And will be for good once I get something sorted with a union I'm in. If you can't figure out what I mean, yeah, I'm done with GS. Gerstmann gate blah blah blah. Nice knowing you. PM or message on xbl if you want to stay in touch.

I was boycotting GS due to Gerstmann gate. Now I'm back. Seems I didn't miss too much.

Just to catch everyone up:

-Planning on getting a PSTriple as a media device. Don't really care about the games at this point, but I need an upscaling DVD player, a nex gen video player, and a media hub. And "it also plays games."

-I missed many of the top new holiday games. One of my Top Priorities right now is Mass Effect, also Guitar Hero 3. I like Rock band more (have played both) but I doubt I can justify the cost.

-So far I have 9 DS games. Latest was the first Phoenix Wright. Check my Profile to see what games I've gotten.

-Reached level 55 in Call of Duty 4.

-Had monthly audio blogs planned, but that couldn't be commenced because of Gerstmann gate. I think i will do monthly text blogs now that I am back.

There are many other random things. But this will do for now.

This post is recycled from the Downtown Gamespot union.

Neogaf (if you don't know what this look it up on wikipedia, but don't bother joining they are pretty eliteist) is banning the entire CNET networks from their forums for the rest of 2007. I am staying away too. Doubt it will do much but at least I can feel I didn't take it sitting down.

IGN is worse than GS even after this. I just don't like IGN.

Many people who are "leaving" will eventually return. It may take months or years, but it will all settle eventually.

We don't have official confirmation of what has happened, and may never.

*The rest is more directly related to the situation with Jeff.*

Lets get some things straight right off the bat.

[Speculation that could be fact] Jeff was wronged. I don't know the details, no one does, except people "on the inside." But you don't fire an employee of 11 years like this. Everyone else gets their deserved good byes, Jeff is kicked out. The rumor goes he was locked out of his office which is very rude and just plain wrong.

Based on this, I believe it was due to the Kane and Lynch controversy.

[Fact] All the fanbois that are happy he is gone should be ashamed. How can you be happy some one was wrongly dismissed from their job. Not to mention it means you have no integrity or ethics, but hey what can you expect from a fanboi right?

[Fact] How could some one who is a key figure and has been for years, be kicked for one stupid advertising contract? Gamespot lost so much content, wisdom, respect just from having this key figure go, and for what, this flop kane and Lynch that was getting bad reviews anyway? The metacritic average was a frickin 68, even if GS gave the game a 10 it probably wouldn't have averaged to more than a high 70. Bad move.

[Opinion] Hope he doesn't go to IGN. I don't know if he will fit in at 1up, they are just too different over there. If he goes there then cool, that has become one of my main content providers any way. I don't like IGN.

On that subject, lets not be so quick to assume he will want to go to another video game related job. Jeff has interests in music, so he may want to pursue that for a while. Also, we don't know if 1up, whom is in finacial difficulty, will be interested in picking up an industry veteran like Jeff.

Lets not count out that some one who has made a name for themselves such as Jeff Gerstmann, would be a very valuable free lance writer. If I had to guess (and this a true shot in the dark since everyone is just speculating right now) this is probably his best plan of action. The first few reviews that he writes will probably generate a lot of traffic, so for the time being he could do that.

If any one wants to reach me for the time I will be gone from Gamespot, My xbox live gamertag is Smether. I check that all the time, so I can receive any PMs. My AIM screen name is FPS Dangle (don't ask). If you use AIM just be sure to let me know in the first IM you send that you are from Gamespot. 1up username is the same as my Gamertag (Smether) so if you add make an account there in protest add me as a friend. I also check my PMs their daily.

Just made an audio response to this video:

[video=cHc1lTD75bwMuTbf]

The stuff I responded to is in the last 5 to 7 minutes or so.

Here is my response. It's WAY WAY longer than I intended it to be. The first 10 minutes or so are the important stuff, the rest was added later (the shift is obvious)

Click here to watch Response-to-Brain-of-Buff-Gamespot-review-10s

It discusses 10s and gamespot.

[spoiler] Btw for anyone that has wondering, I've been around, just kicking around ideas on how to blog. I'm thinking a weekly written blog and a monthly audio one. The Audio one is a revamped style I'm working on closer to a podcast and not an audioblog. Playing lots of Orange Box. [/spoiler]

-Out.

http://media.putfile.com/4th-Audio-blog

Despite being the longest to date, the recording session was pretty quick. Inside are some basic Halo 3 talks, why TGS was a sleeper, the Sony's rumble, and why I hate pre orders and trade ins.

Thanks for listening and commenting as always. Blogs are starting to pick up again.

Halo 3!

Seems like ages ago I was watching the E3 '06 trailer that said it would be what was then next year going, "OMFG '07! thats liek nevar!" But this is it. Pre-ordered my limited edition, and when I get home from school on tuesday, will be playing halo 3.

There is no doubt in my mind it will be one of the most amazing games I'll ever play. Why? Finishing the fight. But I'll leave you to your opinions on the game. Reviews are good. Gamespot and IGN gave it the exact same score (don't remember that ever happening,) and 1up gave it its well earned 10. I expect meta sites to average out to a low to mid 90%.

