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Jeff Gerstmann (born August 1, 1975) is an American video game journalist and former editorial director of the gaming website GameSpot and the founder of the gaming website Giant Bomb. He began working at GameSpot in the fall of 1996, around the launch of VideoGameSpot when GameSpot separated PC and console games into separate areas. He shared his thoughts on a variety of other subjects every Monday on his GameSpot blog. He has also been quoted by The New York Times as a video game expert.^[1] As a member of Spike Video Game Awards' advisory council, Gerstmann is 1 of 25 journalists responsible for voting the nominees and winners of the event.^[2] Complex magazine named Gerstmann in their top 25 biggest celebrities in the video game industry.^[3]

Career[link]

Appearance on Good Morning America (1999)[link]

Gerstmann appeared in a segment on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer and Sega product analyst Dennis Lee in September 1999 to talk about the release of the Sega Dreamcast, playing NFL 2K and Ready 2 Rumble Boxing, notable for the Dreamcast crashing while live on national television in one of its first TV demonstrations, Gerstmann personally notes in the GiantBombcast that he believes his appearance on the show wearing a FUBU Jersey contributed to the clothing companies fall from popularity.^[4] The segment was also notable for the Sega product analysts many falsehoods, stating "You can actually see the snow slowly blanketing the ground, as the game goes on, the snow will blanket the field" features which were not present in the product.^[5]

Termination from GameSpot (2007 - 2008)[link]

Gerstmann was dismissed from his position at GameSpot as Editorial Director on November 28, 2007.^[6] Immediately after his termination, rumors circulated proclaiming his dismissal was a result of external pressure from Eidos Interactive the publisher of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men which Gerstmann had previously given a Fair rating, which is relatively undesirable, along with critique.^[7] This was at a time when Eidos had been putting heavy advertising money into GameSpot,^[7] going as far as transforming the entire website to use a Kane & Lynch theme and background instead of the regular GameSpot layout, regardless of which game or page viewers were seeing. Both GameSpot and parent company CNET stated that his dismissal was unrelated to the negative review, but have never cited any reason why his termination was deserved.^[8] In accordance with California State Law and CNET Networks, GameSpot could not give details as to why Gerstmann was terminated.^[9] Following Gerstmann's termination, editors Alex Navarro, Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker, and Vinny Caravella left GameSpot, feeling that they could no longer work for a publication that was perceived as having caved in to advertiser pressure.^[7]

Shortly after leaving GameSpot, Gerstmann started an online blog saying: "I'm mainly starting this site up to give people a centralized place to hear directly from me, as all these bits and pieces that have gotten out to game news sites via interviews and the blog on my MySpace account aren't really the best way to communicate. So if you're interested in what I plan to do from here, this is the place. I'll also be sharing my thoughts on games and the business that surrounds them, perhaps with an occasional video or two."^[10]

On the first episode of IGN's "GameSages" podcast, Gerstmann stated that he was talking with "old friends" (later revealed to be Shelby Bonnie, the former CEO and Co-founder of CNET, along with other former CNET people who left shortly before Jeff and founded Whiskey Media) in regards to his future plans.^[7] On February 25, 2008, Jeff Gerstmann announced on his blog that he would be participating in an online podcast (Arrow Pointing Down) with his former co-worker Ryan Davis. Another former co-worker, Alex Navarro, also participated. On March 5, 2008, Jeff Gerstmann revealed that along with his previous co-worker Ryan Davis, he would be starting a brand new gaming site named Giant Bomb,^[11] which launched on July 21, 2008.^[12]

Giant Bomb (2008 - Present)[link]

Giant Bomb, launched in March 2008, is a video gaming website which is the current home of Gerstmann and other game journalists, including Ryan Davis, Brad Shoemaker and Vinny Caravella (all former GameSpot staff). The staff produces multiple video series' including the Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 and Deadly Premonition Endurance Runs, and the "This Ain't No Game" segment, along with a podcast, the "BombCast" and "Quick Looks" for the website. They also write video game reviews and cover video game news for the website. Jeff Gerstmann claims that he defends video games as works of art, not to be censored or reduced in ways that would negatively affect a certain game's quality. His music background has helped garner much appreciation for video game developers that refrain from censoring explicit lyrics in the music/rhythm genre.

