I am not sure what to say, as it has likely been said a thousand times already in the past day. After the inital shock and watching angry mobs tear up forums left and right I finally realise how disasterous this event really was. This could impact far beyond just the gamespot forums, and the emergence of evidence just keep fuelling the fire.

On a personal level I can't say it changed my life, I was a casual visitor to the site at best, but I was always an avid listener to the Hotspot and watcher of On the Spot. However, Jeff was the alpha and the omega as far as atmosphere is concerned in both features, and he will be sorely missed by me and many other users and now ever increasing wave of ex-users.

After reserving judgement all day, I finally decided to terminate my total access subscription, as I cannot support CNET any longer based on the evidence present.

My best wishes to Jeff, and to the rest of the editorial staff. I have full faith that you will all make it out in one piece, but I fear GS will never, ever, be the same again.

2007 is truly a great year for strategy enthusiasts, with the release of Supreme Commander and C&C3 already behind us and many more still to come. Having finally completed both aforementioned games I can once again feel the thrill which make Strategy gaming so appealing to me and many others like me. 

SupCom gave an entirely new meaning to the term "Strategy", adding layers upon layers of new, innovative and somewhat daring ways to create and manage an army on a truly massive scale. My then unused strategic brain was forced to jolt back from it's comatose state and jump into the fire in order to grasp the true vastness which SupCom encompasses. Many hours, in fact too many hours have I spent perfecting strategies, counter strategies and counter-counter strategies within SupCom's endless possibilities, and I have enjoyed every second of it. Some may claim that it was "too much", and "requres too much resources". Fie I way unto those who tread that path. Only when the brain can no-longer comprehend the complexity does it approach the ever-changing barrier of "too much", and even then only the imagination will in reality limit the personal experience. SupCom is the best example of micro-managing simplification around, with the possibility for creating mind-bogglingly complex strategies with a minimal of effort. I can only stand in awe at this monument to development prowess and I believe this has set just as many standards as it's predecessor did.

With C&C3 things went in a wholly different direction. Upon starting the first campaign nostalgia hit me like a brick wall, and I was instantly teleported to those blissful months I spent playing Tiberian Sun, and even before that Command and Conquer. It was everything I had hoped for and more, it filled a space which SupCom could not hope to reach. Sometimes, the most enjoyable moments are moments of rememberance of other moments of enjoyment earlier in our life. A very peculiar trait, but one most of my fellows will agree to share. Despite being straegically "inferior" to SupCom and being in essence a much smaller game, it attacked a niche which SupCom did not. The fast paced no-nonsence approach of C&C3's easy to understand techtree and pro-con structure makes it much more of a pick up and play game which can be enjoyed for a few minutes at a time, crushing or being crushed in merciless rushes on the online battlefield. It is not to say that C&C3 was not innovative, as it was with the introduction of battlecast and it's superbe performance-to-requirements ratio. It does o course improve tried and tested gameplay in more subtle ways aswell, but the core gameplay mechic is the kind of farmiliar that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside when I sit down to enjoy some intense online feudes. 

Well, both TGS and X06 have come and gone, and with them a whole score of new and promising games. Being the PS3 fan I am, I focus on it rather than the 360.

There were plenty of expectations for TGS in regards to what Sony would, or should show. I think my expectations were a bit off, as I wished for some killzone 2 info and a mind blowing conferance. In retrospect I realise that this was Japan. They don't give a flying fiddle about killzone amongst other things. In addition, their "press briefing" was in fact just a keynote, and anyone knows that those are boring and dry affairs.

So, some disappointment, a lot of fanboys whining about how aweful Sony was and many Afrika puns followed to mine and many other peoples great annoyance. I hoped they would at least show some interesting games on the floor. And man was I wealthily rewarded.
Following Gamespots coverage I gota glimpse of the many great titles coming for the PS3 at launch and next year. Some were unfortunately pushed back, but seeing how far they had come made me willing to wait just a bit longer. I could see the improvement in lighting and textures even in the relatively low res gameplay videos. Of course that was only half the story, as hearing what the GS editors had to say about them made me want them even more. Geff was especially awed by RR7, which in his words "definately did it for me".

So it is great to see and hear that the games look en par if not somewhat better than current titles on the 360, and that they play great. For as cool as it is to have great graphics, the games also need to be fun. That said, the news that more and more titles were showing up in 1080p and running at a solid 60fps clearly shows that the PS3 has what it takes in the graphical department. In addition, listening to the Lair interview it also has what it takes elsewhere, the CELL proving what a beast of a processor it really is.

After the awe disappated from all the great news and stunning visuals I began thinking of the gameplay, and it seems there is no lack in that neck of the woods either. My TGS favourites were definately Lair, Motorstorm and Ridge Racer 7. I am a great fan of racers, but I also love dragons.

We have also been informed Sony is having a real press conferance sometime later in October, so i suspect they will show some Killzone there, and perhaps reveal some more of their online platform along with other goodies. After TGS I am definately geared up for more of what the PS3 has to offer.