Penny Arcade authors publicly comment on Gerstmann firing from Gamespot

Penny Arcade was one of the first sites on the internet (along with us and Primotech) to react to the Jeff Gerstmann incident -- making it the subject of today's PA strip. Later in the day, the authors made their first public comment on the situation. An excerpt from their statement follows with the complete version available after the break.

From Penny Arcade:

I will tell you the Gerstmann Story as we heard it. Management claimed to have spoken to Jeff about his "tone" before, and no doubt it was this tone that created tensions between their editorial content, the direction of the site, and the carefully crafted relationships that allowed Gamespot to act as an engine of revenue creation. After Gerstmann's savage flogging of Kane & Lynch, a game whose marketing investment on Gamespot alone reached into the hundreds of thousands, Eidos (we are told) pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of future advertising from the site.

Management has another story, of course: management always has another story. But it's the firm belief internally that Jeff was sacrificed. And it had to be Jeff, at least, we believe, precisely because of his stature and longevity. It made for a dramatic public execution that left the editorial staff in disarray. Would that it were only about the 6.0 - at least then you'd know how to score something if you wanted to keep your Goddamned job. No, this was worse: the more nebulous "tone" would be the guide. I assume it was designed to terrify them.

At this point, I can only assume that Jeff Gerstmann is somewhere, sitting at his computer in bemused wonderment at the public outcry over this entire situation. Honestly, he's probably happy as a clam since this whole thing is very likely increasing his value for whatever company hires him next.

Read the complete statement after the break.

Complete statement From Penny Arcade:

It's been a couple weeks discussing reviews and reviewers around here, but somewhere along the way I neglected to mention that their job is essentially impossible. The 7-9 scale they toil under is largely the result of an uneasy peace between the business and editorial wings of the venue. No matter what score they give it, high or low, they're reviled equally by the online chorus. Apparently, even when they do it right they're doing it wrong.

Jeff Gerstmann is no stranger to controversy. In general terms, Gamespot can be relied upon to give high-profile games scores which are slightly lower than their counterparts elsewhere. It's almost as though there is an algorithm in place there to correct the heady rush associated with cracking open an anticipated new title. Gerstmann's review of Twilight Princess cemented his reputation as a criminal renegade with no law but his own, even though he gave the game an 8.9 - a nine, essentially - out of ten.

I will tell you the Gerstmann Story as we heard it. Management claimed to have spoken to Jeff about his "tone" before, and no doubt it was this tone that created tensions between their editorial content, the direction of the site, and the carefully crafted relationships that allowed Gamespot to act as an engine of revenue creation. After Gerstmann's savage flogging of Kane & Lynch, a game whose marketing investment on Gamespot alone reached into the hundreds of thousands, Eidos (we are told) pulled hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of future advertising from the site.

Management has another story, of course: management always has another story. But it's the firm belief internally that Jeff was sacrificed. And it had to be Jeff, at least, we believe, precisely because of his stature and longevity. It made for a dramatic public execution that left the editorial staff in disarray. Would that it were only about the 6.0 - at least then you'd know how to score something if you wanted to keep your Goddamned job. No, this was worse: the more nebulous "tone" would be the guide. I assume it was designed to terrify them.

For Gabriel, this tale proves out his darkest suspicions. People believe things like this anyway, but they don't know it, and the shift from intuitive to objective knowledge is startling. I think it rarely gets to this point. The apparatus is very tight: there are layers of editorial control that can massage the score, even when the text tells a different tale. A more junior reviewer might have seen their Kane & Lynch review streamlined by this process, divested of its worrisome angles and overall troubling shape. It was Jeff Gerstmann's role high in the site's infrastructure that allowed his raw editorial content to pierce the core of the business.

(CW)TB out.

Gerstmann controversy update - forums on fire

Posted by Tiberius Jonez
email tiberiusjonez@gmail.com

The 'Gerstmann incident' isn't going away for Gamespot or Eidos any time soon. Both company's forums have been flooded by angry posters voicing their displeasure with a situation they appear to perceive as two money-hungry companies scapegoating an ethical journalist. Whether or not that is actually the case, no one knows since those directly involved in the mess are not commenting publicly beyond short, pat press releases.

The latest development in the ongoing saga is that Gamespot has removed the video review of Kane and Lynch that was the alleged cause of Gerstmann's firing in the first place. The text version of the review has been amended with a note stating that "this review has been updated to include differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions and a clarification on the game's multiplayer mode."

