some links if you have been living under a rock for the last week.

http://www.destructoid.com/rumor-gamespot-fires-editor-to-appease-eidos-w-r-hearst-rolls-in-grave-56683.phtml

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6183666.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=multimodule&tag=multimodule;picks;title;4


http://www.gamespot.com/pages/features/hotspot/index.php


http://www.gamespot.com/news/6183603.html


So now that Cnet/Gamespot has come out with their side of the story on why they fired Jeff Gerstmann I thought I would pick apart the bones of the whole issue and see if I as a humble gamer can make any sense of the mess.


First thing we as gamers heard was Jeff had been fired for giving Kane&Lynch a less than stellar review. This made some sense as the whole site was skinned with the games advertising. Couple that with the immediate yanking of both the text and video review of the game. This caused the gaming community to explode with rage over what was seen as Gamespot caving to advertiser pressure.


Fast forward to Monday and we had a very pathetic excuse post from the Cnet that didn’t appease anyone. The community was still on fire and people where bailing on Gamespot in hordes. Yesterday some of the senior Editors for the spot posted a pod cast that attempted to explain what happened to Jeff and why we as gamers should still trust them for honest reviews. The overall rage of gamers was cooled by the audio but it still was just a band aid being applied to a pumping artery.


Today the Editorial crew made a post with more detail on why Jeff was fired and while parts of it made sense there was still the feeling that they could have explained themselves even better. It’s understood that they’re working within the constraints of NDA’s, California state laws and possible a man with a pistol say “just post what we wrote and maybe your family wont be shot”. Ok so I made that last part up but listening to the audio yesterday that thought crossed my mind once or twice.


All of this paraphrasing leads us to my personal opinion as a simple gamer that’s followed the debacle. It appears Cnet corporate didn’t realize the type of audience they where dealing with. Gamers as a group are one of the most vocal consumer groups around. If Cnet had been smart they would have figured out a way to explain this mess late day one or day two at the latest. I believe the other editors at the spot that they didn’t have clue about this decision. Corporations make decisions like this constantly without warning the part of the company it’s going to effect.


The Skinning of the site with Kane&Lynch adverts are a coincidence that as Gamespot has said they where bought weeks in advance and I believe them. The reviews I could personally go either way on. The video review wasn’t the quality of other video reviews I have seen on the site so its yanking is just another coincidence. The part I don’t buy is on the Text review. If the games score, achievements and demerits weren’t altered why screw with the text. It doesn’t make sense to me and alas smells a bit fishy.


If you boil all the down you get the most pertinent piece of information I have heard all week. Jeff was fired due to an internal review by management. In most cases if you’re under an internal review you have managed to piss someone off big time. Who he pissed off and why we will never know. If the timing of this firing is any indication I would have to guess it was game makers. They have admitted Edios wasn’t pleased with the review and maybe that was the final straw. Cnet couldn’t tolerate having him around anymore due to his review style and the accompanied complaint’s from game companies. I know this much, there is no way Edios alone caused this firing by itself. If the company involved was EA or Actiblizzard maybe but freaking Edios isn’t even capable of making a decent game let alone a decent threat. This of course now leads gamers to wonder if they can trust the reviews they read on Gamespot or anywhere else for that matter. My advice would be to continue reading applying a pinch or a pound of salt as needed.