Gamespot going down the toilet
For a long time Gamespot has been one of the web’s most trusted sources of reviews. CNET’s corporate management have managed to destroy that reputation - built up over years - in a matter of days. There are two things that we know for certain - Gamespot editor Jeff Gertsmann recently gave a negative review to the new Kane and Lynch game. He was then fired. Now the rumour which has caught on is that the two were linked - that Gerstmann was fired after Eidos threatened to cancel advertising campaigns on CNET’s sites.
Of course, this leaves many people in search of a review site which still has some integrity left. One I’ve seen mentioned in a few places is 1UP - if anyone has any other Corruptspot alternatives then post a comment here and I’ll add them to the list.
Of course, that has not been confirmed (and given the confidentiality rules surrounding employment it is pretty difficult to do so), but the response of CNET staff has been as good as in many people’s eyes. Instead of giving the company’s side of the story, CNET’s moderators are closing any forum posts (often including abusive comments in their reply) which question the company’s conduct. One of the few surviving complaint threads is (at the time of writing) 1096 pages long. Not posts, PAGES! Given the level of aggro this is causing, I suspect that the costs in terms of lost credibility (not to mention loss of a great many paying subscribers, myself included) are far higher than whatever the value of the Eidos advertising was.
Tags: Computers and Internet, Eidos, Games, Gamespot, Jeff Gertsmann