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1UP is on THEIR side!

You must have been under the rock of ignorance, if you missed the Gerstmann conspiracy/controversy that’s doing the rounds the last half week. To summarize, the ever-popular Jeff Gerstmann got fired abruptly from GameSpot, and no official statement can be given as to why. But strong rumours are pointing that GameSpot was under advertising pressure, and fired good man Jeff for his low review of the actually abysmal Kane & Lynch.

While most of the internet world appears to be opposing GameSpot (several boycotts, subscription cancellations, spamming and stuff), it is nice to know that someone is fighting for GameSpot’s cause. Ziff Davis, the guys who own 1UP and FileFront, sent a bunch of their staffers to console the GameSpot staff. Constructing a friendly banner, they marched two blocks up, yelled their support for game reviewers (leaving most passers-by saying “WTF?”) and bummed around a bit.

Disconsider this not, reader. GameSpot is one of the biggest game reviewing and general information sites on the net, and if something serious is happening to GameSpot, something serious will happen to the gaming industry, especially game reviewers and their credibility. Considering our motley crew at StuffWeLike are part-time reviewers (except the charming Ted, who’s full-time), I have sympathy to what GameSpot must be going through. But I shall continue to neglect them just because they fired Jeff, good reason or not.

What do you think of this whole controversy? Are the rumours worth believing? Is GameSpot innocent? Was this all really Eidos’ plan? Is this a shadow of more sinister events to come? Involving aliens, dinosaurs, robots and cowboys (wow)? Discuss in the comments below!

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.

Rock Band Recalls

Cracked Guitar

Be warned that if you buy the $170 game, you’re most likely going to have to return the guitar! Reports are flooding the internet saying the guitar’s are breaking left and right. I actually know someone with the game that has had this issue after only 3 hours of playing! This is a catastrophe, please send aid to StuffWeLike asap!

Thanks for Ruining Star Trek

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.

Deus Ex 3 announced, teaser revealed, pants wetted

I’ve always maintained that Deus Ex is the greatest game ever made by man, and with good reason. It was thought-provoking, immersive, intelligent and its unique game mechanics were plain perfect. While its sequel never lived up to its predecessor’s timeless glory, I still liked it for just being. I’m in need of underwear right now, because Eidos has just announced Deus Ex 3. That’s right, folks – Deus Ex is back with a vengeance!

Of course, Ion Storm saddeningly dissolved a long time ago, so this is Eidos’ Montreal studio’s first game, and that’s a blazing inauguration. Gamasutra reports the company’s structure, their goals and other details not concerning Deus Ex. What I found to be interesting was that Eidos mentions that the new studio will have tightly-knit, multi-discipline groups (at the most 80 people) working on a single project. Also, their development cycles will reportedly last 24 months, as opposed to the much lesser numbers of their competitors.

Eidos also released the teaser for Deus Ex 3, which you can find below. It’s as ambiguous as you’d expect from a teaser, and depicts a bio-augmented foetus, along with some mysterious words from a narrator. There are also a series of pictures that run damn fast. There’s a list of what they are at Wikipedia, if you’re that interested. (UPDATE: We have just learned that the guys at Shacknews have spent a good portion of their lives taking screenshots from the series of images. They have 20 images here right now, and I have no idea if those are all the images or not.)

While this is all excellent news, I have a strange fear in the back of my mind that this may get “consolized” as well, just like (*shudder*) Invisible War. Also, the fact that Montreal is facing a development cycle, no matter how long, hints at the same. Deus Ex, the beautiful game, in its unadulterated form is one that can only be reasonably played on the PC in its entirety. I hope that Montreal tries to recreate that, rather than tossing this legendary franchise into the unwashed masses of multi-console video games.

Critics hate the Hitman movie. A lot.

Most gamers have been hailing the famed Hitman movie as being the last saving grace for video game movies. Fans rejoiced when it was confirmed that Hitman is heading straight for an R-rating. It appears that all that has been in vain.

Critics have gotten their miserly hands on the Hitman movie and are not impressed. We have no reason to distrust Rotten Tomatoes, so here’s their score: 13% . Yes folks, time for a loud ‘WTF?!’ That’s right, the critics don’t like it one bit. There are a few positie reviews, but most of it looks bad. We took a quick glance over the reviews, and here’s what they say:

It is mindlessly cold and brutally violent (which is good for most of us).
Plenty of nudity – yes, sir!
Horrible story, direction, screenwriting, action, everything. Then again, when was that ever important in movies?
Comparable to James Bond and Bourne movies – in the bad way.
I particularly like Stephen Whitty’s statement: “A lousy picture.”
The positive reviews appear to be sarcastic, and not entirely hope-inducing.
EXCEPT Pete Hammond from Maxim: “It delivers top-notch action, dazzling gunplay and lots of fireworks. What more could we ask for?” Got a point there, Pete.
Some statements are hilarious: Apparently the film thinks fans of the videogame will empathize with a guy who has zero practice dealing with women.
This is a script written with the sensibility of a geeky 12-year-old boy and then dumbed-down some. More than some.
A movie so bland it’s hard to believe it was inspired by anything more than a Wikipedia entry on ‘action thrillers.’

While this makes for some good laughs for us folks not interested in the Hitman games, you can expect a lot of fuming from the Hitman camp. But nyah, those are critics. We, the viewers do want mindless violence, secks, blood and guns.

You might think that’s not bad for a video game movie, but it actually is. Here are Rotten Tomatoes’ scores for some other video game movies:

DOA: Dead or Alive: 34%
Resident Evil: 33%
Resident Evil: Apocalypse: 21%
Resident Evil: Extinction: 22%
Mortal Kombat: 20%
Doom: 19%

Wow. Hitman is worse than Doom? Is that even possible?

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