eidos

Eidos acknowledges game "caused pain"

Mary Jane Irwin · 12/03/07 02:41PM

The chummy relationship between game-review sites and videogame publishers, the sites' primary advertisers, is drawing fresh scrutiny after the firing of GameSpot editorial director Jeff Gerstmann. Eidos, the publisher of Kane & Lynch, a videogame Gerstmann savaged in a review, is being singled out by the Internet lynch mob. Eidos had dropped a hefty sum — reportedly hundreds of thousands of dollars — to "skin," or redesign, the GameSpot site with promos for the title. Eidos has yet to make a public statement about the incident. But perhaps its marketers knew what was coming. At a preview event for the game, Eidos handed out Kane & Lynch T-shirts emblazoned with the words "I've seen the pain you've caused." After the jump, closeups of the shirt, soon to be a collector's item among Gerstmann supporters.

GameSpot editor (?) on fired reviewer

Paul Boutin · 11/30/07 06:20PM

We never know for sure if the commentards are who they claim to be. But one prodigious poster with the new account "gamespot" is telling what reads like a credible insider story — it's written in editor-speak — of what happened to ex-CNET GameSpot reviewer Jeff Gerstmann, supposedly fired for low-scoring an advertiser's new game. "Gamespot"'s posts are in need of a 100-word-versioning, but it's Friday so forgettabout it here's the whole thing pasted in. I've bolded the newsy parts.

"Freaked-out" Eidos ducks CNET firing rumor

Mary Jane Irwin · 11/30/07 03:40PM

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.

CNET editor fired for "unprofessional" reviews, not "Kane & Lynch"

Mary Jane Irwin · 11/30/07 03:00PM

Here's a new wrinkle on the controversial firing of CNET editor Jeff Gerstmann, which came shortly after he posted a negative review of CNET advertiser Eidos's Kane & Lynch. An individual claiming to work in CNET ad sales — specifically on the Eidos ad campaign — claims that while Eidos was upset over the review, that conflict was settled over two weeks ago. He says, "I'd heard a few people tell that [Gerstmann had] already been skating on thin ice for 'unprofessional reviews and review practices.'"

CNET editor's farewell video

Mary Jane Irwin · 11/30/07 02:20PM

The only offense we see is that his words were much harsher than his written review. Gerstmann called Kane & Lynch an "ugly, ugly game" and characterized the developers as "lazy," but he still gave the game a 6 out of 10 score. Some choice quotes from his video review:

CNET editor fired, negative game review suspected

Mary Jane Irwin · 11/30/07 12:08PM

Rumors are flooding the online videogame forums that Jeff Gerstmann, editorial director of CNET's Gamespot, was canned for criticizing an advertiser's product. A tipster informed us that Gerstmann, who had worked at the company for more than a decade, was greeted with a locked office yesterday morning. While there's no official explanation (apparently, it's being kept very hush hush even inside the company) as to why Gerstmann was escorted off the premises, the evidence gathered so far is pretty damning.