Many readers have asked about why we run ads on the site that often have very little to do with gaming. I am going to answer that now publicly, as it seems fitting when you consider the event that has taken place between Jeff Gerstmann and his former long time employer Gamespot.

In case readers didn’t notice Gamespot ran a bunch of Kane & Lynch advertisements, and with that, though they can deny it, comes a certain level of unwritten respect that is expected. Think about it, why does Consumer Reports not run ads? Why is it you never hear networks bad mouth their sponsors? Why do we here at Ripten run ads that rarely have anything to do with gaming?

The answer to the last question is two fold. First, it is because our site is fairly new, and we have yet to establish a relationship with that type of vendor, but secondly, and most importantly, the longer we have been doing this, the more it started to dawn on us that maybe we don’t want to run game related advertising on our site.

Apparently, Jeff didn’t care that Kane & Lynch ads were plastered all over Gamespot (as he should not), and frankly, I never want my writers to have to think about that when they write a review.

If that is the state of this industry, then what is the point of a review? Who can be trusted? I will say this, if you ever come to Ripten, and see our site skinned with a Gears or War 2 skin and GoW2 banners plastered everywhere you look, remember this post — and run away.