I'm sorry, but I'm going to go against the majority and say that Frank Provo is acting like King Idiot of Idiotland.

Yes, it's nice that he's got scruples - far more than most "gaming journalists" out there. But he broke the one cardinal rule of employment: You NEVER disparage your employers, present or former. To do so in many public forums (his LJ isn't private, which is foolish) will only make potential employers of his freelance writing quite weary of him.

Provo used to write for Ziff-Davis, and also flapped his gums about them. He's a loose cannon with loose lips. It's going to cost him his career.

bassbeast

It sucks that Cnet has tarnished Gamespot for what seems to have the potential of lasting quite some time. Too bad Gamespot can't pull a Bungie and get the hell out.

aribus

I'm sorry, perhaps I read wrong, but did someone say that Gamespot provides pro-Sony news.......on time?

I'm still waiting for them to crush the rumor that they helped start! :P

And make some of their reviews less contradicting.

"Too hard."
"Too easy."
"Too much variety."
"Too limited."

What Gamespot? I thought you said you checked your reviews before posting them!

remanance

@TemplaerDude:
Pretty sure this guy made it clear that it was CNet, not GameSpot's fault.

It's nice that you don't like Gerstmann and his reviews, but all crap aside, he did tell it like he saw it.

Providence

@okenny :):

A freelancer...for SEVEN YEARS? Try again, buddy.

THX5334

Ah I eagerly await the day Gamespot hits the the trash can. It's funny to see a website just lose, almost instantly, practically all its credibility. I never even liked Gerstmann or his reviews either.

TemplaerDude

@hahnchen: GameSpot's reviews were, at least before the whole Gerstmann thing, hardly shit. I found their average review to be more informative, direct, and accurate than other websites like IGN. If you don't agree with their opinions, that's one thing, but don't insult people who choose to pay money to a website for subscription content.

And for the record, I had a paid subscription from shortly after GameSpot started offering them, but I canceled it within a week of Gerstmann's firing. I'm also not a zombie that agrees with everything that GameSpot says without question. (Their Radiant Dawn review, for instance, was a hilarious, badly written joke that I found incredibly subpar in relation to most of their text reviews.)

I and a large number of folks that had hung out online in a GS user forum ended up moving out and setting up a new forum outside of GS so that we wouldn't have to continue visiting GameSpot. I have no intention of returning to the site, but I'm not in any rush to find a replacement review site to serve as a replacement. I'm actually quite content with the news sources I use now, including Kotaku.

Lezard

@TheIrishNinja:I can't believe the paid subscriptions on GameSpot were that popular. It won't be a major source of their revenue because its stupid.

We're all going to continue visiting Gamespot because they crop up at the top of Google searchs, and they cover news adequately. We're all still going to read their reviews and give them ad impressions.

I'll pay the same amount of credence to their reviews as I did before, which is nil, because they're shit. But think about the people who actually paid for GameSpot accounts, they really can't be that discerning over their gaming sources.

hahnchen

With this whole situation, it's not even that I hate GameSpot at all. There were rare moments where I would check out one of their reviews, and I even listened to their podcast for a bit. Sure, I'm suspicious about Jeff's firing like many others, but the shady firing of an editor doesn't really budge my standing with a site that I never associated with much in the first place.

That said, whoever was behind Gerstmann's firing for whatever reason clearly didn't think this out well enough to anticipate and deal with such a snowballing backlash from much of the Internet community. Because of that, a lot more than credibility was lost in the few days of that news getting out and both CNet and GameSpot have to deal with whatever comes with it.

Draconis

@EnigmaNemesis: but kotaku doesn't review... but then again that was the source of this problem in the first place

mossberg

Who needs that site when you always have Kotaku?

Seriously!

EnigmaNemesis

and thats why ladies and gentlemen, whenever I go searching for HDTV reviewes. I throw Cnet list out the window.

Plsk1n

At this rate, Gamespot will be the next pogo.com by the end of the year.

ExplodingKayNine

@TheIrishNinja: It was hard, because I liked Gamespot's features and reviews, and I still have a lot of respect for many of the people who are still there. The way it actually works is that canceling your subscription means it is not automatically renewed when it expires. Technically, my membership is still paid for through September or so. Since I still won't see the ads, I can use that remaining time to visit the site guilt-free and keeping an eye on their reviews to see if they're really backing up their statement that this was a one-off thing that will never happen again. I'm willing to give them a second chance since they aren't getting more money from me, but we'll see.

