Gerstmann-gate: Tuesday update
by Kyle Orland 
{ Dec 4th 2007 at 10:30AM }
Official statement or no, fan reaction to the firing of Jeff Gerstmann continues practically unabated:
- Gamespot readers have tagged the official Gamespot news story rather, er, harshly (see image above).
- Not everyone is on the anti-Gamespot bandwagon, though. Check out IGN's Hillary Goldstein, CrushedBefore.com and the possibly satirical KeepGirthmanFired.com.
- The story continues to drip slowly into the mainstream press. Check out Fishbowl LA, TheStreet.com and the Syracuse University Daily Orange.
- GameBump takes Eidos to task for misleading "review" quotes and a "five-star" rating image in the intro. for the official Kane & Lynch web site. GameSpy and Kotaku are confused as well.
- Pronet Advertising uses Gamespot as a case study in "How To Destroy Your Brand And Alienate People"
- GameSetWatch's Kevin Gifford: "Game publishers ... don't care what Jeff Gerstmann or any reviewer has to say about their games. They care about the score, the Metacritic average, and it's been that way ever since the Internet became the primary vehicle for game media."
- More from Gamespot freelancer Frank Provo: "Even if they don't get pressured to cut me loose because I've made a few posts here, I personally cannot write for a site that, for whatever reasons, wants to bring its review scores and tone more in line with the Metacritics/GameRankings medians, and is willing to pressure its writers to nudge in that direction."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
DarkKarobka @ Dec 4th 2007 10:34AM
Nobody is going to be happy with the way this all ends.
Yubastard @ Dec 4th 2007 12:00PM
and the thing is that gamespot will probably get away with it. Unharmed. life will go on...
I hope the brand dies or something...
I love joystiq!
Fox318 @ Dec 4th 2007 10:36AM
Was anyone else surprised to see autoerotic asphyxiation?
ShortFuse @ Dec 4th 2007 10:53AM
and cake!
Antonio @ Dec 4th 2007 10:55AM
omg that's hilarious
S-LAH-ziman (B-B-BRUSHED WITH FAAAAME) @ Dec 4th 2007 11:11AM
was about to post that, lmao
what's up with that tag?
Wilson @ Dec 4th 2007 11:17AM
Maybe that's the real reason why they fired him?
Also, the cake is a lie!
Bob @ Dec 4th 2007 1:27PM
I that cake refers to the ongoing Cave vs. Pie debate the Gamespot crew had with oneanother.
deaftly @ Dec 4th 2007 10:37AM
Aw, it's gold, Jerry! Gold!
xXFenixKnightXx @ Dec 4th 2007 10:39AM
Uhh guys, I'm so over it already! Can everyone get on with their lives? No? Anyone?
Jtenma @ Dec 4th 2007 10:44AM
I C WHAT U DID THERE...
Nice...
EMaster @ Dec 4th 2007 11:16AM
So true.
PrinceOfPersia009 @ Dec 4th 2007 12:25PM
I honestly don't care about this at all....
People are acting like corruption hasn't been a part of business since its beginnning...
Money talks...not random threats over the internet by a small minority of holier than thou gamers...
Back to the 360 Update...
JJ Rooster @ Dec 4th 2007 1:02PM
I'm sick of this too! It's an issue I guess, but damn, 2-3 updates a day? I miss the console bickering!
jgressleyjr @ Dec 4th 2007 10:40AM
Is it just me, or did anyone else notice that CNET's gamerankings.com doesn't include the quality ratings anymore for the review websites? I wonder whose became the lowest all of a sudden? Hmmmmm....
PS - I didn't even realize gamerankings.com was a CNET site until I was looking for a Mass Effect review this AM and saw it in the corner. I really didn't want to give CNET any traffic. Please forgive me.
elpmis @ Dec 4th 2007 10:43AM
Everyone saw this, right?
http://www.gamebump.com/go/official_kane_and_lynch_website_lies_about_its_scores
S-LAH-ziman (B-B-BRUSHED WITH FAAAAME) @ Dec 4th 2007 11:17AM
I went to the site, it appears they removed it
SoulBlade @ Dec 4th 2007 11:19AM
i saw it - i hope joystiq posts an official article about it - the link is up.
echo @ Dec 4th 2007 10:45AM
As this little drama unfolds, I thought I'd throw my two cents into the ring.
http://www.staticechoes.blogspot.com
I appreciate any feedback you guys and gals wanna give.
S-LAH-ziman (B-B-BRUSHED WITH FAAAAME) @ Dec 4th 2007 11:18AM
Good writing, I liked it
Farseer (GDI) @ Dec 4th 2007 12:10PM
Likewise. Good post.
