Gerstmanngate Comes Full Circle

It was a cold day in Philadelphia when the news hit that Jeff Gerstmann had gotten the sack. I was a younger man then, turning the rambunctious age of 23, and things were simpler. There were hundreds of AAA games being released simultaneously and all the little gamers were abuzz about Mountain Dew Game Fuel. (you'll find it under the 'variants' subheading -- how tasty sounding.) Alright, it was only five months ago or so, but it did happen on my birthday (coincidentally also the best day of the whole year, ever.)

Well today, we're receiving news that the man potentially responsible for Senor Gerstmann's sacking has been sacked. Vice President of Games at CNet, GameSpot's parent company, Josh Larson will be leaving/is being forced out under these terms, "[a] new management structure means that Josh Larson's position as VP, Games is being eliminated and Josh will be leaving the company."

According to a posting at Gawker Media outlet Valleywag (parent and sister site to Kotaku, respectively) by an unspecified alleged GameSpot employee (posting under the dubious name 'gamespot'), "Our last executive editor, Greg Kasavin, left to go to EA, and he was replaced by a suit, Josh Larson, who had no editorial experience and was only involved on the business side of things. Over the last year there has been an increasing amount of pressure to allow the advertising teams to have more of a say in the editorial process; we've started having to give our sales team heads-ups when a game is getting a low score, for instance, so that they can let the advertisers know that before a review goes up."

And it just gets worse from there. Here's hoping that if Larson was the man responsible for the firing of our favorite HotSpot member, he's at least getting kicked in the crotch once or twice. Oh, and just in case you forgot, here's what Gerstmann (among other ex-GameSpotters) are doing with their time now.

Week-End Podcast Roundup -- A Day Late, A Dollar Short Edition

And yes, it's Saturday. Officially the weekend but also roughly one day late on the podcast roundup train schedule. Sorry about that folks, things were a little hectic around QPHQ yesterday and thus the unexpected delay. Regardless of our tardiness, we come bearing promises of games reviews very shortly (No More Heroes and The Legend of the Zelda: Phantom Hourglass to name a few) as well as a full on site revamp in the coming days. Though a few new features will be added, the biggest update will be basic functionality. But enough about us, we're here to tell you about this week in podcasting, so let's get to it...

The GiantBombcast (feat. Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis)
Joystiq Podcast (feat. Chris Grant, Ludwig Kietzmann and Justic McElroy)
The CAGcast (feat Cheapy D and Wombat)
The 1UP Show and 1UP Yours Podcast (feat. Garnett Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, ???, and Shawn Elliott)

The 1UP Show was especially good this week, just so you know, with a hilarious Lost Odyssey shoutout near the end -- that's all we're sayin'. In 1UP related news, we were cruising the most popular gaming stories on News4Gamers and stumbled upon this. Now, first of all, we know that NeoGAF is, "the preeminent video game industry discussion community." That's fantastic, and by those standards (I suppose?), they don't moderate when people post info straight out of print magazines (though they really should.) This seems kind of...embarrassing? Ridiculous? Fucking rude? This is the magazine journalism equivalent of going to a movie line and reading the script out loud. What a bunch of louts.

Anyways, the boys at the 'Stiq have clearly caught their stride, as their podcast has become better and better. Also, Vinnie Caravella and Brian Ekberg are jointly saving GameSpot's ailing Hotspot podcast, as the vast majority of talent at GameSpot has left for better other things, or, ya know, been sacked. Enjoy your weekend, we'll seeya Monday!

Mario Kart Wii -- Embargo Lifted

You have to wonder what happened when suddenly multiple gaming websites drop the same metric ton of information regarding Mario Kart Wii at exactly the same time. The answer we're betting on: the embargo suddenly disappeared. Though GameSpot and 1UP offer nearly identical coverage on the subject, we're more than likely to suggest 1UP's.

Writing aside (though we kind of think 1UP writers have the advantage here given the best writers from GameSpot have left or simply been sacked), what GameSpot owner's CNet did was basically inexcusable. But me, well, I hold grudges. Enjoy the glut of Mario Kart info! (And hey, you know, it's ok if you go to the GameSpot bump, we understand.)

(via 1UP)

The GameSpot Coup Begins!

As you may have read somewhere, since the controversial firing of Jeff Gerstmann, just a few other GameSpot staffers have decided to call it quits. Well, if you're like us here at QP, you might be jonesin' for some post-GameSpot, ex-HotSpot, podcast love.

Your prayers have been answered, friend, in the form of Ryan Davis', "Arrow Pointing Down" podcast (beta.) It's a little rough, mind you, and maybe a little looser than what you're used to, but we're betting they strike gold sooner than you'd think. Jeff's recent blog posts also allude to a larger project in the works. If you're in for some more hilarity, check out Jeff's show, "Points!," where he discusses, erm, points! -- like, you know, nerd achievement points. Good fun is had by all. Viva la Revolucion!