Long story short, Gamespot.com is sort of denying that it fired a reviewer after publisher Eidos complained about the reviewer's low score for Eidos title Kane & Lynch.

Gamespot has admitted that the reviewer was, in fact, fired at some point after the review ran.

But that, according to Joystiq, is as much as Gamespot is willing to cop to:

We just got off the phone with Sarah Cain, a CNET spokesperson who wanted to amend CNET's previous statement to Joystiq on the recent firing of executive editor Jeff Gerstmann. While reiterating that CNET does not discuss personal employee matters with the press, Cain said directly that "we do not terminate employees based on external pressure from advertisers." When asked specifically about whether any such pressure was even attempted on Eidos' part, Cain had no comment. We're still waiting for a response to multiple e-mail requests for comment by Eidos PR.

Much more at the Joystiq link.

I'm writing about this affair in my column in tomorrow's paper. I don't think this statement from Gamespot even begins to answer all the questions.

UPDATE: Yeah, things aren't looking good for Gamespot.

UPDATE: Here's my column that ran in the paper.

I usually have awful luck. Stupidly awful luck.

BUT, I made it through a year with my first 360 never getting the red-ring-o-death. I never had problems with my 'Guitar Hero III' wireless guitar. My 'Halo 3' disc wasn't scratched. Obviously, because it's me, my short streak of good luck ran out.

I played 'Rock Band' for two days and on day three, IT happened.

Last night, I turned on my 360 and started 'Rock Band.' Navigation through the menus was kind of sluggish, but it was working. I had four songs left to finish Career-mode on Medium... I started the first of the four. I couldn't hit a note to save my life. Maybe one in six down-strums would register.

I unplugged the guitar's USB connector then re-connected it to the system... the problem continued. Then, I tried every other USB port... same results. I restarted the Xbox, removed the disc, blew in the air vents, shuffled voodoo cards, prayed a little bit, turned on the air conditioning, complemented the guitar, jumped up and down, crossed my fingers and tried it again. The guitar still wouldn't consistently register a down-strum.

I was able to hold on to the strum bar and tilt it up and down to finally register a strum. This was an extremely irritating gameplay method, but when I tilted the guitar up to unleash my "rock energy" (or whatever it's called) the guitar started working again. That was, until I tilted it up about 30 seconds later. This is clearly a hardware problem... something is shifting around in the guitar. I don't think a patch would ever clear this up.

So, needless to say, my new $125 guitar replacement it on it's way. I'm planning on getting hit by a bus later today.

The folks over at GameStop in Grapevine have sent me a copy of their new holiday season TV ad that recently began running on CMT, HGTV, Nick at Night, SoapNet and TV Land.

There will also be a print campaign starting in December that will run in People, Family Circle, Redbook, Oprah, Family Fun, Real Simple, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents and Working Mother (check out a sample after the jump).

The Richards Group in Dallas created both sets of ads, while Austin-based Rooster Teeth (the Red vs. Blue guys) handled the production side of the TV spot. As you can probably tell from the list of magazines, these spots are designed to help your clueless parents (moms, in particular) understand that, hey, video games make great Christmas presents.

Of course, judging by the number of parents I talk to here at the office who are desperately hunting for Wiis right now, this may not be much of a revelation.

On a separate note, World of Warcraft is quite the television advertising juggernaut at the moment.

You've got this GameStop spot, and then those great WoW ads starring Mr. T and William Shatner are comedy gold.

You can check out my mini-reviews that ran in the paper this week of Mass Effect and Call of Duty 4, but the bottom line is that I think CoD4 could be my game of the year.

It's just flat-out fun, and the only improvements I would add would be the ability to give basic directions to your squad mates, a la Rainbow Six Vegas.

Okay, I have had some extensive hands on time with both, GH III and Rock Band. My hands are aching, my fingers callused and shin splints from tapping the kick pedal. But I love these two games and you will too! Check out both reviews!

Guitar Hero III:Legends of Rock

Rock Band

• 'Ratchet and Clank Future, Tools of Destruction' - This game is so perfectly polished and so much fun, it should really be the PS3 showcase title for 2007. Easily one of the best PS3 games of the year.

• 'Uncharted: Drake's Fortune' - It's 'Tomb Raider' with a dude. It looks great, plays great and has a pretty interesting story. It's the first game I've played, in a long time, that feels like a movie (that's not based on a movie). Oh, and it's a PS3 exclusive.

