GamespotGate – the plot thickens

The facts on GameSpot Gate are pretty thin on the ground. Here are the ones that are known:

• Eidos paid for a major advertising campaign on GameSpot to promote Kane and Lynch
• Jeff Gerstmann, a ten-year veteran of GameSpot, wrote a review that gave Kane and Lynch 6 out of 10.
• Jeff Gerstmann no longer works for GameSpot.

As any reader of Freakonomics will know, correlation does not imply causality, but the blogosphere is up in arms at this alleged proof that advertisers can pay for high-quality reviews. The comments range from the rational to the furious (check out the new logo).

It shows how in the Internet era, accountability is increasing. The days of trusted authorities are over (be that journalists, politicians, or the police) and the web-savvy public now look for trusted environments, places where there are automatic checks and balances to reassure readers about the quality of the information. Places like Wikipedia, Facebook and Yahoo Answers.

So how about a review site that allows users to review games, but verifies which games they own and publishes their games list for all to see? A place where if you slate The Sims but the only games you own are Postal and Manhunt, everyone can judge your biases upfront? A site where reviews are rated by readers, and where a reputation as a respected review writer is valuable?

Hmmm, now that’s a good idea.