Monday, December 3, 2007

Jeff Gerstmann speaks and there is a black out over at Gamespot!

Today, many Gamespot forum members have called for complete boycott of Gamespot and all CNET owned internet properties. This is a protest against the firing of Jeff Gerstmann over a disagreement over the review score of Kane and Lynch dead men. Head over to the jump for full details. Th e members are calling the boycott,Black Monday. In related news Gerstman finally speaks to Joystiq about his firing and his statements are as follows:

"Exclusive: Gertsmann speaks about K&L review, future
"Losing a job you've held for over 11 years in an abrupt manner is shocking, yes."

While the above quote should perhaps win Jeff Gerstmann the 'understatement of the year' award, the former Gamespot editorial director is still staying silent about the specifics surrounding his recent firing (citing the previously mentioned "legal reasons," among others). He has, however, told Joystiq that he still stands behind his controversial review of Kane & Lynch.

"I stand behind my work, regardless of where I do it," Gerstmann told Joystiq in an e-mail. "If there was content that I felt I couldn't support, it wouldn't see the light of day." Gerstmann did not comment specifically on the edits made to his text review of Kane & Lynch, or the site's removal of the video review, but he did support the editing process in general. "If factual errors are made, I have no problem owning up to that error, correcting it, noting that a correction has been made, and feeling like an idiot for making the mistake in the first place," he said.

Gerstmann also directly addressed the somewhat pernicious rumor that he did not complete Kane & Lynch before he finished his review. "A reviewer's Xbox Live Gamercard is rarely a good place to look for answers about how much that reviewer has (or hasn't) played a game," he said. "For the record, I saw both endings in Kane & Lynch before writing about it."

As for his future plans, Gerstmann seems to be keeping his options open. "I'm not really sure what I want to do next," he said. "This whole situation has left me with a lot to think about. While this sort of clean break would be an acceptable time to think about trying game development, I feel like I still have more to say and do on the editorial side of the fence, too."

Surprisingly, the experience doesn't seem to have soured Gerstmann on video game journalism as a whole. "Despite the number of people who are taking these rumors ... to mean that game writing is ethically bankrupt, I don't feel that's the case," he said. "Either way, I'm currently keeping my options open and have been in contact with interesting people on both sides."Joystiq...


Certainly Jeff's statements ring true considering the folks over at 1UP quickly came to the support of Jeff's stand on his review and if they are hiring Jeff couldn't pick a much better place to work. I really look forward to seeing what Jeff Gerstmann does next considering I was all ways a huge fan of his work and the man himself. I have found Jeff to be both a straight shooter and an excellent writer. If I could pay, I would put out an offer to him myself.

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