WTF?

This is creepy, like the guy died or something.

Major fail!

That is the douchiest thing I have ever seen. They FIRED THE GUY, it isn't like he shot himself.

Christ.

Well, as someone has worked in the tech industry for the past 3 or so years whenever someone either gets fired or leaves on their own it does feel like someone just passed away. As weird as that may sound. I think those who work in the tech and gaming industry seem much closer to their co-workers and become friends more easily than any other industry that I've seen. Be funny if during the tribute they all announced their immediate resignation. Now that would hurt C|Net very very much.

Do companies really make a habit of creating tribute for anyone they've just fired?

Yeah, it's hard to be you, having to stay on that sinking ship.

I'd be crying too.

He's not dead.

E-mail him, text him, send him some real mail, call him up.....jesus.

@Tull:

I agree, I think it has a lot to do with having common interests. After all, computers/gaming type industry, people go into because they WANT to, not cause they HAVE to like a construction worker or retail associate.

On average that is!

@Gong:

It just goes to show you there is an underlying deaper secret involved!

"It's hard seeing GameSpot sucks written on forums."
Dude, imagine working for GameStop. We're hated EVERYWHERE.

@Gong: Not really, but for those with a lot of seniority they sometimes will make a big deal out of it. I know the last couple senior managers we had leave the company we ended up holding a going away party in the office and then got them drunk at the local bar after work.

I think this tribute would be fit better if Gerstmann had left the company on his own rather than being fired and locked out of the building. I'm sure the guys in the video all feel genuine but those who seem to be doing damage control probably forced the tribute to be made to begin with.

There's something hilarious about a "tribute" to a guy who is still very much alive, complete with hosts that are near tears.

It makes me want to say "it would be funny if it weren't so tragic"... but yeah, it's not tragic at all, so it's just funny.

I said WOW

Thats some serious devotion.

HA HA HA HA.

By the way, GAMESPOT SUCKS.

I have no sympathy for them.

HA HA HA HA HA.

The biggest thing with this (I've known Jeff for around 10 years), is what they've said so many times.. The GS crew is like a family.. A lot of those guys were friends before they were co-workers, and they were all blindsided by this.. I know a few of them work there *because* of Jeff. Because they got to work with him.

It's really hard, having one of the best things about your job disappear, especially when, yeah, you were working 16 hour days, but they were side by side with someone you loved as a friend.. To lose that.. sucks.

This is absolutely rediculous. The guy's going to move on in his career. It's called turnover...it happens.

"Tributes" to fired employees is just bizarre and melodramatic. I am quite surprised that upper management even allowed this to be aired.

Why that guy is nearly in tears is beyond me. Like it's been said before...go have a beer with him later. He's not dead.

Fahey, you missed have missed the marathon Florian Eckhardt tribute hosted by a tearful Luke Smith.

I'd like to add that Gamestop sucks as well. Thank you.

It was the lack of a proper send-off that ticked me off in the first place. When the other guys dumped them for better jobs they got a nice goodbye. But when GameSpot does the dumping apparently they just toss your stuff and change the locks.

Now, this just seems like an attempt to get everyone to stop hating them. And I think the reason this comes across like a funeral is that's pretty much the only time it makes sense to have a going away party without the guest of honor. Couldn't they have let him in the building for that 8 minutes? LOL

His rap wasn't as embarrassing as I thought it was going to be before he actually got into it. Haha.

I think the guys at GameSpot are nearly in tears because of the situation with fan's response to this whole thing. They feel like their credibility is going down the tubes, and who can blame them. It does suck to see "GameSpot sucks!" written a 100,000 times in forums on the web, you know, when you work for GameSpot. So I'd say that their emotional response is even more so related to the toilet of credibility GameSpot finds itself in right now, more so than as a response to the treatment of their co-worker Jeff.

Most of you are...heartless? Aren't you the same people who were decrying GameSpot and CNet the past week? Evidently, it's not the person you care about, but the act itself? A dude did lose his job suddenly and unexpectedly. Have a little compassion.

Ahem...cutting through the double-talk, allow me to translate whats written between the lines of this video.

"Wahh...wahhhh...cry and have pity for us, we who fired one of our buddies....feel sorry for us, major collective sadface's :(:(:("

@ReiBeatAll: Boo-hoo to both sentiments; I work at EA. :)

This is more of a travesty than a tragedy.

@vanderhoef: You know how they say "all press is good press?" Well J.Gerstmann's been getting a LOT of press... And not only the bad kind that's good just cuz it's press, but mostly real good press, you know, in support of him and this perceived injustice. I'd say he'll get a new job, or even start his own publication. I think he'll come out of his on top.

