Jim Sterling / James "Stephanie" Sterling / James Stanton/Sexton & in memoriam TotalBiscuit (John Bain) - One Gaming Lolcow Thread

[Administrator Flotsam]

I don't think Jim has an audience left, I think his diehard simps give him sympathy clicks to try and be good allies, but nobody gives a fuck what he has to say because even when he picks a good topic to cover you already know what his take is going to be.

At this point I don't think he could recover even if he completely dropped the genderspecial stuff, the market has moved on and Jim has no place in it any more.

I agree that most of his audience has moved on but could 100K people still hang around to give pity-views? I think there are still isolated old fans who still stick around and give him views. By isolated I mean those who don't follow him outside of yt and don't partake in discussions like on reddit, twitter or on forums. They could be casual viewers who tune in and have been tuning in only for Jimqusitions and haven't cut that habit since long ago.

Yeah the prospect of him recovering is slim (no pun intended). The angry reviewer archetype is long dead and the snowflakes need people who hates on more than just videogames. Ironically enough, I think him clutching to videogames had a huge role to play in his decline. If he retained just enough sanity to look at his fellow soyfolx, he could've realized that expanding and infecting other places was very profitable.

CIP he could've been the British fat Hasan and stopped talking about games entirely. His fans would've shouted down anyone who asked about gaming and he would've been famous for being famous and just for being a "gamer" who doesn't talk about games anymore because the he realized saving the world was more important.

 

[Moja Zemlja]

I don't think Jim has an audience left, I think his diehard simps give him sympathy clicks to try and be good allies, but nobody gives a fuck what he has to say because even when he picks a good topic to cover you already know what his take is going to be.

At this point I don't think he could recover even if he completely dropped the genderspecial stuff, the market has moved on and Jim has no place in it any more.

I've said it before but one of my friends does unironically watch Jim Sterling and say the same kind of stuff. If I was to compare it to anything its like how you'll see people still today even though they were born after her time as PM say "fuck Thatcher", left leaning people full of vitrol and spite and that is Jim's current demographic.

 

[Kulee Baba]

Its still fucking minigames. Granted Im too greedy and cheap to spend money on video games that I steal them but who the fuck would spend that much on what is basically a modern game n watch. Game n Watches werent good even when they released, unless youre buying the console compilations why would you buy one? Hell Im sure there are retards out there buying the Tiger Handheld or something.

Why are you compelling me to defend stupid toys made for rich/frivolous spending autists??

For real I know it's a dumb minigame novelty, and after posting about it I looked at the Playdate store and saw that indies are charging as much as $12. That's absurd.

But remember neither of us are professional game journalists, while it feels absurd to attach the word professional to "game journalist" or Jumbo Jim Stefan Sterling that's what he is. He's made a lively career out of reviewing and discussing video games.

I think a lot of you guys are just forgetting about tax writeoffs. If something is a business expense you can write it off. This is why corporations are okay if their top management runs a $1000 bill at a restaurant. Jim's job is to make videos about toys and video games, why do you guys think he's buying Pinball Machines and every ugly toy on earth? It's part of his production cost.

You might be wondering why is it then that game studios send critics free copies? Because the majority of traditional game journalists are POOR. Jim is a lot of things but he's not poor. Again he's making over 6 figures.

I know it's easy to underestimate Jim, he does appear to be an idiot. But there's plenty of big rich morons who have accountants and he has to be performing some kind of payroll to pay himself and his employees. Otherwise he'd be in a Willy Nelson situation.

 

[Oliver Onions]

If he retained just enough sanity to look at his fellow soyfolx, he could've realized that expanding and infecting other places was very profitable.

CIP he could've been the British fat Hasan and stopped talking about games entirely. His fans would've shouted down anyone who asked about gaming and he would've been famous for being famous and just for being a "gamer" who doesn't talk about games anymore because the he realized saving the world was more important.

