Former GameSpot reviewer Jeff Gerstmann is no stranger to controversy. His 8.9 scoring of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was met with unhappy campers, while his 6.0 Kane & Lynch review *might* have cost him his job. But does Gerstmann have any regrets? From MTV Multiplayer:

"I'm at a point where I rarely second guess what I think about a game upon finishing it," Gerstmann told me. He said he's long gotten over the doubt that could set in "when you are facing the raging fury of the Internet." He used to get death threats about some of his scores. "Now that stuff just rolls off. It's the ranting of insane people, which you could say about a lot of internet stuff."

I've always thought that some people take personal offense to reviews. They are just opinions. Everyone's got one.

The Art of Not Second Guessing [Multiplayer]

When long-time GameSpot reviewer and editorial director Jeff Gerstmann was let go from the site last November—with sources pointing to his review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men as the catalyst for his termination—fingers were also pointed at executive Josh Larson, VP of games at parent company CNET. Larson, who replaced former Editor in Chief Greg Kasavin, was implicated by anonymous GameSpot employees to have had the "church-and-state" separation between the sales teams and the editorial team" "cracked" under his tenure. Whether the VP, Jeff's supervisor at the time, was the key decision maker in letting Gerstmann go we can't confirm, but we can confirm that Larson will be leaving the company next week.

Read More »

As the dust on Gerstmann-gate has finally more than settled, another GameSpot staffer is exiting the building. As announced on GameSpot's podcast "HotSpot", Senior Editor Brad Shoemaker will be leaving the site this Friday. He's been working at GameSpot since 1999. Shame they never gave him a larger GIF image. We wish him luck in his future endeavours.
The HotSpot [GameSpot, thanks to all who sent this in!]

Read More »

The last thing the gaming world needs is more amateur gaming podcasts. Lucky for the newly-launched Arrow Pointing Down, then, that it's not cobbled together by a couple of awkward teenagers using a $US 3 PC mic in their dad's office. It is instead put together by former GameSpot staffers Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis, who in their former lives manned GameSpot's podcast. The sound quality is God-awful thanks to a dodgy Skype connection, but still worth a listen if you've got some 90-odd minutes of doing nothing scheduled for later today.
Arrow Pointing Down Podcast Beta [Arrow Pointing Down]

Read More »

Jeff Gerstmann of Gerstmann-gate fame will be making his first television appearance since his dismissal from GameSpot tonight at 8PM Eastern time on G4's newly revamped X-Play. Gerstman will be on hand to discuss the lack of innovation in Japanese gaming, a topic that was recently brought to light via a Gamasutra interview with Konami sound director Akira Yamaoka. As expected, Gerstmann will also discuss his abrupt departure from GameSpot, because that's really the gist of why he's appearing on the show in the first place. Otherwise the little press blurb we got from G4 wouldn't have been sent with the title "JEFF GERSTMANN'S FIRST TV APPEARANCE". I hope I get half as popular as Jeff does when Crecente finally fires me.

Read More »

Ryan Davis, an associate editor, experienced reviewer and nearly 8-year GameSpot veteran, has become the latest to quit in the wake of former editorial director Jeff Gerstmann's termination. GameDaily.biz reports today that it has confirmed with new GameSpot editor in chief Ricardo Torres that Davis will follow Frank Provo and Alex Navarro as the latest casualty to the site's editorial staff. News of the most recent resignation comes two months to the day that we warned of a mass walkout at the CNet Networks owned site.

Read More »

You couldn't pay me enough to take Ricardo Torres' job. The newly promoted Editor-in-Chief of GameSpot took up the reins of the site in the wake of Gerstmann-gate, with community trust at an all time low and the eyes of the internet watching their every move. GameDaily's Kyle Orland discusses the trials and tribulations of stepping into this new position with Torres in his weekly Media Coverage segment, touching on the future of GameSpot, competing with upstart gaming blogs (*whistles innocently*), sketchy advertising policies and of course, Jeff Gerstmann.

"GameSpot's gone through quite a few bumps in the road over the years. I know Jeff's fans are upset and I know people are upset over the perception and how it all played out. Really, the best thing that we can do is to just show them that we're good at what we do. Ultimately content is going to prove to people that we're untainted, uncorrupt and committed to serving our readers."

Read More »

CNet Networks announced today that GameSpot veteran Ricardo Torres has been named the new Editor In Chief of the online publication, replacing former site lead Greg Kasavin in the role. The site had been without an official EIC since Kasavin's departure in January of last year to work at Electronic Arts. Torres, who shared editorial director duties with former GameSpotter Jeff Gerstmann, has been with the site since 2001 and has been focused on previews and worldwide event coverage.

Torres, who spoke to us recently about the departure of longtime reviewer Alex Navarro, said of the new responsibilities via press release "I'm eager to continue the site's tradition of excellence and I'm confident we can move forward into 2008 and set a new industry standard for how video games are covered." Torres recently set editorial standards for wearing cornrows, pictures of which we desperately wish we had in our possession.

We wish Torres the best in his future endeavors at GameSpot. Full statement from CNet after the break.

Read More »

The whole Jeff Gerstmann/GameSpot affair was a mess. An unsightly one at that. Now that the dust has settled, however, it's probably a good time to read a comprehensive history of the thing, like the one Sam Kennedy has posted over on his 1UP blog. While some/most of the details will already be familiar to you, it's worth checking out some of the new stuff he brings to the table, like comments from an advertiser who's worked with the site to excerpts from GameSpot's advertising kit. Most interesting, though, is Kennedy saying he's heard whispers of Gerstmann joining up with GameSpot founder Vince Broady with the goal of launching a site to "take on GameSpot".

GameSpot's Sad State of Affairs [1UP]

Read More »

Long time video game reviewer Alex Navarro, a frequent contributor to GameSpot's podcast The HotSpot and go-to video review narrator, will be leaving the site, according to the site's Editorial Director Ricardo Torres. We learned in a phone call with Torres earlier today that Navarro, who many will remember from his infamous (and hilarious) video review of Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, had given his notice yesterday, with the rest of staff told his last day of GameSpot editorial duties would occur on January 24th.

We haven't been in touch with Navarro yet to learn more about his decision to leave GameSpot or if the termination of Jeff Gerstmann played a role in his departure. Navarro has made appearances on Jeff Gerstmann's personal blog and Points! webcast over the past month, so it's possible the two may work together in some capacity in the future.

Read More »