What a sad, terrible day in games journalism. I realized this was an issue, but I didn't realize it would actually come to fruition.
There's a fairly fine line in games journalism... large (and small) gaming publications/magazines need a substantial flow of cash to stay profitable and alive. Most of this revenue comes from not magazine subscriptions, but advertiser payments. Some advertisers pay incredibly hefty sums for ads. This was the move game company Eidos made to promote their new PS3/Xbox 360/PC title Kane and Lynch:Dead Men (which, by the way, is not a family-friendly title). They purchased banners that blanketed the whole background of GameSpot.com's website (and those don't come cheap).
On November 13, the Kane and Lynch was released to the pubic and the game's review, written by Jeff's Gerstmann, was posted on Gamespot.
November 30, a rumor that Gerstmann had been fired because of the "tone" in his Kane and Lynch review was leaked. Gamespot denies there was any advertiser pressure for firing Gerstmann. Largely, the reasoning for Gerstmann's termination is still unexplained, but Gamespot editor blogs and tips from "inside sources" heavily hint that Gerstmann was unjustly fired.
Thus, all craziness broke loose on videogame message board. And that's putting it lightly. Because of Gerstmann's firing, website NeoGAF will be boycotting all CNET and Eidos material. Many people have reported canceling their GameSpot subscription.
Gerstmann, who had last caused a stir when he gave The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess an 8/10 (eerily similar to the score I had given it *scary*), had quite a following of fans and I've heard many say he was the man who made Gamespot. His critics dislike him for his condescending tone and "king of the nerds" attitude.
Despite what anybody actually thinks about Gerstmann, what happened to him was abominable. Getting fired for your opinion that you were hired to write about in the first place? Especially because your opinion disagreed with the thousands of dollars the advertisers paid? (And let's face it, Eidos hasn't exactly released any gems recently).
Gerstmann is not without support. December 1, Ziff Davis and 1UP staffers held an impromptu protest of Gerstmann's termination. It's great to see other game journalists speaking out against this, especially because 1UP and Gamestop are competitors in the games media market.
It has been roughly a day since the madness started and there's still not a whole lot of truth in this situation. No insiders can officially talk without fear of retribution, and anonymous sources claiming to be Gamespot editors, while very compelling, can be shaky, especially over the Internet. Maybe someday we'll know the whole truth about what really happened to Gerstmann. But right now, all we can do is get mad as hell, as one Gamestop game guides editor Matt Rorie said.
The funny thing is, without knowing what really happened behind those closed doors at Gamestop/CNet, I find it hard to get mad as hell. I mean, I'm mad, I'm angry, that's why I'm writing this thing at 1:30 in the morning. But not knowing the full-fledged truth and just general shock this actually happened is causing some reservations about completely judging the problem, I think. I've got the "mad" part, but it's the "as hell" part I'm still coming to terms with.
But, still, I'm mad. The whole situation is bizarre and unjust. And I hope that instead of hurting games journalism, this problem of revenues and reviews can be resolved in a way that helps games journalism become more stable and reputable. I realize it's highly unlikely this will happen overnight, or in a fortnight, or in whatever many moons, but maybe it will cause a step in the right direction. And that's a start.
And to Jeff, I'm sorry. This sucks.
Edit: Some hackers were so mad, they hacked GameFAQ's daily poll. Here's a screen capture of the poll
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