It's been a long time coming and I've put it off, and don't tell me to get a blog because I know everyone here likes to put in their two cents (why else would we be here?, don't deny me audience when we suffer from the same desires) so heres why I'm leaving.
Three reasons essentially. The constant bickering and biased topics have never turned me off system wars or gamespot in general (nor has the often misplaced humor), but rather entertained me. So heres the dish:
Reason 1) Greg Kasavin: My favorite video and text reviewer. My first time surfing gamespot was when I googled 'Halo 2 Review' and saw his video review. It was great. I watched reviews for another two hours and then signed up. He was always overenthusiatic in my opinion, but I think that his position demanded passion (for anyone who wanted to do it well) and I also think he delivered in all the right ways. When he left, not only did gamespot lose his reviews and opinions, they lost something else. It's hard to define, but it's thematic. Anyone who's been here a while knows that gamespot changed after Greg left.
Reason 2) Condemned 2: Bloodshot Video Review. The single worst video review I have ever seen. Congrats Kevin Van Oord you should give lessons on how to piss me off. Not a word about graphics, or storyline, or thematic approach. Just a list. A list of ways you could kill people from some guy who actually thought he knew how to entertain people. It shows me that Gamespot has lost exactly what I started coming here for. The reviews lose more flavor everyday. I'm not saying that they are better anywhere else, I'm just saying that the decrease in quality warrants me taking action.
Reason 3) GTA4/Kane and Lynch/Gertsmangate: I can't accuse Gamespot of being paid to do things by third parties. Not, after I've opposed the possibility for so long, but I can't see gta4 getting a ten. Thats not because I think tens are impossible (which I do, because I'm a purist) it's just because I think it deserved something more like a 9 (based on their system). I can't condone the firing of Gertsmann. He has done some great reviews and a man who reviews with passion and rips on a game for accomplishing less than I do on the toilet is not something he should be silenced for (they did remove the video, remember? They did intend to deny us the oppurtunity to hear somebody say what should have been said). So, I guess this reason adds up to my problem with Gamespot's general view on video games that doesn't allow for enough passionate criticism in both text and video reviews.
I'm also going to blog this and link it...I'll keep my account (going to review and rank games for personal entertainment and anyone who cares to look), but my posting and review watching days are over. I don't intend to incite anyone to be angry with this post. I just want everyone to know that I think Gamespot has lost a lot of its quality over the last twelve or eighteen months and I want everyone to know that I think it justifies action despite the fact that after all of this I don't actually want to leave.
"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right" -Thomas Paine
"All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare" -Baruch De Spinoza
End note: I wanted to end this post earlier, but I feel it needs to be told that the reason I posted this on system wars is because it is where I did most of my posting and where most of the posting on Gamespot is done. Thanks.
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