Gerstmann-gate: Wednesday update
by Kyle Orland 
on Dec 5th 2007 11:22AM
Editor's note: This post has been
edited to point out the latest updates from around the web on the
controversial firing of Gamespot editorial director Jeff Gerstmann (Further note: the post hasn't really been edited -- we just thought that would make a funny intro.)
- If you missed it, check out Joystiq's analysis of the edits to Gerstmann's Kane & Lynch review.
- Gamespot staffers have further addressed the controversy on the site's Hot Spot podcast.
- After being taken down on Friday, Gerstmann's Kane & Lynch video review is back up on the Gamespot this morning.
The reasons behind this move and the initial removal are still unclear. UPDATE: On the Hot Spot podcast mentioned above, Ryan MacDonald said that the review was taken down not because of pressure from advertisers but because "the quality was not what [they] do."
- 1UP digs up another potential wrinkle to the story: "Our sources indicated CNET management had been dealing with a series of advertising vs. editorial issues on GameSpot -- Sony Computer Entertainment America came down on the site for scoring Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction a 7.5 just a few weeks prior to the Kane & Lynch incident -- and the Eidos Interactive situation was where they finally drew the line.
- Kotaku hears rumors that there may be "mass resignations" at Gamespot over the whole incident: "Our credibility is in ruins," says anonymous source.
- Also from Kotaku, the misleading "five star" review graphic on the Kane & Lynch site has been removed.
- MTV's Stephen Totilo talked to Gerstmann about editorial standards in the game press: "As for the future of game journalism, you asked if it's realistic for readers to expect a church and state separation between editorial and sales. Realistic or not, I think readers should demand that from a publication."
- Newsweek's N'gai Croal uses the Gerstmann controversy as a jumping off point to talk about the symbiotic/parasitic relationship between game publishers and the game press: "One would have to be naïve or foolish not to understand that there has always been a mutually beneficial relationship between journalists who cover consumer products or entertainment and the manufacturers or publishers of the goods in question."
- The controversy was mentioned briefly during Tuesday's edition of The Kojo Nnamdi Show on Washington D.C.'s NPR affiliate, WAMU (discussion begins around 44:50): "Apparently [there's] no firewall there between editorial and advertising. ... It certainly looks and smells fishy."
- Gamespot Associate Editor Kevin VanOrd, on losing a colleague: "It is confusing, upsetting, and hurtful. In the blink of an eye, my mentor no longer sits 50 feet from me. When I need advice and encouragement and shielding, my greatest advocate is no longer there to offer that kind of support."
- Sarcastic Gamer isn't feeling too sorry for Gerstmann: "Getting fired was the BEST thing to ever happen to the man. He has become an instant internet celeb, without the taking the sleazy amateur video route, and can basically cash his own ticket anywhere he chooses."
- Organizer Drew Watson talks to Audiogame about the in-person protests being planned for the CNET offices this weekend.
[Thanks again to all the tipsters sending in links. Keep 'em coming]