• 'Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles' - I was reluctant to pick this up, but post-black-friday sales made this so affordable, I couldn't resist. It's very cool. 'UC' plays like an on-rails 'House of the Dead' clone but with former 'RE' characters and settings. It's completely scary, fast and fun. I'm more impressed with this Wii game than any other for the system this year. Lots of disembodied thumbs up!

I've had four or five people watch the 'Marc III' video below and have no clue that all three people are Marc. Yes, that's Marc... playing drums, guitar and singing.

AND, that was the disturbing part.

Marc set up 'Rock Band' in the TXCN studio to film, quite possibly, some of the most disturbing footage imaginable.

Enjoy the debut of "Marc III"... it may be the last thing you ever watch:

Former-intern Tim and I played some Weezer and Rolling Stones. We rocked, even on Medium (stop giggling).

I love the drums!

I don't care... I'm headed to Blockbuster right after work...

(via Kotaku)

I stumbled upon an article which describes a bunch of people picking up "Guitar Hero III" from EB Games. Oh, I can picture the amount of joy expressed on their faces when they opened up the box to find the actual game missing!!! What makes the situation even more joyous *evil grin*, is the fact that by EB Games' policy, they weren't able to return the bundle for an exchange or refund (the game was missing...muahahaha!!!).

I’d say this is the perfect example/excuse to open up those holiday gifts early…just to be sure you’re getting what you or your loved one has spent all that money on. To those of you getting video games as an Xmas present from me, I hope you don’t mind that it’s already opened…and tested (I wouldn’t want to give you a faulty disc now would I?) *grin*

You may have noticed that other blogs have been posting photos of the PlayStation 3 cakes that Sony sent out to commemorate the first birthday of the console.

But none of those cowards have shown the courage to actually eat the thing.

Well, behold the sacrifices I make for my craft.

Actually, it wasn't that bad. Add some strawberries or other fruit to take the edge off the creamy frosting, and you'd have quite a treat.

Marc just got in his Fisher Price Rockin' with Sesame Street Drum Set. Looks like he havin' some fun! So dignified!

Actually he got in 'Rock Band' and he's not sharing!

Meanie!

One day after the announcement that the game is in development and, NOW, we've got 'Ghostbusters' gameplay footage!

I like how they chose in-game scenes that were in-movie scenes...

OK, it's not the amazing 'Gears of War' meets haunted New York that we told you about in January (here), but it's very cool news. A 'Ghostbusters' game is in the works at Universal Vivendi Games. The best part? The movie's actors (including Mr. Bill Murray) have signed on to provide their likeness(es?) and their voices.

I'm calling, I'm calling!

No word on systems or availability, but you can bet it will be a fairly broad release.

From Cinematical

Just in case you haven't read the paper yet today (how could you not?!? *sob*), here's my article that ran in the paper this morning about the new mobile games division at id Software being announced today.

I've also pasted the official announcement from id below the jump.

id certainly has the pedigree to make this work, and John Carmack told me the handful of DS and cellphone games that id has already created are profitable for the company.

But that "games ghetto" mentality that hovers over mobile games that Carmack mentions in the article will be tough to overcome.

Now, you'd think that the new generation of high-end smart phones -- particularly the iPhone -- would herald a new opportunity to elevate the reputation of mobile games to the ranks of popular DS and PSP games.

But Carmack told me that the iPhone isn't the great games platform he had hoped for (I didn't have space to include this issue in the print article):

I’ve been having discussions with Steve Jobs about iPhone-related things, and we don’t see eye to eye on a lot of issues there. The iPhone is obviously doing well. [But] games are not a particularly important thing to Apple. They’ll never come right out and say it, but it’s not a cornerstone of their strategy, and some of the things they do are not exactly as I wish it would be.

I'm perpetually stunned that Apple hasn't moved more aggressively into the downloadable games industry. They've already built the infrastructure with iTunes, and the new generation of Macs has plenty of graphical power to run all but the most high-end titles, while the iPod lineup could easily become a nifty game platform.

I guess Steve Jobs just hates games.

id Software Goes Mobile: Teaming Up with

Fountainhead Entertainment to Form id Mobile

Mesquite, Texas, November 15, 2007 – Emmy® Award-winning developer id Software and Fountainhead Entertainment announced today that the two developers have joined forces to create a new division of id Software, id Mobile. This new division, which will develop games for cell phones, the Nintendo DS™ and PSP® (PlayStation ®Portable), will be headed up by Fountainhead Entertainment Founder and former Director of Business Development at id Software, Katherine Anna Kang, who will serve as president of id Mobile.

id Software, in tandem with Fountainhead Entertainment, have developed award-winning mobile games, including the popular action-fantasy saga, Orcs & Elves®, Orcs & Elves II™ and DOOM RPG™. The announcement of id Mobile comes on the heels of the release of the highly anticipated Orcs & Elves for the Nintendo DS and Orcs & Elves II, the sequel to the 2006 Interactive Achievement Awards Mobile Game of the Year. id Mobile is currently developing Wolfenstein for the mobile platform along with a follow-up to the hugely successful DOOM RPG.

