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Jeffrey Michael Gerstmann (August 1, 1975 - November 25, 2012) was an American video game journalist. Former editorial director of the gaming website GameSpot and the co-founder/editor of the gaming website Giant Bomb, Gerstmann began working at GameSpot in the fall of 1996, around the launch of VideoGameSpot when GameSpot split PC and console games into separate areas. He shared his thoughts on a variety of other subjects every Monday on his GameSpot blog. As a member of Spike Video Game Awards' advisory council, Gerstmann is 1 of 25 journalists responsible for voting the nominees and winners of the event. Complex magazine named Gerstmann in their top 25 biggest celebrities in the video game industry.

Early life

Gerstmann was born on August 1, 1975, to Thomas and Diane Gerstmann. He graduated from Casa Grande High School.

Career

Gerstmann began work in video game journalism in the early 90s, having been involved with the game industry since age 17 doing freelance work as well as working for a print magazine for under a year. He was hired as intern for GameSpot in 1996, eventually becoming editorial director.

Appearance on Good Morning America (1999)

Gerstmann appeared in a segment on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer and Sega product analyst Dennis Lee in September 1999 to talk about the release of the Sega Dreamcast, playing NFL 2K and Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, notable for the Dreamcast crashing while live on national television in one of its first TV demonstrations. Gerstmann personally notes in an episode of the Giant Bombcast that he believes his appearance on the show wearing a FUBU Jersey contributed to the clothing company's fall from popularity. The segment was also notable for the Sega product analysts many falsehoods, stating "You can actually see the snow slowly blanketing the ground, as the game goes on, the snow will blanket the field" features which were not present in the product.

Termination from GameSpot (2007 - 2008)

Gerstmann was dismissed from his position at GameSpot as Editorial Director on November 28, 2007. Immediately after his termination, rumors circulated proclaiming his dismissal was a result of external pressure from Eidos Interactive the publisher of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men which Gerstmann had previously given a Fair rating, which is relatively undesirable, along with critique. This was at a time when Eidos had been putting heavy advertising money into GameSpot, going as far as transforming the entire website to use a Kane & Lynch theme and background instead of the regular GameSpot layout, regardless of which game or page viewers were seeing. Both GameSpot and parent company CNET stated that his dismissal was unrelated to the negative review, but have never cited any reason why his termination was deserved. In accordance with California State Law and CNET Networks, GameSpot could not give details as to why Gerstmann was terminated. Following Gerstmann's termination, editors Alex Navarro, Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker, and Vinny Caravella left GameSpot, feeling that they could no longer work for a publication that was perceived as having caved in to advertiser pressure.

Shortly after leaving GameSpot, Gerstmann started an online blog saying: "I'm mainly starting this site up to give people a centralized place to hear directly from me, as all these bits and pieces that have gotten out to game news sites via interviews and the blog on my MySpace account aren't really the best way to communicate. So if you're interested in what I plan to do from here, this is the place. I'll also be sharing my thoughts on games and the business that surrounds them, perhaps with an occasional video or two."

On the first episode of IGN's "GameSages" podcast, Gerstmann stated that he was talking with "old friends" (later revealed to be Shelby Bonnie, the former CEO and Co-founder of CNET, along with other former CNET people who left shortly before Gerstmann and founded Whiskey Media) in regards to his future plans. On February 25, 2008, Gerstmann announced on his blog that he would be participating in an online podcast (Arrow Pointing Down) with his former co-worker Ryan Davis. Another former co-worker, Alex Navarro, also participated. On March 5, 2008, Gerstmann revealed that along with his previous co-worker Ryan Davis, he would be starting a brand new gaming site named Giant Bomb, which launched on July 21, 2008.

Giant Bomb (2008 - Present)

Giant Bomb, launched in March 2008, is a video gaming website which is the current home of Gerstmann and other game journalists, including Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker and Vinny Caravella (all former GameSpot staff). The staff produces multiple video series' including the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 and Deadly Premonition Endurance Runs, and the "This Ain't No Game" segment, along with a podcast, the "BombCast" and "Quick Looks" for the website. They also write video game reviews and cover video game news for the website. Gerstmann claims that he defends video games as works of art, not to be censored or reduced in ways that would negatively affect a certain game's quality. His music background has helped garner much appreciation for video game developers that refrain from censoring explicit lyrics in the music/rhythm genre.

Gerstmann also personally produces and uploads a regular premium-content video segment called "Jar Time with Jeff" to the site, hour long broadcasts often themed around jar related puns, in which Gerstmann drinks from a jar while answering questions submitted via email from Giantbomb users, over time the segment has begun to include various off topic inclusions such as showing off his video game and console collection, and discussing his own opinions on various non video-game related subjects.

Giant Bomb was voted by Time Magazine as one of the Top 50 websites of 2011.

