Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight - Kotaku Comments

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

dv8godd — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:53:24 MST

@toneroni: I don't mind it in general, honestly... I just think it's becoming more and more the standard, and interesting conversations aren't occurring until later and later in a thread, or sometimes not at all.

I think what I mean by "thinning the herd" is that it wouldn't be a bad thing to get rid of some people who never do anything but. I mean, if all a person ever says is "i like this", "i don't like this", or "i'd hit it" then there's really no point to that anymore than a rabid fanboy or troll. No matter how innocuous, it's just not adding anything. If it's coming from someone who DOES frequently add to the substance of discussions, that's one thing... just the ones who don't have anything to say but say it anyway kinda get old.

In other words... it's not just "tone" that should be filterable... but general signal-to-noise ratio, if you catch my meaning.

But yes, its a touchy area to consider... and it's highly subjective... and the goal would be only to improve the community, not kill it.

dv8godd

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

toneroni — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:42:05 MST

@dv8godd: While I do agree in principle, sometimes people just want to express their opinions, be it "thats lame" or "thats cool" (this is a comment board btw). Thin the herd too much and there won't be any herd left. But yeah sometimes reading through the comments is too time consuming.

toneroni

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

bsquadleader — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 01:06:54 MST

does anyone know if this is on the net somewhere, I didn't find it, but maybe someone recorded it and can put it online for us.

bsquadleader

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

dv8godd — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:07:57 MST

@dv8godd: Apologies for lousy grammar... my head was thinking ahead of my hands.

dv8godd

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

dv8godd — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:54:11 MST

@JustThisGuy: ...

I'm in one of those moods, personally... I say let the blood run deep. As I was saying to Witz earlier, this post is a good example:

(First let me preface by saying that I have great respect for a number of people who would seem to be targets of the following statement... I just think the general "trend" has caught many of us, myself included. It is not the "people", it's the "process" of commenting that is failing, if anything... but with that overly cautious intro out of the way...)

It took 28 comments in this post before someone, Hiero Glyph (followed by Seiryuu), actually made a comment about the "topic" of this post, rather than some offhand remark of reference to the writer or his tone.

Again, that is nothing personal against ANYONE that engaged in the first 27, as people like Witz and Enigma in that list are only poking back at the worst offenders and some other people I actually really like are merely just chatting it up.

But I still think there is something to be said about the idea of a general "herd thinning". I don't mind to occasional "hey, let's just jabber" banter, but it has begun to overtake absolutely everything anymore. Even still, it's not my site to dictate policy... but it seems to me that cutting some chaff, even if it is nothing against the people who get razed in the process, can't be a bad thing for the quality of discussion for the site overall.

That isn't to say I think we should return to invite only or anything like that... I'm not speaking to the quality of people as a group.

It just seems that, as a whole, we're getting away from the best content we all have to offer. We accepting innocuous commentary like "that's cool" in excess and deride people who say "that's lame" for tone, but the quality of commentary is often similar. I'm guilty of it too, though I end up pissed at myself for it.

I guess my basic point is: as commentors, we should aspire to hold ourselves to higher standards overall, ideally even higher than the site editors if possible. To get there, some bloodletting will undoubtedly be necessary, with a bar set rather low.

As long as it is working towards the higher goal of a better site with better commentary, I'd be happy to see Witz run crazed through the ranks with knives out.

dv8godd

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Witzbold — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 20:06:32 MST

@zerokoolpsx: Thats unfortunate since its what everyone wants to know the most! Asides from what his future plans are and all that.

Witzbold

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

zerokoolpsx — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 19:35:20 MST

he still can't talk about his departure due to legal reasons.

zerokoolpsx

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Witzbold — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 18:35:43 MST

@JustThisGuy: You know its a lot like this really.

[www.buzzhumor.com]

That vid was linked by a fellow commentor in the original night of knives story.

Witzbold

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

JustThisGuy — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:52:25 MST

@Witzbold: You know Witzbold, there are times when I think that you enjoy this entirely too much. Let's not bleed 'em too much, huh?

JustThisGuy

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Dudemeister — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:34:57 MST

Every time I see that face I can only think of him hosting the Gears of War matches which made me feel reaaaaaally nerdy for watching.

I'm glad that he's gonna make a TV appearance though. I'd hate for him to fade into obscurity after a while.

Dudemeister

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Witzbold — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:19:57 MST

@Ooghijmiqtxxa: "KA-BOOM"

Witzbold

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Ooghijmiqtxxa — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:13:36 MST

@dv8godd: You trying to tell me he's never eaten a Double Whooper? Come on! I call em' as I see em', and I can bet he's laid down some Double Whoopers at his time at GameSpot. Maybe that's why they fired him. Eating at a desk at work can be quite the offense in some places.

