Sunday, December 2, 2007

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!]

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