Another Gamespot Reviewer Leaves

[Jokerswild]

"Long time video game reviewer Alex Navarro, a frequent contributor to GameSpot's podcast The HotSpot and go-to video review narrator, will be leaving the site, according to the site's Editorial Director Ricardo Torres. We learned in a phone call with Torres earlier today that Navarro, who many will remember from his infamous (and hilarious) video review of Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing, had given his notice yesterday, with the rest of staff told his last day of GameSpot editorial duties would occur on January 24th. We haven't been in touch with Navarro yet to learn more about his decision to leave GameSpot or if the termination of Jeff Gerstmann played a role in his departure. Navarro has made appearances on Jeff Gerstmann's personal blog and Points! webcast over the past month, so it's possible the two may work together in some capacity in the future.
Following Gerstmann's removal and the decision of reviews freelancer Frank Provo to end his relationship with Gamespot, the review stable at the site appears to be woefully understaffed. When I asked Torres about the holes in the reviewer line up, he told me "We're going to be realistic about our output" and that the outlet would be looking to fill open positions as quickly as possible.
Asked about the general mood of the remaining editorial staffers at GameSpot, Torres said that "We know we lost fans, but we're still getting e-mails of support from folks who say 'We still love the site and won't give up on it'." He reiterated multiple times that GameSpot is trying to "move forward", stressing "We owe it to the site and our readers who support it."

[Capper]

This stuff is just killing the community......if people think bad reviews and sellouts are a rarity, they have a major shock coming. The web is full of sites, and people with less than honest intentions.

Remember, most of these guys are trying to make money, and believe it or not, many companies hold review samples and advertising money over their heads. Mix this in with people who just don't know what the hell they are talking about or doing, and its easy to see why forum activity is down around the web, and why people just don't trust reviewer opinions as much anymore.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

"Asked about the general mood of the remaining editorial staffers at GameSpot, Torres said that "We know we lost fans, but we're still getting e-mails of support from folks who say 'We still love the site and won't give up on it'." He reiterated multiple times that GameSpot is trying to "move forward", stressing "We owe it to the site and our readers who support it."

GameSpot who? Sorry, never felt it compelling enough to visit that site.

[Jokerswild]

Trouble is most people don't know that there's sites like ours out there that will give honest reviews. Pretty much assume that if a site is affiliated with a large company all you'll get is bland reviews and not the truth. Kind of like getting news from CNN and Fox they are just skewered by the ownership.

[Capper]

Yeah.....I agree.......we just have to be patient I guess.


We had an eye opener a few weeks ago......Got to see how another review site does their benchmarking, and all I will say is they do not put nearly the time and effort into it that we do. On the same subject, i don't really care about benchmarking except to show stability.....as you can run the same benchmark back to back 10x and get a different result each time.....it s just to show mainly a general performance perspective.

We need to pay the bills like everyone else, but I also think we have taken the high road and made it clear our integrity is not for sale. Does that mean we'll just be assholes who bash everything? No, as I've said before, I actually think we review mostly things people want....and bypass the crap (For the most part)......so for those who look at our reviews and say we are too generous, I call bullshit.
I honestly believe there are very few "bad" products.....there are just a lot of products that are mismarketed, and products that retailers price gouge you on.

[Jokerswild]

I agree Rich. All you guys do an outstanding job with reviews and give fair opinions on their true worth. Too bad there's not a easy way to get that out to the general public. I guess your right patients is the key. It's only been 2 years and we have a great core of people with a vast degree of experience that treat everyone else with respect.