So the other day, I came on this website to check up on some things like I always do and I saw that I had a message. Not to sound like a dork or anything, but I was excited. It's nice to see that someone might have left you some feedback on reviews or whatever (although most messages are union invitations) so I was looking forward to what the message had in store for me. Much to my surprise, it was a warning. So I wondered, for what? It turns out my avatar (you know, that little picture next to my name) was deemed "offensive." Please.

In case some of your minds are hazy, my picture was from Peter Jackson's cult horror flick Dead Alive (aka Braindead). It showed a zombie baby emerging from somebody elses face. Now I understand how that image is rather graphic, but here's what I don't get. Why is that deemed offensive when content that Gamespot puts up on this website themselves is far worse? Seriously, has anybody looked at screenshots or watched videos of some of the more violent games on here? For instance, games like Bioshock and Resident Evil 4 are insanely violent and graphic and Gamespot puts them up no problem. Why is that "ok" but my picture isn't? Where do they draw the line? Apparently, Gamespot gets their rules from the old "I can do what I want, but I don't want anyone else to do it" book.

Please, for the sake of my argument, go look at some screenshots from Resident Evil 4. They have pictures of people's heads getting blown off with a fountain of blood pouring out and the main character getting his flesh ripped to shreds by a chainsaw. Now go look at some videos from other mature games. Chances are you'll find graphic, violent, bloody, and even sometimes scary pictures and videos far worse than what my extremely fake looking and somewhat humorous picture showed. I don't care if it's game related or not, you cannot pick and choose what is suitable and what is not suitable for this website. There needs to be set rules and they need to be followed. Gamespot has set rules, but they sure as hell don't follow them. I can't believe they took away my avatar. They need to sit down and have a thorough look at their rules and how they carry them out. This was a hypocritical move on their part and I hope they come to realize that.

Now I'm not going to stop coming to this site or anything. I still think they do a great job of giving me the news and reviews that I want. However, my avatar is no worse than COUNTLESS other videos and images on this very website. I'm disappointed in them and they should be ashamed for being so hypocritical when it comes to the rules.