The whole GameSpot-Gerstmann firing debacle really hit a lot of the enthusiast press hard. Since Gerstmann was fired, Frank Provo, Alex Navarro, and, as of today, Ryan Davis have left. GameDaily is reporting that Davis, eight year veteran of GameSpot, is believed to be leaving as a direct result of Gerstmann’s termination. If you want to read Davis’ blog, go to the GameDaily story and they have choice words from it.

If you want to read a really eloquent bit about how one notable person, 1up’s Site Director, Sam Kennedy, feels about the whole situation, go here. It is long, yes, but totally worth it. There is a reason that this man runs the best goddamn video game site that exists (Yes, I am biased).

The whole thing is just so, so sad. You couldn’t pay me any amount of money to work for GameSpot.

Chufmoney

I’m sure anyone who would read this site has been following this story somewhat. These are the facts as I know them. On Thursday afternoon, word started to spread that Gamespot had fired their Editorial Director, Jeff Gerstmann. Gerstmann has become infamous in some circles as the editor that had the “audacity” to give Twilight Princess an 8.8 last fall, and he is often the target of overzealous fanboys who are infuriated by his lowering of a Metacritic average. However, in my opinion, Gerstmann was the bedrock for Gamespot’s credibility. The willingness of an editor to be honest amidst the possibility of enormous backlash speaks to my smart-assed, cynical self, and Nintendo franchises are often the great sacred cows of gaming. Also, I didn’t like the small bit of Twilight Princess I played, so maybe I can sympathize.

While there are several less popular theories, 1UP has confirmed through their own sources that Gerstmann was fired because of his negative review of Kane and Lynch, which coincided with an enormous ad push on the part of Eidos for the title. Other sites have more detailed rundowns, but the gist of the situation from a few different sources seems to be this: Stephen Colvin, the former president and CEO of Dennis Publishing of Maxim and Stuff, took over as C|Net’s executive vice president in late October. Combined with Sony’s anger over a lower than expected review for Ratchet and Clank, the negative editorial reaction to a cash cow that may have been somewhere in the six figure range from Eidos appears to have been the breaking point.

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Chuf and I occasionally discuss the sites that we trust in regards to game coverage and reviews: as mentioned previously, I have a fondness for 1UP for reviews and editorial content, and occasionally look at Gamespot as well. Chuf on the other hand likes him some Gamespot and IGN. On the latter, we have more or less agreed to disagree.

I have a rather pronounced… distaste for IGN for a myriad of reasons: the childish and fanboy baiting organization of their Editorial content and coverage into platform specific channels, which I feel leads to the inflation of review scores and disingenuous positions on gaming situations. Not only that, but there seems to be an exceedingly enthusiastic sense of obligation to tell their community what it wants to hear, for fear of the rabid uprisings that arise when they do the opposite. If I wanted to have my opinions of a game read back to me, however, I would chant them in front of a mirror as though a part of some dark ritual. Put more simply, I don’t feel like I can trust them, and frequently, their community as a whole disgusts me. Strong words huh? Well, keep reading.
IGN has also established a tendency in the last year or two to buck commonly held editorial stances among the gaming news world. This isn’t in and of itself a bad thing. A few days ago, IGN selected Okami as their Game of the Year, as opposed to, say Gears of War, which seems to be the most common selection, or Twilight Princess, with its ravenous and unflinchingly devoted fan community. I’m ok with this choice, though I don’t agree with it, and it’s good to see a game that was so artistically risky get that kind of recognition, and hopefully the exposure will help it sell more copies. But there are corners of the web that would have IGN’s editorial staff castrated for that decision, whether by chainsaw or Master Sword, and I don’t think that’s fair. Picking on IGN is now something for the elite few, the I’m-Cooler-Than-Thou’s, the indie rock originalists of the gaming community, and in this case, it’s crap.

Today, Joystiq posted this article separate from the context of its original appearance. Taken in this way, it seems pretty ridiculous, especially the quoted section:

Gasp! Someone claiming the PS3 is better than the Wii!? Officially?! Take a deep breath. The aforementioned quote is actually from IGN Gear’s Best Of list, and from their position, I’m inclined to agree. Technologically speaking, and from a hardware standpoint, the PS3 is a more compelling product based solely on its potential than the Wii, which is, let’s be honest here you and I, repackaged tech from the previous console generation sold at outrageous mark-up. Do you see what you’ve done Joystiq? You’ve made me side with IGN on something. And while I certainly have issues with some of the crap that spawns from IGN, I find misleading and sensationalistic crap from you just as annoying, if not more so. So shame on you Joystiq.