For those of you that never saw the original video review, you can watch it after the break.




It's difficult to believe that Gamespot didn't know this would blow up in their face, which makes me wonder if there isn't more to the story than is being told. The obvious answer is, of course there is more to the story, but until either side talks, this isn't going away!

Xbox 360 Fall update adds DIVX support and more

Get your Christmas shopping done so you can run home and acquire some movies, because as of next week, you'll be able to watch them on your Xbox 360. The fall update, which drops on December 4th, will add DIVX playback support along with the Xbox Original's download service and other previously announced features.

The dashboard will also receive a general 'sprucing up', including streamlining the interface to better take advantage of all the extra functionality that has been added to the 360 over the past several months.

Watch a video walkthrough of the Fall Update after the break.

Gamespot releases very brief statement on Gerstmann firing

In response to the storm of attention swirling around the firing of Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot, the site's parent company, CNET Networks, released a very brief statement on the situation today.

"GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously," the statement reads. "For over a decade, Gamespot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis."

As for Gerstmann specifically, CNET was less forthcoming, saying only that "it is CNET Networks' policy not to comment on the status of its employees, current or former."

If this is CNET's idea of damage control, it strikes me as pretty hollow. They seem to want everyone to respect their 'editorial integrity', but they say nothing in response to allegations they allowed an advertiser to dictate editorial content. A statement like this may have an effect opposite the one CNET intended. They may have been better off simply remaining mute on the subject, in essence taking the stance that they are above suspicion. Instead, they only further confirmed that their integrity is in question.

I suspect we'll hear more about this next week.

Retrospective - Sensible Software

Before Traveller's Tales or Creative Assembly, the top British game developers were Rare and Sensible Software. Sensible, in particular, is a perfect British example of the 'American Dream' -- a company founded by two failed musicians that went on to make some of the best games in history. Today, Adam Montgomery takes a look back at the history of Sensible Software, from humble beginnings to meteoric rise and eventual collapse.

It was 1985 and Hamsterfish had failed.

Jon Hare and Chris Yate’s rock band was a flop, and they needed real jobs to pay the rent. Jon, a talented artist, and Chris, a skilled programmer, decided to pursue their interest in videogames, and found employment with LT Software.

It wasn’t a glamorous job, but the friends were working together, and learned a lot while producing two ZX Spectrum games in their time there: Sordov the Sorcerer and Twister.

Taking what they learned from their nine-month stay at LT, the pair broke away and formed their own company. Sensible Software was born.

The two-man team immediately set to work on Parallax for the Commodore 64, which won them a £1000 deal with Ocean Publishing, and became Sensible’s first success.

Wizball was their next project, and it was named “Game of the Decade” by Zzap 64 magazine, which was a huge accolade. The company was establishing a reputation for high-quality software, and Wizball was just the beginning.

More critical acclaim was heaped upon Sensible with the release of Shoot-Em Up Construction Kit, a revolutionary title which allowed players to produce games without any programming knowledge at all.

In 1988, well-known game music composer Martin Galway joined Hare and Yate at Sensible, and that summer, the three-man company released Microprose Soccer, which was hailed as the sport’s finest simulation to date. The sport theme continued with International 3D Tennis, which became one of their final projects for the C64.

Jon and Chris now found themselves leading a profitable, reputable company. It was a meteoric rise since joining LT Software as college-dropouts, but their success hadn’t peaked yet.

In 1990, Galway left to join Origin Software in the United States, but his departure didn’t slow Sensible’s growth. Armed with confidence and an established reputation, the company left the 8-bit machines behind and made the leap to the more powerful Amiga and Atari ST. They also took a break from the sport genre to work on two of their most original products: Mega-Lo-Mania and Wizkid. The former was a well-received simulation of a God’s struggle for dominance, and the latter was a platformer which continued the narrative of their earlier hit, Wizball, despite being of a wildly different gameplay style.

Sensible Soccer marked the company's return to sports and was released to a roar of critical acclaim. It was an instant classic, and spent an incredible 50 weeks atop the charts. It eclipsed Microprose Soccer to become the greatest football game of all time, although you would only realise this if you played the 1.1 version of the game as the original 1.0 release suffered greatly from many gameplay bugs.

With numerous updates and ports of Sensible Soccer selling in huge numbers, the company next produced the social commentary Cannon Fodder, which was greeted with critical acclaim, but was also accompanied by controversy centred on the poppy-adorned game box. Detractors also (wrongly) claimed the game glorified warfare, when in truth it was a satire of those that engaged in such conflict. Despite such negative coverage, the game was a success; but it would be the company's last.