FidliousWong @ Dec 4th 2007 10:48AM
Said it before, say it again. The number system needs to go. Nobody reads reviews anymore and if you did, you may find out a 6.0 or 7.0 may be more in line with your kind of game than a 10.0.
nick @ Dec 4th 2007 10:48AM
I can't believe Eidos would have fake star ratings on their site, which were never given to their game. That's just totally unacceptable. I suspected they didn't have clean hands in this matter, and this just makes them look worse.
Obie @ Dec 4th 2007 10:48AM
Awesome, it is great Gamespot users are standing up for him...and those tags=amazing.
BANDIT @ Dec 4th 2007 10:55AM
Anyone ever consider the fact maybe Gerstmann was so busy being your "buddy" that he wasnt doing his job as DIRECTING EDITOR? Remember he is the Chief Editor first, Reviewer 2nd, and a gamer 3rd. If you understand the job of a publishing editor then you know he wasnt doing his job...
gonk @ Dec 4th 2007 11:20AM
yeah after 10 years at gamestop he suddenly decided to just play shitty games like kane and lynch instead of working
yeah right
eugene @ Dec 4th 2007 1:49PM
I see you have time to put up some more posts shilling for CNET yet you still can't be bothered to confirm how you *know* the real reason why gertsmann was fired.
Perhaps you would like to tell us of all the little doggies who will be taken to Puppy Lake because we're so mean?
sp00ks102 @ Dec 4th 2007 1:57PM
reviewer 2nd and gamer 3rd...thats clearly not the case. the guy said what he wanted as a gamer and this backlash will A)bone gamespot who should DIAF anyways and B)get him a career boost...this response is incredible and he'll most likely start his own review site.
JPN @ Dec 4th 2007 10:57AM
I'm sure this whole thing will just die out anyway sooner or later, but it does seem to be exposing a "seedy underbelly" of video game reviewing...I mean, how often must this go on, and this is one only company who got "caught"?
comtar @ Dec 4th 2007 11:06AM
My friend put it best...
"Is this Kane And Lynch really the game Eidos wants to die over."
Cause honestly, that's what is going on. Eidos is trying SO HARD to lie and bullshit this game to stardom they are killing themselves in the process and at some point you have to ask why this game? Why Kane and Lynch?
Even if they didn't have anything to do with the firing of Gerstmann, Eidos is loosing so much credibility as a game company they should just cave and say "Look we thought we had a 5 star game, but this negative press isn't worth it, we're sorry."
As far as Gamespot goes, it's clear the bottom line for Gamespot isn't to review games anymore but make money. If they were willing to fire someone because they felt their bottom dollar was at risk, personally if I got fired from a company like that... and they begged me back, I wouldn't go back. Gerstmann should move on to another company who cares about what he thinks of games and not their wallet.
I mean really, would you go back to a company that treated you like that?
Wii60 @ Dec 4th 2007 11:07AM
I doubt I'll be going to gamespot again, but cnet.com will be tough to replace, any suggestions?
Brad Lee @ Dec 4th 2007 11:51AM
It seems kinda stupid and pointless to boycott CNET.
As far as I understand it, CNET really doesn't have anything to do with this except that they own Gamespot. If you want to show CNET that you don't like how Gamespot runs their business, you boycott Gamespot and send emails to the big boys at CNET claiming that you were once a loyal Gamespot viewer, but now that's changed because of what happened with Gehsa-however-you-spell-his-name.
To boycott all of CNET seems ridiculous, because people aren't pissed at CNET, they're pissed at Gamespot. Doubly retarded is simply doing a boycott without sending emails.
Yes, we live in cynical times and blahblahblah, but the reality is, even if you THINK companies don't care about you or your opinions, you're actually quite wrong. They don't care about individuals opinions sure, but if they receive enough emails calling for boycotts, they WILL listen.
So if you want change, boycott the thing that pisses you off and let the big boys at the top know what you're doing. Otherwise, they won't know whether it is really because of this controversy or not. Hell, the big boys at the top probably haven't even HEARD of this yet. News travels slow to the guys with fat wallets.
Zsavior @ Dec 4th 2007 12:30PM
THe funny thing is I never went to any of these places so I can't even boycott them.
LaughingTarget @ Dec 4th 2007 4:40PM
Brad Lee -
Companies normally don't create separate marketing divisions for each subsidiary they own. The various general and administrative functions cover every part of the company. This keeps costs down by avoiding redundant personnel. Boycotting CNet over this would be appropriate as they likely only have one marketing department which was getting all the pressure, which in turn sent that pressure right down the line.
Disclaimer: This is, like the whole Gestermann story, wild speculation.
EMaster @ Dec 4th 2007 11:15AM
To be honest I never really likes most of Gerstmann's reviews especially the one of Scarface because he kept bitching about how the game was nothing like the movie which the publisher said it was going to be from the beginning on.
