GameSpot Controversy Update: GAFers Block, Official Word Tuesday?

Time for an update on the situation that is GameSpot. If your new to the situation, Jeff Gerstmann, reviewer for about a decade, has been fired over his Kane & Lynch: Dead Men review. No official word on the firing was ever given. Lets see whats new today.

- NeoGAF is blocking out anything related to GameSpot and CNET in protest and support for Jeff Gerstmann.
- In response to a Gamespot forum thread, the new Gamespot Manager of Community Development said he is "eagerly anticipating the official word to be released on Tuesday."
- Gamespot has stoped user reviews of Kane & Lynch after a flood of 1.0 ratings lowered the game's user score to a 2.6/10.
- Destructoid, who seems to be pretty pissed at GameSpot as well, registed the site CashWh0re.com, which leads to their site with the CashWhore banner.
- Aaron Thomas, a GameSpot employee, explains why more employees aren't speaking up on this situation: "This isn't GameSpot suddenly clamping down on me or any of us here--this is how it is for anyone with a job."
- Gamespot freelancer Frank Provo spoke his feelings: "Personally, my respect for CNet is shot, and writing for GameSpot is going to feel like a chore for quite some time going forward."
- GameSpot users are reportedly canceling paid subscriptions left and right, starting threads with every cancelled subscription, and planning boycotts of Gamespot and its advertisers.
- The main discussion thread on the GameSpot forums for the Gerstmann firing has reached over 11, 225 posts.
- GameSpot has removed it's "Most Popular Tags" box, which contained things such as "cnet, bullshit, integrity, fired, jeff gerstmann, corruption, credibility, etc."

Could this be the breakdown of the GameSpot we once knew and loved?

[Thanks JoyStiq!]

1UP Strikes Outside the GameSpot Office

A bunch of the guys over at Ziff Davis (including 1UP workers) marched over to the GameSpot offices two blocks away from theirs today to show their support for their fellow game reviewers.

This was all due to the firing of Jeff Gerstmann at GameSpot, with no actual reason specified, but many say it was because of his negative tone in his Kane & Lynch: Dead Men review.

Though 1UP & GameSpot are competition, what may have happened at GameSpot could have wide-spread implications in the game publication industry. Many people at GameSpot had been canceling their subscriptions as well.

We are not sure how GameSpot will address this issue. Only time will tell.

[Via Kotaku]

Destructoid Pissed At GameSpot for Jeff's Firing

Destructoid has just put up a new banner advertising a fake site that looks exactly like the GameSpot banner.

The fake site they are advertising is called CashWhore with the banner stating "Special Holiday Blowout Sale! Buy Huge Ads That Eat the Entire Site And Get a 9/10 Review, FREE!". This banner was put up in anger over the Jeff Gerstmann Case.

Pretty funny stuff.

[Via Destructoid]

[Whats Up Ron Workmeng?]

Jeff Gerstmann of GameSpot Is Fired

Yesterday, a rumor surfaced on the internet that GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstmann was fired due a negative tone in his Kane & Lynch: Dead Men review, which received a 6.0.

Shacknews today confirmed via its own sources that Jeff Gerstmann was fired yesterday from his position at GameSpot. The source declined to comment as to whether the firing was directly related to the reported Eidos situation, but the circumstances are suspicious at the least.

[Via ShackNews]

Gamespot Editor Fired Over Kane & Lynch Review?

A new rumor has surfaced today of long-time GameSpot reviewer Jeff Gerstmann has been fired. Normally, that wouldn't be worthy of a news post, but the reason for him being fired makes it worthy.

It seems it was due to advertiser pressure for his review of Eidos Interactive's Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.

Jeff reviewed Kane & Lynch: Dead Men with a not so nice score of 6.0, which is a fair in GameSpot's scale. The reason for Jeff's firing wasn't the score, but the "tone" of his review.

If the rumor is true, it could be a sad thing to see from a great site such as GameSpot. Bad publicity too.

[Via Kotaku]

Rise With Resistance Last Hope Tournament

GameSpot is having a new Resistance: Fall of Man Tournament. And this one is big, consisting of 128 teams, with 10 players on each team.

Top prize for this huge tournament includes each member of the winning team receiving a limited edition Star Wars Battlefront® Entertainment pack that includes a PSP® unit with Star Wars artwork and a copy of Star Wars Battlefront Renegade Squadron™. The first place winners also receive a $100 gift certificate to SonyStyle.com, an annual GameSpot Total Access subscription, and an Official Resistance: Fall of Man Jacket.

So if you want to get in, and rise your fallen man, do it now.

[Enter: Resistance Tournament]

GameSpot Reviews NBA 07 a 5/10

GameSpot recently reviewed Sony's NBA 08. They gave it a low 5 out of 10. They stated:

"NBA 07 for the PlayStation 3 was a mess, clearly rushed out the door to make it to stores in time for the PlayStation 3's launch. SCEA has had 10 months to straighten things out for NBA 08--not a lot of time in the world of game development. There's no question that this year's game is better than last year's, but its gameplay is so laden with problems that it's still not worth your time."

Read the full review at the link below.

[Read: NBA 08 Review]