Gerstmann also personally produces and uploads a regular premium-content video segment called "Jar Time with Jeff" to the site, hour long broadcasts often themed around jar related puns, in which Jeff drinks from a jar while answering questions submitted via email from Giantbomb users, over time the segment has begun to include various off topic inclusions such as showing off his video game and console collection, and discussing his own opinions on various non video-game related subjects.

Giant Bomb was voted by Time Magazine as one of the Top 50 websites of 2011.^[13]

On March 15, 2012 Giant Bomb announced that they were acquired by CBS Interactive, meaning that Jeff will be working alongside his former employer, GameSpot.^[14]

Reason for GameSpot termination revealed[link]

On March 15, 2012, it was announced that CBS Interactive had acquired the Giant Bomb and Comic Vine websites from Whiskey Media.^[15] CBS Interactive is the parent company of CNET, which operates GameSpot. As part of the deal, the non-disparagement agreement between Gerstmann and CNET was nullified, allowing him to finally speak publicly about his termination over four years later. Later that evening on GameSpot's On the Spot web show, GameSpot VP John Davison appeared on camera with Gerstmann, marking Gerstmann's first appearance on the GameSpot web site since November 2007. He explained that the reason for his firing was the result of long-standing tension between the editorial staff and the new marketing staff that had recently been put in place. According to Gerstmann, the new marketing staff in place wasn't familiar with video game journalism or how to deal with annoyed publishers. He revealed that the problems began after publishing the review for Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction that went live on October 23, 2007. The review was written by Aaron Thomas and scored a 7.5 (good). The publisher, Sony Computer Entertainment America, complained to GameSpot over the score and threatened to pull their advertising money. Gerstmann, as Thomas' boss, was "called into a room" to discuss the review. He said the marketing team freaked out over Sony's threats and didn't understand how to handle threats like that. Tension continued between marketing and editorial, coming to a head after Gerstmann published his review for Kane & Lynch: Dead Men on November 13, 2007 and scored it a 6.0 (fair). His frankness of the game's quality led to the publisher, Eidos Interactive, also threatening to pull their advertising money. At the time of the review going live, the GameSpot home page was covered in ads for Kane & Lynch. Gerstmann said he was once again "called into a room" where he was sternly admonished over the review. After over two weeks of even thicker tension between marketing and editorial, Gerstmann was yet again "called into a room" and was informed he was being fired on November 29, 2007 effective immediately. He said they essentially caved to advertiser pressure despite vehemently claiming they didn't just days after the firing.

On a humorous note, during the show, Gerstmann claimed he ran into a few members of Kane & Lynch developer IO Interactive at a convention a few months after his firing. He claims one of the people he ran into said, "Yeah, Kane & Lynch wasn't a very good game." Gerstmann responded, "You should totally call up my old bosses and tell them that."^[16]

Other appearances[link]

Gerstmann is a regular guest on Bonus Round, a panel topic discussion show on the video game industry presented by Geoff Keighley on GameTrailers.^[17]

Personal life[link]

The first game system Gerstmann owned was a Fairchild Channel F which his parents, who own an auto-repair and tire business, bought as there were some educational games available for it. After it was ruined in a flood, he then purchased an Atari home computer.^[18]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jeff Gerstmann's blog
• Jeff Gerstmann at Twitter
• Jeff Gerstmann at Formspring
• Jeff Gerstmann at MySpace
• Jeff Gerstmann at TV.com

Adam Sessler
Sessler at TGS '07
Born	Adam Donovan Sessler (1973-08-29) August 29, 1973 (age 38) Berkeley, California
Occupation	Host and Senior Segment Producer
Known for	Hosting X-Play

Adam Donovan Sessler (born August 29, 1973) is a former co-host of X-Play with Morgan Webb and editor-in-chief of G4's game content for the network.^[1] He was the only remaining television personality from the G4's original incarnation until he and G4TV parted on April 25, 2012.