Sensible’s new IP’s beyond this point met with disaster, including the disappointing Sensible Golf. The company explored new concepts with the game Sex ‘n’ Drugs ‘n’ Rock ‘n’ Roll (likely a reference to Chris and Jon’s days in Hamsterfish) but support for the project was pulled due to the game’s controversial themes. Development of a PlayStation project named Have a Nice Day met a similar end as it collapsed under the weight of technical issues the company faced when moving to the new 3-D format.

At this point, Sensible’s owners were looking for a way to bow out gracefully, and their wish was granted when veteran UK publisher Codemasters bought them out in 1999. Jon Hare has maintained a close working relationship with Codemasters ever since, designing many games for them including updates of Sensible Soccer for the PlayStation, Cannon Fodder for the Gameboy Color, and a recently updated Sensible World of Soccer for Xbox Live Arcade.

And that’s all, folks. That’s the story of Sensible Software, the British gaming giant, in a nutshell. Their unique graphical style, light-hearted comedy undertones, and design genius still resonate in the games of today, but the name itself is sadly unknown to many modern gamers.

As someone who loved their games as a lad, I offer a “thank you” to Sensible.

Gamespot fires reviewer Jeff Gerstmann to appease Eidos

Today is a sad day for gaming journalism. Game sites and magazines struggle daily to gain acceptance from the general public as legitimate sources of journalism, and this one is no exception. While GameJonez is a small fish (at present) swimming in a very large pond, we always strive to bring you news from the gaming industry in an honest and ethical manner. Unfortunately, it seems Gamespot does not share these values.

According to a report from Primotech, Gamespot fired Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann, one of their best game reviewers, after he wrote a negative review of the game Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. Kane and Lynch is the latest release from game developer Eidos, who also happens to be a huge source of advertising revenue for Gamespot. Primotech alleges that Gerstmann was fired as a direct result of pressure from Eidos after he gave the game a 6.0 out of 10. In comparison, Metacritic gives the game an average score of 68 out of 100. Our metareview of the game suggested it should have been given more time in the oven before being served to the gaming public.

Eidos is heavily advertising Kane and Lynch this week on Gamespot, including interactive flash banners.

The latest Penny-Arcade comic features a brief overview of this controversy. However, because the comic isn’t scheduled to ‘go live’ until tomorrow, commentary from either Gabe or Tycho is currently unavailable.

Gerstmann was with Gamespot since 1996 and was largely responsible for their success. As Primotech points out in their story, it is possible that other factors contributed to his dismissal in addition to the review, although this is completely unsubstantiated at the present. While they stand behind their information and their source, no official announcement has been made by Gerstmann or Gamespot. We trust they wouldn't run with this story without solid information. Expect more details to emerge online in the next 24 hours.

In the meantime, if this all holds up as true, it is a chilling turn of events that could have far-reaching effects across the business of game journalism. How credible do gaming outlets appear if the opinions expressed in 'reviews' of games are dictated by advertisers who also make the games?

Nintendo does not plan to increase western game development

Even with the Wii's phenomenal success in America, Nintendo has no plans to ramp up video game development here, so says senior vice president George Harrison. When asked if Nintendo wanted to develop more games tailored for the North American audience, Harrison told Wired News, "I'm not aware of any plans to push for more software development here in the U.S."

"The actual decision about producing more software and who should do it is driven by Satoru Iwata and the management team, including Mr. Miyamoto, in Japan," he said.

This statement seems confusing considering the Wii is seeing its best sales in the U.S. market. Nintendo is moving about half a million consoles per month here, well above what they are currently selling in Japan. So what gives?

Believe it or not, it's an honest admission from the famed creators of Mario and Zelda that they're really not very good at producing games for the western market.

Nintendo's recent history with western-style games is less than stellar. While one of Nintendo's top-selling Wii titles in North America, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, was developed by Austin, Texas-based Retro Studios, that success is the exception rather than the rule. Project Hammer, an action game developed by Redmond, WA based Nintendo Software Technology was shown at E3 2006 but is now officially "on hold."

And that's the only other Western-developed first-party game that's ever been announced for the Wii, other than Mario Strikers Charged, which was developed in Vancouver.