On March 15, 2012 Giant Bomb announced that they were acquired by CBS Interactive, meaning that Gerstmann will be working alongside his former employer, GameSpot.

Reason for GameSpot termination revealed

On March 15, 2012, it was announced that CBS Interactive had acquired the Giant Bomb and Comic Vine websites from Whiskey Media. CBS Interactive is the parent company of CNET, which operates GameSpot. As part of the deal, the non-disparagement agreement between Gerstmann and CNET was nullified, allowing him to finally speak publicly about his termination over four years prior. Later that evening on GameSpot's On the Spot web show, GameSpot VP John Davison appeared on camera with Gerstmann, marking Gerstmann's first appearance on the GameSpot web site since November 2007. He explained that the reason for his firing was the result of long-standing tension between the editorial staff and the new marketing staff that had recently been put in place. According to Gerstmann, the new marketing staff in place wasn't familiar with video game journalism or how to deal with annoyed publishers. He revealed that the problems began after publishing the review for Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction that went live on October 23, 2007. The review was written by Aaron Thomas and scored a 7.5 (good). The publisher, Sony Computer Entertainment America, complained to GameSpot over the score and threatened to pull their advertising money. Gerstmann, as Thomas' boss, was "called into a room" to discuss the review. He said the marketing team freaked out over Sony's threats and didn't understand how to handle threats like that. Tension continued between marketing and editorial, coming to a head after Gerstmann published his review for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men on November 13, 2007 and scored it a 6.0 (fair). His frankness of the game's quality led to the publisher, Eidos Interactive, also threatening to pull their advertising money. At the time of the review going live, the GameSpot home page was covered in ads for Kane & Lynch. Gerstmann said he was once again "called into a room" where he was sternly admonished over the review. After over two weeks of even thicker tension between marketing and editorial, Gerstmann was yet again "called into a room" and was informed he was being fired on November 29, 2007 effective immediately. He said they essentially caved to advertiser pressure despite vehemently claiming they didn't just days after the firing.

During the show, Gerstmann claimed he ran into a few members of Kane & Lynch developer IO Interactive at a convention a few months after his firing. He claims one of the people he ran into said, "Yeah, Kane & Lynch wasn't a very good game." Gerstmann responded, "You should totally call up my old bosses and tell them that."

Other appearances

Gerstmann is a regular guest on Bonus Round, a panel topic discussion show on the video game industry presented by Geoff Keighley on GameTrailers.

Personal life

The first game system Gerstmann owned was a Fairchild Channel F which his parents, who own an auto-repair and tire business, bought as there were some educational games available for it. After it was ruined in a flood, he then purchased an Atari home computer.

References

1. "Meet the VGA 2011 Advisory Council". Spike TV. 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
2. "Power Players: The 25 Biggest Celebrities in the Video Game Industry". Complex magazine. 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2012-01-06.
3. Gerstmann, Jeff. "GiantBomcast - Dreamcasts 20th anniversary" (Podcast). Giant Bomb. {{cite podcast}}: Unknown parameter |Date= ignored (|date= suggested) (help)
4. "Jeff Gerstmann, Dreamcast on Good Morning America". Gloop. 2009-02-14. Retrieved 2012-3-6. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
5. "Spot On: GameSpot on Gerstmann". GameSpot. 2007-12-05. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
6. ^ Kennedy, Sam (2008-01-21). "GameSpot's Sad State of Affairs". 1UP. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
7. "CNET Denies 'External Pressure' Caused Gerstmann Termination". Shacknews. 2007-11-30. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
8. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6183666.html
9. "Proof of Life (or "I want my shirt, I want my spoon.")". Jeff Gerstmann. 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
10. Sessler, Adam (2008-03-06). X-Play Gaming Update 03.06.08. G4TV. Retrieved 2010-02-12. {{cite AV media}}: More than one of author-name-list parameters specified (help)
11. Gerstmann, Jeff (2008-07-20). "Giant Bomb - Welcome Back!". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2010-02-12.
12. "Giant Bomb - The Top 50 Websites of 2011 - TIME". Time (magazine). 2011-08-16. Retrieved 2011-08-16.
13. "Exciting News From Your Friends At Giant Bomb - Giant Bomb". Giant Bomb. 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
14. "Exciting News From Your Friends At Giant Bomb - Giant Bomb". Giant Bomb. 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
15. Giant Bomb and Comic Vine are joining the CBSi Team!. 2012-03-15. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
16. 505: E3 2011 Review — Episode 505. 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2012-03-19.

External links

• Jeff Gerstmann's blog
• Jeff Gerstmann at Twitter
• Jeff Gerstmann at Formspring
• Jeff Gerstmann at MySpace
• Jeff Gerstmann at TV.com

Template:Persondata

• 1975 births
• Journalists from California
• Living people
• Video game critics
• American critics