Kotaku: Gamespot

Skyrim Gets Shouted Out as GameSpot’s Game of the Year

Evan Narcisse — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:40:00 EST

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The Oscars have them. March Madness has them. But, numerous outlets start announcing their year-end picks, I'm wondering if anyone does Game of the Year betting pools? More »

Post-It Versions of Mega Man and Mario Invade Downtown San Francisco

Kirk Hamilton — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:30:00 EST

Over at the CBS/Gamespot offices they've been having a lot of fun with post-its, putting together this lovely window-spanning mural of classic 8-bit video game characters. The video above depicts them working through the night in what must have been a very enjoyable reason to forgo sleep. More »

Welcome to Games Reviewing, Carolyn Petit. You're Doing Just Fine.

Joel Johnson — Thu, 19 May 2011 18:20:00 EDT

"I have no problem with the reviewer personally, but I dont want to see what is obviously a man, trying to look like a woman, its just too weird and I find it offensive, I dont want to be bombarded with gay/lesbian/transgender stuff on a gaming website, just have a regular guy or woman reviewing the games." – airwalker2000 in Gamespot comments More »

Consumer Reports Knocks Down Kinect Skin-Color Claim

Owen Good — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 19:20:00 EDT

Yesterday GameSpot set off a minibomb with an anecdote about Kinect not recognizing two dark-skinned users while lighter-skinned gamers had no problems. Consumer Reports has weighed in, saying this sounds like a claim about laptops from last year. More »

Survey: Hispanic Gamers More Inclined to Buy Games

Owen Good — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 19:20:00 EDT

Hispanic gamers are more likely to buy console video games, less influenced by price points in their choices, and consider themselves gaming novices, according to a survey by Univision, which will team with GameSpot to produce a Spanish-language games portal. More »

Join The Queue For Command & Conquer 4's Semi-Open Beta

Mike Fahey — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:20:00 EST

EA has launched the multiplayer open beta for Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight, and all you have to do is sign into your free GameSpot account and wait. More »

CBS Begins Lay-offs At CNET, GameSpot

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:40:34 EST

CBS is bringing the ax down on CNET, the media company it purchased in May of this year for $1.8 billion. That means merging newsrooms and lay-offs at entertainment sites like TV.com, MP3.com and Gamespot. More »

GameStop Have A Week's Supply Of Wiis

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:20:00 EST

In the market for a Wii? Your days of breathless disappointment may soon be at an end, with GameStop revealing that they have "a week's supply of Wiis". More »

GameSpot's Kane & Lynch Review Hit The Dev Team "Like A Hammer"

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:40:00 EDT

Generally, we would suspect that any unfavorable review of one's video game creation would be quite the bum out. In the case of IO Interactive's Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, however, team members say that GameSpot's damning review of the Eidos published crime epic knocked the wind out of them and that being caught up in the "conspiracy theory" brouhaha that surrounded the review was "surreal." Jens Peter Kurup, Director of Kane & Lynch at IO, tells GamesRadar that "there was something in the tone of that review that was tough on people, and on me." More »

The PSP 3000 - How Different Is It?

Mike Fahey — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:40:00 EDT

James Yu over at GameSpot has just posted an excellent hands-on comparison of the old Sony PSP 2000 model and the shiny new PSP 3000, announced just last week at the Games Convention in Leipzig. While we've already posted the comparison that showed up on Famitsu, the GameSpot article has a few things going for it. More comparison photos of the screen, which looks to be where the biggest noticeable differences lie, and the fact that James writes in easy-to-understand English, always appreciated by us English-exclusive humans like myself. Hit the link below for the full skinny on what has changed in obsessive detail, right down to the surface textures of the plastic. More »

Gerstmann Axe-Man Now Working At In-Game Ad Company

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 23:00:00 EDT

In-game ad company Double Fusion announced a promotion and two new management hires today: Double Fusion's own Julie Shumaker will now oversee the company's newly formed Core Games Group as general manager and former VP of games at CNET Joshua Larson has been brought on as Vice President of Business Development, and former GameTrust CFO and COO Glen Sussman is now Double's Fusion's CFO. More »

