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Time to Boycott Gamespot/cNet
By Jay Alan | December 1, 2007
I have never been a fan of video game journalism, I’ve always felt it was done poorly. I talked a bit about it on the latest Project Silence Podcast, but my basic reason is that it’s just flawed in it’s execution, seemingly to keep advertising revenue up. On a 10 point scale, 7 is average. Huh? Shouldn’t 5 be average? No, because the advertisers would kick and scream at a 5, we gotta keep them happy. And why is it some reviews will pan a game through the entire write up, only to then give it a 9 out of 10? Goes back to keeping those advertisers happy I guess. It’s a catch 22, who’s going to advertise on a video game site? Game Developers and Publishers of course, but those are the same people that have to be panned when they release a poor product, problem is, that’s bad for business.
So I never really paid attention to game sites until I got into Podcasts and I decided I should listen to a gaming podcast. I started listening to Gamespot’s podcast, as it seemed to have decent word of mouth. I was amazed at how funny and real it was. These guys told it like it was and made me laugh at the same time, especially a guy by the name of Jeff Gerstmann. He was the heart and soul of Gamespot, having been there for 10 years, yet you could tell he was calling them as he saw them. I didn’t always agree with his opinion on games, but at least I knew it was one honest opinion. I started to always value the opinions of writers at Gamespot, mostly because of Gerstmann’s frankness.
Recently Gerstmann reviewed Kane & Lynch, a new game from Eidos. I had no interest in the game to begin with, it looked like a typical 3rd person shooter with mediocre graphics and a, “been there, done that” criminals are loose storyline. Gerstmann gave the game a 6, he calls it like he sees it and I’m sure that’s what he really thinks of the game, in fact he’s more than fair on my scale (5 being average) that game would be a 4 at best. Well, as it turns out, Eidos had paid Gamespot a hefty sum of money for advertising their game, going so far as making the homepage skinnable to show off Kane & Lynch. Advertisers are not happy at a low score on a site they just paid a lot of money to, so what does Gamespot do to make amends? They fire Jeff Gerstmann. A guy who had been there for 10 years.
I can’t help but feel like my initial feeling about game journalism has been proven true. I certainly feel that Gamespot (and parent company cNet) have betrayed me and people who are looking for open and honest game journalism. I now know I can’t get that from Gamespot, or any cNet site, so I guess I just won’t use those sites anymore.
Image: Penny Arcade
Topics: Games, Sounds of Silence |
December 2nd, 2007 at 8:32 pm
I freakin’ agree. I’ve deleted every cNet podcast off my iTunes. I am SO done with these folks. I’m cancelling my Gamespot account. Done. Over. Cooked.
December 2nd, 2007 at 9:18 pm
Good for you. I however still need a game related podcast, so I subscribed to the 1Up Yours podcast, while none of these guys are as funny as Jeff was, it’s still pretty decent.
Now some other game site needs to hire Jeff and start a new podcast, then I’d be set!
December 5th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Join the gamespot boycott
http://www.boycottgamespot.com
SPREAD THE WORD
December 6th, 2007 at 10:24 am
[…] Comments Gman on Time to Boycott Gamespot/cNetSilence on Time to Boycott Gamespot/cNetSilence on Can Chocolate Lasagna Really Be This […]
January 23rd, 2008 at 6:44 am
[…] The Jeff Gerstmann conspiracy. […]
February 6th, 2008 at 7:58 am
[…] continues to fall apart. After the firing of Jeff Gerstmann, several key employees have left the site. Ryan Davis is the latest. Lets hope they plan to team up […]
February 20th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
[…] I am not, however, a fan of Video Game Podcasts. Most are poor quality with non-charismatic hosts, or far too long (no podcast should be 2 and a half hours, ever, I’m looking at you 1Up). That being said, I was a big fan of the The Hot Spot, before Gamespot went and lost what little journalistic integrity they had by firing Jeff Gerstmann. […]
April 5th, 2008 at 8:43 am
Here’s another follow-up to the story, it seems that the person responsible for firing Jeff Gerstmann was fired
http://kotaku.com/376217/the-man-who-fired-jeff-gerstmann-from-gamespot-has-been-sacked