In the wake of the Jeff Gerstmann firing scandal (read up on it), in which Gamespot’s editorial director was (seemingly) ousted for giving Kane and Lynch a 6.0 review and panning it on video, the latter of which has apparently been removed from the site. (The video review can still be found on YouTube.) To the community’s credit, some folks using Gamespot’s blog system (who have been designated as “soapbox”-class writers) have been taking note of this, and at least one blog entry linked to from the Gamespot.com top page advocated leaving the site. Hell, even Penny Arcade looks poised to weigh in on the issue.

I have no beef with bad games being advertised. Hell, it’s really all they can do. But when publishers begin to flex the power of their almighty dollars in such a way that the writer’s liberty is compromised, it speaks a few dangerous words to the industry as a whole. Phrases such as “Journalistic integrity,” “Credibility,” and “Objectivity” begin to be questioned as advertising dollars enter the picture; certainly, the publishers want good things to be written about their games, and the writers themselves are a big fan of concepts like “eating” and “shelter.”

Now, call me crazy, but I seem to recall obnoxious screen-obscuring site-skinning click-on-all-the-little-X-bubbles-or-no-news-for-you Hyper Super Revenue Media Added Product Enforcement Technologies being used on Gamespot’s main page to promote damn near everything from new-release films to Sprite, for God’s sake. You would think that the obvious answer would be to just have a video game review site that takes advertising from everyone -but- video game publishers. Think about it: Do you trust the Kane and Lynch review of a site draped in Kane and Lynch advertising, with Kane and Lynch trailers available on mouse-over, or a Kane and Lynch review from a site pushing Dr. Pepper, Dell gaming computers, and the occasional Domino’s Pizza?

Jeff Gerstmann gave Kane and Lynch a 6.0 (using their .5-incremented 10-point ratings scale.) In a reasonable world, that would seem to indicate “slightly better than average,” but in this crazy house of cards we work in, such a score amounts to “this game killed my cat and pissed in the kitchen sink.” The text of the review itself seems to paint a dismal picture of the game, but what really got me was the “Critic Scores” sidebar… which showed the game getting similar scores from a slew of other game-review sites/publications. Going down the list:

7/10 from Game Informer, 6/10 from gamesTM, 6/10 from Edge Magazine UK, 6/10 from Play, 3/5 (call it 6/10) from GamePro, 3/5 again from GameSpy… how many of these editoral directors still have their jobs? Jeff was more than a mere critic, he was a character in his own right, bringing life to Gamespot’s media-production efforts with insightful (but derailing) commentary on the Oreo Pizza, as well as the always-humorous “Reggie Phil-Anime” impression. Perhaps this put a target on his back? Who wants a free spirit when you can have just-another-schmoe who pounds out coverage and knows where the dollars come from?

GameSpot’s Forum is presently host to this monster, a 196-page-long, nigh-unto-4000-reply-strong (as of ~10:20AM EST) behemoth of discourse that, to their credit, Gamespot is allowing to take place on their turf. Even the forum’s mods are agreeing with the oncoming loss of credibility and backlash in the community. Discussion of the topic is (seemingly) not being stifled, except to lock rogue threads with an admonishment to take discussion to the “Official” Jeff Gerstmann thread.

Eidos’ forums, on the other hand, have gone into complete lockdown. No one can post anything, and any mention of the Jeff Gerstmann controversy has been stripped. Now all we need is a track star running up the aisle to smash a telescreen with a sledgehammer.

Will GameSpot recover from this? Likely. Will Eidos recover from this? Likely. Do you need to cast a blind eye to what’s going on? Absolutely not. If you’re reading this post, on this sparsely-updated, sparsely-trafficked, whacked-out fringe blog written by this washed-up college-paper hack in the time he has off from his shit job, chances are you’re already more informed than John Q. Layperson. Chances are you know of a bajillion other review sites, and chances are you look at a number of reviews before considering a purchase. As one star falls, a new one rises; you have more options now than you ever did before.

Jeff, you were the voice of Gamespot in many readers’/viewers’/listeners’ minds. You gave us music, you blew our ears out at the end of every podcast (GAAAAAAAAAAMESPOT-DAWT-CAHM!), and you spoke your mind. This is a shame, man. We look forward to your next venture.