• 4Dec 07

  Hello... Goodbye...

  So I was finally able to eek out some free time and thought I'd stop by here to say hello to all my friends that I haven't talked with in over a month. Much to my dismay, the first thing I see upon loading the site is the story about Jeff Gerstmann. It seems the Sh!t has really hit the fan here, and this is just the thing I have been looking for.

  I am not out to get anyone or anything like that. It's just that when Greg Kasavin left for EA a year ago, I felt it was a little strange, sudden, and that there was more to the story than met the eye. It also hurt a lot, because Greg was sort of a role model for me and someone I really looked up to. He was the reason I finally made an account here and became active after lurking about the site for years. Then there was Jeff. I never liked him as much as Greg. I down righted hated his reviews most of the time, but he could be quite funny on occasion. Oh, and there is no denying that with Greg they made up Gamespots image. Don't get me wrong, there has always been a great team of professionals here at Gamespot to make it the place it has become known for, but in terms of image, as a long time Gamespotter I can tell you that the image has always been Greg and Jeff. When Greg left there was only Jeff, and now Jeff is gone. So now I feel like "who is there now?"

  That's not the reason I'm leaving though. The reason I am leaving is because of why and how Jeff's employment of over a decade was terminated, which was the result of pressure from an advertiser. I was aware that Jeff gave Kane and Lynch a bad review when his review went live. I was also made aware by other people who had played the game and reviewed it that it wasn't too good. What Jeff did with that review was step on the toes on Gamespots new upper management. The new upper management that has no clue how to handle gaming journalism and editoral. That management was stupid in the interest of making big money and made promises to the advertisers they couldn't keep. Then, when Jeff put his review up he stepped on upper managements toes by making them look really stupid in the eyes of the advertisers. He showed the advertisers that the new upper management couldn't keep the promises they made, which pissed them off. Long story short, corporate politics come into play, things trickle down, and Jeff gets the boot for doing his job, and being the tough cynical reviewer he is, and delivering an honest review, which is completely and totally wrong in my eyes.

  Now, understand that it's not Jeff being fired that has me upset here. What has me upset is everything that took place behind the scenes and led up to the firing. It's dishonest and just plain wrong. I like the community aspect of this place. I've made a lot of friends here and had a lot of good times over the years. However, Gamespot is a news site, not a social networking site. If I wanted social networking I would be on MySpace, or Facebook, or something like that. What I come here for is the news, reviews, and editorials. The community aspect stuff is just a nice bonus that I partake in on the side, sort of like a delicious side dish you get when ordering a full meal at a restaurant. You eat it and it's good, and you eat the main dish you ordered and it's good. You have a good meal and are happy you came to the restaurant and spent your money. Likewise, if the side dish is bad you don't eat it, but if the main meal is good you are also satisfied. However, if the main dish you ordered is bad then you aren't going to be happy even if the side dish is good. You're going to send it all back to the kitchen, complain, and go some place else and not come back. That's what I'm doing here. I'm sending the main dish I ordered back to the kitchen.

  Gamespot lost all credibility in my eyes over this, because it shows their scores are up for sale through advertising. "How do you wanted your game scored? Oh, well how much are you willing to pay? I'm sorry that isn't nearly enough. That much will only get you a 6.5 or 7.0 at best." I can't in good conscience go to and partake in a site that has that for it's business practices. I'm sorry. They claim to be dedicated to giving unbiased news, reviews, etc. Yet, what they are giving everyone is anything but unbiased, and now that people see that it makes people, such as myself, who have listened to Gamespot, followed them, and had faith in them over the years feel pretty stupid. When I come to a news site, such as Gamespot, I want unbiased accurate news, previews, and reviews. Gamespot just showed me and everyone else that that isn't what they have been giving. I come here for a grilled strip steak, and they are giving me fried chicken wings. I'm sorry, but that's not what I ordered!

  Gamespot isn't the site they used to be. The Gamespot I knew, fell in love with and joined is gone. Now it's time for me to move on. At least I can say with great pride that my own indie video game review site won't be guilty of this sort of travesty when it finally goes live in 2008. Yes that's right. MY OWN video game review site. That is the project I mentioned getting involved in a few months back, but truth be told it is something I started up and have been working on on the side for a couple years now. Greg K leaving and Gamespot redoing it's review criteria gave my system a real kick start and made me make it a priority. Now with what has happened here and to Jeff it's beyond a priority. So look for Brutally Honest Gamers in 2008. We will be looking for you.

  So long my friends. May fame and fortune find each of you one the road ahead.

  -Will Ferrel aka Cerza

  • Posted Dec 4, 2007 10:41 pm GMT
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• 13Oct 07

  Hello Gamespot! Yes, I'm still alive...

  I just want to drop a line to all my friends here at Gamespot to let them know I am still alive and well, and no I haven't forgotten about you all. I picked up a second job, because my main one has been ungodly slow, and this project I have gotten involved in is a whole third job in itself. Needless to say, I have either been too dog tired at the end of the day to do anything, or I just haven't had the time to get on Gamespot.

  I did pick up Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the DS and The Orange Box for the PC while I was running errands for work the other day. I haven't had time to open them yet and try them out, but I hear they are really good. So, needless to say I am excited, because everything else coming out this holiday season has been a total let down, including Halo 3, which I beat in 5 hours two saturday nights ago and the multiplayer doesn't impress me at all. $65 dollars for a five hour game with last years multiplayer? Yea, I don't feel it was good buy. Half Life 2 Episode 1 and Half Life Blue Shift both offer the same short rehash Halo 3 does, but the difference is they are only $10 so I don't feel like I really wastd my money on them, unlike Halo 3.

