• 30Nov 07

  Fired 'On The Spot'?

  Last night at 11.30pm I sat down at the PC and prepared myself for the first episode of On The Spot in 2 weeks. I was expecting perhaps a slightly longer show than we've been having recently, as the folks at the Gamespot office had two weeks of releases to talk about. However, at the last minute, the show was pulled, and this morning rumours were circulating about Jeff Gerstman being fired for his less than impressive review of Kane & Lynch - a game which the Gamespot site itself is allegedly getting a lot of money for advertising.

  Now, before I go pointing fingers, I have no idea whether there is any truth in this rumour whatsoever. I would like to think that this is nothing more than a paranoid conspiracy theory dreamed up by bloggers hoping for a bit of extra traffic. Then again, there is every chance that this story could be true.

  If this is the case, I will be erasing my account and finding another games site to join. I enjoy Gamespot's reviews as more often than not they give an accurate description of whether or not a game is worth buying, and up to this point I have respected them. But if this incident is true it changes everything. How can I possibly trust a site that allows its sponsors to dictate game scores? How can you trust a site that fires a senior member of its staff for not "towing the line"?

  I sincerely hope this is all a big misunderstanding, but if it emerges that this is true, I would urge you to join me in boycotting the site.

  Without impartiality, Gamespot is worthless.

  • Posted Nov 30, 2007 5:46 am GMT
  • Category: Rant
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 7Oct 07

  Gaming on a budget

  I left my job back at the start of September, and I'm now back at university for another two years. This means more spare time, more gaming, and much less money.

  

  I bought my first Wii Virtual Console games a while back, Paper Mario and F-Zero X on the N64. Paper Mario was a pleasant surprise, as while I had been aware of the series I had never previously got around to playing any of the games. And to be honest, I had never really played any turn-based RPGs either. So it's been a very fresh experience for me. And F-Zero X is a game I used to play back in my undergrad days quite a bit, but all the surviving N64 pads in our household have sticky and unresponsive analogue sticks, and there's only so much of them you can take. I'm intrigued by Sin & Punishment despite the inflated price, so I'll maybe take the plunge when I get my next Wii points card. The Godfather is proving highly enjoyable also, and I've been working my way through Burnout 2 on the Cube. And Twilight Princess is slowly coming along as well, but I probably haven't given it the attention it deserves.

  I've been playing a lot more PC games recently as well, both on my somewhat outdated laptop, which is only a year and a half old, and on my mum and dad's beast of a PC they got not that long ago. I got hold of C&C3 and spent about 3 days at their house playing through a bit of the GDI campaign. And it is utterly amazing. Better than Generals in my opinion, and it reminds me very much of Red Alert 2. At home I've been whiling the hours away on Morrowind and Lord of the Rings: Battle For Middle Earth. The latter has really impressed me, and I've found it to be very addictive. I also managed to get hold of Halo 1 and Unreal Tournament over the past couple of days, and they should make for some interesting LAN games with the housemates.

  

  There are quite a few Wii games just on the horizon that I'm looking forward to, and the hard part is working out what goes on my Christmas list. Metroid Prime 3, Mario Galaxy, Bully, Geometry Wars, Guitar Hero 3, and Resident Evil. Any suggestions? Money will be tight for the next while, and impulse buying is sadly out of the question for the near future...

  • Posted Oct 7, 2007 7:43 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 4Oct 07

  Wii Friend Code

  We got wi-fi sorted in the new flat recently, so online functionality ahoy!

  My Wii friend code is 5561 9485 7055 5401.

  Give me a shout if you want me to add you to my addressbook.

  

  • Posted Oct 4, 2007 8:49 pm GMT
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg

See Previous Blog Posts »