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Gamespot Boycotts Get Nasty

November 30th, 2007 at 11:45 pm · 31 Comments

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This is NOT a fiction Friday Articlelamespot

For those just joining this geek-ridden soap opera:

  • Eidos was spending some really heavy money to promote Kane and Lynch: Dead Men with Gamespot and apparently pulled it as a result of the “bad” review by Gamespot Editor, Jeff Gerstmann.
  • Gamespot fired Jeff.
  • The world stopped spinning
  • A tidal wave of backlash descends on Gamespot and Eidos (Kane and Lynch now rated a 2.0 on user rankings.)
  • Gamespot subscribers began cancelling their subscriptions.
  • More than 350 pages of comments pour onto the Gamespot forums, mostly condemning the website for its actions.

And now, a cry that could end up hurting Gamespot even more than any of the above. A boycott is being organized, a very, VERY creative boycott.

In an email that we received earlier this evening, along with several other websites, the organizers of this boycott seem a little more upset about the Gerstmann situation than the average bear.

From the email:

Since Gamespot does a lot of thinking with their wallet, we thought we’d speak their language. We’re not just calling for a boycott of Gamespot as a whole, but for a boycott of their ADVERTISERS. Let’s send a message to the people that choose to do business with Gamespot, that they are associating their products with a dishonest organization. If just a few of these companies pull their ads, maybe Gamespot will get a clue.

I guess some people are just sitting around waiting for a cause. I’m not dumping on them, but it seems a bit much for a story we don’t even have all of the facts on just yet. Still, you’ve gotta respect their tenacity. That’s actually pretty creative. I see a lot of Assassin’s Creed ads on Gamespot today. I wasn’t planning on buying that game anyway… So count me in!

BROKEN NEWS! Angry Rioters Storm Gamespot Offices

UPDATE: Mountain Dew ads are gone from_Gamespot.

Previous coverage of this Gamespot Controversy:

Eidos_Strategery_101

Sony_Pepsi_Dell_Support_Gamespot

Gamespot_Readers_Push_Back

Rumor: Gamespot_Fires_Editor_over_Bad_Score




Related posts:

  1. Gamespot Readers Push Back!
  2. Quake Wars Demo on Gamespot
  3. Rumor: Game$pot Fire$ a Reviewer for Ca$h

Tags:
Categories: News

  • keith22

    Evrybody ad block gamespot

  • http://andrewandliz.net abombm1

    I think if the amount of hit Gamespot gets plummets, I think that would be a good enough message. To boycott the advertisers would mean that someone would have to visit Gamespot to see who’s advertising.

    I say just stop visiting Gamespot all together. Once they see that they’re page views are significantly lower than usual, that should be enough of a hint. Many advertisers then won’t be getting that exposure, and so will pull their ad campaigns if they see that there is not enough of an impact being generated from Gamespot.

  • http://www.myspace.com/ariesdog AriesDog

    Boycott’s a rarely effective. You know what would be? Don’t go to Gamespot. Not even to see the latest news about Jeff’s firing. I’ve only been back to see how I could close my basic free account. Didn’t see a way to, but I logged out, never to return again.

  • davemode

    uh, i have a question… who ever read gamespot in the first place? it’s worse than ign, which is REALLY bad.

  • PLSS

    Hey, Assassin’s Creed is possibly the best 360 game ever. Don’t bash it just because the ads *were* there – they’ve been removed. Go buy the game. It’ll rock your socks.

  • http://www.sarcasticgamer.com Lono

    Before all of this, I actually thought it was better than IGN in terms of accuracy… but as of friday, I am no longer a subscriber to gamespot.

    Gamespotgate 2007…. shame on you.

  • davemode

    eh, i’m a 1up man myself.

  • Heh.

    PLSS: “Assassin’s Creed is possibly the best 360 game ever”

    That game sucks ass on many different levels it’s not even funny… I also totally agree with your statement.

  • hmm

    Assassin’s creed does not suck, I doubt you’ve even played it beyond the credits.

  • marmite

    Gamespot were right to fire this guy, Its the advertisers that pay there wages, piss the advertisers off an no one gets paid.
    Thats a fact of life I’m afraid, and a bunch of nerds boycotting a site isn’t going to make a blind bit of difference.

  • Me

    Marmite, you are a spineless idiot. There’s something like freedom of press which goes beyond advertisers’ interests.

  • Kalahan

    This is all bullcrap!

    Gamespot was known for years to give low review scores. Now all of a sudden there was this rumor and everyone is pissing on Gamespot’s integrity.

    Jeff got fired because he was sloppy in his work not because he gave a bad review. I agree that it was a really bad decision from Cnet but that no reason to declare these rumors as fact and declare a boycott.

  • http://www.synaesthetic.com shellito

    Marmite: “Gamespot were right to fire this guy, Its the advertisers that pay there wages, piss the advertisers off an no one gets paid.”