  So, what has everyone else been up to? I dunno when the next time I'll be on is, but I hope it will be soon.

  • Posted Oct 13, 2007 9:08 am GMT
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• 30Aug 07

  Where Has All The Excitement Gone?

  Is this happening to anyone else recently? 4th quarter is here, and with it so is the avalanche of highly anticipated holiday titles, but I don't find myself getting excited about any of them. Sure I pre-ordered Crysis and Halo 3 months ago, along with Bioshock, Stranglehold, Blue Dragon, Eternal Sonata, Guild Wars Eye of the North and a bunch of other titles, but I'm just not jumping for joy to finally be getting my hands on them. I know I should be happy, but I'm just not.

  I returned my copy of Bioshock, as soon as I found out it had SecuROM on it, because SecuROM is just as evil as Starforce, and I refuse to have that crap on my computer. I know I am missing out on a timeless gaming narrative, and sure I could pick it up off Steam, or get the 360 version. However, my issues with Steam's security aside, to me downloading the game defeats the purpose in getting it. I might as well just pirate it. I want a physical copy, you know? I want something tangible for my money so I'll have something that will take up more shelf space in my library, and I won't feel like I am just wasting my hard earned cash. I could get that with the 360 version, and from what I am told the 360 version is very, very, very good. It's just as good as the PC version in fact. However, my problem with the 360 is that almost every game available for it is also available on another platform, be it PS3, or PC, or whatever. Furthermore, on those other platforms I can ultimately get more out of it, be it better graphics, mods, or what-have-you. When Microsoft was touting the 360 before it launched, they said the games would be on HDDVD. However, it has been almost two years since the system launched, and not a single Xbox 360 game has been released on HDDVD. The system doesn't even come with an HDDVD drive! All Xbox 360 games are on standard DVD 9's. Yet, Microsoft charges as much for them as SONY does for their PS3 games. The only difference is that PS3 games are on Bluray, which means they have better graphics and sound both now and in the future. You can't mod on the 360 like you can on the PC, because Microsoft doesn't allow it unless it goes through them, and once it does they want you to charge for it. Why should I buy Bioshock for the 360, or any game for the 360, when I am ultimately paying more for less?

  I canceled my pre-orders for Eternal Sonata and Blue Dragon, because they just look bland, clichéd, and unexciting. They look like PS2 JRPG's carried over to a next gen platform. Why should I spend $60 for them when they received less than rave reviews in Japan, and are receiving less than rave reviews now that they are coming out here? I could spend $50 for something on the PS2 with the same graphics, albeit slightly grainier, and have a better gaming experience.

  This leaves me with Guild Wars Eye of the North, Halo 3, and Stranglehold. All three of which I am debating over whether I really want. I did the preview event for Guild Wars last Friday. I devoted the whole day to it, and it took me about seven hours to complete. However, if I had to describe the event to you in one word that word would be disappointing. I don't know why I felt let down playing it. Perhaps I got too caught up in Arena.net's marketing jargon and expected too much. What I played was really good. The only problem is that I already own all three of the stand alone Guild Wars games and have played through them, which made what I experienced last Friday feel like I had done it before. More importantly, it had been done before just as good if not better. The new areas, heroes, enemies and so on are cool, but I just can't get excited about them. Plus, now that the Mesmer class is getting AOE hexes I feel like I can't get excited, because it makes me question the games balance among other things.

  The big problem here though is that it's not fresh, or at least it doesn't feel fresh. That goes for everything that is coming out this holiday season. Bungie didn't change the mechanics of Halo again for Halo 3. So, when I once again don the guise of Master Chief, as many other gamers will do, and set out to save Earth by blowing tiny little aliens to itty bitty bits, I know what to expect in the game thanks to the last Halo game, a game I despised. The only difference is that the graphics will be better, the assault rifle will be back, there are few new weapons and gizmos, and there will be new corridors to crawl and blast up.

  The demo for Stranglehold did nothing for me. It felt like another average shooter that looked good three years ago, but looks dated now. Crysis won't be anything special when it lands either. It too will be just another shooter. After all that's all Farcry was, no offense to you Crysis and Farcry fans. The only thing that will make Crysis stand out from the crowd is the technical aspects of the game, such as the graphics, which are undeniably a marvel to look at and years ahead of their time.

  Even the innovative Wii has me let down. What do I want another Metroid Prime game for, or another Smash Bros., or another Mario? I have multiple copies of those titles already, which go back to each series birth, five, ten, and twenty years ago. Nintendo promised something different and interesting with this console, but aside from Wii Fit, all I see is more of the same crap they have been dishing out for the past ten years or more. Companies and developers need to start doing things differently if they want to keep this industry alive, because right now it's stagnating like it did in the early 80's, and my money is staying in my wallet.

  Maybe I'm getting too old for video games. After all, I have been playing them for almost twenty years now. Maybe I'm just burned out. Maybe I'm just grumpy. Maybe I'm too cynical. Maybe I'm this. Maybe I'm that. What I'm not though, is a sucker, and I see no point in spending more money on what I already have. I also see no point in spending money on something that I will ultimately get less out of when I can buy it for less on a different platform and get more out of it there. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to cancel my pre-orders.

  • Posted Aug 30, 2007 9:41 am GMT
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