Penny Arcade is calling Eidos on its policy of truth in its latest comic strip. Even after the scandal that has since become known as “Gerstmanngate”, the publisher seems to not have learned a thing. The Truth is the New Lie takes gamers right into the boardroom of Eidos’ PR company “Barrington Harvey” for an imagined training session on manipulating the press.

For more gaming and game culture satire check out the adventures of Gabe and Tycho on the Penny Arcade webcomic.

It’s not as great a deal as some of the previous sales we’ve seen on Steam, but if you’re interested in checking out Kane & Lynch and seeing what was the source of that whole Gerstmanngate thing, Steam’s looking to hook you up. This weekend, the game is on sale from its usual price of $40 down to a meager $20. This was a full-priced retail game released last November, so when you look at it that way, it’s quite a bargain.

Then again, there was a reason the game wasn’t received particularly well.

Back in November, Jonathan reviewed the game, saying, “At PAX this past year, one of my favorite games that I got some hands-on time with was Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. The level I played felt exactly like the street shootout scene in Heat, and that was a very good thing. As I made my getaway from a bank heist, my crew AI reacted just like I wanted them to, the graphics looked pretty sharp, and the whole experience was challenging, but not impossible. Now that the full the game is out, I just want to know one thing: what the hell happened?”

He summed things up by saying, “Overall, Kane and Lynch: Dead Men is your typical third-person shooter, complete with frustrating controls and AI, but with a superb story. The characters themselves are great, and I’m looking forward to seeing the movie already (particularly if Bruce Willis and/or Billy Bob Thornton are involved). It’s just too bad that everything else in the game falters so much. I’d like to see these issues get ironed out in a sequel, but still, this is a disappointing new game from the guys who developed the Hitman series.”

If that hasn’t helped you make up your mind, there’s a demo of the game available on FileFront.

I guess it takes more than buckets of controversy and a thoroughly broken control scheme to keep a game down. SCi Entertainment and Eidos have announced that Kane and Lynch: Dead Men has now sold over a million units, despite its relation to the whole Gerstmanngate nastiness and being a rather sub-par game. This pretty much guarantees that a sequel will be released at some point, plus that movie deal will most likely continue.

“We anticipate a positive sales trend to continue through the remainder of FY08 and for Kane and Lynch to firmly establish itself as another key franchise for the Group,” said SCi in a statement.

You know, I’m actually kind of glad the game’s sales weren’t hurt by all the controversy a few months back. It’s not the game’s fault it got swept up in all that. It was however the game’s fault for being pretty terrible. Hopefully all those egregious gameplay issues get ironed out in the sequel.

Via Next Gen

“Re-edited Movie Trailer” is probably one of my favorite YouTube-created genres, which may explain why this video for “JFG” amuses me so. “Gersmanngate” was probably one of the more prominent video game-related scandals of 2007, so it’s only natural someone would find a way to relate it to one of the biggest scandals of the 1960’s (or maybe even the past century). For what it is, this video’s pretty entertaining, though I still kept waiting for the video to work in the famous line, “Back and to the left. Back and to the left.”

Via Kotaku

Play Digital has a video review up of the controversial Eidos title Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. Your video host Katherine takes a critical look at the strong points as well as the flaws of this third person shooter.

This title has caused quite a controversy online – not so much because of its gameplay, but because of the Gamespot / Jeff Gerstmann furore.

Hopefully followers of the fun will appreciate my ‘Hero’ t-shirt, hand-made especially for Jeff.

Enjoy the show, we tried to be good about the language – mostly! I played K&L on the Xbox 360 for the full online goodness.

-Katharine

via Play Digital

“Gerstmanngate” has pretty much been sweeping the internet for almost a week now. Since then speculation has run rampant — with most people drawing the conclusion that Jeff Gerstmann was fired due to an unfavorable review for Kane and Lynch — and a lack of any explanation from GameSpot has only added fuel to those fires. So now the site has posted an article addressing some of the main questions raised about the whole incident, which they apparently couldn’t do sooner due to “HR procedures and legal considerations.” To summarize, their side of the story is that Gerstmann’s employment was terminated due to an unrelated internal review, and the re-wording of his review, removal of his video review, and presence and quick absence of Kane and Lynch skins for their site all happened for different reasons. It was all bad timing and a big coincidence.

This article is one of the first steps toward restoring users’ faith in GameSpot, and an internal review of the incident and controversy is under way. However, at no point in its history has GameSpot ever deviated from its review guidelines, which are publicly listed on the site. Great pains are taken to keep sales and editorial separated to prevent any impression of impropriety.

As you can imagine, there’s already hundreds of responses to this article from people who don’t seem to be buying any of it. We’ll have to see if they do manage to restore faith in their readers, but it’s looking like the damage has already been done.

Via GameSpot [image via Penny Arcade]

GameSpot associate editor Kevin VanOrd  wrote a heartfelt response to the controversy surrounding the firing of friend and mentor Jeff Gerstmann on the Videogames Journos Network. He brings a very personal perspective to questions raised Gerstmann’s firing. He doesn’t attempt to explain the situation, but he puts a very humanizing perspective on it without fanning the flames of controversy or pointing fingers.

