Gamespot US fires Jeff Gerstmann over Kane & Lynch review

[Nintenchris]

I couldnt care less about him either, but you cant give him the sack when hes just doing his job.

 

If Eidos wanted good reviews they could have just made a good game its as simple as that.

[Caris]

You go girl.

[BlueStar]

Anyone has a link for this?

 

http://uk.gamespot.com/users/Adam_B/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-25233743

 

Not so much a website as a blog.

[That Guy]

Its not great.

Jeff always gave his utmost to Gamespot. Being editorial chief, running the podcast and 2 weekly live webcasts.

 

He was the only member left of the original GS crew. I actually canceled my subscription over this, giving into advertising pressure is a fucking joke.

 

I totally agree with this. Wondered why he wasn't on The Hotspot this week. I actually quite like Jeff, and his enthusiasm for games, and fuck it, I wont be visiting the site again.

 

I hope he joins another website, or podcast.

[Fierce_LiNk]

He should come work for us. Hehe...hehe.....*thinks*

[KKOB]

Jeff was a knob, an unfunny knob with a big ego and a bigger stomach. I'm rather glad he's gone and i hope gamespot can somehow dig themselves out of the gutter they have found themselves in in the past 2 years.

[Tellyn]

I agree with some of his reviews, the 8.8 incident made me loathe the man for months until I realised Twilight Princess wasn't THAT fantastic, but after giving Ocarina on the N64 10/10 and then re-reviewing the SAME GODDAMN GAME on the Virtual Console and knocking off about a tenth of the score was madness.

 

But it's seriously unfair that the guy got sacked for being honest about a game, just because the publisher didn't like it. I hear the Eidos forums are getting pwned as we speak.

[Goron_3]

I don't see why people are upset over the 8.8 score for TP that he gave.

 

Everything he said in the review was spot on, and by Gamespots ranking system it clearly deserved a 8.8.

[Noodleman]

This is shocking, really is disgraceful although im sure Gamespot aren't the first site to do this. without wishing to open up that can of worms he was right about TP.

[darksnowman]

Jeff was a knob, an unfunny knob with a big ego and a bigger stomach. I'm rather glad he's gone and i hope gamespot can somehow dig themselves out of the gutter they have found themselves in in the past 2 years.

 

I gotta say that I would tend to agree with Tacky-o on this. Even putting the Zelda 8.8 Great aside, this bloke has never said or done anything to put him on the map in my opinion. Now if its true that he's such a big player at Gamespot, which like Tacky-o also says, has been going down the drain then lets hope with him outta the way they can somehow become a website worth visiting regularly.

 

Its a shame that he had to go this way obviously, I'm not disputing that. Eidos are being twits and shoulda embargoed his review an extra week or somthing if they didn't fancy the negative press. Or like someone else said... what about actually having made a decent game? Imagine if they had bothered to do that eh.

[KKOB]

I gotta say that I would tend to agree with Tacky-o on this. Even putting the Zelda 8.8 Great aside, this bloke has never said or done anything to put him on the map in my opinion. Now if its true that he's such a big player at Gamespot, which like Tacky-o also says, has been going down the drain then lets hope with him outta the way they can somehow become a website worth visiting regularly.

 

Its a shame that he had to go this way obviously, I'm not disputing that. Eidos are being twits and shoulda embargoed his review an extra week or somthing if they didn't fancy the negative press. Or like someone else said... what about actually having made a decent game? Imagine if they had bothered to do that eh.

 

Yaaay! someone agrees with me ^_^ *hands a chocolate smiley lolly*

[Daft]

I thought he was a great reviewer and apart from Eurogamer, is the only review I really ever look at.

 

He nailed the Twilight Princess review. I was annoyed at the time but even before I completed it you could see it was one of the only reviews to not get caught in the hype and take the game for what it was.

 

He also nailed the Bioshock review again not getting sucked into the hype but marking the game on its merits.

[EchoDesiato]

Farewell, young prince, we hardly knew ye.

[Retro_Link]

Fuck that.

Gametrailers is pretty much the only place worth going for content.

Gametrailers is awesome!

It's the only review sight I take any real notice of.

 

I've been visiting GT for a fair while now, and I get the impression recently that they must be doing better and better as they've added two new [from what I can tell] video reviewers; used to be just the one voice-over guy.

Congrats to them!

I don't see why people are upset over the 8.8 score for TP that he gave.

 

Everything he said in the review was spot on, and by Gamespots ranking system it clearly deserved a 8.8.

Yeah, as a few have been saying in this thread, I think he got Twilight Princess pretty much right.

[Zechs Merquise]

Jeff was a knob, an unfunny knob with a big ego and a bigger stomach. I'm rather glad he's gone and i hope gamespot can somehow dig themselves out of the gutter they have found themselves in in the past 2 years.

 

I agree, Jeff was an utter knob who built his reputation on giving weird scores to get attention. The whole 8.8 thing springs to mind. I personally think Zelda was worth more than that and I think he did it for hits.

 

Funny that he got sacked for giving a game a shite review score. The irony is the game he did give the bad score to deserves it by all accounts.

[That Guy]

I thought he was a great reviewer and apart from Eurogamer, is the only review I really ever look at.

