I'd heard that the forums over at Eidos.com were going completely crazy over the firing of GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann over a negative Kane & Lynch review so I was on my way to the site to collect some quotes or screenshots and, well, the site was down.

Needless to say, the entire internets are in an uproar over this (now confirmed) firing. Gerstmann's Wikipedia article has been locked from changes by new users due to vandalism.

If it turns out to be true that Eidos forced GameSpot to fire Gerstmann over a negative review, there will soon be unleashed a holy hellstorm of outrage that this industry has never before witnessed.

UPDATE: The GameSpot homepage now includes no mention of Kane & Lynch, but yesterday there were many images and links to the review. The GameSpot forums don't seem too pleased. This thread alone has over 4,000 replies so far.

UPDATE UPDATE: We've received word that Tim Tracey, another GameSpot employee, has left his job today. As we understand it, he left voluntarily. We can't confirm whether this is related to the Gerstmann firing. Tracey worked in the video production team for GameSpot LIVE then moved to MP3.com.

UPDATE THE THIRD: Eidos.com and Eidosinteractive.com are back online. The US Eidos forums are also back, though every forum is locked and nearly all threads related to Gerstmann have been purged. There is this one, but it ends rather tersely.

GameSpot (Finally) Responds to 'GerstmannG... [12/06/07] 67% match
Gerstmann's K&L Review Was Heavily 'Toned... [12/05/07] 67% match
Eidos Reduces K&L Fake Rating Complaints t... [12/04/07] 67% match
Official Kane & Lynch Website Lies About I... [12/02/07] 67% match
Idea: Maybe GameSpot Needs A Writers Strike [11/30/07] 67% match
Gerstmann Firing Not GameSpot's Fault, Say... [11/30/07] 67% match
Long-Time GameSpot Editor Fired. Negative... [11/29/07] 67% match