Gamespot and Gerstmann

If you are a video gamer you have probably heard about the Gamespot “scandal” regarding the firing of Jeff Gerstmann over a negative review. This is what has been circulating the web, though both parties involved (Gamespot and Gerstmann) haven’t commented on the details of the incident.

I was listening to a recent Tech Guy podcast and Leo was discussing this a bit. He mentioned that Gamespot is owned/directed by CNET and that they have been known for their professional reviews. I do have to agree with this and hope Gamespot explains its actions for reputation sake. On the counter side to this the guys over at Diggnation did point out that Gamespot took down Gerstmann’s review of the game and replaced it with a less critical review. There was also some talk that the company who made the game was falsely bolstering review ratings from other sites.

No matter what actually happened, this was a wake up slap to many people. I blindly trusted Gamespot in the past for my gaming news and reviews. It appears a lot of people did. Now gamers are starting to question the integrity of what they are reading. This is not necessarily a bad thing in today’s Web 2.0 world.