“Worldwide, mobile gaming has the potential to eclipse conventional gaming platforms,” said John Carmack, technical director and co-founder, id Software. “The resource constraints of mobile platforms reward technical and design virtuosity, making it a place where we can leverage the historic strengths of our company.”

“id Software is known for doing things that don’t conform to the status-quo and as a result, they’ve lead the gaming industry forward through their original ideas, technical prowess and the uncanny ability to see into the future; with id Mobile, that tradition continues,” said Katherine Anna Kang, president, id Mobile. “id Mobile is poised to shake up the emerging mobile gaming space.”

According to DFC Intelligence, the Nintendo DS is in line to become the best selling game system ever. Theresearch firm estimates that revenue in portable gaming has more than doubled in recent years.

“While mobile gaming has enormous potential, it continues to suffer from a lack of emphasis on quality entertainment, innovation and fun factor,” said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software. “With id mobile we will leverage our brands, technical capabilities and design skills to continue to bring award winning content to these exciting platforms.”

About id Software:

id – defined by Freud as the primal section of the human psyche; id Software, located in Mesquite, Texas, was founded in 1991. From inception to present day, id Software has relentlessly provided technical, design and artistic leadership as an independent game developer and technology provider. Transcending the games industry, id’s iconic brands such as Wolfenstein, DOOM, QUAKE and Enemy Territory have become staples of popular culture for generations of gamers. More information on id Software can be found at www.idsoftware.com.

About id Mobile:

Privately held, id Mobile is committed to developing cutting-edge games for the mobile and handheld platforms, including cell phones, the Nintendo DS and PSP (PlayStation Portable). Rooted in the rich id Software legacy of technical and design innovation, the company is building a library of popular brands and award-winning games, including Orcs & Elves. More information about id Mobile is available at www.idmobile.com.

I am still patiently waiting for our review unit of Rock Band to show up (I'm told it should have been here yesterday) I wanted to share the release of the downloadbale tracks that will be available over the next couple of months...some good stuff on there!

by the way...haven't forgotten about GH III...it's a long story, but a review is on the way, but I will tell you right now, the wireless guitar sucks and it now sits in a closet, useless and I am playing the otherwise awesome title with my dependable explorer.

Rock Band DLC Release Schedule – November / December 2007

Week of November 20, 2007:

3-Pack for $5.49 or Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per pack for Xbox 360)

Metallica Pack
“Ride the Lightning” – Metallica
“Blackened” - Metallica
“And Justice for All” - Metallica

The Police Pack
“Can’t Stand Losing You” – The Police
“Synchronicity II” – The Police
“Roxanne” – The Police

Queens of the Stone Age Pack
“3’s and 7’s” – Queens of the Stone Age
“Little Sister” – Queens of the Stone Age
“Sick Sick Sick” – Queens of the Stone Age

Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360)

“Fortunate Son” as made famous by Creedence Clearwater Revival *
“Juke Box Hero” as made famous by Foreigner *
“Bang a Gong (Get It On)” as made famous by T-Rex *
“My Sharona” as made famous by The Knack *
“Cherry Bomb” as made famous by The Runaways *
“Joker & The Thief”- Wolfmother

Week of November 27, 2007

3-Pack for $5.49 or Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per pack for Xbox 360)

David Bowie Pack
“Moonage Daydream” – David Bowie
“Heroes” as made famous by David Bowie *
“Queen Bitch” as made famous by David Bowie *

Week of December 4, 2007

3-Pack for $5.49 or Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per pack for Xbox 360)

Black Sabbath Pack
“N.I.B.” as made famous by Black Sabbath *
“Sweet Leaf” as made famous by Black Sabbath *
“War Pigs” as made famous by Black Sabbath *

Week of December 11, 2007

3-Pack for $5.49 or Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points per track and 440 per pack for Xbox 360)

Punk Pack:
“Rockaway Beach” - Ramones
“I Fought the Law” - The Clash
“Ever Fallen In Love” as made famous by Buzzcocks *

Week of December 18, 2007

Individual Tracks for $1.99 Each
(160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360)
“My Iron Lung” - Radiohead
“Buddy Holly” - Weezer
“Brass in Pocket” as made famous by Pretenders *

* This is a cover version of a song made famous by the artist indicated. All others are original master recordings.