Ooghijmiqtxxa

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

dv8godd — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:07:06 MST

@Ooghijmiqtxxa: Welcome to Kotaku, you're off to a great start.

Banned for fat joke in 3... 2... 1...

dv8godd

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Ooghijmiqtxxa — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:03:42 MST

Jesus Christ, this guy getting fired is the best thing to ever happen to him. I just hope he doesn't write a book about his "life experience". Can he just go back to eating Double Whoopers and writing game reviews that no one really cares about? Thanks!

Ooghijmiqtxxa

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Allen750 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:27:12 MST

Gamespot sucks for firing him. But good for him.

Allen750

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Ra is on That 70s Show — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:17:34 MST

They wouldn't fire the creator of Fahtaku!

Ra is on That 70s Show

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

goldwings — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:51:13 MST

"lack of innovation in Japanese gaming"
It's not just the Japanese market.
I never liked Gerstmann. To me, he always had an arrogant attitude to all the games he reviewed... I'll be quiet now

goldwings

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

My360broked — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:39:01 MST

Meh, I hate G4 nowadays, and I heard they messed xplay up.

My360broked

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

KM91 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:09:02 MST

Doesn't look very camera-friendly, but I'll tune into X-Play tonight as I usually do.

KM91

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

AgainstOne — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:44:32 MST

@Vecha: no, it's not, because he was unjustly fired for doing what he's supposed to doing and doing right by us. he was fired for not whoring himself out to the industry. you should appreciate that.

AgainstOne

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

duckandcover — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:22:54 MST

I notice that x-play has been violated, it is a mere husk of it's former good self. G4 should of learned to keep there mitts of the only show that was still decent. (Seriously Attack of the Show, ohhhhhh how edgy)

duckandcover

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Spencer10 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:11:25 MST

This isn't actually Jeff's first appearance on G4. He co-hosted Attack of the Show for a week once with Kevin and appeared on some GameSpot/G4 produced episodes of Cinematech.

(obviously a fan of Jeff's work)

Spencer10

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

gamerzworld — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:49:20 MST

X-Play? Gerstmann, what are you thinking?!

gamerzworld

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

DigitalHero — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:48:36 MST

Looks like a thinning of the herd is coming.

DigitalHero

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

mazur — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:45:51 MST

yikes, it's a giant squirrel!

mazur

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Vecha — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:16:55 MST

This is pathetic...sorry...can we please get over this...

It's like everyone freaking out over Brittany Spears or some other person...

Vecha

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Voteforme2020 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:15:01 MST

Also, about this lack of innovation in Japanese games... is you crazy? :o Their games are still the most innovated.. I think they're confusing games that make it to America and the games we never see.

Voteforme2020

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Voteforme2020 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:12:39 MST

I'll admit it, I dislike him and Gamespot as a whole. I dislike people working there, I dislike their reviews, and I even dislike people who like them (I keed! I keed!). With all that put aside, I do feel genuine remorse for him. He lost his job, that just plain sucks.

I think X-Play's doing this mostly for ratings, and partly for any remaining hardcore audience they may still have. But, it's TV after all, and I'll watch it *grumbles*...

Voteforme2020

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Lockenator — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:09:21 MST

It'd be interesting to see this, but I sadly cannot watch it. Now if you excuse me I have to go sandpaper my throat.

Lockenator

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

JustThisGuy — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:09:15 MST

@Setzer IIDX: And for a serious answer: get a portfolio together and apply. Most sites are always looking for reviewers. You won't get any paid gigs until you have a significant body of work, but it's quite simple to review games and get a paycheck. They'll probably 1099 you, but money's money.

It's a bit easier if you just want to write about games--just draft a well-written pitch and send it to the eds at whatever publication you're aiming for. The process for writing for VG pubs is no different than any other magazine.

JustThisGuy

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Mr.SithNinja — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:06:37 MST

@Witzbold:

Note to self: Add to the list of things that incur the wrath of the bannhammer, no politcal hate speaches and no personal attacks on the devilishly handsome Gertsmann...

Mr.SithNinja

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

JustThisGuy — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:02:43 MST

@Hiero Glyph: Dude, your problem is that you make really broad statements about an entire country that is--gasp!--filled with widely varying demographic markets.