Sign Up For The Fallen Earth Alpha Test

Mike Fahey — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 12:40:00 EDT

Want to get in on the ground floor of an upcoming post-apocalyptic MMOG? Fallen Earth is going into alpha testing this Thursday the 14th, and Icarus Studios want to give you a chance to help them test out their game. Sign ups are being handled via a rather primitive GameSpot page, meaning you'll have to have signed up for a free subscription in order to participate, and then you'll have to meet their criteria in order to actually be selected, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy. More »

Mount And Blade Beta Open For Signups

Stuart Houghton — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:20:00 EDT

Don't you just love the name Mount and Blade? It's just so functional - as though Ernest Hemingway was moonlighting as a game titler. More »

Hey Kinda Famous Person, Do You Know What GameSpot Is?

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:00:00 EDT

GameSpot held a big E3 party filled with Hollywood C-Listers like Vida Guerra and pro athletes like Rashad McCants. But the question remains: Do they know what GameSpot is? Oh, the suspense is killing us. More »

Gerstmann Reviewer Regrets? Nah, Man.

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:00:00 EDT

Former GameSpot reviewer Jeff Gerstmann is no stranger to controversy. His 8.9 scoring of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was met with unhappy campers, while his 6.0 Kane & Lynch review *might* have cost him his job. But does Gerstmann have any regrets? From MTV Multiplayer: More »

Steel Yourself For A 360 v PS3 Graphics Showdown

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 26 May 2008 21:00:00 EDT

Anyone up for an attempt at a 360 v PS3 graphics showdown? I'm out, had my fill of these by around 1994, but if you're curious, read on. GameSpot have attempted to settle which system has the better graphics by comparing a bunch of games, blending some screenshots together into a single image then providing some accompanying notes. One-eyed fanboys will no doubt find a way to convince themselves of their system's superiority, but cooler heads know that if you can pick up any differences - let alone major ones - from the tiny screens they've provided, best case, you're most likely a fibber. Worst case, a liar. More »

Breaking: CBS Snags GameSpot In $1.8 Billion CNET Acquisition

Leigh Alexander — Thu, 15 May 2008 10:40:00 EDT

CBS Corporation just announced an agreement to buy CNET for $1.8 billion dollars. Through the deal, all of CNET's network sites, including GameSpot, TV.com mp3.com, CNET news.com, UrbanBaby, CHOW, Search.com, BNET, MySimon and TechRepublic all become property of CBS. More »

GameSpot's GTA IV Score-Change Down To A "Bug"

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:20:00 EDT

Some of the more eagle-eyed/paranoid dwellers from the darkest recesses of the internet discovered a few days back that when GameSpot's GTA IV score was first spotted, it was given a score of 9.5, then quickly "changed" to a perfect 10. I don't need to tell you there was much tin-foil-hattery surrounding the possible causes for this. Well, according to GameSpot's EIC Ricardo Torres, it was all down to a bug:

...there was a bug in our publishing system on Monday that caused the incorrect score for GTAIV, a 9.5, to appear for on some pages for a while. This happened hours before we posted the actual score with the review, a 10. This has all led to a lot of talk and speculation so I'm going to set things straight, short answer: it's not true.

