This week something... interesting happened. Executive editor & games reviewer Jeff Gerstmann from well-known games site Gamespot was apparently fired, after having given the much-hyped game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men a rather negative review (see it here). Evidently games publisher Eidos didn't take that too well and pressed CNET, which owns Gamespot, to fire Gerstmann.
Eidos have a big ad contract going with Gamespot concerning K&L:DM which explains their attitude. But at the same time this shows a serious problem. Where does it stop when game publishers start interfering with the reviews on sites such as Gamespot? If a game sucks the review should reflect that, and the game publisher should not interfere with that; it's their own fault for not making a better game. The reviewer should not be punished for doing his job. What about journalistic integrity?
Also, can we still trust CNET, Gamespot or whoever to give unbiased reviews of new products? Their credibility becomes utterly questionable.
This sort of thing is totally unacceptable, and companies like CNET and Eidos should be made aware of that. In the meantime someone started up a "Save Jeff Gerstmann" petition.
For more information, check out this ShackNews article.
If anyone reads this post, please add your vote to the petition. In the meantime: Eidos & CNET, you suck!
UPDATE: still no official word, apart from a vague statement by CNET spokespeople and Eidos maintaining they have nothing to do with it. Gerstmann himself reportedly had to sign a non-disclosure paper so he can't reveal the reasons behind his sudden firing.
