Albert Art

Overdramatic

One would assume so from hearing the unintentionally humorous obituary-esque podcasts, and from reading all the posts regarding one of Gamespot's most outspoken personalities. The 11 year veteran was fired from Gamespot this past week, if you haven't noticed by now, causing quite a stir of emotional rumor, speculation, and discussion. He didn't die, but his voice on Gamespot was silenced to the surprise of many.

For whatever reason as to why he was fired so unexpectedly, one thing is clear: it can happen to anyone. No one is immune from fucking up and/or losing employment. It's reality. Kind of like those funny videos of Models strutting down a catwalk but then tripping in embarrassment in front of hundreds of people. Shit, they're human after all! Why that example comes to mind is because well, some amusing commercial came on prior to watching The Golden Compass the other day, and it is highly relatable to the fact that some game writers can be thought of as omnipotent personalities, set high on a pedestal, as to which many fan-boys/fan-girls worship.

In the end they're human too, and are susceptible to mistakes which in this case, may cause employment termination. Gerstmann is talented no doubt, and can probably take his show on the road independently, and do pretty well with his fan-base. It's not like he was saving starving children in Africa. Though, his reviews must have saved you a few dollars from making poor purchasing decisions.

I think the entire situation was handled in an extremely overdramatic way. The editors all seemed like they attended a freaking funeral. Had they calmed down a bit, prior to broadcasting their emotional distress to the thousands of people who view the site, I think they wouldn't have come off as unprofessional. Yet Professionalism is important, some would say integral to making game writing a serious and respected form of journalism.

Personally, I don't really care who got fired. It's not a big deal to me, or most people who work in the game industry, but for those who follow game sites, and obsess over their favourite game critic(s), losing Gerstmann must have been devastating.

Oh well.