New GameSpot Editor in Chief wants to regain your trust
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Feb 2nd 2008 at 7:00PM }
We know that a lot of you harbor resentment towards GameSpot in the wake of the whole Gerstmann-gate affair, and we can't blame you. We've all got hefty, Gerstmann-shaped holes in our hearts, and our faith in the once great review database is now shaken. However, Ricardo Torres, GameSpot's recently appointed Editor in Chief, is determined to regain your trust in the site, regardless of how many stern 7.5s he'll have to hand out in order to do so.
In a recent interview with GameDaily,Torres claims that GameSpot staffers are coming back to work (those who haven't resigned), and that "people are getting back into the swing of things." He also hopes that their strengthened dedication to putting out untainted content will win back their original readers. What do you think, gang? Is it possible to forgive and forget? Or has that ship sailed, been boarded by pirates, then viciously torpedoed by U-Boats?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ihya @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:04PM
I'll treat them with the suspicion and disdain they deserve by not visiting their site for another 6 months.
Obie @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:02PM
Same here, after Gerstmann left I have been visting his new blog...Gamespot can take a flying leap for all I care.
Chadj @ Feb 3rd 2008 4:59AM
@Obie, Same here mate.
ssuk @ Feb 3rd 2008 2:13PM
I dont visit gamespot... Full stop. But I'd like to think I'm doing my part, several years in advance.
GreyFox @ Feb 4th 2008 1:32AM
I honestly doubt I'll go back there again.
TheDonAndMikeShow @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:05PM
I have not been back to Gamestop or any CNET site since the scandal and until they change ownership I never will be!
Durandel @ Feb 3rd 2008 2:39PM
Pirates and U-Boats, Joystiq.
TheDonAndMikeShow @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:06PM
Gamespot...
Fox318 @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:07PM
Fuck Gamespot
Yuccadude @ Feb 3rd 2008 12:58PM
Fuck Gamestop
captain underpants and the bringdown gang @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:46PM
Fuck Em Both! DAMN YOU CNET...KAAAAAHHHHNNNN
flYY @ Feb 3rd 2008 2:26PM
eloquently stated my friend
a.j. @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:10PM
Yeah, fuck em. Once they switched over to those fruity icons to explain game features/problems, I was gone anyway. Hmm...this game looks ok, it has a clapping hands icon, a santa claus icon, a two headed man icon and a silver coin icon...I'm sold!
Double J @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:10PM
I don't know what this topic is about, I'm just enjoying the soothing vocal stylings of Peter Beckett.
ExMcloud @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:12PM
No they're fucking done...Finished....Fin....Ummmm...Other synonyms for end and all that.
Korova @ Feb 4th 2008 6:59AM
I think a little Shakrespear is in order:
Lady Macbeth:
Out, damn'd spot! out, I say!—One; two: why, then
'tis time to do't.—Hell is murky.—Fie, my lord, fie, a soldier, and
afeard? What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our
pow'r to accompt?—Yet who would have thought the old man to
have had so much blood in him?
Macbeth Act 5, scene 1, 26–40
PolyTicks22 @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:12PM
LMFAO! That was the perfect music video to go with this!.....losl!
Dauragon88 @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:13PM
I still listen to the podcast and watch the video podcast they do. Mostly because I REALLY like Vinnie and Ryan McDonald. I don't check out the site much anymore, but not due to resentment, just due to the fact that a lot of people who I loved reading their blogs and editorials have left.
OTAM @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:15PM
Gamespot is one of the leaders in the "numbers" trend. People are more concerned with the review score rather then reading the actual review and what's wrong/good with the game.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Feb 2nd 2008 9:04PM
I'll agree with you on that. By the time most people even start to read the first sentence of a review, they go into Nerd rage and start bitching to their friends(or if they have none, joystiq) how some review site was bias.
These numbers have got to go.
EihBeir @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:15PM
Gamespot is a punchline.
StarFoxA @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:31PM
GameSpot is awesome!
*breaks out laughing*
TheOverlord#2 @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:43PM
I don't think they will be trusted by the majority of their readers after the G-G scandal...
(Perfect song choice xD)
Lord_Foortwenti @ Feb 2nd 2008 9:02PM
My faith in Gamespot, my one time favorite source of reviews and industry news, and parent-company CNET has been irreversibly shaken. The ONLY thing that could win back my faith in them is if they re-hired Gertsmann, and we know that isn't going to happen. A new Editor-in-Chief, especially one that remained there throughout and after the scandal, does nothing to restore my faith in their journalistic integrity.
ANt @ Feb 2nd 2008 7:59PM
Gamespot sucked in my opinion for many years.
I can't believe that people give a shit about this guy Gerstmann. Did this guy do something for all of you people??
He's just another social security number, period.
Gamespot website and reivews(ers) has always been the worst out there.
Believe me, that D-Bag Gerstmann doesn't give a shit about any of you........
Blazur @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:15PM
This was a scandal. I'm making a note here...huge failure. It's hard to overstate my disapproval.
Gamespot and C|net...they do what they must, because, they're greedy. For the good of benjamins, except the ones who are fired.
But there's no sense continuing to go to their site.
They'll just keep on fooling us in lieu of what's right.
And the ads will get placed
Even despite our best taste
For the people who are still employed
Scotto @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:26PM
What do you mean, what did he do for us? He provided entertaining and often humorous game reviews, and was unfettered by the politics of advertising and publisher pressure.
Maybe you expected him to hand us all $5 and give out back rubs too? What a well thought out opinion you have.
For people who were fans of the site, he "did" a lot for us. I checked every few days for new video reviews on Gamespot, and read the odd text review. I haven't been back since Gerstmann was fired though, and now that Navarro is gone, it is even less likely I will return.
