Gamespot Chooses Cash Over Journalistic Integrity?

I've always wondered about GameSpot and that huge banner ad space they rent out to companies plying their latest gaming release. I wonder, how much does GameSpot get for the space and how do they juggle reviewing games that they also sell ad space to?

Well, it turns out they earn thousands of dollars for that space and that maybe they don't do a particularly good job of juggling the management of it. Friday's Penny Arcade reported that GameSpot fired Jeff Gerstmann, one of its editorial staff reviewers, for panning Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. Eidos published the game and allegedly threatened to pull thousands of dollars in ad revenue from GameSpot in retaliation for the review. Though there is no official response from GameSpot, numerous third party sources report that GameSpot insists Gertsmann wasn't fired for his most recent review, but instead for the overall tone of his reviews over the long haul.

Even if Gerstmann really did get fired for something unrelated to his Kane & Lynch review, the GameSpot management team are the stupidest people on the planet. If he really deserved firing, then wait a few weeks. Don't fire him in the midst of allegations that Eidos pulled their ad money for a bad review of their game. Even the monkey scratching his ass in the zoo would have enough foresight to head off that kind of public relations disaster.

Now, that's IF he deserved to get fired for something unrelated to the review. It seems all too likely that GameSpot really did cut Gertsmann loose in a last ditch effort to appease Eidos and grub their ad money.

Bad move. If I perceive that GameSpot is nothing more than a corporate mouthpiece, then I'll take it about as seriously as I do that lame light blue section in the back of Game for Windows, the one written and produced by Microsoft hacks. Short term, I can see GameSpots motivation: the bottom line. But long term, this could bite them in the ass. Game publishers want to advertise on sites like GameSpot because gamers read them. But if gamers can't trust GameSpot content to be independent of its corporate sponsors, then they won't read. At least I won't. And then game publishers won't want to advertise. Rather than firing Gerstmann, GameSpot should have let Eidos walk. Instead, they whored themselves and jettisoned their editorial integrity when they escorted Gerstmann out the door. Good luck getting that back any time soon.

It's a long shot, but GameSpot could salvage something from this mess by bringing Jeff back and telling Eido to piss off. By all accounts, the review Jeff gave the game was largely in line with other reviews of the game, if not a bit harsh. You can read his original review here on YouTube (GameSpot pulled it from their site as part of their effort to shill).