Good evening and welcome to another edition of my gaming and Xbox blog. This issue will relate to "Gerstmann Gate", as many are calling it; the controversial firing of a GameSpot reviewer.

On 28th November, GameSpot posted the official announcement tof the firing of editorial director, Jeff Gerstmann. GameSpot said that they could not disclose information as to why they had fired Gerstmann because of "legal constraints and the company policy of GameSpot parent CNET Networks." There have been rumours circulating the Internet that Gerstmann was fired because of his poor review of "Kane & Lynch: Dead Men" (released 23rd November). This theory states that 'Eidos', the publisher of the game, put pressure on GameSpot to fire the reviewer for marketing and advertising reasons. Naturally, GameSpot have deinied these claims. The text review by Gerstmann was very negative, giving the game merely 6/10. However, the video review, removed from the website by GameSpot (recently re-added), was far worse, describing it as an "ugly, ugly game" with "'impossible to like' characters, a 'lazy' script and excessive profanity". Speaking to 'Joystiq.com', Jeff Gerstmann stated that he stood behind his controversial review of "Kane & Lynch". To present some facts for GameSpot and 'Eidos', the review was posted on 13th November, with the firing only recently. In spite of this, there may have been some deliberation as to whether they should fire him. Additionally, although the review was very critical, it was not extraordinarily negative. In response to Gerstmann's dismissal, I was amused to find that many GameSpot users began reviewing "Kane & Lynch" with a lowly 1/10, showing their support for the reviewer. GameSpot quickly prevented the ability to post reviews for this game. Following this incident, many GameSpot users also boycotted the website, avoiding it altogether. An 'official' protest was held on Monday, dubbed 'Black Monday', where users would not view, 'Google' or relate to sites, especially GameSpot, for 24 hours. However, this movement was poorly prepared for, with little publicity ironically except that on the GameSpot forums! If it is revealed that these rumours regarding Gerstmann's dismissal are true, then GameSpot will have, in 'Joystiq.com's' words, "utterly trashed a great media brand." "Mass resignations" are supposedly occuring in GameSpot and this incident has undoubtedly become a full-scale debate regarding the "parasitic relationship between game publishers and the game press."

'Joystiq.com's' initial report on "Gerstmann-Gate" can be found here. I will not comment on my personal opinion about this topic for obvious reasons... I understand that some may be discontent with the smallness of today's post, but bear in mind I have a life and have had to write two blog updates in two days. Nevertheless, I promise to make Sunday's edition full length, with a review of "Rock Band" and any other interesting news that may reveal itself. Have a great week.