I'll explain why I hate pre-orders and why I took so long to pre-order Halo 3 in my next audio blog, which I hope to make this week.

Other than that, I finished up Bioshock and got my last few Gears of War achievements. Bioshock is good. Can't decide whether to user rate 9.5 or 9.0. I think it's better suited to a 9.5. Apparently the evil side isn't as coherent as the good side though. Plus I had performance issues, which factors that in.

Other than THAT, I was so frustrated with my DS I bought advanced wars on ebay.$40 bucks after shipping. So far it's well worth it though. However the first non-tutorial mission is ridiculously difficult. It's basically a 2 on 1, you being the lone Commanding Officer. But the first 6 or 7 missions have been pretty fun, albeit tutorials in some form.

I'm out. And so is Halo 3 in less than 2 days.

I have'nt really been doing anything worthy of it's own blog for the past few weeks now, so I've waited to bunch up a bunch of smaller stuff into a blog.

-Got into the Call of Duty 4 beta via Gamespot. It's a great beta, and shaping up to be an even better game. It's a bit too much like CoD 2 for me, but it definitely impressed me in how well it's balanced. In that regard, they are pretty much set to go, but it doesn't feel perfect just yet. There seems to be too much spawn killing, and the perks just don't seem to even out perfectly. I'd be happy to discuss it in great detail if anyone really cares, but I'll just leave it at that for now.

-Been playing some Gears of War for the new map achievements. Most people on that game right now are terrible. I'm not that good myself, but it's ridiculous how bad the people are (skill wise.) Obviously new or very casual 360 owners. The game is still practically an embarrassment to Epic online, but by my estimates, I only need to play 156 more rounds of it.:( All before the 25th, because I will certainly not be playing it then.

-I am the only person who can call themselves a "gamer" and still hasn't beaten Bioshock. I might try today. Partly because I don't want it to end though. Already past the big spoilar anyway.

-Since my last post, I was looking for a copy of Advanced Wars for the DS. I called my 6 local game retailers, as well as Amazon.com and they didn't have a copy of the game. I just got fed up and got in the car to buy a damn DS game. I ended up buying 2 just because I wanted a new DS game. (very foolish and uncharacteristic of me) I now own Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow and Super Mario 64 DS. Payed full price for them too. Feel bad about it. Super Mario 64 DS is rehash, and I feel like a fool for hoping it wouldn't be. Besides, I never really liked the original that much anyway. Castlevania is Castlevania. Too bad I've never been too much of a Castlevania guy. :( I will say this though, technically speaking, Castlevania is very good, showcasing great visuals and giving a good 2D experience. I might finish it just for the Sake of finishing it. SM64 however... I'm even considering trading it. (Which I don't like to do and don't reccomend.)

-Also hitting up Pokemon on DS. Got some high level mofos right now, working my way toward the 8th and final badge. What can I say, it's Pokemon, nothing more, nothing less.

-Awaiting Halo 3.

-Might do an Audio Blog soon. Don't really have all that much to talk about though.

-Blogosphere has been kind of quiet lately. I still read your entries though. I'm out.

If you heard my last audioblog, you heard the kind of wacky story of what I did to pre-order Bioshock, but all in all I was able to get my hands on the game. I'm bringing you guys some nice high res pics of the already hard to find limited edition.

-The full list of pictures, including super high res ones are available in the images tab of my profile. To see the Über highres ones, click the image then click where it says "View original." Here are the key ones, but they only represent half of the ones available in the images section.

My impressions of the game extremely positive at this point, I'm just barely past the what the demo covers. The demo is very close to the first part of the game, but it's actually a little different, thankfully so, so replaying it isn't too much of a bother. I'd really reccomend the game right now. Just keep in mind that it's pretty bloody if that bothers you, and that it's not the usual run and gun FPS. Still amazing, to say the least.

Also, last night I beat New Super Mario Bros. Looking for another DS game to get soon, even though I haven't finished Pokemon and can still play a couple of the other ones I have. I was thinking either Super Mario 64, Advanced Wars, or Castlevania. Maybe I should just wait for Zelda though.

Hopefully I Helped Shine some light on whether the limited edition will be worth it for you. Till next time, I'm gone.

Hey guys, my third audio blog is up, and I must say, this is my favorite one so far. Includes talk of Bioshock preorders, New Super Mario Bros., old 360 games I've dug up to play some more, user reviews, and some other stuff.

http://media.putfile.com/xlpranksterlx-3rd-audio-blog

Thanks again for listening, see y'all later.

[Edit] Forgot to link to down town Gamespot, you guys should sign up.

Hey guys, here it is free of charge like any good online service should be. (That was my impression of a PS3 fanboi.) Quality didn't improve much this time, I didn't really take care to make sure everything was perfect, I just wanted to get it out the door. (That crackling noise during the EGM plug was the magazine wrapper.)

http://media.putfile.com/Second-Audio-blog

Stuffs I got:

-Talk to you guys later