Whether you believe him or not's up to you. The more important question should be: how much do you really care about .5 of a GameSpot score? More »

Join GameSpot For Age Of Conan PVP Weekend

Mike Fahey — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:00:00 EDT

Do you want to spend a weekend with 14,999 not-so-close friends participating in ferocious Age of Conan PVP combat? Are you willing to sign up for a GameSpot account to make this happen? Eidos and Funcom have just announced a unique beta partnership with GameSpot that will allow 15,000 players to participate in a special PVP weekend the 18th-20th of this month. Select players will be able to create a character using the game's character generator, which Funcom will then transform into a level 20 powerhouse. They can then enter PVP lobbies, chat, and kill each other. To sign up for a chance at a spot have have to first be a GameSpot member, and then fill out the application located at http://www.gamespot.com/test/ageofconan. Those accepted will be notified by email on Wednesday the 16th. In other news, I just signed up for a free GameSpot account. Here's hoping I see some of you folks come PVP weekend! More »

Developer Going Down: Here's What You Missed

ogood — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EDT

GameSpot has word that Castaway Entertainment has suspended operations and is looking for a buyer. Kind of shoulder-shrug news, as the studio's been around since 2003 but released only one published title, described as "the Xbox Live advergame Yaris." Never like to hear of anyone losing work in this economy, but what gives, right? More »

The Man Who Fired Jeff Gerstmann From GameSpot Has Been Sacked

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:20:00 EDT

When long-time GameSpot reviewer and editorial director Jeff Gerstmann was let go from the site last November—with sources pointing to his review of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men as the catalyst for his termination—fingers were also pointed at executive Josh Larson, VP of games at parent company CNET. Larson, who replaced former Editor in Chief Greg Kasavin, was implicated by anonymous GameSpot employees to have had the "church-and-state separation between the sales teams and the editorial team" "cracked" under his tenure. Whether the VP, Jeff's supervisor at the time, was the key decision maker in letting Gerstmann go we can't confirm, but we can confirm that Larson will be leaving the company next week. More »

Another GameSpot Editor Quits

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:00:56 EDT

As the dust on Gerstmann-gate has finally more than settled, another GameSpot staffer is exiting the building. As announced on GameSpot's podcast "HotSpot", Senior Editor Brad Shoemaker will be leaving the site this Friday. He's been working at GameSpot since 1999. Shame they never gave him a larger GIF image. We wish him luck in his future endeavors. More »

GameSpot Goes on Hiring Binge

Brian Crecente — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:00:30 EST

In the wake of GameSpot's fairly publicized shake-up in their reviews department, the Cnet owned company is on the prowl for a number of new reviewers. More »

Gamespot's Jason Ocampo Now IGN's Jason...

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:20:36 EST

Gamespot's Jason Ocampo Now IGN's Jason Ocampo. Hey, just a quick update on yesterday's development involving former Gamespot reviewer Jason Ocampo—the former PC-centric reviewer has jumped ship from CNet to IGN and will be their new PC Editor In Chief. Ocampo appears in the latest Game Scoop! podcast, revealing his new secret identity as an IGNer. Thanks for the tip, Richard! More »

Another GameSpot Reviewer Leaves The CNet...

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:40:00 EST

Another GameSpot Reviewer Leaves The CNet Mothership The GameSpot review pool has just become a bit shallower, as Jason Ocampo has announced that he too will be leaving the site for an unspecified "opportunity." Ocampo broke the news in the latest edition of The Hotspot podcast, adding his name to the list of recently and dearly departed GameSpot review staff. Godspeed, Jason and thanks for the quick tip, Daniel. More »

Ex-GameSpotters Gerstmann & Davis Try A New Podcast On For Size

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 22:30:00 EST

The last thing the gaming world needs is more amateur gaming podcasts. Lucky for the newly-launched Arrow Pointing Down, then, that it's not cobbled together by a couple of awkward teenagers using a $3 PC mic in their dad's office. It is instead put together by former GameSpot staffers Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis, who in their former lives manned GameSpot's podcast. The sound quality is God-awful thanks to a dodgy Skype connection, but still worth a listen if you've got some 90-odd minutes of doing nothing scheduled for later today. More »

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Mike Fahey — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:20:27 EST