Stormrider900

Nobody should be punished for honesty. He's preaching to the choir! Preach on!

Trowble

Good. I liked GS and I don't blame their staff, but they're in a heck of a limbo since the Gerstmann unpleasantness, and CNet are doing nothing to help the situation.

Huxleyhobbes

RIP Gamespot 1996-2008

RomeoDude

@Stormrider900: good for you, sir.

@olion597: ah, i see...just wonder how many were talking the talk, you know? not like ol' stormrider900 there. i mean, if id subscribed for years, i suppose itd be a hard thing to do, but then again, once credibility's shot, its kinda hard to stand by them i guess.

TheIrishNinja

@d0mino: No, no. THREE more horsemen. Haven't you ever read "Thief of Time"?

xP Sorry for those who don't get the reference.

Reilaos, Putting the Fun in Dysfunction!

@TheIrishNinja: There was a thread in the Gamespot forums about the Jeff firings back when it happened, and it was about 1600-1800 pages long when it got locked (because people used it to boost post counts later on). For the first 800 or so at least 3 messages were posted per page about people who canceled their subscriptions.

olion597

Kudo's to you Frank. Your dignity is intact and your credibility is unwavering. I'm sure it won't take you long to find another job, surely there are those out there in the "Enthusiast Press" that appreciate ethics and profesionalism.

NightOwl

I hope it does crash and burn to be honest. I'm sure the GameSpot reviewers who wrote good, honest reviews will be snapped up elsewhere for their talents - and CNet don't deserve to make money off their own damn corruption.

Shimmergeek

@okenny :): Sounds? He IS a freelancer.

Digitalguardian (Mothers Against Angsty Prinnys)

Yes, the people at Gamespot may be innocently caught in the crossfire. However, Gamespot is PART OF C|Net now.

People are saying that the Gamespot employees are just trying to do their jobs. But they CANNOT "just do their jobs" because C|Net isn't letting them. That is WHY this guy quit.

These guys at GS should all be refreshing their resumes and shopping them around. Staying with a company that flushes your integrity down the toilet is not good for your long-term credibility and respect. I expect we'll see more people leaving as they find new jobs somewhere else. Those who stay will have no grounds to cry about their integrity being slandered.

Tuor

Do people still go to Gamespot?

I changed my home page soon after the fiasco (not cause I liked Jeff, I didn't - he was a disheveled cocky type) as the site has become a dearth of information since and I hated all its Sony bashing (don't tell me you didn't notice it either)

They haven't even put up the news on Warner Bros switch to Blu-Ray, its been hours since that news has been on every other site out there.

RIP Gamespot, RIP for your many many mistakes in the past year

maximus9

@BananaKid: That's the one guy left at Gamespot I still care about. He actually has a sense of humor, like Gerstmann did.

blackadvent

Was there been any word on what Gerstmann has been up to since his firing?

Draconis

If this keeps going, my gut says Alex Navarro is going to be the next to go. He's been distancing himself a lot from Gamespot, and doesn't seem to have any enthusiasm for the job anymore. Call it a hunch.

BananaKid

@TheIrishNinja: I can tell you I canceled mine, but I can't speak for anyone else.

Stormrider900

The wonderful world of Payola. Wait, it isn't wonderful at all. It's ugly. Like Carmen Electra ugly.

dead_red_eyes

If we see a mass resignation occur at Gamespot, could we count on seeing any of them pop up over here?

blackadvent

they should all quit and start there own review website

mossberg

have we seen anything on concrete on users abandoning subscriptions?

TheIrishNinja

What sucks is I'm sure others on the staff probably want to go the same route but have families to support.

Once again this is why I work for myself. There is no more helpless feeling than not being able to address a situation you know you are right about.

Cell9song

@happycamperjack:

Because Gamespot isn't successful or anything...

SG_Mahonay

Good, perhaps we'll finally see some fresh faces and revitalization of Gamespot which has been going downhill for years now. I say take down the whole site and start fresh! At least change the banner.

happycamperjack

@dnzperson:

If your job was at stake I think you wouldn't be biting at the bit to start a conflict with your employer.

