Gamertell

Further fanning the flames of the firing of Gamespot’s Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann, freelance writer Frank Provo is calling it quits from the site

Here’s his open post about it, grabbed right from the site before it’s noticed and likely removed:

Farewell, GameSpot

It’s true, I’m no longer contributing to GameSpot.

I believe CNet management let Jeff go for all the wrong reasons. I believe CNet intends to soften the site’s tone and push for higher scores to make advertisers happy.

I won’t lie to people and tell them a game is good when it isn’t. I won’t downplay negatives that readers have a right to know about.

And so, the “Frank Provo era” at GameSpot ends after nearly 8 years of contributions. March 2000 through December 2007. It was a nice run.

I feel sorry for the GameSpot staff that have to continue to work there because they have no choice if they want to be able to pay bills and feed their families. For such upstanding people, the CNet overloads have created the ultimate soul-crushing work environment.

Category: Editorial
Posted by mosaic, Jan 4, 2008 1:20 am PT

One of his followup posts in response to a comment on the site reads…

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According to a report in the New York Times, Cory Ondrejka, the Chief Technology Officer at Linden Labs, which owns the hugely popular virtual world Second Life, quit from his position on Tuesday (December 13, 2007). He is the man who helped contrived the code behind Second Life. Besides scripting the Second Life code, he is also responsible for the thriving e-commerce market it has become with virtual real-estate and goods being traded for real money.

The CEO of Linden Labs, Philip Rosedale, told the New York Times that Ondrejka had resigned to “pursue new professional challenges.” He intimated the fact that both of them felt that their paths lied in different directions as the role of a CTO within the company had evolved. Ondrejka’s hasn’t commented on his resignation.

The success of the game as one-of-a-kind e-commerce market can’t be disputed and Ondrejka has played an important role in it. It has not been all rosy as far as the game is concerned as, time and again, it has been confronted with several glitches and attacks by hackers. Also many skeptics have cast doubts on the Second Life user statistics provided by Linden Labs, which they fear are grossly exaggerated.

Read [New York Times] via [Next-Gen]

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Since the rumors about Nintendo’s North America Marketing Department’s key executives quitting by the end of the year began, Nintendo ignored the chatter and blogs that speculated the reason is because the execs did not want to move from their current location in Redwood, Washington to new offices in New York and San Francisco.

In response to the chatter Nintendo of America’s president Reggie Fils-Aime admitted to the company’s relocation and the mass resignation of its staff.

“Virtually all of the employees affected by the relocation plan have now responded with their decisions, and approximately four of every ten have agreed to make the move to either New York or the Bay Area…

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Due to high cost of hosting, the World Series of Video Game series has reached its toll and has been shut down as of September 13, 2007. All remaining events scheduled this year have all been canceled by its organizer Games Media Properties who posted the following statement on the WSVG web site:

“Effective immediately, Games Media Properties will no longer produce the World Series of Video Games. The remainder of the 2007 season in Los Angeles, London and Sweden is canceled…

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SCEA’s David Karraker announced to the media today that he is officially leaving the company effective September 7, 2007.

“It has been a wild ride and an incredibly enriching experience,“ Karraker said. “I have enjoyed immensely my tenure at SCEA and think the company and its brands are very well positioned to have an exceptional holiday and a very bright future.“

Having only worked with SCEA a year as the company’s Senior Director of Corporate Communications, Karraker leaves to pursue a career as head of public relations and events for Skyy spirits beginning October 1, 2007.

Karraker said that although the decision to leave SCEA was a difficult choice he couldn’t ignore a global opportunity near his home town where he will be “in an industry where I have previous experience that I feel I must pursue,“ he said and added he will keep watch over SCEA’s progress. “I look forward to continuing to follow this industry as a gamer, rather than a spokesperson.“

Karraker will be leaving SCEA exactly one year after replacing former PR boss Molly Smith in September 2006.

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