    Wow. I didn’t know it was possible to rape the English language that many times in such a short, disjointed, incoherent and idiotic blurb. Tell you what, sport; master the concepts of conjugation, contractions and the run on, then come back and see if you can construct something that resembles more of the English language than someone with the IQ of a bag of wet hair raping a dictionary with the fervor of a speed freak peaking on a 7 day binge.

    But since we’re on the topic, let’s get your head adjusted, buttercup. Whether it be the BBC, CNN, NBC or even Gamespot, they each serve a function- to provide information and/or opinion. Until recently, it was understood that since those were the core values and mission of said organizations that sales (of advertising space) had a firewall between themselves and those who reported and/or gave opinion.

    Now with corporations gobbling up news organizations like you ramrodding your absolutely dreadful English, the culture has changed and all of a sudden, news organizations are subservient to the same values and business models that used to be reserved for the entertainment industry.

    Since you’re probably still trying to figure out what I meant when I called you, “sport”, let me fast forward and explain to you, and to Kalahan as well, what this means.

    C:Net did not fire Gerstmann because he was a bad editor, a bad worker or any other reason you may try to convince yourself of. But because corporations like C:Net have folded news and opinions into the same departments as entertainment. By doing so, corporations suppress innovation, free thought and in the case of Gamespot, honest opinion.

    And in case you still want to believe Gerstmann was a bad worker, writer and that there are elves and fairies and girls that actually want to talk to wankers like Marmite, then these things called “facts” are lost on you. For those of you who understand the implications of this, be sure to seek out sources where the opinions are shielded from advertisers wrath- especially when they deliver a turd and expect reviewers to polish it.

  • Tony

    Can you say TEH PWNED
    Seriously though, thanks for sticking it to the gamespot for its stupidity and killing of the good name of video games.

  • http://wtf.com Cyst

    This move to boycott a company for firing someone that was employed by them reeks of childishness.

    Shellito, I take it you regard people who don’t have English as a first language as inferior. That’s just as sick and stupid as this boycott.

    When one of my employees cause damage to my company, his ass will be fired.

    End of story, that’s how the world works.

  • Rastilin

    Well as I see it, Gamespot receives money or in most cases page hits because they report the truth, at least in theory. Because I can\’t investigate everything for myself or even most things or for that matter a small amount of things I have to depend on the opinion of other groups, in this case GameSpot to investigate on my behalf and report back. Now I find that these people did not only take my money but knowingly lied to me because someone else gave them more money. I have not only been betrayed, but also defrauded since I did not receive the promised service.

    Yes, I am upset.

  • Rastilin

    Also one other point. If you’re unprepared to be loyal to your own employees then you have no reason to expect them to be loyal to you. The idea that if you give someone money you own them is something that was left behind in the Renessance along with servants that live in your mansion.

    In essence, it’s entirely their right to fire someone who they employed, just as it is the right of thousands upon thousands of people to smash them into bankruptcy for it. THAT’s the way the world works.

  • Mag

    this seems a bit unfair..

  • http://mythoughtsonstuff.com Leon

    Had no idea this went on. Still, I’ve dropped out of the gaming scene years ago. It’s just too expensive to be a gamer nowadays.

  • http://na Ozgur canibeyaz

    When i first saw the ad on gamespot i wanted to quickly check the review and confirm that its editors choice and how superb it really is and then go buy the game. But hey…the review on gamespot where the ad was placed. basically said that the game sucked..In that moment i seriously wanted to thank the editor for being so honest and brave. I wasnt expecting gamespot to fire the guy who didnt do anything wrong but just being honest. I cancelled my subscription right away. i dont visit that page anymore..there are better alternatives anyway..I also believe that other editors should have resigned after such a terrible action of their employee (surely being brave doesnt pay the bills i know).
    and shellito
    i am not a native English speaker either. i might also raped the language a little bit. but at least i can speak “a“ foreign language including Japanese..its not the smartest thing to do to critisize someone by his /her english skills.

  • http://wwwfunnyman.blogspot.com/ funnyman

    It is a damn shame about the whole Jeff incident. Both Eidos and Gamespot are to blame for his firing.

  • http://www.freepcgamers.com Free Games

    Gamespot wasn’t the only one. Major French site JeuxActu.com also cheated on its reviews. First they scored TimeShift 9/20 but suddenly ads for the game appeared all over the site and the review was changed for a 16/20. Now there’s a game that grows on you!

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  • shadowxsx

    Forget Gamespot games they run them for a while then close them down no matter how many subscribers. All the games I played that they hosted are now gone (unless the people whom made them run a server now). I will never waste another minute or penny playing a game they serve ever again.

  • Cpt.asdf

    block the game spot it gave the bf3 8.5 the other site give BF3 at least 9/10