SG_Mahonay

@SG_Mahonay: Agreed. It's sort of sad to see all the employees at Gamespot get slandered because Josh Larson (I believe that's his name, but I could be mistaken) was on a power trip.

Stormrider900

It may not be Gamespot's fault, but it is their reputation and credibility that is being called into question. I feel bad for the employees because they're just doing a job, but that doesn't mean I should support a gaming site where I'm unsure of their review scores.

And, to be really honest here, I only have so much spare time to meander around websites anyway. For me Gamespot was largely off the beaten path...I come here, Gamefly, IGN, 1up, and sometimes for giggles I check out n4g, which is just such a flamewar abomination of a site I have a hard time believing people care so much about this stuff.

Islandkiwi

Gamespot gives PS3 games the lowest ratings in comparison. An Xbox magazine would've been less harsh! :P

remanance

"The second horseman of the Gamespot apocalypse"
@marissa_melee: Must be death returning riding the horse we beat from the Gerstmann firing.

kman2686

well, that aint good. you could pass Gerstmanngate off as circumstancial. But, this? Res ipsa loquitor.

TinyLightning

@mossberg:

I'll co-sign that. IO is a good dev team, and none of this is their fault. Hell, I bought the game, and while it does have its issues, I really like it. The story and hard hitting, the voice acting well done, the gameplay is interesting . . to me, the game is a win.

EvoAnubis

@McWhertor: Oh, I see, my bad. Yeah, that would explain why I hadn't really seen him there anymore since before this happened.

Nirolak

I haven't been back to gamespot.com since this all happened, and I don't plan to.

I understand it's not the staff's fault, but they end up being innocent victims if they just sit there and take that crap from management.

It's good to see this guy walk out, and I hope he does well in the future.

dnzperson

how about 4) i feel bad for IO interactive

mossberg

I'm glad CNet continues to reap what they've sown, and I hope they continue to do so.

Xax

To answer the poll, I vote for 4) I like pizza.

EvoAnubis

Time to start a poll on this one!

Do you STILL believe Gerstmann was fired over K&L?

1) Yes MGS4 is gonna be exclusive.
2) No, its coming to 360.
3) Eidos sucks.

seiryuu

@Nirolak: I believe Tim was already at TV.com, not Gamespot, and the departure was unrelated.

McWhertor

Uh duh! $$$$$ is spent of course this shit happens.

burningranger01

@patatc:

I agree. I think this would explain why a lot of Gamespot employees have been extra pissed. Not only has a questionable firing taken place of a fellow employee, but the same people responsible for said firing have not made any sort of attempt to pull Gamespot from the public line of fire. Gamespot has become somewhat of a laughing stock due to the controversy that has been dumped upon them and they're absolutely the victim in all of this. If CNET was a person I don't know how it would sleep at night.

SG_Mahonay

Will Gamespot shutting down be one of the top news stories of 2008?

Gumbydunzeeto

Actually at least one more GameSpot staff member left back when this first all happened. [www.gamespot.com]
To my knowledge though he wasn't actually a reviewer but rather their sound coordinator.

Nirolak

...but I think it would be really hard for people to thing and read reviews fully instead of jumping to the "the good/thebad/final score" and believing in whatever it´s said there, while having a game review site without AD´s for games but for consoles/appareals/pc hardware and such. but a man can dream.. rottengames dot com would be a nice ring for a site.

Wyld

@Trochan: It's not really gamespot though as much as it is CNET. I mean, gamespot has always had pretty reliable info for me individually. I think getting pissed at gamespot is kinda like killing the messenger.

patatc

It should be interesting to see what happens next.

EvoAnubis

@marissa_melee: Well if that happens, Jaffe's dream is going to come true XD...

tocatl

In order to make the review world more accurate some harsh things would have to happen:

1 : gaming news and hints should be, along with advertizing, in different sites than sites with game reviews

2 : game reviwers should be really professionals and know what they´re talking, often asking themselves "would I like this game if I was on the designated public for this title?" instead "i don´t like soccer so I give this game a 3/10". So the site/magazine would get money with advertizing related to anything BUT game titles. I don´t really know the perfect solucion for this but it seems wierd to read a review on a site while having advertizing for it.

