| I doubt that the firing will have any long term negative effects on IGN or the industry in general. Gaming is here to stay and if M$ can survive (and thrive) after the Red Ring of Death genocide, then I'm sure IGN can survive this.
That having been said, I think it totally sucks the way they handled the whole thing. That guy was a driving factor in the success of IGN and I hope the bigwigs there burn in hell for doing that to him.
There is no one source that I trust for an unbiased review of any product. I subscribe to all of the gaming mags and if all of them give a game an average of 2.5 on one game, I will usually stay away from it. The proof is in the pudding for me, so therefore i rent before I buy except in the case of a proven franchise like Halo or Call of Duty. | 