@LeChuck:

When the other guys dumped them for better jobs they got a nice goodbye. But when GameSpot does the dumping apparently they just toss your stuff and change the locks.

That is what happens though, especially in the corporate world!

@cerberus_oz: none of those in that tribute had a hand in his firing since Gerstmann pretty much led them. Only people who had the power to fire Gerstmann is not in that video. Do people even work or just play games. I mean anyone who actually works for a living would know how firing works.

@Tull: That's exactly my point. It's usually done for resignations and uh, well, deaths. Everything's just pretty damn bizarre right now.

@Campion:

Yeah, you got it pretty bad there, though the hate is obviously the vocal minority judging by the sales EA does.

And most who do the hate, secretly buy the shit too, dont let them fool you.

It's all just spin from the upper management. i wouldn't be surprised if everyone there ends up meeting with Jeff down to Kate O'Briens just a block down from the C|Net office for their own going away party. Just seems every in the video is genuine about their words and thoughts, but would rather be somewhere else than be there.

Oh I get it, were supposed to feel bad for them and realize the other people we're hurting by not going to gamespot.com. Anyone else feel like this is manipulative and staged or is it just me?

Agree with a lot of people here - having a tribute for someone who is out there very much alive and in good health is just really odd. The being on the verge of tearing up and such a solemn just seems so out of place.

And so ends the Ashcraft/Fahey fued. It was fun while it lasted.

Hey, when you work with a guy for so long and all of a sudden he's up and kicked out, of course they're going to miss their bud. I will agree, however, that it crosses over into creepy territory just a bit .

I don't understand the people complaining about this tribute. Of course the guys are in tears: 1) their best friend was fired, 2) the thing was so mismanaged by some corporate dickhead at CNET that GameSpot lost a lot of credibilty, 3) they feel like all the good work they've done in the past X years have been wasted, 4) their future work is probably to be hugely scrutinized and criticized.

It is clear that none of the guys in the video is responsible for the firing of Jeff. I think they agreed to do damage control because 1) they want to save GS and 2) management promised them that the people responsible for the fiasco would be punished.

GAMESPOT SUCKS

There are a LOT of black t-shirts in this video.

I just wish I could rock the backwards hat like the tool in the front row.

I think an appropriate thing to do is threaten a walkout until Gerstmann is reinstated rather than doing podcasts and "tributes" as if the guy died. Unfortunately its more important to "save face" and not highlight the stupidity and spinelessness of management by sticking to a stupid decision.

How people can work in any kind of corporate environment where protocol is more important than people is beyond my ability to grasp.

give me a fucking break. it's a website that reviews video games.

@Tull: As employees of gamespot, they represent the company...gamespot.
Gamespot the company, fired Jeff.

See where this is going ?

@Cell9song:

That is why I got out of it long ago!

This looks like Gamespot is trying to quell contentions within the Gamespot staff. Given that Gamespot has already stated that Gerstmann was fired, it'd be a pretty terrible PR move to suddenly make a tribute video to him, to fondly remember his tenure at Gamespot which in the end was, according to Gamespot, problematic enough to fire him. Of course they're running the risk of being hypocritical or smacking of immense desperation (which many of you have already pointed out), but I think they're trying to do everything they can to prevent a mass resignation at the moment. At the very least, they can hope that staffers resign quietly later on when this has all died down.

Think of it this way; the Gamespot management conceded to making this sappy tribute. It gives mixed messages about Gerstmann's standing with Gamespot and it makes them look like they're apologizing indirectly. Given that they allowed the video to air is a clear sign that things are fucked up inside Gamespot as they're rumored to be.

I think gamers need to send apology letters to this man!

QQ...hes about to cry because his website is website is going down the shitter.

This feels so faked to me. It looks to me that GS have really taken a hit and they're trying everything to pill off.

Cut open the heart of a corporation and the only thing that flows out is people.

Damage Control!

That's all it is.

@vanderhoef: I can't speak for anyone else, but some of us have lost their jobs before too, you know (in my case, through no fault of my own). It happens. You deal with it and move on. If you're skilled enough, you end up realizing that your old job was just holding you back anyway and you end up with something better.

There's nothing "heartless" about not thinking a guy losing his job is worth some sort of online "tribute". Thousands of other people lose their jobs every day. Where are their tributes? (And why should they all deserve them?)

It would be heartless if the guy really had died and we were all saying this. But he didn't. He's sitting at home right now drinking a beer and playing some games while he lives off his severance. He's a well known guy in the industry; somebody will hire him. He's got nothing to worry about. There's nothing worthy of a tribute here.

this feels like a funeral. All the black t-shirts make it seem like that.