What you call "innovation" everyone else calls "worthless spin-offs that were made on the cheap to cash in popular franchises." I'm pretty sure there was a Chocobo Racing game, and I'm pretty sure that it sucked horribly.

The industry--including Western and Eastern developers--doesn't need to "innovate" on existing franchises. It does need a friendlier atmsophere for high-risk endeavors, but on the whole, the game industry is no worse than television, film, music, or publishing. As is the case, find the indies and your search of innovation will be duly rewarded.

JustThisGuy

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

EnigmaNemesis — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:59:14 MST

@dv8godd:

Huh?

EnigmaNemesis

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Gadgetron — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:56:56 MST

@Setzer IIDX: have an elitist attitude, hate playing games, and make snap judgments at the drop of a hat...oh and have no moral issues with giving good reviews for money err advertisement compensation.

Gadgetron

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Gadgetron — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:54:09 MST

it might be an interesting interview, but alas its on xplay so thats a no watch for me.

Gadgetron

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

CyN1caL — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:47:52 MST

Fahey-gate has a less catchy ring to it.

CyN1caL

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

dv8godd — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:44:15 MST

@Witzbold: Notice what?

dv8godd

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Witzbold — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:43:59 MST

@Cardigan Square: Kinda like how no one is going to notice you going missing from now on.

Witzbold

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

fuchikoma — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:41:39 MST

Hiero Glyph
Seiryuu

Pretty much. While I see games like Patapon and EchoChrome, Loco Roco, (hm, three for the "gameless" PSP :p), Mainichi Issho, SMG, or Zack and Wiki coming from Japan, the last really innovative Western title I saw was Portal. Before that, it was... uh... hmm... Burnout 3 maybe? Not counting PC indie titles and experimental noncommercial stuff, I'm drawing a blank.

fuchikoma

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

DrDog — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:38:47 MST

oh wow, Jeff's return to a show he used to be a part of back when it was called gamespot tv.
...Back when it was good.

DrDog

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

HykCraft — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:37:59 MST

@HykCraft: err.. *IS my own custom rig.

HykCraft

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

HykCraft — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:37:30 MST

@Cardigan Square: I'm waiting for the fat jokes to flood this post, lol. Because all over GameFaqs and GameSpot was all about Jeff and fat jokes about his low scores on games.

HykCraft

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

HykCraft — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:35:19 MST

@Ignatius: Mine is 6k, but not my own custom rig. But about Joystiq, I find their site and postings funny because they always copy most of Kotaku's posts.

HykCraft

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Cardigan Square — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:19:47 MST

You could replace Gerstmann's file photo with Sloth's and no one would notice.

Cardigan Square

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Seiryuu — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:18:02 MST

Ah, forgot to mention, the most innovative thing to happen to gaming in a long time, the little known "Wii" came out of Japan. And is hugely successful because of it.

Seiryuu

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Seiryuu — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:15:33 MST

So where is all this innovation in western gaming that is being used as a frame of reference?

Is it the Fps's or the action rpg's with guns, or what?

I would say that no territory is currently exuding innovation, and when it does come (say Zack and Wiki, Okami, Vib Ribbon) it tends not to do that well.

I guess the problem with trying new things is that most of them tend not to work and people tend to forget them.

I would also say that "Fps with engaging storyline" or "squad based action game with rpg elements" (you can invert that depending on what your perception of the balance is) is hardly innovative.

And I guess there is also the tendency for "innovation" to be quickly dismissed as the usual if it works. Say alone in the dark/ resident evil, katamari, tomb raider, even mario, stalwarts of innovative new or reinvented genres which quickly became just formula games.

Seiryuu

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Hiero Glyph — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:15:03 MST

I laugh at how everyone is complaining that there is no innovation in Japanese games. I will say that No More Heroes was the best new game I have played this year. The problem is that Japan is a franchise hungry culture. They want the same gameplay and mechanics in every single game. If they do not have a tried and trusted system they will simply not buy it. That is why Nintendo games are selling so well currently in Japan.

What Japan needs is new franchises in addition to the once that are proven to work; and we are not talking Lost Odyssey here. So why not create new games based on the storyline from existing franchises? I mean would it be that hard to imagine a Chocobo or Cloud motorcycle racing game? How about an online multiplayer entry into the Brain Academy series (Jeopardy! anyone?)?

Sure, most everyone disliked the uninspired gameplay in Halo 3, but they still bought it. And now we have Halo Wars, a game about as far from the Halo gameplay as possible that will expand the franchise. So why can't Japan innovate using their proven franchises?