Last week I ran down my pre-orders for this week. Now, after perusing message boards, reviews, blogs and video clips, here's my decisions of what I'm buying and what I'm sending to the bargain bin...

• Mario Galaxy: YES, picking it up today.
• Need for Speed: Pro Street: YES. I don't care how bad some say it is; 1up gave it an 8.5.
• Blacksite: Area 51: NO. Haven't found one good review or impression. I'm very sad about this one.
• Assassin's Creed: NOPE. Enough luke-warm reception to save me some dough.
• Mass Effect: NO time for this.
• Kane & Lynch: Dead Men: NOPE.
• Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles: NOT NOW, maybe after the holidays.

That's a savings of almost $300!

Andrew Smith, my fellow technology reporter here at the Morning News, received a Mario lunch box this afternoon that serves as a carrying case for a DS Lite and a variety of peripherals.

Since Andrew does not own a DS (Lite or otherwise) I promptly liberated the lunch box and stuffed my DS Lite inside of it.

Behold!

The reviews are finally rolling in for the much hyped 'Assassin's Creed'...

• IGN.com: 7.7 out of 10 Read here
• 1up.com: 7.0 out of 10 Read here
• GameTrailers.com: 9.1 out of 10 Read here
• GameSpot.com: 9.0 out of 10 Read here

Interesting...

With the impending launch of the Fall Update for Xbox Live, it looks like 360 owners will be able to buy and download old Xbox games directly to their systems.

Rumors are appearing and disappearing on the Internets (yes, I said Internets), but it looks like December 2nd (or is it the 4th?) is the release date for this new feature!

Wow, instead of having to get my old Xbox games out of the closet, I can lazily re-buy them from the comfort of my couch!

Joystiq's article here

King HAXr (and sometimes poster to punchbutton), Melcolm, alerted me to this astronomical waste-of-time-but-kind-of-cool Wii hack:

Man, I can't wait to play Horse Life!!! Hopefully it has that new M.A.N.U.R.E. interface we've been reading about on all the blogs!

Spike TV's nominees for their Video Game Awards have been released.

Read nominees here

Watch trailers for nominees here

I'm still wondering how games that haven't been released get nominations.

'Skate' deservedly earned a nomination for best individual sports title. But for me, it's game of the year. By far.

Spike's choices for Game of the Year? Here:

• BioShock
• Halo 3
• Mass Effect
• The Orange Box

Of that list, I pick 'Orange Box.'

My other favorite, 'Call of Duty 4' got nominated for best multiplayer and best graphics. And 'Ratchet and Clank Future' got nominated for best PS3 game.

I don't understand these awards. Are they really real or just an MTV kind of thing?

Good for the 360! It's outselling the PS3 in Japan. Now... time to take on the DS and the Wii!

Read the article via Kotaku

I'm not even done with my GH III review yet and now this shows up! Gonna be a busy weekend!
First thoughts over the weekend. Come back and check it out.

From the Activision press release... these new song are available today on Xbox Live and PlayStation store.

The Velvet Revolver Track Pack includes master recordings of "Messages," "She Builds Quick Machines" and the 2004 Grammy Award winner for Best Hard Rock Performance, "Slither." The Foo Fighters Track Pack includes master recordings of "The Pretender," "This Is a Call" and the 2002 Grammy Award winner for Best Rock Song, "All My Life."

Additionally, later in November, the Boss Battle anthems will be available, free of charge. Originally composed music by Slash and Tom Morello along with "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" can be downloaded to play outside of Career mode.

Here's what I've got on pre-order over the next few weeks and my thoughts about each title:

• Mario Galaxy (November 12, Wii): IGN gave it a 9.7. I've played it at GameStop. It's a no-brainer. It's spectacular.
• Blacksite: Area 51 (November 12, Xbox 360): the demo was one of the coolest things I've seen and played in a long time. I can't imagine this being bad. Aliens battling army guys? Cool!
• Assassin's Creed (November 13, Xbox 360, also on PS3): I don't know why I pre-ordered this game. Why is it that everyone on Earth tells me it's going be amazing (friends, acquaintances, strangers), while the initial press impressions have been less than stellar. I'll read some reviews before I commit.
• Need for Speed: Pro Street (November 13, Xbox 360, also on most other platforms): I loved the speed challenge on the 360 demo... the circuit race was "ok." I'm getting this no matter what. One of my favorite series.
• Rock Band (November 20, Xbox 360, also on most other platforms): Played it. Loved it. It's the biggest game (literally) this year.
• Mass Effect (November 20, Xbox 360): Was Game-Stop-OK-here's-my-five-bucks-if- you-will-shut-up-suckered into pre-ordering this. I hate PRG's. I don't care how action-y it is, it looks too complicated. The jury is still out on this one.
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (December 18, Wii): It's 'NiGHTS.' Nuf said. Been waiting forever for this.

