What seemingly started out as another Penny Arcade comic may have led to the opening of the floodgates of hell. The headlines are surely ablaze today with rumors that long-time GameSpot reviewer, Jeff Gerstmann, was fired allegedly over his Xbox 360 review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.
Many think this is what happened: Eidos invested heavily into the game’s advertising on GameSpot and when they saw one of the site’s reviewers bashing the game, Eidos snapped its fingers and Mr. Gerstmann disappeared; however there are other sides to the story.
For one thing, Gerstmann has certainly attracted a love/hate relationship with gamers over his 10 year stint. Several of his reviews have been met with criticism, such as an 8.8 to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess or a perfect 10 for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3.
To add more fuel to that fire, blog Game|Life offers the insight that Gerstmann’s firing may have been in the process for awhile. The blog alleges that while Eidos was surely miffed about Gerstmann’s review, that wasn’t the sole reason for his firing. Susan Arendt writes:
"Maybe the Eidos debacle was part of it — I don’t know. But I sincerely doubt that Eidos made Gamespot fire him. CNET doesn’t kowtow to its advertisers, and I’ve more than once seen the higher-ups turn away big advertising dollars for the sake of the company’s integrity. I think the whole thing is likely a combination of factors, the biggest being poor timing."
I think Brendon is in the clear, he gave Kane & Lynch an 7.5 out of 10.
