The myth of Jeff Gerstman, or why the games press is so important
By Lies 64 Comments
It's a story I'm sure is familiar to any GiantBomb user. November 30th 2007 the story breaks that Jeff Gerstmann was fired from Gamespot. Internet explodes, and a mass exodus of Gamespot veterans occurs.
Now, obviously, the circumstances surrounding this firing were suspect, and people had every right to get up in arms about it. Making sure you're getting an honest and true evaluation of a project is something worth fighting for. This is a valid complaint, and I fully support the quest for transparency and truth in the business.
The traffic is symptomatic of something else though. People built up this man to be a hero-figure, a knight in shining armor for their hobby. An explanation I heard on last week's BSHAF was that perhaps people saw Jeff as proof that videogames could be cool, and people swarmed to him because of his personality. Now, this is certainly valid, but it at most accounts for part the fervor, for this ruthless hero-worship and obsession isn't only limited to Jeff.
Former GFW/1Up journalist Shawn Elliot commented on the GFW post-PAX podcast, that people treated him like a celebrity at PAX. He commented that is was kind of absurd that so many people loved him for his writing and podcasts. Within that small sub-community, Shawn Elliot was a movie star. Nintendo fans hinge on Matt Casamassina's every word, and other journalists enjoy much the same reverence. Jeff Green had a huge farewell thread on the 1Up boards, and many people still follow him on his personal blog- just as happened with many of the departed Gamespot staffers.
So we've established that an obsessive following has developed around these people, something they'd all acknowledge I'm sure. The question we now must address is why.
The games industry has swollen to an absurd size, eclipsing even Hollywood in scale and revenue. But with the possible exception of Roger Ebert, people don't revere movie critcs the same way. Movie fans realize that their opinion is just as valid as a critics, and if a movie they don't like gets a negative review, they'll still go ahead and see it. Game enthusiasts are, perhaps, not as understanding.
Now, the obvious reason for a heavier reliance on reviews within games is that movies cost ten dollars whereas a game costs 50 or 60 dollars a pop. Obviously people don't want to blow 60 bucks on a crappy game without warning. But today, in the age of the internet, enough information exists before launch for you to make your own judgment without need for a reviewer. Screenshots, gameplay videos, trailers, and most importantly, demos have made the reviewer largely obsolete, save for unexpected issues. Now of course, casual players will find more use in reviews, but then again, casual players, by definition, are not following Shawn Elliot on Twitter or reading Jeff Gerstmann's personal blog.
People seem to view games as being objectively good or bad, with no middle ground, with reviewers as the only authority on the subject. Obviously, this isn't the right way to approach the subject. I'll default back to The Force Unleashed, being an example I have extensive experience with. TFU wasn't the best game released this year- it was panned by critics mostly. But I really like TFU. I play it quite a bit, and even bought the DLC for it. I enjoyed it despite the critics. My opinion is different from theirs, but just as valid, a vital point to make, and something the editorial content of GiantBomb endorses.
So why do people still flock to these press men? The hero worship reaches almost sickening levels. In a conversation me and Jayge had the other day while playing HALO on Xbox Live, we were discussing reviews on GiantBomb. The majority of the comments on any given Jeff review will be: "Another perfect review Jeff! Great writing, I fucking love you!". Then there are always a few people it seems who sign up just to say: "Jeff Gerstmann is a talentless fuck who can't write". The truth is, as always, somewhere in the middle. Jeff is a decent writer, but he is in no way one of the best writers working in the business today, and people who say he is need to go read Gamasutra.
People view Jeff as a goddamn messiah. A savior and hero for them. Jeff Gerstmann is simply a professional enthusiast with a skill for speaking frankly and honestly. Not to single anyone out, but jensonb wrote a screenplay about the waning days of Gamespot and Jeff's firing. What exactly did Jeff ever do to deserve that? Not begrudging him it, but I just wonder what exactly motivates a person to invest their time writing that.
It's often great personalities that are used to justify obsessions of following of these people. But take the example of Ryan Scott, 1Up/EGM's reviews editor. The man was a minor NeoGAF meme for a while, despite being quite shy, and hardly ever talking on the GFW podcast he was a member of. Ryan Scott's internet personality is hardly noticeable, yet he gathered a decent enough following also. Something MattBodega told me in the IRC, after I was talking about this was, "If you don't like the guys, why are you at GiantBomb?", and I didn't answer, because the idea of this entire site being comprised of simply the followers of these guys was absurd to me. It's fetishism. Obsessive following of these people is absurdly weird- probably the culmination of my argument here is the voyeuristic ShaneWatch Twitter, a Twitter feed of 1Up employees spying on Shane Bettenhausen, then posting what they see him doing to Twitter without his knowledge. This feed built up 1,000 followers in a week.
People like seeing regular people playing games. They like the thought of games as a living entices them. People making a living off of this industry makes it socially acceptable- despite the widespread scorn the games press faces from the mainstream guys.
People feel the need to have their hobby be a normal thing. Their obsession with videogames, still somewhat of a social taboo- despite the growing penetration- needs validation. People think: "Hey, this guy is pretty cool, has friends, and a fun sense of humor AND he likes video games". The only success of these journalists is not being complete social fuck-ups by having good personalities and managing to write decently. The, for lack of a better word, cult, that grows up around them is absurd, and absolutely unjustifiable, in my opinion.
This being GiantBomb, largely made up of members of Jeff and co's cult, I hardly expect a chorus of agreement. But this is the way I see it, and if you disagree, feel free to share your insights into the issue in comments. I'd be interested in hearing from you guys.