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| Jeff Gerstmann | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1975-08-01) August 1, 1975 (age 49) Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Former editorial director of Gamespot |
| Nationality | American |
| Website | |
| www.gamespot.com | |
Jeff Gerstmann (born August 1 1975) is the former editorial director of the gaming website GameSpot. He began working at GameSpot in the fall of 1996, around the launch of VideoGameSpot when GameSpot separated PC and console games into separate areas. He shared his thoughts on a variety of other subjects every Monday on his GameSpot blog. He has also been quoted by the New York Times as a video game expert, and says that he owns over 2000 games .
Gerstmann is the founding member of the bands Headboard, The Suburban All-Stars, and Midnight Brown.
Jeff was largely part of the audio section of GameSpot. Most of the background music or intro music for shows is provided by instrumental tracks from Midnight Brown. In older video reviews at the end of the video the numerical score would be announced, Jeff also provided the voice for these scores. Additionally, Gerstmann's vocal stylings can be heard on the theme songs for Time Trotters (A single episode live-action series that was later revived in animated form), GameSpot's game show, Button Mashing, and Indievelopment: a video documentary following Echelon Software's progress on their game Black Powder Red Earth.
Gerstmann also appeared on ABC's T.V. show, Good Morning America as a guest in September 1999 to discuss the launch of Sega's Dreamcast gaming console.
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 a flood ruined the system, he then purchased an Atari home computer.
He replaced Rich Gallup as the host of On the Spot.
Gerstmann was terminated from his job at Gamespot after 10 years on November 29, 2007; while initial rumors believed the termination to be a result of external pressure from Eidos Interactive after Gerstmann gave an average rating to their video game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men despite Eidos heavily advertising on Gamespot's web site at the time, CNET (parent company of Gamespot) has stated that the company " not terminate employees based on external pressure from advertisers". The exact reasons for his departure are not yet known.
According to a news story on 1up.com, an anonymous Gamespot employee claimed that Gerstmann was fired due to a desire by the Gamestop management, which had recently been changed to give more favorable reviews to high profile games. The anonymous employee was quoted in the article as saying: "I was in the meeting where Josh Larson was trying to explain this firing and the guy had absolutely no response to any of the criticisms we were sending his way. He kept dodging the question, saying that there were "multiple instances of tone" in the reviews that he hadn't been happy about, but that wasn't Jeff's problem since we all vet every review. He also implied that "AAA" titles deserved more attention when they were being reviewed, which sounded to all of us that he was implying that they should get higher scores, especially since those titles are usually more highly advertised on our site."
References
- "Nintendo's Wii, Radiating Fun, Is Eclipsing Sony Machine". New York Times. 2007-01-31. Retrieved 2007-02-12.
- http://www.gamespot.com/users/AaronThomas/video_player.php?id=dnYykzL75bgMvTbX
- http://www.gamespot.com/users/AaronThomas/video_player.php?id=dnYykzL75bgMvTbX
- http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/alleged-gamespot-employee-spills-guts-on-valleywag-328797.php
- Klepek, Patrick (2007-11-30). "GameSpot Fires Editorial Director". 1UP. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Faylor, Christ (2007-11-30). "CNET Denies 'External Pressure' Caused Gertsmann Termination". Shacknews. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Orland, Kyle (2007-11-30). "GameSpot denies Eidos pressured firing of Gerstmann". Joystiq. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3164656
External links
- Jeff Gerstmann at GameSpot
- Jeff Gerstmann at MySpace
- Jeff Gerstmann at TV.com
- The Suburban All-Stars
- Midnight Brown