Jeff Gerstmann of Gerstmann-gate fame will be making his first television appearance since his dismissal from GameSpot tonight at 8PM Eastern time on G4's newly revamped X-Play. Gerstman will be on hand to discuss the lack of innovation in Japanese gaming, a topic that was recently brought to light via a Gamasutra interview with Konami sound director Akira Yamaoka. As expected, Gerstmann will also discuss his abrupt departure from GameSpot, because that's really the gist of why he's appearing on the show in the first place. Otherwise the little press blurb we got from G4 wouldn't have been sent with the title "JEFF GERSTMANN'S FIRST TV APPEARANCE". I hope I get half as popular as Jeff does when Crecente finally fires me. More »

GameSpot Loses One More Editor

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:40:00 EST

Ryan Davis, an associate editor, experienced reviewer and nearly 8-year GameSpot veteran, has become the latest to quit in the wake of former editorial director Jeff Gerstmann's termination. GameDaily.biz reports today that it has confirmed with new GameSpot editor in chief Ricardo Torres that Davis will follow Frank Provo and Alex Navarro as the latest casualty to the site's editorial staff. News of the most recent resignation comes two months to the day that we warned of a mass walkout at the CNet Networks owned site. More »

GameSpot's New EIC On Gerstmann, Moving On

Mike Fahey — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 11:40:30 EST

You couldn't pay me enough to take Ricardo Torres' job. The newly promoted Editor-in-Chief of GameSpot took up the reins of the site in the wake of Gerstmann-gate, with community trust at an all time low and the eyes of the internet watching their every move. GameDaily's Kyle Orland discusses the trials and tribulations of stepping into this new position with Torres in his weekly Media Coverage segment, touching on the future of GameSpot, competing with upstart gaming blogs (*whistles innocently*), sketchy advertising policies and of course, Jeff Gerstmann.

"GameSpot's gone through quite a few bumps in the road over the years. I know Jeff's fans are upset and I know people are upset over the perception and how it all played out. Really, the best thing that we can do is to just show them that we're good at what we do. Ultimately content is going to prove to people that we're untainted, uncorrupt and committed to serving our readers."

GameSpot Names New Editor In Chief

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:40:00 EST

CNet Networks announced today that GameSpot veteran Ricardo Torres has been named the new Editor In Chief of the online publication, replacing former site lead Greg Kasavin in the role. The site had been without an official EIC since Kasavin's departure in January of last year to work at Electronic Arts. Torres, who shared editorial director duties with former GameSpotter Jeff Gerstmann, has been with the site since 2001 and has been focused on previews and worldwide event coverage. More »

Another GameSpot Reviewer Decides To Leave

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 20:20:00 EST

Long time video game reviewer Alex Navarro, a frequent contributor to GameSpot's podcast The HotSpot and go-to video review narrator, will be leaving the site, according to the site's Editorial Director Ricardo Torres. We learned in a phone call with Torres earlier today that Navarro, who many will remember from his infamous (and hilarious) video review of Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, had given his notice yesterday, with the rest of staff told his last day of GameSpot editorial duties would occur on January 24th. More »

GameSpot Owner CNet Eyed for Hostile Take Over

Brian Crecente — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:20:01 EST

The New York Times is reporting that a consortium of "prominent investment funds" have managed to grab up 21 percent of CNet and are now working to kick out the company's directors and take over the majority of the company's board. More »

Longtime GameSpot Reviewer Leaves, Cites Gerstmann Firing

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 20:40:42 EST

After the termination of established GameSpot reviewer and editorial director Jeff Gerstmann, we heard from employees of the site who spoke of the threat of "mass resignations." Today it would seem we have at least one confirmed casualty from the CNet/Gerstmann fallout, longtime freelance reviewer Frank Provo. The reviewer, with over seven years worth of contributions to GameSpot and some 751 reviews, confirmed on his work blog today that he was no longer writing for the site. "I believe CNet management let Jeff go for all the wrong reasons," wrote the reviewer "I believe CNet intends to soften the site's tone and push for higher scores to make advertisers happy." More »