3 : remove the scoring system, as Yahtzee stated already, to avoid stupid things like "this game sequel is much better than it´s predecessor title (that got 9/10, but since my expectations we´re higher and it´s different than I immagined, I´ll give it a 5/10.

Wyld

Did he break some sort of contractual agreement by saying what he said?

wayneofspades

Wow... With all this happening, where is Gamespot heading. Will more people leave, will they stay, will they provide you with great reviews more of that at 1.

shindokie

Gamespot's credibility has hit rock bottom now.

Trochan

This guy sounds like a freelancer. All of us with real jobs know better. Gamespot handled the situation wrong but how naive of this guy... perhaps there were other extenuating circumstances.

okenny :)

The Editor's Choice pic fits awesome for this article :P

jboze84

Glad to see someone making a more direct connection to CNET. Gamespot it's self has taking a dogging it doesn't really deserve. Don't forget kids, Chuck D says "FIGHT THE POWER!".

SG_Mahonay

YAY

AznSmith

@d0mino: Wrong show?

okenny :)

LET THE RESIGNATIONS BEGIN!

swirldude

@marissa_melee: There is going to be two more horsemen then? SCOOOP!

d0mino

This again, eh?

It's been one hell of a screwy day!

SaintAnima

and so it is written

mossberg

I thought it already did. Kane and Lynch was fun, but I wouldn't give it above a 6 since it gets old two levels in.

Kenaue

I thought we'd seen the end of this, but I'm glad it's resufaced with some up-front honesty. Shame to see him go.

PriorMarcus

The second horseman of the Gamespot apocalypse. This site is gonna crash and burn.

marissa_melee

Pity, I hope Gamespot can live through this all.

agustin2489

Gamespot has always been harsh on reviews and I am sure publishers know that. Since they always been very critical on games, I dont see any reason doubt CNET is the problem. CNET owns gamespot and thinking the editors would want to give a bad a game a good review is just weird and it would make them look bad. Its not like movies. Games are easier to judge.

Keegs79

Bravo sir. Bravo.

luisrm

@THX5334: I'll go as far as to say most game reviews done out there are done by freelancers. 7 years of freelancing for one client (among others)in any industry is not as uncommon as you might think.

Sunjammer

You go, Provo!

Didn't know you that well, but I cannot help but applaud someone standing up, taking action, and calling it like it is, for everyone concerned to see. May you find gratification and prosperity in your future endeavors!

P.S. I can say with total honesty that I have avoided GameSpot.com since Gerstmann gate. Gamerankings.com...yeah, I check it somewhat frequently, but that's it for my CNet concessions.

jollydwarf

@Wyld: Yes, let us put ads on a different website... You realize what you said is absolutely, hands down, no doubt, the DUMBEST thing ever said in Kotaku? How do you make money without ads when you run a review site? Donations? Come on...

AznSmith

@bassbeast: If you read his journal, he accepts being the king of Idiotland and is taking your comment on :P

[frankprovo.livejournal.com]

ReginaldTheSeventySecond

Kudos to Frank Provo. :)

Soriya

Well whadyouknowboudat...

I may have been right after all...

Enigma_20XX

This is something long time Cnet reviewers have known for awhile, Cnet sells reviews and as a result if you look at the products their websites tout as being the best (look at their LCD TV ratings) you'll see that there are some craptastic products there that score well despite other more ethical websites calling the real deal.

Soldrak

@bassbeast: Haha, he quoted you on his blog in the comments:

Or perhaps I am King Idiot of Idiotland, as someone at Kotaku called me.

Thought that was funny.

More seriously I agree with what he had to say and proud that he did what he did knowing what he threw away. It's the right thing to do, which isn't always the smart thing.

absentblue

Frank Provo did the right thing. Hopefully he has another job lined up or is freelancing somewhere else. I gave up on GameSpot reviews entirely after the Gerstmann incident. Believe it or not, they were always the first I read when hitting up gamerankings (also a CNET site), prior to the firing. Now, I try to avoid even looking at their scores. Reviews and marketing should be as far apart as the north and south poles.

Sloopydrew

I used to read Gamespot, not just on a daily basis, but several times a day. I relied on them for nearly 100% of my game reviews.

