gerstmann-gate
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Gerstmann-gate 'villain' leaves CNET for advertising company
GameDaily reports Joshua Larson, former VP of Games at CNET Networks and the man often blamed for GameSpot's Gerstmann-gate scandal, has been named VP of Business Development at in-game ad agency Double Fusion. Please let the deliciousness of that flow over you for a brief moment.Double Fusion's President and CEO announced Larson's hiring along with several others, saying that the new folks share a love of games and a "history of strong results and success in their prior roles." Larson's previous role was to manage business strategy and product direction at GameSpot.com. He's been dubbed the point man in the firing of Jeff Gerstmann and the exodus which followed, leaving GameSpot an editorially tarnished brand. If "success" is determined through money and not reputation, then it's probably being used to describe Larson's small roll in CNET's purchase by CBS for $1.8 billion earlier this year.
Ryan Davis talks up Giant Bomb's explosive re-launch
When Gamespot Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann was abruptly fired under controversial circumstances late last year, it set off a sort of domino effect. In the wake of the scandal, Gamespot staffers Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker and Vinny Caravella all decided to leave the venerable site to start a new project with Gerstmann: a project called Giant Bomb. A skeleton of the site has been up since March, but the project really got going Monday with an overhaul that mixes user-created, wiki-style pages with editorial reviews, videos and podcasts from the four-man ex-Gamespot crew.We talked to Giant Bomb co-founder Ryan Davis about his thoughts on the new site and his departure from Gamespot, and game journalism in general. Some excerpts from our conversation (be sure to click the "Continue" link for the full interview):On Gerstmann-gate and the state of game journalism"Obviously we still have lots of friends and a ton of history there [at CNET], but we're so focused on the good stuff we're doing now. ... [Gerstmann-gate] certainly helped get our names in people's mouths in certain circles. ... Before [Gerstmann-gate] even happened, I felt like people needed to be more skeptical about what they read, with the massive influx of news-blogs giving little distinction between rumor and fact."We're not in the business of reporting news, but as far as the review process goes, we're being very open about a review being that person's perspective. We don't use fancy math to come to our reviews, we just go with what the reviewer feels the game merits. I think when a review has to represent an entire organization's perspective on a game, that's where you can run into trouble. Also, for what it's worth, I've never considered myself a 'game journalist.' I think they exist, but I'm a reviewer and a commentator more than anything."
Vinny Caravella leaving Gamespot
We're not sure if at this point, five months after the origin of Gerstmannia, you can still point to people leaving Gamespot as a "trend" per se, or if it's just a case of people moving on. Regardless, we thought it worth bringing to your attention that staffer and host of Gamespot's podcast The Hotspot, Vinny Caravella, is leaving the company.Again, we have no idea what pastures Caravella is moving on to or what made them seem so much greener. We are, however, continuing to use the above picture. Why? Well, in all honesty, we still think it's funny, and also, it took us a while to make and we don't know if we'll get to use it again. ... Wow, that's a horrifying look into our decision making process isn't it? Sorry about that.
Gamespot Exodus: Say 'adios' to Brad Shoemaker
We've joked before that, with all of the resignations post Gerstmann-gate, Gamespot's content must be generated by a lonely janitor in the offices, taking a break from picking gum out of the carpet. We're sad to report that his life is about to be even harder: Editor Brad Shoemaker (who has written for the site for eight years) will leave the company this Friday. He hasn't reveled where he's headed, but he's maintaining a personal blog to keep fans up-to-date.The list of departures from the site is getting long enough that we'll soon have to set it to the tune of the "William Tell Overture" to remember it all. But for right now it's at Jason Ocampo, Ryan Davis, Alex Navarro, Frank Provo and, of course, Jeff Gerstmann himself. Just so we know, is this officially "fiasco" level yet? Are we at Code Fiasco?[Thanks, Robert]
Gerstmann's next thing: Giant Bomb
He's been teasing it for a while now, but Jeff Gerstmann has revealed where he's rebuilding his house after the Gamespot Quake of '07: GiantBomb.com, a collabo between Jeff G. and fellow former Gamespotters Alex Navarro and Ryan Davis. As you probably could have guessed, it's a site all about knitting, knitting supplies, knitting culture and (of course) knitting humor in the monthly feature "What A Stitch!" (also, video games).This week, Gerstmann takes you behind the scenes on an exclusive, backstage tour of the new Giant Bomb offices. Who knew a start-up could be this glamorous?
