To all of the ones that believe Jeff Gerstmann deserved be fired because he had "unprofessional reviews and review practices." That is absolutely ludicrous. You can't go on saying that reviews should be unemotional and deal with straight facts, because that is impossible for human beings to do. You CANNOT compare item reviews and game reviews and say that they are held to the same standards. Reviews do entail detailed facts about a product, but for game reviews there are different standards. Of course you have to write factually and unbiased toward things like graphics and (to a certain extent) controls. However, the majority of a game review depends on the "fun factor", which cannot be determined by "facts" because it essentially comes down to opinion. If a reviewer does not find a game fun, the review has the right to say so and state the reasons why. The reasons may be absolutely insane, but in the end it is what makes the reviewer happy, and they have a right to impart that on to the reader.
It is true that Jeff was over the top, but that is just a part of his character. That over the top attitude carried to the other editors, and is what allowed the site to be brimming with the humor that it has. Rich Gallup has set the standard for the humor of the site when he arrived, but Jeff Gerstmann is the one who kept it going with his character.
The floating idea that Jeff got canned because of the Kane and Lynch review would mean that his other reviews were a part of his own opinion and not a part of a company's wish to pay off him. Because of that it makes his other reviews very legitimate because it can be seen that he literally calls them as he sees them. Furthermore, his large amount of experience within the gaming industry shows that he does have sense when it comes to his reviews, because he has been with gaming almost since the beginning. To say that he has no clue about what he is saying is just ignorant.
It is okay to disagree with him because it is your opinion, but to state that he was a bad reviewer because he was too emotional is downright imbecilic. You are just proving to everyone else that you are too emotional about this man giving negative comments about a game you like, or giving positive comments to a game you dislike.
Cnet has made a very, very big mistake, and I would not be surprised if more GameSpot crew members will look at Tim Tracy's example and follow suit. They should know that this kind of nonsense will not be tolerated by them, and if Cnet chooses to run this way the crew should do something against it. If it means walking about then by all means it should be done. It would not be extremely difficult for them to find new work, or, even better, make their own site.
Cnet this has really disgusted me, I understand that they are a business and they must protect their assets, but this act has really put me in a position of distrust and anger toward them. There was no reason for them to fire Jeff, no reason at all. I hope that Jeff can recover from this easily (in fact I know he will). But I really hope that GameSpot can recover from their loss.
Log in to comment