Background[link]

Sessler was born in Berkeley, California. He graduated from El Cerrito High School in 1991 and is a graduate of UCLA with a bachelor's degree in English literature. He was previously a credit analyst for a multinational Fortune 500 financial institution in San Francisco, and an actor on the San Francisco Public-access television show Chip Weigh Magnet Down, which he also helped to make. Adam admits that he is grateful to no longer work for Fortune 500 companies, saying in The X-Play Insider's Guide to Gaming that he was "very sad" about the job. Sessler currently lives in Los Angeles, California, having moved from the former TechTV headquarters, which was located in San Francisco, California.^[2] Sessler is married.^[3]

Some of Sessler's known favorite game series are: the Halo series for its first-person shooter qualities; the Japanese version of Rez for its Trance Vibrator feature; the Banjo-Kazooie, Rayman, Ratchet and Clank, and Sly Cooper series for their unique platform qualities; Resident Evil 4; and Call of Duty 4. He also stated during the broadcast of E3 2010 that Uncharted 2 was his favorite single player experience of all time.^{[citation needed]}

His favorite cabinet video game is Ghosts 'n Goblins, which he has stated on several occasions on older episodes of Extended Play and X-Play. "When I was 9 years old I used to scam quarters from my parents and sneak out to this local bowling alley that was so seedy Hubert Selby Jr. would get the creeps there. It smelled like personal abandonment. That's what I think of when I play my favorite game"^{[cite this quote]} he said.

Sessler has a younger brother, Jonathan, who appeared as Adam 2.0 (in X-Play's 2005 April Fool's Day Episode), a "clone" of Adam who claims he's much better-looking than the original Adam with a "special USB port" (a reference to the Game Boy Advance SP succeeding the original Game Boy Advance).^[4]

Career[link]

Sessler was the only original personality from ZDTV remaining on the network, surviving the network's progression from ZDTV (1998–2001) to TechTV (2001–2004), and subsequent transition to G4. Sessler is one of seven TechTV personalities, with Morgan Webb, Sarah Lane, Kevin Rose, Chi-Lan Lieu, Blair Butler and Brendan Moran, to survive the massive layoffs resulting from the May 2004 merger of G4 and TechTV, though until recently he, Webb and Butler were the only three hosts from TechTV still on G4.

In addition to co-hosting X-Play, Sessler also appeared semi-regularly on Attack of the Show! as a video game correspondent. On April 1, 2005, Sessler confused many by announcing he was leaving X-Play to host a late night talk show on G4 entitled Meet the Sess. A trailer of the new show aired on X-Play, showing Sessler verbally and physically abusing his guests until they released information about upcoming video games.^[5] Despite being extremely over-the-top and obviously fake, many viewers began flooding the G4 forums asking when the show would air and if Sessler was really leaving X-Play. Sessler has since publicly announced on several occasions that the show was in fact an April Fool's Day joke. However, he does have a podcast called "Sessler's Soapbox",^[6] as well as "Feedback", where he discussed various gaming topics with other G4 correspondents and guests until late 2011, when he was replaced by Blair Herter.^[7]

On April 25, 2012, Sessler and G4TV parted ways.^[8]

References[link]

• Orland, Kyle (2006-10-17). "Gaming's Top 50 Journalists". Next Generation. http://www.next-gen.biz/features/gamings-top-50-journalists. Retrieved 2007-01-02. 

1. ^ Brian Crecente (December 17, 2008). "Adam Sessler Gets the Boot... Up to Editor-In Chief". http://kotaku.com/5112391/. 
2. ^ IMDB - Bio - Adam Sessler
3. ^ Sessler's Soapbox - Gateway Gaming
4. ^ IMDB - Jonathan Oliver Sessler
5. ^ X-Play Classics: Meet the Sess
6. ^ Sessler's Soapbox
7. ^ G4tv.com - Feedback Blog
8. ^ "Adam Sessler Out at G4". April 25, 2012. http://kotaku.com/5905119/adam-sessler-out-at-g4. Retrieved April 25, 2012. 

External links[link]

• XPlay Hosts: Adam Sessler
• AOTS Blog: Jack Thompson vs Adam Sessler
• Adam Sessler at the Internet Movie Database

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (October 2008)

Brian Brushwood
Born	(1975-01-17) January 17, 1975 (age 37) Fountain Valley, California
Occupation	Magician
Known for	Magic
Website
shwood.com

Brian Brushwood (born January 17, 1975) is an American magician who performs nationwide. He is especially known for his display of bizarre magic. He is known to perform fire-eating, escapes, breaking a cinder block over his head, sticking nails in his eyes and nose, sticking needles through his palm, reading minds, and "The Human Crazy Straw". He frequently releases podcasts and vlogs of himself on the road.

