Gamertell

I sure hope Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is a good game.

Actually, I hope it is a great game not only because I consider myself a fan of the series but because it may be the only way in which Midway can pull itself out of the proverbial fire.

The company has been struggling of late to the point where it has had to go through some extreme measures just to complete one of its high-profile games. These struggles have resulted in staff members being handed pink slips in its Austin, TX (USA), studio.

Sadly, it’s looking like more…

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After the internet flooded with comments and a protest held involving the firing of Gamespot Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann over his review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Gamespot address the issue last night (December 3, 2007) in a press release. The staff of Gamespot calling Gerstmann’s departure an end of an era:

“Jeff was a central figure in the creation and evolution of GameSpot, having written hundreds of previews and reviews, and anchoring much of our multimedia content,” Ricardo Torres, editorial director of previews and events, said. “The award-winning editorial team he leaves behind wish him nothing but good luck in his future endeavors.”

Of course many supporters of Gerstmann replied to the message agreeing that Gamespot was full of themselves, stating that Gerstmann’s departure will not effect GameSPot in any way.

“Neither CNET Networks nor GameSpot has ever allowed its advertising business to affect its editorial content,” said Greg Brannan, CNET Networks Entertainment’s vice president of programming. “The accusations in the media that it has done so are unsubstantiated and untrue. Jeff’s departure stemmed from internal reasons unrelated to any buyer of advertising on GameSpot.”

To ire the Gerstmann’s readers, the executive producer of GameSpot Live was tasked to respond as well.

“Though he will be missed by his colleagues, Jeff’s leaving does not affect GameSpot’s core mission of delivering the most timely news, video content, in-depth previews, and unbiased reviews in games journalism,” said Ryan MacDonald, executive producer of GameSpot Live. “GameSpot is an institution, and its code of ethics and duty to its users remains unchanged.”

To end the press release GameSpot had to quickly mention that the firing was not due to legal constraints and the company policy of GameSpot parent CNET Networks, details of Gerstmann’s departure cannot be disclosed publicly. However, contrary to widespread and unproven reports, his exit was not a result of pressure from an advertiser.

Read [GameSpot Release]

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Most things on the Internet, particularly in relation to things which occur in the gaming media, usually amount to huge threads on various message boards that either degrade and/or are derailed within the first ten posts. 

The recent firing of Gamespot Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann, which is alleged to be because his review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men severely angered the game’s publisher, has shown that, when it wants to, the internet can be a force to be reckoned with. To the point of it actually being newsworthy.

I present to the readers Exhibit A, Gamespot’s user reviews for Kane & Lynch, whose average score has plummeted down to 2.6 since word of the scandal broke out, easily indicated by the differences between the 7-10 scores prior to November 29, 2007, and the flurry of 1.0s that followed afterward.  It eventually got to the point where Gamespot’s site stopped accepting user reviews for the game.

As Exhibit B, somebody hacked into the November 30, 2007, poll on GameFAQs, which has since been returned to its original state.  Please note that I’m referring to the poll choices and not the big Mountain Dew ad above them, which is, amusingly, an actual part of the site.  I’ll admit it took some lurking on NeoGAF (which has since censored out mention of Gamespot, GameFAQs, CNET, Eidos, and a variety of their products for purposes of showing solidarity against the firing) for me to actually confirm this.

And finally, the grand poobah Exhibit C, of which a fuller picture can be seen here .  Eidos’ message boards were swamped with such an onslaught of obscene threads, they had to be closed for “maintainence” in order to remove the offending the items. 

The content therein was supposedly of the absolute lowest caliber.  Even battle-hardened internet posters were rendered weak in its wake, like this NeoGAFer:

WARNING DO NOT GO TO EIDOS FORUMS***

Just waring any of you that don’t know. The forums are under a massive raid right now so unless you want to throw up, gouge your eyes out, be scarred for life, and die. STAY FAR AWAY. Seriously

Dont go ;/ , I was eating and almost [expletive removed] puked at the images .

Granted, e-vandalism is probably no replacement for responsible action and probably not as powerful a message as 1UP writers marching outside Gamestop’s offices to show solidarity for their fellows in the competition or even Destructoid’s new banner.  However, considering I’m talking about the same Internet that was up in arms last year over Jeff Gerstmann’s “controversial” review of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which was overall positive but gave the game an 8.8 out of 10 (also known as a score less than a 10 out of 10), this puts a smile on my face as they’re doing something that could be considered positive, if only in a destructive, roundabout way.  Besides, it also gives me what us net folk call “the lulz.”

Hell hath no fury like a gamer scorned!  Good job, Internet!

Read [Gamespot] Also Read [Kotaku] Also Read [Destructoid]

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