This pretty much sums it all up.

I know its been talked about like crazy, and you're probably tired of hearing about it. But the recent events at Gamespot after Gerstmann-Gate won't let it go away.

The first to leave was Greg Kasavin, managing editor, and the main man responsible for the strict review guidelines that gave the site its journalistic integrity. But his dreams did not lie in game journalism, because early last year, he left to go make games at one of the many EA studios. His departure, while sad, did not really seem to be a huge deal for the everyday activity at the site. All was well on the homefront. But that was until Josh Larson was hired to take his place.

Larson is not a passionate gamer to say the least. Hell, I don't even think he is a gamer at all. He was the man responsible for selling those annoying ads that take over the page when your mouse scrolls over them, and now he is the man in charge of the entire editorial staff. (I say "is" because he is still in the position today.)

It is reportedly this changing of the guard that led to the criticism of Gamespot's integrity and the eventual firing of Jeff Gerstmann, 11 year veteran of the site, whose opinion I truly respect and admire. The immediate lashing the site received after this news officially broke was wide ranging and explosive, and cracked open the discussion that, in my opinion, is the biggest video game related issue of 2007.

The game industry needs the media just as much as the media needs advertisers, and for years a happy medium has been in place between the two.  Places such as Gamespot are is happy to show ads for a product to make their site profitable, and the advertiser gets their product out there. At the same time, the advertiser must also accept that once the product is out at retail, it is open to any and all criticism. (Its called the First Amendment.) But to break this trust and betray the church-and-state separation is like being a public school orchestra teacher and giving all the opportunities to the best players. It makes you look good but fucks over all the other students who don't get a say in the situation.

I still support Gamespot because I like the personalities that I have come to know over the years and don't want to put them out of work. But if they ever get the opportunity to rebel against this bullshit corporate censorship, like Frank Provo, Alex Navarro, and Dan Hsu  already have, without becoming unemployed in the process, I sincerely hope they do. Because even though the government isn't involved (thank god!), that's exactly what this is, censorship.

This pretty much sums it all up...