GameSpot Gets Oliver Stone Treatment

Mark Wilson — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:40:56 EST

Jeff Gerstmann's departure from GameSpot, sometimes referred to as Gerstmanngate, was one of the bigger sexy scandals of 2007. (Note: we fully recognize that "bigger" is grammatically incorrect, but if enough people keep saying it, the rules will change). That's why this trailer for JFG, a reinterpretation of Oliver Stone's highly controversial JFK, cracked us up. It's pretty well done. But like most internet videos, the idea is incredible for about half its run. More »

GameRankings Drops GameSpot Review Scores

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST

As some of our tipsters and commenters have pointed out, game review harvesting site GameRankings no longer displays any scores from sister site GameSpot, despite both being owned by CNET. GameRankings still features prominent GameSpot logo placement and links, but the reviews have disappeared. CNET's other review gathering property, MetaCritic, still features GameSpot scores as part of its database. While conspiracy theories abound, it seems the real story behind the removal of GameSpot reviews isn't as dramatic as some might think. More »

Talkin' 'Bout Jeff Gerstmann And Gamespot On G4

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:40:03 EST

If you happened to miss yesterday's episode of Attack of the Show on G4, featuring Wired Game|Life's Chris Kohler and yours truly chatting about the Jeff Gerstmann-GameSpot situation, now's your chance. Notice that it's Kohler representing with a bird shirt this time, not a Kotaku editor. Now that we've had ample time to process, with tempers cooled, we rapped about the long term effects of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men Score-gate. I know, that doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? More »

GameSpot's Tribute To Jeff Gerstmann

Mike Fahey — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 11:40:01 EST

Here's the latest episode of GameSpot's On the Spot series, which features a look back at the life and times of Jeff Gerstmann, who recently passed on (from GameSpot.) It certainly feels like the man died though. Ryan Macdonald nearly bursts into tears at several points during the introduction, and no one looks particularly happy to be there. I just hope that when I am eventually fired from Kotaku due to my tone that it winds up being so controversial that the guys here have put together a retrospective that is nearly as poignant and touching. If I had to bet, I'd say McWhertor would be the one in tears. Such a sensitive guy. The video is over an hour long, but the tribute only takes up the first 8 minutes, so feel free to do something more productive with your time afterwards. More »

GameSpot Q&A, A Response to "Gerstmanngate"

Mark Wilson — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:00:54 EST

GameSpot has finally responded in force to the Jeff Gerstmann situation, addressing the topic once and for all...though still not revealing why he was fired for unspecified legal reasons. With no more ado, let's just cut right to the chase. More »

Gerstmann Speaks A Little, I Think It's Telling

Mark Wilson — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:40:30 EST

MTV's Stephen Totilo exchanged some emails with ex-GameSpot review Jeff Gerstmann. And while Gerstmann didn't go on record saying anything all that juicy, he did have something telling to say about the separation of advertising and reviews:

you asked if it's realistic for readers to expect a church and state separation between editorial and sales. Realistic or not, I think readers should demand that from a publication. Some people probably think that's a little old-fashioned or hopelessly idealistic, given the changing nature of advertising these days, but there you go.

Notice the diction here because I believe it to be quite important: "realistic or not" and "some people might think it's...hopelessly idealistic" didn't need to be used here to answer Totilo's question. Instead of responding "yes" or "no," Gerstmann is responding to an unverified problem. In other words, Totilo is asking "do you think it's realistic for gamers to expect a church and state separation [that may exist now or in the future]" while Gerstmann is answering something along the lines of "how can we fix this already present craptastic overlap between editorial content and advertising?" If you buy into my reading, then Gerstmann is admitting that a problem exists by responding to it. The rest of the message: More »

Game Publishers Hold Enthusiast Press in Contempt

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 02:00:45 EST

Still having trouble making sense of this whole Eidos-CNet-Gamespot clusterfuck? Newsweek's N'Gai Croal does a nice job of summing up what it all means. N'Gai writes: More »