Since Gerstman-Gate, I have not visited their site once. I'm fucking done with them. I wish them nothing but the worst, I hope they eventually have to shut the fuck down. Jeff was one of the few reviewers there I knew by name, and him being fired for giving the half-baked Kane and Lynch the review it deserved is just despicable.

I'd honestly like nothing more than to see all their editors walk, and an industry writer boycott put upon their heads. This kind of shit should simply be unforgivable in a community as tight-knit as I'd like to think we all are.

DOC409

XFD @ Editor's Choice logo

behemothzero

Nice. Maybe more will be leaving now that the holidays are getting over and people can look for new jobs.

spartan1308

Count me in as never visiting GameSpot again after Gerstman's firing.

eastx

The less Gamespot the better.

Roto13

I usually found Gamespot reviews to be comprehensive and fair, if a little pedestrian, but you have to keep an open mind about anything. As "Almost Famous" so melodramatically put it, you can't be friends with these people AND cover them objectively. Perhaps the problem is that Gamespot and IGN have mainstream influence - they are the big boys, the Siskel and Ebert of games, so there is a large incentive for publishers to sweeten them, try to get favourable coverage.

Anyway, I have for a long time now looked to Eurogamer for the straight talk. Somehow they manage to be brutally honest and condescending and still advertise games!

tufty

I have never read Gamespot and probably never will so if all these reviewer are so amazing I am glad they are leaving so maybe I can read their shite.

On an unrelated note, I love money and umm... hate standards, I know AP style and have years on a college paper.
...you could pay me to love Crusin'.

JoDi

I removed Gamespot from my bookmarks the day that Gerstmann was fired. I have found plenty of other great sites that aren't run by CNET. I recommend others do the same. CNET will see a significant drop in hits if enough people stop visiting the site. Advertisers will see the potential loss in viewers. Hit CNET in the pocketbooks where it hurts. Boycott Gamespot.

Xsid

@Lezard: "(Their Radiant Dawn review, for instance, was a hilarious, badly written joke that I found incredibly subpar in relation to most of their text reviews.)"

I went onto Gamespot to confirm this. Now to be fair I've only played the first 3 or 4 chapters (on medium, and wow it's challenging, but in a good way), but that sure looks like a "quick! Give a good game a low score so we don't look soft!" review to me.

So basically I'm saying the reviewer has either no integrity (did what was told) or no reviewing skills (figured this game deserved a 6.0 because it's too hard, even though this game is designed for people who spent dozens of hours perfecting their skills beating the GC game).

My favourite part is how "plainly obvious" the advantages of including "Mii support" would be. Yeah, introducing Miis in a Fire Emblem game. Good thinking.

Does anyone know if there were ads for Radiant Dawn on Gamespot when it came out?

headcase88

I use to love reading gamespot, and their end of the year awards were the games I'd pick up or rent to pass the time until the next blockbuster game season.

After the whole gerstmann thing, I stopped reading (until I clicked that link above).

Now it's kotaku or nothing.

balls187

I've said it before and I'll say it again. "SUITS FUCK UP EVERYTHING!"

When will the suits learn to just manage the money and nothing else. "Suit" involvement only leads to decisions that anger your target demographic of "Gamers."

Seriously.. how many gamers wear "suits" to work every day? I am a manager myself and an ardent gamer. I wear no suit, and will only adorn one for interviews, funerals, and weddings.

(It's not the suit itself that is the problem, but the type of person who generally wears a suit. Suit wearers do not generally embrace counter culture.)

Anyone notice that gaming was "off the publics radar" right up until gaming started to make tons of money for the "suits" and now we have all of this political pressure and general "wussification" of our games?

I think I've already given you my opinion.

axiomatic

I didn't think that Gamespot would be shaken up after this, but oh boy, I'm keeping my eye out for what happens next. I knew Gertsmann's firing was bad juju!

YotaruVegeta

OH MY GIZZOD!!! Please tell me you people don't honestly believe, STIll, that jeff whatever his name was actually fired over review(s)??????!?!?!?!?!?!?!

taomaster99

Having read Provo's reviews in the past, methinks the freelance phone had stopped ringing, so he took it upon himself to dramatically "leave" in a plea for publicity. Honestly, how does a freelancer leave in the first place? It's not like he actually works there! It's kind of like the Donald Trump/Apprentice "quitting" controversy, on an infinitely smaller, less relevant scale.

ViolentLee