Hi guys. Kevin here.

I can’t thank my fellow journalists enough for the general show of support we have received across the industry. This has been a devastating time for me and the rest of the editorial team at GameSpot. There are so many layers in this for all of us, professionally and personally. As you can imagine, I am not in a position where I can talk about specific things regarding what has happened here, but mostly, it’s because I don’t know. As much as you may feel in the dark about what is happening, please know that we are too. It is confusing, upsetting, and hurtful. In the blink of an eye, my mentor no longer sits 50 feet from me. When I need advice and encouragement and shielding, my greatest advocate is no longer there to offer that kind of support.

I think it is understood that all of us stand by what we write, which makes me confused by the reactions of “this proves it’s crooked.” If anything, the rumors point the opposite direction. I’ve never been pressured in any way over a review, though our exhaustive peer review process lets my editorial peers pick apart the review before it ever goes live.

I could talk for hours and hours on the subject (and I feel like I already have), but in the end, it hurts. It hurts because I miss Jeff. It hurts because I am afraid of what the future brings. It hurts because my byline is attached to something thousands of people now see as crooked and corrupt. I can’t tell you how heartbreaking it is to know that no matter how much integrity I have and how much I believe in something, this incident colors every word I write. I have shouted, shed tears, and looked for answers, but I don’t feel any further along now than I did last Wednesday.

If anything, stand by your fellow journalists. We don’t have a lot, but we have our honesty. And as Greg Kasavin said to me this weekend, a website doesn’t have integrity, but people do. And as long as I know I have mine, I’ll be ok. And as long as my fellow editors and I hold fast to that, we’ll come out on top. In the meanwhile, think of us and pray for us. I have no idea how to move on at this point, but I am sure I will figure it out.

Also, if you would like to take me out for a drink and you live in the SF Bay area, I wouldn’t refuse

via Videogame Journos Network 

After all of the hoopla yesterday about Gerstmann getting canned from Gamespot – comes official word from CNET as to the reasons behind the firing. Here is their official stance:

“GameSpot takes its editorial integrity extremely seriously. For over a decade, GameSpot and the many members of its editorial team have produced thousands of unbiased reviews that have been a valuable resource for the gaming community. At CNET Networks, we stand behind the editorial content that our teams produce on a daily basis.”

Yep, that is all they have stated for the record, along with telling GamesIndustry.biz that “they do not elaborate on the circumstances, stating only that it was their policy not to comment on the status of its current or former employees. ”

So, there ya have it folks. For those of you wanting to know exactly what is going on with this, can be thankful and happy that Eidos most likely had nothing to do with this – as it was most likely a Gamespot issue. Gerstmann himself has confirmed to another gaming site that “legal reasons” prevent him from commenting on the rumors, but these legal ramifications have not stopped “supposed” Gamestop employees from ranting anonymously on different forums. Most recently these comments have been posted on Valleywag, and while you can never be quite sure these people are who they say they are, they do seem to be privy to some inside information.

Whatever the case may be, you can judge and speculate for yourselves. No matter what the truth may be, everyone will continue to think whatever they wish. Personally, I hope that if he was indeed fired for the reasons that these anonymous “employees” claim, that gamers will be intelligent enough to realize that this isolated incident is not indicative of gaming sites in general.

For the full barrage of comments from supposed employees of Gamespot, visit Kotaku’s take on the subject.

Thanks: GamesIndustry.biz, Kotaku, and ValleyWag

There are rumors and speculation burning up the internet this morning regarding whether or not Gamespot may have fired Jeff Gerstmann, over his Kane & Lynch review. Owned by CNET, Gertsmann had been with the company for over 11 years and while according to sources he was not the most popular “man on campus”, he was a respected reviewer and had fans that included several gambits of the gaming community.

One of the rumors circulating the internet is that Eidos requested the firing due to Gerstmann giving Kane & Lynch a less than stellar review. Eidos had pumped plenty of funds into advertising on Gamespot along with allowing site readers to cut their own trailers for the game. While conspiracy theorists are saying that this was the main reason for his dismissal, a source close to they fray is stating anonymously that it was indeed the review that got Gerstamnn axed. While the Kane & Lynch advertisements are still on the site, Gerstmann’s video review has been taken down – but thanks to the YouTube generation you can see it posted above.

The video I have posted is the reason people are saying Gerstmann’s was fired – not his text review in which he gave the game a 6/10. Another rumor states that he left in a huff over his review being edited for tone- this is the one I find hardest to believe. Most gaming sites (including this one) have each feature and review edited for accuracy, length, misspellings, quality or other reasons before they are posted. This is nothing new to any sort of site or actual magazine that publishes reviews or any other sort of content. Considering the fact that Gerstmann has been in this business for over 11 years, he would be used to the cutting room floor by now.

*** MORE AFTER THE BREAK INCLUDING PENNY ARCADE’S TAKE ON THIS***

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