Hiero Glyph

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Ghostyghost — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:14:50 MST

Is their not a newer a or better picture of Jeff? I mean the review picture there from Need for Speed: Most Wanted was funny when it first came out, but that's a long time ago.

and Jeff sin't going to give reasons beides saying it was more then kane and Lynch and things were handled inappropiately beforing vehementaly denying him, Vince, and Ryan are forming a new gaming website.

I personally hope he and Alex join 1UP, more open. That and 1UP Yours of Alex - Shane - Garnett - Jeff would be hilarious.

Ghostyghost

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

GodzillaVsJapan — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:13:05 MST

ahh great news it will be great to see him back

GodzillaVsJapan

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Witzbold — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:11:44 MST

@theGimp, BurningRevenge: So anyone else wants to sample the cutlery?

Witzbold

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Cry0Tek — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:08:17 MST

@theGimp:

Your such a dork

Cry0Tek

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Gonzodamus — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 12:07:29 MST

Huzzah, a glorious celebration of a dude who got fired. I got fired once too. I gotta get on this!

Gonzodamus

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Strangelove — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:59:23 MST

I'm only watching if he and Sessler get into a real-life deathmatch on-set.

Strangelove

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Caduceus — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:48:19 MST

Fahey, you're hilarious, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Caduceus

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Infradead — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:47:37 MST

Oh Mike, you're already popular!
...Although Faheytaku could send you into as yet untested depths of popularity.

Infradead

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Ignatius — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:45:56 MST

@HykCraft:

After I got the awesome uber $5k Falcon Northwest rig... Joystiq is w00tolicious :O

Ignatius

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

HykCraft — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:44:36 MST

@BurningRevenge: lol

HykCraft

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

BurningRevenge — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:43:50 MST

"That's one ugly motherfucker"

BurningRevenge

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

sadkermit - soon to be banned for standing up to the ummm nazi. — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:43:34 MST

Be interesting to see what kind of plans are in the works for the future, although I'm not so keen on another game review site being created. Game reviews this gen are broke - and the reviewrs for the most part so jaded and biased they can't write a proper review.

Hope a clip is posted of this, I have no way to see it otherwise.

sadkermit - soon to be banned for standing up to the ummm nazi.

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

jackal888 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:37:08 MST

@CHU BOI: What is this Joystiq? Do you mean AOL Joystiq?

jackal888

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

HykCraft — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:36:30 MST

Joystiq is fuckin' worthless. Sorry.

HykCraft

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Sparx — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:36:27 MST

lack of innovation in japanese gaming? Maybe, but don't exclude american market games like generic space marine FPS #205

Sparx

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

jackal888 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:36:04 MST

This would be a good time for Jeff,Ryan,Alex,and Ryan to announce a new review site.That would demolish all other review sites.Maybe Gawker can give them some start up funds.

jackal888

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Zhabin — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:36:03 MST

lol @ "I hope I get half as popular as Jeff does when Crecente finally fires me".

I'm sure you'll be fine Mike! I never watch X-Play though so I'm wondering the same thing as Irenicus...will Kotaku possibly be providing a clip? Hope so! =D

Zhabin

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

CHU BOI — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:35:36 MST

If you leave Mike, Kotaku will be just as hilarious as Joystiq. And by hilarious I mean "not really that funny at all, but smirk-worthy at best."

Actually, you know what, I think they need you over there Mike.

CHU BOI

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

jp182 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:35:00 MST

i highly doubt he's going to get too particular as I'm sure there are legal reasons why he shouldn't should he want to pursue legal action down the road.

jp182

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

HykCraft — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:34:57 MST

GO JEFF!!

HykCraft

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Setzer IIDX — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:33:43 MST

How DO you get a job as a game reviewer/editor?

Setzer IIDX

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

EnigmaNemesis — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:31:50 MST

@theGimp:

As opposed to one posting on a gaming blog?

EnigmaNemesis

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Irenicus-the one and only — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:31:11 MST

Mike don't worry, you are safe :P I hope you guys provide a clip with this afterwards, if he actually does tell us why he got sacked that is. Something tells me he wont spill the beans :(

Irenicus-the one and only

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Hauler — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:30:57 MST

I might actually tune in to X-Play tonight for the very first time. Then again why waste my time when I will probably just be able to read about what he said tomorrow here on Kotaku.

Hauler

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

Pombar — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:29:55 MST

Faheygate 2009: CONFIRMED

Pombar

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

balls187 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:29:32 MST

Here's to delusions of grandeur, mike!

balls187

Gerstmann On X-Play Tonight

theGimp — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 11:29:29 MST

the guys such a dork

theGimp