I always wanted to wait until something really important or meaningful warranted a blog. well, Nothing warrants that than the termination of Gamespot's more recognized and respected of Editors. Jeff Gerstmann. I'm sure you all have seen the countless articles that have flooded the net at this point.
Basically the game ,kane and Lynch by Eidos was supposed to be a success, a runaway hit title the company banked on. In an effort to make sure it was a success Eidos, invested 100s of thousands of dollars into Gamespots advertising. When Jeff's review was released, the funds were apparently revoked.
If theres any question about Eidos's integrity
know this, they know the importance of a score to their wallet
The termination of Jeff isn't just another typical corporate move slams the little game review company scenario. This is a slap in the face of what made the gaming phenomenon so profound in the first place. Its visceral, and exciting, and alive. Big media has since tapped much of that excitement out of music and films. So now it has its sights set on the budding Gaming Medium.
Jeff represented a lot of what gaming was and what it is no longer. A no holds barred ,fragfast, medium, unapologetic, and unchained by worldwide pressures of a bloated system that need mass revenue consumption to sustain. Now that games are main stream. Theres no room for fresh new, and exciting. The powers that be need to make it a cost effective profit machine, even if that means all the raw unbridled passion that originally went with it is subdued, in an effort in keeping the machine moving.
Slowly but surely, the change from gaming phenomenon to media mainstream has been taken effect. Video Games Shows are slowly being taken over with the typical E Access Hollywood flair, complete with female models and fake smiles.
Game companies are hiring spoke-persons now to sell their products. (Jade Raymond anyone?) Gone are the days that the nerdy disheveled programmer gets a chance to enthusiastically promote their dreams and goals.
We all respected Jeff because he told it like it is. A lot of people gave him flak for it, but many more respect him for it. While he may have been known as the 8.8 guy (for giving the Wii Zelda that Score) many more seem to also forget he had to fight to give that same property a perfect 10 when it first hit the Nintendo 64. He has proven himself over and over again with his expertise.
Beyond his reviews, Jeff is an incredible personality. He brought much needed fun and humor to his Video reviews and his hosting on, On the spot. Balancing out the video duds like Richardo and Brad Shoemaker, who seem to fumble and eat their words whenever on camera, Jeff was always there to keep things moving, keep things fun and fresh.
I sincerely hope the best for Jeff Gerstmann, but I have no doubt he will succeed in whatever he applies himself to. He is an incredible talent, there's no question.
It's the rest of us now that I'm worried about.
In closing, there is nothing more I can say here. Besides, words are meaningless without action. As actions speaks volumes of ones character and integrity such as Jeff. So I will end this blog with a simple, click.
heltec
Yup. I canceled my gamespot subscription about a week ago. But I dont truely think that gaming is commercialized, although the big ones certanitly are. Look at newgrounds. Many of our games are almost getting to commertial quality, so in a few years who knows?
Also: How did you get landed a Garbage Whistle?
MindChamber
Yes while the game we have may look commercial quality , its nice to know it can be as vulgar , nonsensical , and as dirty as we want.
I got the garbage whistle the same way jeff got canned, I voted low on shit Star syndicate reviews, but the flashes got protected by mass voting, thus making my zeros ineffective.