Ive been following this and the rumours of why Jeff Gerstmann got fired, which all the other guys who left seem to confirm, is that he gave a bad review to Eidos Kane and Lynch. Eidos then said theyd pull their advertising from the site if the review wasnt redone to give them a better review, and as Jeff isnt one to be bullied into what he writes, cnet decided to sack him rather than lose the money that Eidos were paying them.
I have to applaud all the guys for sticking up for what they believe in and walking out on cnet and gamespot.
It was not the main reason He was sacked for me but your also right
I think what it has been is there has been the odd clash with CNET during last year causing odd person of staff to leave and when their head ponco left which was really not replaced until this all kicked off over a year later that it seemed to cause some issues.
Now for me I think for some time despite what has been said CNET has stuck their nose in on reviews or how the site is run more then once and not in regard to progressing the site but just in regard to making money and advertising and sponsorship. Some is good but there has been a slow encroaching on many aspects of the site. I know from other places and things they are reluctant to have adverts at the start of video clips or shows and I think Gamespot would have been the same And a few other things you could imagine as being an owned company and CNET being not the best company out there...
I think AS a last straw and after some things were said rated that game to what he thought it would be and was fair but then lashed out a bit on the video to prove a point or stamp is foot down, again despite what the Gamespot staff said about pulling the video for it being poor quality - I seen it on youtube and it was better then many that are kept and again recent stuff shows that this is also not true.
AS a result he was told and he did it how it should be and probably arguments in relation to it all occurred before and he was sacked basically behind the other gamespot staffs back. I can see him walking into the offices and saying "I been sacked"
And as a result and further issues others are leaving and Cnet have dug a whole
One of the articles of the other of an interview of the new lead editor at gamespot when asked if CNET dabbed their hand in what was done etc as they claim not to he said "NO, they dont know" and that know is a quite thing but important as it says they did
I think a few more will leave still yet and cnet throwing money at the ones still there to try and hold onto them
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/01/ziff-davis-staff-holds-impromptu-gamespot-rally/This from December is a good thing for me as it clearly shows even other review sites clearly know what it is like
People may or may not like the site etc but it is a good story to get into and learn about what has gone on becuase it does highlight the changing video game industry, what it means to take something from scratch and over the years build it into something to then be bought by another company but allowed to do what you been doing. You then have 2 routes of a company letting you do your stuff and make you money and others who do that at first but then get greedy and seek more and push for changes that are not for the good of the customer or company but there to make money.
This is happening with gamespot and other sites of different types before it and with game developers as well
EA for example first bought game studios and then took the staff and killed the company and folded it into one of its "divisions" at EA which lead to some of the key people leaving and the games suffering and not being quite as good leading to a lot of people hating and still hating EA, I think the big one was when they did it to westwood for example
But EA to give them credit took that in after a while and some high up reshuffling the new folk finally realised this was the wrong thing to do and now they buy companies or buy a stake and let them be what they are and have an interaction and not envelope them - EA mythic, EA and Bioware for example and you got MS and Bungie going even further letting them go free as long as they doo xxx and xxx for them.
Never been a fan of CNET anyway and its all been folding out very interesting