Brushwood has performed on The Food Network, CNN and The Tonight Show, as well as performing special demonstrations at The University of Texas. He is a regular on the college circuit. On April 7, 2008 Brushwood's internet television show Scam School launched on the Revision3 network. The show features quick ten minute tips to get free drinks at bars and to impress friends. Brushwood was also interviewed on The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, Episode 205.^[1]

Bio[link]

Brushwood grew up living in California, Colorado, Norway, and Texas. In 1993 he started at the University of Texas in Austin doubly majoring in "Plan II honors program" and history. He performed a magic show as a "creative writing" senior thesis. He began touring with the "Bizarre Magic Show" full-time in 2000. Brushwood also works as a writer and makes appearances on the lecture circuit. Brushwood categorizes himself as a libertarian.^[2]

Repertoire[link]

Books[link]

Books about magic and college entertainment:

• Cheats, Cons, Swindles & Tricks: 57 Ways to Scam a Free Drink. Brian Brushwood. 2000. ASIN B00135VL0Y. 
• Pack the House: The Ultimate, Ever-growing Guide to Increasing Attendance at YOUR Campus Events. Bizarre Magic, Inc.. 2000. pp. 61. ASIN 0971364613. ISBN 978-0-9713646-1-5.  (co-authored with C. J. Johnson)
• Professional's Guide to Fire Eating. Bizarre Magic, Inc.. 2002. pp. 170. ASIN 0971364605. ISBN 978-0-9713646-0-8. OCLC 224122749. 

IPTV[link]

Scam School

Magician Brian Brushwood explains bar tricks, street cons, and scams on Scam School at Revision3.

Behind the Scam

Originally called Scam School Live, Behind the Scam is a longer version of Scam School that started in April, 2011, which streams live Wednesday nights on YouTube Live. As opposed to the 10 to 15 minute, prerecorded and highly produced episodes of Scam School on Revision3, Behind the Scam airs in real-time without edits, and runs for an hour or more. Behind the Scam usually starts by premiering the new weekly Scam School episode, and delves into the life of a stage magician. Each episode features an alternating guest co-host who is also involved in the world of professional magic. Viewers are encouraged to call in via Skype with questions.

BBLiveShow

Was a weekly live stream show which was succeeded by NSFW. Brushwood was joined weekly by co-host Justin Robert Young. The show's regular guests included, Brett Rounsaville, Owen JJ Stone, and his brother Jay Brushwood. Other guests included The Totally Rad Show's Jeff Cannata and Dan Trachtenberg, Film Riot's Ryan Connolly, Josh Connolly and Timmy Allen, Jay Adelson, Martin Sargent and Daniel Garcia.

Game On!

Brian hosts TWiT's newly developed gaming show with Veronica Belmont. The show's last show was on April 8, 2012, and now shows as "Retired" on the TWit.tv website.

NSFW

Billed as 'TWiTs favorite mistake', NSFW hosted by Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young, is an evolution of the BBLiveShow for the TWiT Network. Airs Tuesdays on TWiT Live and NSFWshow.com at 7 p.m. PT and is also available in podcast form at TWiT.TV.

FrameRate

A weekly video and audio podcast on the TWiT Network, hosted by Brian Brushwood and Tom Merritt discussing television, movies and internet videos.

Weird Things Podcast

Hosts Brian Brushwood, Justin Robert Young and Andrew Mayne discuss supernatural and strange reports in the news. News reports are often introduced by Andrew Mayne presenting scenarios where his co-hosts must respond to the events of a report as Mayne reveals an increasing amount of detail.

Video[link]

• "Scams, Sasquatch, and the Supernatural" YouTube
• "A Brief Documentary on Brian Brushwood" YouTube
• "Brian Brushwood on the Road" YouTube
• Scam School Revision3
• NSFW Show TWiT.TV

MP3[link]

"Night Attack [Explicit]". September 28, 2011. ASIN B005QN7MZM.  (with Justin Robert Young)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• NSFW Show
• BBLiveShow
• BBPedia
• BBOTR (Brian Brushwood On The Road)
• Scam School
• MySpace