Jason Ocampo leaves Gamespot for IGN
The post Gerstmann-gate metagame of "who's leaving Gamespot" continues with the announcement that former editor Jason Ocampo has landed a job as Editor-in-Chief of the PC team at IGN. Although Ocampo's leaving supposedly had nothing to do with Gerstmann-gate, the loss of almost every "known" person at Gamespot in such a short time is ... awkward. On the plus side, now there's hardly anyone remaining at Gamespot who'd be worth noting if they left. Yay, the epic is almost over and we can march forward (Ocam-ocam-ocam-po).
Rumor: Gerstmann to team with Gamespot founder Broady on new site
If you haven't perused it yet, 1UP's Sam Kennedy's piece on Gerstmann-gate is really fascinating. Not only do you get a not-quite-insider's view on the whole situation, but there are also some really eye-opening nuggets on the methods GameSpot uses both to track users and to cater to its marketers. If you like the inside baseball side of games journalism, it's a must-read.There's also an interesting rumor buried within: Kennedy reports that "word on the street" is that ousted Jeff Gerstmann and GameSpot founder Vince Broady would be teaming up to create a new site to "take on GameSpot." We don't know if it's true, but we'd keep an eye on Gerstmann's blog for more info.
Gamespot staffer Alex Navarro quits in wake of Gerstmann-gate
Joystiq has confirmed with longtime Gamespot staffer Alex Navarro that he will be resigning his position at the CNET gaming site in response to the controversial firing of editorial director Jeff Gerstmann."I felt like it was just time for me to go," Navarro told Joystiq in an exclusive interview. " Certainly [the decision to leave] had a lot to do with the whole Jeff [Gerstmann] situation. ... I wouldn't have left if this situation hadn't gone down the way it did. ... Sometimes you just realize a place isn't for you anymore, you know?"Navarro has been a mainstay on the site since early 2003, writing hundreds of reviews and appearing regularly on video podcast The Hotspot. His last day at the site will be Jan. 24.
Long-time freelancer leaves Gamespot over Gerstmann-gate
While the major developments over last month's Gerstmann-gate fracas kind of petered out in the midst of vehement official denials, the reverberations are still being felt around Gamespot. Frank Provo, a freelancer and major contributor to the site for nearly eight years, recently announced he would no longer be contributing to the site.Provo made no bones about the reason for his departure. "I believe CNet management let Jeff go for all the wrong reasons," he wrote. "I believe CNet intends to soften the site's tone and push for higher scores to make advertisers happy." And Provo is in a position to know, according to an earlier post on his LiveJournal. "All the proof I need is in the way the staff reacted to Jeff's dismissal and to what went on in the closed door meeting that took place on November 30th," he said. "Any staffer that continues to work there once this fervor dies down does so with the fear that, one day, management will ask them to soften up their tone and scores... and they will either have to swallow their integrity and abide, or risk taking a stand and being let go," he added back in December.All that remains to be seen now is whether Provo's will be alone in his action or whether others will follow his lead and depart what Provo calls "the ultimate soul-crushing work environment."[Via GameDaily]
Gerstmann-gate: the aftermath
After over a week of trickling news, a flood of anonymous sources and a torrential downpour of speculation, it seems the controversy surrounding former GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstmann's unceremonious firing is finally coming to a cool. This week's GameDaily Media Coverage feature takes a look back on the events and ramifications of Gerstmann-gate, written by Joystiq's own Kyle Orland (who, as you may have noticed, extensively covered the situation for us).Though the final word is that GameSpot did not bow to advertiser pressure, even if true, a plethora of circumstances gave the illusion of malfeasance, ultimately damaging the website's credibility for those who paid attention to the week's events. The issue does bring up a good question: is the illusion of keeping advertising separate from editorial just as important, if not more so, than its reality?