 

He nailed the Twilight Princess review. I was annoyed at the time but even before I completed it you could see it was one of the only reviews to not get caught in the hype and take the game for what it was.

 

He also nailed the Bioshock review again not getting sucked into the hype but marking the game on its merits.

 

Agree there, and along with a few others I agree with his Zelda review as well. I didn't at the time, and I thought it was shit, but wen u play it, finish it, and really think about it I'd say he hit the nail on the head.

 

I don't get why people would say he was a knob.

[Goron_3]

I agree, Jeff was an utter knob who built his reputation on giving weird scores to get attention. The whole 8.8 thing springs to mind. I personally think Zelda was worth more than that and I think he did it for hits.

 

Funny that he got sacked for giving a game a shite review score. The irony is the game he did give the bad score to deserves it by all accounts.

 

Given Gamespots reviewing techinique, i'm surprised Zelda even got an 8.8.

[Mikey]

TP is the best Zelda I've ever played, I don't get people saying it only deserved an 8.8.

[Daft]

TP is the best Zelda I've ever played, I don't get people saying it only deserved an 8.8.

 

The last paragraph of that review sums it up pretty well imo:

 

Objectively speaking, it's still a little disappointing that the series hasn't evolved much at all with this latest installment. You'll almost certainly enjoy the game for its terrific puzzles, colorful characters, and compelling story, but at some point the feeling of nostalgia crosses the line and holds this game back from being as unbelievably good as some of its predecessors. So as impressive of a game as it is, Twilight Princess seems like it could have been so much more with a few presentational updates and more effective and interesting uses of the Wii's unique control scheme. But even without those things, Twilight Princess is a great game that stays extremely true to the Zelda franchise's past. That's excellent news for fans of the series, who'll find in Twilight Princess a true-blue Zelda game with updated visuals, some new twists, plenty of challenging puzzles, and a faithful dedication to the series' roots.

[Fierce_LiNk]

TP is the best Zelda I've ever played, I don't get people saying it only deserved an 8.8.

 

I agree, I don't see what people felt was wrong with the game.

 

Taking a look at the review itself, he mentions the graphics as a plus point, and then mentions it again as a negative.

 

http://uk.gamespot.com/wii/action/thelegendofzelda/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review

 

He does complain that the game hasn't evolved much, but then again, wasn't this what we wanted in the first place? A traditional Zelda title? Back to basics, just some more of the good stuff. Especially after Wind Waker.

 

 

Still, I never agreed with the review, but I am a little sad he's been removed from his post because of another review. It is his own opinion at the end of the day, like my opinion is my own. At the end of the day, giving Zelda an 8.8 may seem harsh, but it's still a very good score, because it's still a very good game.

 

If he thought the game in question deserved a 6.0, then that's his view on it. No use whinging and sacking the guy over it.

[Shino]

All that and just a 8.8? Why not 9.0? Its merely psychological, but he knew the reaction it would get.

[Fierce_LiNk]

It's daft. 8.8 or a 9, it's a difference of .2...it doesn't make the world of difference, it's not going to stop anyone getting the game.

 

A 6.0 on the other hand, that will put people off, as it's a fairly average score. 5/10 is half, so it's slightly above average. But, the truth is, he wasn't alone in those views. It's been getting fairly ok-ish reviews across the board, which is the key difference.

[Daft]

He does complain that the game hasn't evolved much, but then again, wasn't this what we wanted in the first place? A traditional Zelda title? Back to basics, just some more of the good stuff. Especially after Wind Waker.

 

I think people wanted, at least I wanted, the traditional graphic style back, as much as Wind Waker's style rocked. But why would anyone just want to do the same dungeon/boss/save princess/world routine again? I know some people are happy with it but its just doing the same thing in different ways.

 

Seriously, for example in Mario, who gives a shit about collecting random stars?! I did that 10 years ago, I don't need to do it again with prettier graphics and an great new control system. I was shocked my brother wasn't going to get TP because he said they were all the same and he is right.

Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Oracle of Seasons, Minnish Cap, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess...they are the same game in different disguises.

 

/rant

[That Guy]

All that and just a 8.8? Why not 9.0? Its merely psychological, but he knew the reaction it would get.

 

I do think there was maybe some of that in it. I mean you don't know that, he could after all have not thought it deserved to get a 'star game' award or whatever. Thats why the old way they reviewed games wasn't all that great, but then a score doesn't mean all that much to me. I agreed with what he said in the review.

[Fierce_LiNk]

They're as much the same game as Halo is going around and shooting aliens.

 

It's the formula for Zelda, it's essence. Remove an item from Zelda like the Master Sword, and you'll have an army of Nintendo fans asking them to put it back in. The two go together. However, Twilight Princess did put a new spin on things. The layout of the dungeons itself being a main one. As a wise man once correctly pointed out, some of the dungeons in the game don't even feel like dungeons, but rather they are locations with surprises. The fourth dungeon and the ice mansion being primary examples. There are always going to be similarities between each game, and that's what makes Zelda Zelda, it is a series after all.

 

Did you even play Galaxy? If not, go play it. You'll be surprised. It's being ranted about for a reason, even if it is just collecting "random stars."