Nintendo attempted to expand into North American development during the GameCube era, but never managed to create products as highly-rated as their Japanese titles. The now-defunct Exile Entertainment was chosen to create a game called Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball, which was canceled, presumably for quality issues and a first-person shooter called Geist, created by Florida game makers N-Space, was released to a critical drubbing.

On one hand, the fact that a game maker as respected as Nintendo can't seem to find the magic touch when it comes to western style games is a bit dumbfounding. Then again, if they can manage to sell consoles without them, more power to them. But you have to wonder, how long can the keep that up?

Konami needs MGS4 to sell one million copies day one

Metal Gear Solid 4 is not only one of the biggest PS3 titles of 2008, it may be the last of a dying breed -- the third party exclusive. In the past, console manufacturers worked hard to secure such titles as a way to drive consumer adoption of their machines. However, with game development costs now ranging from $10-$50 million per title, it has become difficult for game studios to justify producing games for only one console -- in essence placing all their revenue eggs in one console basket.

While some other big name developers have jumped off Sony's exclusivity ship, Konami remains optimistic about their decision to stick it out. In an interview with Reuters, MGS4's assistant producer, Ryan Payton said, "We're telling our fans that if you want to play 'Metal Gear Solid 4', you have to buy a PS3. The PlayStation brand has always been good to us, and we're pretty bullish on the PS3."

But how 'bullish' can they really be? A year after its release, only two PS3 games have sold more than 1 million copies, a benchmark of financial success for a big-budget game. The 7-year-old PlayStation 2 had nearly 100 games sell more than a million copies.

Payton said MGS4 needs to sell over a million copies on the first day it goes on sale due to its costly production, but that may be a tough mark to hit given sluggish PS3 sales. To lend perspective, 50% of PS3 owners in the U.S. would have to buy MGS4 on day one for that to happen.

Sony claims the loss of third party exclusives isn't a big deal. "We understand publishers are needing to recoup their investment," said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony. "From our perspective, as long as the games aren't going exclusive to other platforms, PS3 gamers are not actually losing anything."

Dille added that Sony is compensating by ramping up its own game production within 15 internal studios working on PlayStation titles, more than Microsoft and Nintendo combined.

Motorstorm getting new vehicles

Senior U.S. producer for MotorStorm, Felice Standifer, announced on the PlayStation Blog that today's PlayStation Store update will include two new MotorStorm vehicles to download and enjoy. For $1.99, you can be the proud owner of a Mohawk Roadhog Bike and a Lunar-Tec Buffalo BigRig. The Lunar-Tec, pictured above, would be particularly intimidating if seen in your rear view mirror. The pack will also feature two new skins to slap on to any of the available vehicle classes: QuickFoot and Crazy Samurai. At $1.99, does anyone else think this smacks of a certain much-derided horse armor pack?

Now, if they would only release more tracks for the game. Oh well, we can dare to dream. We'll have more on the full PlayStation store update later today.

$5 million lawsuit filed against Microsoft over Halo 3, Xbox 360 problems

Halo 3 is designed from the ground up to be compatible with the Xbox 360, right? A federal lawsuit filed last week against Microsoft and the game's developer, Bungie, claims it is not. The suit alleges that Halo 3 "routinely, consistently, and systematically 'froze,' 'crashed,' or 'locked up.'" The suit then claims that these issues "disrupted game play". Yes, freezing, crashing and locking up would disrupt game play. The plaintiff, Randy Nunez, is seeking class-action status along with $5 million in damages plus costs and attorneys' fees. In a country where you can win a huge amount of money for spilling coffee on yourself, I suppose frivolous lawsuits like this are inevitable.

While the famous McDonald's coffee lawsuit is often unjustly cited as an example of what is wrong with our civil justice system, the facts in that case actually warranted the jury's decision. In this lawsuit against Microsoft and Bungie, the plaintiff is claiming that interruption of his game play warrants a $5 million check. Even if you could prove that Microsoft and Bungie intentionally released Halo 3 with knowledge of hardware/software compatibility issues -- which is a tough sell considering Microsoft's widely publicized $1 BILLION investment in correcting the Xbox 360's hardware issues, including extending the console's warranty length to three years -- how can you claim that interrupted gaming is worth $5 million?

I love my games, and yes, it is frustrating when serious performance issues ruin a gaming experience, but no GAMING experience is worthy of $5 million in compensation. Hellooo, McFly!! Perhaps Mr. Nunez should consider using his time to acquire gainful employment rather than wasting our court system's precious time with this bunk.