This image was lost some time after publication.

Videogamers have been accusing CNET of shredding its editorial credibility by firing GameSpot editorial director Jeff Gerstmann after Eidos allegedly threatened to pull "hundreds of thousands of dollars in future advertising." That, of course, is conspiracy theory entirely typical of the blogosphere. Has anyone thought that Eidos has as much to lose as CNET here, with customers turning against the games studio over claims it muscled out a popular reviewer? We hear Eidos is "freaking out" over l'affaire Gerstmann; top management there, an insider says, sincerely believes they didn't prompt CNET to fire Gerstmann, but fears they'll get the blame anyway. Michelle Curran, Eidos's director of public relations, says, "Yeah, we're not commenting on that right now." That's all right, Michelle. If we were you, we wouldn't comment, either.