Possibly Best Video Review EVER!

500th POST! Zero Punctuation is still around, holy ?&*^&*?

I did in fact, like this game slightly more than he did :)

Ex-1UP Show Guys doing new show! Mainsite a bit wonky!

main site is here if you can get in.

Gamespot gets the Oliver Stone Treatment!

What Every Gamer Should Know about the Reviews They Read

If you ever had any doubt that N'Gai Croal is one of the best writers out there; let this piece on the Level Up Blog dismiss them. N'Gai hits game journalism and the review process with the hard sledgehammer of reality. The problems that exist in video game journalism are those that I'm trying to avoid by being independent. I hope it becomes profitable someday.

Kotaku, you rumor mongers!

Kotaku is reporting some rumors about massive resignations coming over at Gamespot after all the hoopla over the firing of Jeff Gerstmann. I was wondering when this shoe would drop. But if it does, I certainly support these guys and what they are trying to do.
I just hope in trying to fix the huge gapping hole in CNET's ship they aren't just sinking it forever. As bad as Gamespot looks right now they are still one of the three biggest and most influential sites on the internet. Think hard about what you do young padowans.

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

74 Comments by Kyle Orland Dec 3rd 2007 4:00AM
Filed under: Culture, Hacks

"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.

More on Gertsmann's Firing

Hit the jump for the info in detail. I'm updating everything on the original post. I would just like to say that if this was the New York Times or the Washingtom Post firing a guy over a controversial story there would be people picketing the paper and writing angry letters to paper owners.
Secondly, I would love to know why the rest of the folks over at Gamespot haven't left. I know people have bills to pay but if it could happen to a veteran like Gerstmann it could happen to anyone.
-UPDATE- But wait there's more.... Most of your questions will be answered.

"Developments have slowed down a little bit over the weekend, but there is still plenty of chatter around the web about Gamespot's controversial firing of Jeff Gerstmann. Among the juicier bits from around the intertubes:

• In response to a Gamespot forum thread, the new Gamespot Manager of Community Development said he is "eagerly anticipating the official word to be released on Tuesday."
• Gamespot has halted user reviews of Kane & Lynch after a flood of 1.0 ratings lowered the game's user score to a 2.6/10.
  
• Destructoid has registered cashwh0re.com and changed their front page banner in support of Gerstmann.
• GameSpot employee Aaron Thomas explains why more employees aren't speaking up on the matter: "This isn't GameSpot suddenly clamping down on me or any of us here--this is how it is for anyone with a job."
• Gamespot freelancer Frank Provo: "Personally, my respect for CNet is shot, and writing for GameSpot is going to feel like a chore for quite some time going forward."
• GameSpot users are reportedly canceling paid subscriptions left and right, and planning boycotts of Gamespot and its advertisers.
• Rumor has it that Gamespot forum moderator have been told to squelch any discussion of the controversy. This seems unlikely, though, as the main discussion of the topic on the site has reached 11,110 posts as of this writing. UPDATE: Numerous Gamespot moderators have written in saying discussion on their forums isn't being stopped, but redirected to one of these two threads to maintain order.
  

One thing is clear: This story is not going away anytime soon.

[Thanks to all the tipsters who sent items in]"Joystiq....

Rise of the Videogame began last night. But it should have been called the Rise of Lazy Documentary Writers!

"

• LEVEL ONE
  Premiere: Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 8 p.m. ET/PT
  In the 1950s, the Cold War quickly evolved between the world superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union. Mutually assured destruction enforced an uneasy stalemate, yet also drove computer technology to create missile simulations to predict the results of a nuclear war. This same computer technology was used to develop the first computer game in 1958 — Tennis for Two. The Space Race and the Vietnam war coincided with Steve Russell's game Space War! and the emergence of the first true giants in the video game business — Nolan Bushnell and Atari. In post-World War II Japan, electronics and computer technology emerged to rebuild a land and economy devastated by the atomic bomb. Space Invaders and Pac-Man soon followed, and the golden age of video games was born. Among others, individuals featured in this episode include Steve Russell, Nolan Bushnell, Ralph Baer (considered by many to be the inventor of the video game) and Toru Iwatani (Pac-Man designer). Video games emerged as a form of entertainment where the player was in control, as opposed to the more passive diversion of watching television."Discovery channel....

I'm really starting to wonder if the old adage about the video game industry being really small isn't more true than I could have imagined. This show is a great example. Everyone of these shows starts the same way and with the same people.
Here's some examples:
Nolan Bushnell (Check)
Ralph Baer (Check)
Peer Schneider from IGN (Check)
Heather Chaplin from Smartbomb (Check)
Aaron Ruby from Smartbomb (Check)
N'Gai Croal from Newsweek (Check)
Henry Jenkins from MIT (Check)
Tommy Tallarico (Check)

So what am I saying here? Well, it just seems crazy that in an industry where there are hundreds of people creating, writing, and marketing video games that these guys are all ways the ones that the writers or directors of these shows turn to. And who exactly is Stuart Moulder? I know I could just Google him but saying in his byline that he is a video game consultant is a little bit of a cop out isn't it?
Also why are all shows about video games made by the mass media are all ways about either the history of them or the controversy surrounding them?
Now, let me just say a couple of things about the show itself. How in the name of god do you get to equate video game history with global political history? It's like trying to compare the evolution of the potato chip with the history of Ireland. You can do it, but is anyone going to believe it?
Other than this theoretical flight of fancy. The rest of the show is basically a rip off of the old Game Makers shows on G4. These shows have albeit been abandoned because of different buyouts and marketing problems that they rarely air. But if they aired next to this show, the folks at Rise of the Videogame would be accused plagiarism. Oh and by the way, each one of those Game Makers shows which was formerly called Icons was a 1/2 hour This show that covers all most 5 or 6 of those shows in only an hour.
I think as big as this series supposedly is, they could have done without cutting corners and perhaps found some NEW information or gone more in-depth than those old ICONS or Gamemakers shows did. But, I guess that was too much work. Perhaps for Ken Burns next show, he'll call it, "Video Games!"
Oh, following their geopolitical scheme; what political statement does Tetris make about the world in which it was made?
Saying that games are Art and Culture is fine. But don't try and wrap some political or subconscious trappings on to Pac-Man, Pong, or Tetris.
Next up Nintendo and Donkey Kong.... I can't wait...