Not on my pre-order list, but keeping an eye out:

• Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (November 13, Xbox 360, also PS3): I'm so iffy on this one. It looks kinda cool. Waiting on a review.
• Soldier of Fortune: Pay Back (November 13, Xbox 360, also PS3): I'm about to pre-order this. The insane violence and gore has almost won me over.
• Geometry Wars: Galaxies (November 13, Wii): Love the original... scared to pay more than $10 for this.
• Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles (November 13, Wii): I want to see this in person before I buy it. An RE shooter? It may be a rental. Agh, did I just say that?
• Link's Crossbow Training (November 19, Wii): It may be a sleeper hit... a piece of plastic with demo-y game... all for $25!
• Time Crisis 4 (November 20, PS3): I love the first three. I love the Gun-Con. I can't afford a $90 game the same day that 'RockBand' comes out.
• Haze (December 4, PS3): Need to do some more research, but it looks cool.

Sad to see moving into 2008:

• Burnout: Paradise
• Super Smash Brothers Brawl
• Army of Two
• Resident Evil 5
• Gran Turismo 5 (or whatever it's called)
• Grand Theft Auto 4

I can't express how great 'CoD4' is on my Xbox 360. I thought the multiplayer beta was pretty cool, but the final product is mind-blowing.

I'm only a couple of hours into the single player mode and my jaw has hit the floor several times. The amount of detail and graphic quality is unsurpassed... this game is a monster.

Even the real-time cut scenes are astounding and many offer some minor interactivity. Most are cool enough to keep you from wanting to skip forward.

I love the modern war-time settings... today's weapons are so much cooler than WWII stuff; but if you ever wanted an anti-recruiting tool, this is it. War has never been presented in a such a shocking realistic way. And by "shocking," I mean pretty dang scary. Some of the stuff presented in 'CoD4' is quite disturbing.

Already I've chalked up several scenes in the game as some of the best things I've seen this year. I can't put my finger on why I found it so memorable, but near the beginning of the post-title mission, your character walks along a hilltop road with rocket launchers' smoke trails emerging from the valley... it's so cinematic... and creepy... and perfect. It's like "Close Encounters" meets "Starship Troopers" meets "Saving Private Ryan." Does that make sense?

Somehow, former astronaut Buzz Aldrin has become the signature tour guide for whenever our pop culture icons want to explore the limits of Earth's atmosphere.

First, of course, Buzz (if that is your real name) escorted Homer J. Simpson into the great beyond to investigate whether ants can be taught to sort tiny screws in space (results: inconclusive).

Now comes word that Mr. Aldrin was able to drag Mario away from his mushroom addiction long enough to experience the stomach-churning fun of a Zero-G ride.

It's a-me, Mario! I'm-a going to be sick! BLERGH! (SOURCE: Nintendo)

An RPG blog, West Karana, has posted a very convincing argument of why the current PS3 is a much better bargain than the Xbox 360.

Nifty!

Check it here

I still think the 360 has better titles available, so which really is the better deal?

VICTOR COMMENT: Yeah, it's a good argument. Maybe I should write a column about which console is a better deal.

... and only in Europe.

Dang!

Wait, why do I care?

Anti-American propaganda here

Clive Thompson at Wired magazine has a genius article about the successful (deadly?) suicide technique in 'Halo 3' that lets us sucky players reap revenge from the grave.

I needed this!

Read the article (via Kotaku)

So, Marc invites me to join guitarhero.com. Looks kinda cool: link your gamertag, get groupies, make friends, etc. Well, in theory it's supposed to do these things.

It took me four days to get my gamertag linked.

I can't see any of my career scores. My location mapping has me off the West coast of Africa. I don't have any friends (even though I sent invites to Marc and Melcolm... oh, Melcolm just responded). The guitar I use is listed incorrectly.

But, I DO have 268 groupies. Huh?

It also has my most recent performances and favorite songs (those are correct and up-to-date).

These technical hic-ups are similar to EA's site for 'Skate,' and really calls into question how quickly these online elements put into a game (and tested). Shouldn't big 'ole companies like Activision and EA have state-of-the-art web apps? Isn't that just expected?

Here's a free one!

Click to Play!