bugs bunny cartoon. Oddly enough, that only makes me want to play the game more...

[Blue Heeler]

The site is getting hammered. No doubt his popularity is skyrocketing (as it should)

Why should it? The guy was a biased, hack, douche.