The thing is though is the fact that I didn't mind seeing him let go but not for the Kane & Lynch review. If he was fired because his reviews are generally bias (although I will admit to not having read any of his reviews for the last 6 months cause I thought they all sucked)and are all taken from a single aspect. But instead he was fired due to advertising pressure which is not cool. Getting fired over his crappy reviews would have been fine but not because the advertisers didn't like his review. I mean Sierra did not pull their scarface ads from the site and get him fired but Eidos being a bigger company definitely has the power to do so.
In the end, Gamespot will have to fess u eventually, Eidos is gonna lose some credibility unless it was not their idea (which I doubt) and I will not miss Gerstmann's crappy reviews. In other words, it doesn't really affect me and most of you lives are not impacted by this much either in the end.
Service_Games @ Dec 4th 2007 11:15AM
I really do appreciate the few that are sharing the actual facts and making sure that those of us that didn't already know California state law are made well aware of it. The main problem is that it doesn't matter anymore. The majority of the gaming community has made their decision, and their minds are not going to be changed no matter how many times they are reminded that what they are hearing are rumors or how many times someone explains the ins and outs of California state law.
Once again, I do feel sorry for those truly innocent who will be negatively affected by this whole saga of events because of bad decision making skills/bad timing on the part of upper management. But, the decision has been made. What has been done cannot be undone.
SG
driven2sin @ Dec 4th 2007 11:15AM
you want honesty? fund and publish your own mag/site
i think most people who go to mainstream sites know there is going to be some bias but in exchange you get more exposure to footage, details - no matter how hollow the integrity a good reader can make a good decision from the details.
Look at Halo 3 - is it really anything but a watered down FPS experience? Major Chump can't actually DO anything except fight. The beginning told you that when you follow your guys up a hill and whoops, not you fatty, you have to go around... lame
AstroZombie @ Dec 4th 2007 11:32AM
I had to squint a bit to read it, but your avatar gave me the lulz.
WiNG @ Dec 4th 2007 11:16AM
I have to say, those tags are hilarious.
Marty @ Dec 4th 2007 11:21AM
Took me a while to grasp what that picture at the top was actually of - but that's amazing! A picture is worth a thousand tags.
Blazur @ Dec 4th 2007 11:24AM
Joystiq, are you having fun milking this for all it's worth. Is this your attempt to tarnish the reputation of competition? Believe me I'm not defending GS and think it's all bullshit, but frankly I'm sick of reading about this crap.
Let is rest.
WiNG @ Dec 4th 2007 11:30AM
The reason they are covering it so much is twofold:
1. It is the biggest news in gaming other than the Blizzard merger, and the full details are still only slowly emerging.
2. People are really interested in said details, and are eating up these stories like hotcakes.
I heartily endorse this article, though it does little to evolved the Gerstmann-gate series.
8.8
AstroZombie @ Dec 4th 2007 11:46AM
I'm inclined to agree with you, WiNG, though I think you may be overlooking the lack of replay value in the article. I personally couldn't get past the second bullet-point on a second read-through.
7.25/11
Kevin @ Dec 4th 2007 11:57AM
Joystiq is the site (asside from PA) that's being credited with breaking the news. Thus, it makes sense that they will continue to deliver said news until there is no more news.
At least they're packaging it up into nice sided chunks instead of dozens of little news bits and not posting tons of speculation and editorial.
And we can always repeat the bloggers mantra: If you don't like it, go read something else.
Anticrawl @ Dec 4th 2007 12:01PM
Yeah this article is like Bioshock. All flash and no substance.
James @ Dec 4th 2007 11:32AM
What's the point of a review score if all games get the same rating. Let's just give everyone a 10 for effort! These companies are capable of making a lot of money the least gaming review sites can do is tell it like it is. The consumer loses money in the deal and the least they should get is enjoyable entertainment. Make a good game and people won't shit on it! It's not any more difficult than that.
Miguel @ Dec 4th 2007 11:51AM
I'm sorry but people are idiots. First off, Gerstman sucks. Second, there is no proof at all that that those rumors are true. I am sure he did fuck up in some way that deserved getting fired. Lastly, he has given tons of games bad reviews, why now? This makes no sense at all.
tmacairjordan87 @ Dec 4th 2007 12:01PM
can you prove that these "rumors" are not true? i mean outside of a company with no credibility left obviously denying any wrong doing, knowing that if they told the truth about it they'd essentially put the final nail in their coffin.
Sam @ Dec 4th 2007 12:07PM
Where there's smoke...
Miguel @ Dec 4th 2007 12:12PM
Obviously I cant prove theyre not true just as these idiots cant prove its true; and that in fact is the underlying point; and lets go ahead and revisit my other point. He has given many bad reviews before so why know. I am sure there are several things that he did that led to this, not one random review.