Month: November 2007

GameSpot Loses a Champion, GameSpot Loses Me

Jeff Gerstmann

After 10 years of loyal service GameSpot editor Jeff Gerstmann has been fired. Currently there are only rumors circulating around as to why GameSpot let him off. I’ve watched Jeff for years and he is the guy that I think of when I think of GameSpot.

On November 16, Jeff gave Kane & Lynch a 6 out of 10. GameSpot’s review system calls this “fair.” Apparently Eidos didn’t want to advertise on Gamespot’s website because of this review. The website Rock Paper Shotgun said that this was the last reason to fire him.

If this is the reason alone, I will ditch GameSpot until they publically appoligize for firing a truthful employee. Kane & Lynch deserves a 6/10, I’ve played it, it’s a crappy game. There’s no reason to support a company that lies to its consumers to appease it’s advertisers.

StuffWeLike wishes Jeff Gerstmann the best. Maybe he’ll start his own video game review website. We can only wish.

Zimmer Twins Make Your Own Videos

The Zimmer Twins

We’ve seen a lot of media companies try to allow user generated content that both engaged and entertained its audience for hours on end. Now NBC’s Saturday morning kids’ block qubo is trying to do just that with their new animated property The Zimmer Twins.

What makes Zimmer Twins different is the huge amount of options children have when creating their own videos. It’s not a mere choose a couple of clips and see how they work together. It’s choose a clip, change the background, change the character, add some text, and ultimately create a story.

The user interface to create your videos is very easy to use. Within minutes you’ll be able to create, edit, and publish a video.

qubo actually looks at all the user-generated videos and will air the best of these on TV!

The Shadow Fan Gets A New Design

The Shadow Fan

My website TheShadowFan.com a website dedicated to the 1930s pulp hero The Shadow has just received a face lift. I’m eagerly awaiting the new shadow film set for a 2010 release. With Sam Raimi and Michael Uslan teaming up to produce the new film, I’m sure it’ll be a huge hit. Be aware that I’ll be covering this film inside and out when information breaks!

I am THE SHADOW FAN!!!

Thanks for Ruining Star Trek

Star Trek Online

Yes I am a Trekkie and as such I hate when companies/people screw with the franchise. No this post isn’t about the new J.J. Abram 2008 film, this is about a little developer called Perpetual Entertainment. Most likely you’ve never heard of this company before. They’re the developer behind the upcoming Star Trek MMORPG. Formed in 2004 Perpetual has received over $9 million in funding and has yet to release 1 game.

In the business world usually you need a product to stay a float and now in the age of casual games releasing cost-efficient video games that sell thousands of units is a possibility. But no Perpetual has tried to make the most epic games without having any skill set to back them up.

Apparently a company can survive for a long time with $9 million of funding. Massively Multiplayer Online games take a long time to develop. Even more time is needed if the company wants the game to be good.

It appears that Perpetual was purchased by an undisclosed company. This unknown company has said that they want to make Star Trek more casual gamer friendly. Does that mean it’ll be a cheap free to play MMO game like the crappy Pirates of the Caribbean Online?

Thankfully one real developer is making a new Trek game to be enjoyed this Holiday season! Thanks to Bethesda Softworks PS2 and Wii owners will be able to enjoy Star Trek: Conquest similar to last year’s Star Trek Legacy. However the price of Conquest will be $19.99 for the PS2 and $29.99 for the Wii version.

Bethesda’s definitely offering this game for bargain bin value. Whether you want to look at that as a good thing or a bad thing is up to you. Personally I see it as a crap hitting the fan.

It has always been difficult to find good Star Trek games and the problem doesn’t seem like it’ll go away anytime soon.