They were the two reviewers who I liked and respected the most, of any internet gaming site. And now they are both gone, leaving me no reason to return to Gamespot.
As far as the site is concerned, I imagine it will continue on just fine - perhaps with a small financial hit, and a reduction in gaming community prestige. For every 100 Gamespot users who were vocally upset over Gerstmann-Gate, there was probably 10,000 who quietly didn't care.
- Scott
Anticrawl @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:33PM
And then for those ever 100 who blindly cared there were 3-4 sane folk who were glad the insane fluffy man has been fired. The man brought personal fanatics and his bipolar disorder into his reviews. They were wild, unjust and typically he reviewed games based on what they weren't and not what they were. So much so that it sounded about as sane as saying a car was terrible and you shouldn't buy it because when he drove it into his pool it stopped running. The man was a nut and I along with a few of my other fellow gamers lept with joy apon hearing of his humiliating termination. Hopefully it humbled him. If it was because of advertising pressure that's terrible, but Jeff had it coming.
Master Bruce @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:39PM
I have to agree with you on this. I have a real hard time getting worked up about Gamespot firing some dude. Given the number of horrible things going on in the world, "Gerstmann-gate" (pretentious title much?) warrants a "meh" from me.
bender @ Feb 2nd 2008 11:01PM
at blazur
Best Still Alive reference ever!
zuburi @ Feb 3rd 2008 1:42AM
Ahh, it's refreshing to know that I'm not the only person that couldn't care less about that guy.
The only bad thing to come out of the whole fiasco is the influx of posters that sound like they came from the wretched hive of scum and villiany that is the Gamespot forums.
Vegnagun bwf @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:12PM
Griffin, the correct song is "I'm working my way back to you, babe" by The Spinners.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jHEiZy53r6k&feature=related
SoxFan13 @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:15PM
There's just too many other sites to get news and reviews. None of the other one's have managed to earn my disdain yet.
Oscar Julio Cardoso @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:25PM
Bleh, Gamespot is dead for me... i get all the news i need from joystiq or other more user-generated content sites...
Even before the Gerstmann incident, i really was leaving Gamespot behind.
The corporate news sites, are really being ignored by most of the hardcore gamers out there, such as i, because of the lack of credibility.
That's my opinion.
Neebs @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:19PM
Sorry, but until they run ad-free I'm not going to GS and continuing to adblock GameFAQs.
nick @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:22PM
Nope. I cancelled my subscription a few weeks after the whole issue came about with Gerstmann and have not returned to GameSpot since.
Nothing I've heard since then has made me reconsider that GameSpot is a shill for advertisers. They've lost all credibility as far as I'm concerned.
The new editor was there when this issue with Gerstmann came about, so that leads me to believe he follows the company line and did not side with the ability to offer opinionated reviews.
Only when that editor and the guy from Stuff magazine are gone, and when I hear 'overhall at GameSpot' would I ever consider returning.
nick @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:23PM
er, overhaul (was typing too quickly and didn't proof read before submitting)
comtar @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:27PM
Sing it with me!
"Baby come back!..."
Matthew @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:28PM
The only CNET site I'll be visiting is Metacritic, I just can't give it up!
Korova @ Feb 4th 2008 7:18AM
Yeah, i never went to GS. After Gerstmann, I stopped going to CNet. But I still go to metacritic.
NaCHOburger @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:30PM
Oh Baby come back, i love it........too funny
iconmaster @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:32PM
Gotta go with the U-boat option, myself.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:34PM
I really tried to stay away from gamespot. But I was listening to the hotspot yesterday, and they had a 10 minute discussion on how awesome rambo is.
So yeah I'm continuing my subscription to the hotspot and on the spot.
God I'm a tool.
Bluebrake @ Feb 2nd 2008 8:34PM
I'm not sure how replacing one powerless editor with another is supposed to regain our trust. If this guy pisses off the suits, he's out just as fast as Gertsmann was.
Now, fire the executives in charge of these decisions and we'll talk.
Shotgun Steve @ Feb 2nd 2008 9:38PM
Get Jeff and Alex back, and we'll talk. Otherwise, go to hell Gamespot. Gamernode and Yahtzee FTFW!
Brello @ Feb 2nd 2008 11:24PM
Gamernode never seems to have a review up for the game I'm interested in...
SergeantSalad @ Feb 2nd 2008 9:39PM
Wow guys, apparently forgiveness isn't a virtue.
At least they're trying. I haven't ruled out going to their website, but I'll put this under the "we'll see" category.
Feigr @ Feb 2nd 2008 9:40PM
I do not really understand this distrust with Gamespot. Remember the staff at Gamespot had nothing to do with Gerstmann getting fired, he was pretty much the head honcho there. It was CNET that fired him and it is CNET that is to blame. I'm getting tired of all this uninformed "Gamespot fired Gerstmann, Gamespot sucks!" nerd outrage to be honest.
I can understand not wanting to visit Gamespot since it is a CNET site, but don't blame or distrust any of the Gamespot employees, they are innocent bystanders in all this.
Boostjunkie @ Feb 2nd 2008 10:22PM
What's not to understand, it's not anything against the staff, it's the fact that the staff has to do what management says or they loose their job.
cappy @ Feb 2nd 2008 9:45PM
The answer is no - I canceled my subscription (actually, it works by failing to renew)about 3 days after Jeff got fired.
It's kind of like catching your girlfriend cheating. Sure, she may say she'll never do it again, but you'll never be able to really trust her again. Damn you, Gamespot! Why did you have step out like that???