While most of these sites might have good reviews, almost all of them fall short in aggregating other content: a list of similar games I can browse, screenshots, ratings from the public, files, comprehensive listing including older games, etc. For that matter, Giant Bomb actually impressed me with honors. I bookmarked it and signed up for membership there, thanks for the tip!

You seem to be hearing what you want to hear. I have no problem with an honest site making a lot of money they deserve. I just think this is rarely the case, particularly with Gamespot and IGN -- they are bribed and therefore they are PR people masquerading as journalists.

But you do realize you criticized them for having a booth in a major event and no other reason, right? It's not only you, and that's my point. Of all reasoning, people choose to point out that they're openly large ad-driven sites as this was a flaw. That alone doesn't mean all reviews suck, even if it doesn't help either.