Gamespot Exodus: Say 'adios' to Brad Shoemaker

by Justin McElroy { Mar 19th 2008 at 8:45AM }

We've joked before that, with all of the resignations post Gerstmann-gate, Gamespot's content must be generated by a lonely janitor in the offices, taking a break from picking gum out of the carpet. We're sad to report that his life is about to be even harder: Editor Brad Shoemaker (who has written for the site for eight years) will leave the company this Friday. He hasn't reveled where he's headed, but he's maintaining a personal blog to keep fans up-to-date.

The list of departures from the site is getting long enough that we'll soon have to set it to the tune of the "William Tell Overture" to remember it all. But for right now it's at Jason Ocampo, Ryan Davis, Alex Navarro, Frank Provo and, of course, Jeff Gerstmann himself. Just so we know, is this officially "fiasco" level yet? Are we at Code Fiasco?

[Thanks, Robert]

Tags: gamespot, gerstmann-gate, jeff-gerstmann

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Geo @ Mar 19th 2008 8:51AM

That picture is soo funny!....lol...

A Pissed-off English Gamer @ Mar 19th 2008 12:06PM

That animaniacs clip was brilliant. Might have to show it to my politics class, :-)

Intentless @ Mar 19th 2008 9:03AM

So does that mean they might get a little desperate to hire giving those that don't have much if any experience a foot in the door of the industry and hopefully by bringing in fresh people they can maybe eventually turn their image around?

t_m @ Mar 19th 2008 10:48AM

lol. thats what i was thinking. Time to send off a CV.

Experience:
Lots of Joystiq posts complaining about things

Skills:
Willing to compromise integrity for free stuff

Marital Status:
Gamer. Nuff sed.

Matt B @ Mar 19th 2008 9:05AM

Game reviewers have fans?

Obie @ Mar 19th 2008 9:10AM

If a game reviewers taste matches yours and their reviews match your final opinion of certain games.
You start to respect them and listen to what they have to say.

In that sense, yes you can be a fan of a game reviewer.

nick @ Mar 19th 2008 10:49AM

I think it's possible to follow those that appeal to you, either in print or video. Even certain bloggers :)

Gamespot just happened to have a number of personalities. For me, there were several that I enjoyed whenever they had a new video.

They really shot themselves in the foot last year. And I just cannot bring myself to go back. It's a shame too, because it was one of my favorite sites. But I've moved on.

Obie @ Mar 19th 2008 9:08AM

I wonder if he will join the crew of Gamespot expats at giantbomb.com

jc @ Mar 19th 2008 9:51PM

Hope so.

D_Average @ Mar 19th 2008 9:29AM

Man....this site is getting worse than Nintendopower.com

Nigeria: Cody ChesnuTT Defense Force @ Mar 19th 2008 9:30AM

Shoemaker.

DangerMouse @ Mar 19th 2008 9:40AM

Aw, not this shit again.

voodoo_craig @ Mar 19th 2008 9:47AM

I really wish this would signal a mass exodus of users from Gamespot. I've been against them on this from the start, yet I still find myself checking the site every day.

t_m @ Mar 19th 2008 10:49AM

why?

I've found that i have no need to gamespot at all.

gamefaqs however, thats is another matter.
I think they own gamerankings as well.
sigh.

dantebk @ Mar 19th 2008 10:07AM

And say "hola" to GiantBomb.com?

ScottG13 @ Mar 19th 2008 10:11AM

Good luck Brad! I'm sure you'll turn up at a respectable site in the near future. I'm glad honest journalists aren't afraid to escape idiots like Stephen Colvin who are trying to run the site into the ground.

Visit Jeff and co. at GiantBomb.com.

Jacksons @ Mar 19th 2008 10:28AM

His lack of excitement was always rather funny.

giantenemycrab @ Mar 19th 2008 10:39AM

Ha ha, I agree. He was so stale it was entertaining.

Phi Nguyen @ Mar 19th 2008 10:53AM

Wasn't he the one with the oddly low-pitched voice? It sounded so fake.

Curtis @ Mar 19th 2008 10:50AM

That's not even counting Greg Kasavin, who left at the beginning of 07. This is pretty painful, because gamespot used to lead the way with harsh reviews, video reviews (before they were common), and community. Now they're a joke. Why not just have the PR people pitch the games instead of reviews?

Knoxximus @ Mar 19th 2008 10:55AM

Does anyone even go to Gamespot anymore?

Mr.ESC @ Mar 19th 2008 1:19PM

I do and they reviews are getting worse not to mention that their material is quite lame.

Gamespot more like Gamepro AmIRite?

Spirit-of @ Mar 19th 2008 11:44AM

Hopefully Brad will learn about the benefits and deliciousness of various and random energy drinks.

rasgueado @ Mar 19th 2008 11:58AM

This is getting stupid. Game biz PR news is somehow news. Are you *that* desperate for something to post? Even worse since you have *NO* reason to assume that he's leaving for any other reason than he's been there for eight years. Writing press releases for 14 year old boys might get tiring after awhile.

D_Average @ Mar 19th 2008 12:14PM

Sound the alarm!!! One of the CNET executives has just commented on Joystiq!!

JangoGod @ Mar 19th 2008 1:15PM

Stupid! We must walk the path of pointing fingers at CNET! It doesn't matter anymore. If you leave gamespot, then its because of Greg. CNET did this themselves! Its to late to stop this!

jc @ Mar 19th 2008 9:51PM

Sure. Nearly all the senior editors left within 2 months of each other, all by "coincidence".

The situation is so obvious that it doesnt really need to be explained. However I'll help you out a bit.

Gamespot fired a popular senior editor. His coworkers got pissed and left.