I think Jim very briefly attempted to dip his toe into breadtubing, (more by forcing topics into JQs than doing stand-alone videos,) but it was quickly apparent how utterly uninformed he is on basically everything. He literally just repeats whatever he read on Twitter or Reddit like every other NPC with a webcam and a microphone. His breadtubing content would have been about on par with Peetz.

It's a cruel irony that sticking to video games is probably the only reason he still has any audience, but he hates video games so he has no passion for making the only content people (theoretically) want from him.

 

[Moja Zemlja]

 

[CptnSnshn]

How long did it take for the HRT to get good Jim?

Are you telling trans kids they shouldn't chop their penis off because it hurts at first? Why are you such a transphobic biggot Jim?

 

[Kulee Baba]

Jim is somewhat right in that games with unbearably long tutorial need to die already, FF13 was one of the most notorious examples. It seriously destroys replay value if you make the opening of a game so utterly boring. So many games start off with giving you literally nothing at the start of the game.

But this video is awful because it completely lacks focus. First he's shitting on Final Fantasy 16, he has problem with the story because the villagers are rude to the protagonist because they're a magic user. But that just reminds me X-Men comic books in how the protagonists are portrayed as outcasts because the civilian masses are rightfully terrified of people who could easily murder them in seconds. Like this is a very old trope and I would think Jim's narcissism would latch onto it because those DAMN CONSERVATIVES WANT TO GENOCIDE THE TRANS PEOPLE.

At the 17 minute mark Jim proclaims games are an increasingly expensive hobby and I've always found it hilarious when apparent poorfags whine about this. Yeah a brand new console can be expensive but what are you buying a $60 video game every week?

 

[Administrator Flotsam]

he could've been the British fat Hasan and stopped talking about games entirely

I think Jim very briefly attempted to dip his toe into breadtubing, (more by forcing topics into JQs than doing stand-alone videos,) but it was quickly apparent how utterly uninformed he is on basically everything. His breadtubing content would have been about on par with Peetz. It's a cruel irony that sticking to video games is probably the only reason he still has any audience

You know what, I concede on this. I expected him to become a good breadtuber on the grounds that he just loves inserting politics into his vids BUT I didn't consider how much effort he'd put in or what his actual political convictions are based on.
Jim's politics are nothing but shallow zoomer rage with no principles behind them other than justifying his hatred by accusing the hated thing of some kind of "ism". So yes, he wouldn't have made it far with a breadtube grift because even the run of the mill ignorant pseudo-intellectual would be better spoken and researched than him.

 

[Moja Zemlja]

Why does this exist in 2023? FF13 was an extreme example of "it gets good in X hours" both because it takes a while to get there and the good part even isn't that great, there are plenty of games where for whatever reason only get good after so much time investment so whats the problem? Jim even admits that one of his favourite games Nier Automata is a game you need to sink considerable time into for it to really get going narratively, but then also complains that FF16 takes a while for the narrative to get decent too.

But back to my original question, why does this exist now when its so based around shit said about a game that released over 10 years ago? I can't be the only one to notice that this isn't the first recent JQ to dredge up shit from the past to moan about.

 

[Oliver Onions]

Jim is somewhat right

This is Jim's entire problem, (troonery aside). He's usually right about what he says, it's just that it takes him 25 minutes to arrive at a point we all already understood because it's obvious.

Yes, microtransactions are predatory garbage that have no place in a full-price game, yes Bobby Kotick is a dickhead, yes it's ludicrous to assume consumers could or world juggle half a dozen concurrent live services, but do I really need to watch several hours of Jimquisition when I've already summed up everything that needs to be said about each of those points?

Why does this exist in 2023?

That was my first thought too when I saw Lightning in the thumbnail, but I assumed he was going to open it up to a broader point about contemporary games (sorry, I just can't watch these videos any more to find out for myself). He really must be hurting for content if he's having to go this far back, maybe even Jim is getting tired of repeating himself every week.

 

[Waifu Days]

do I really need to watch several hours of Jimquisition when I've already summed up everything that needs to be said about each of those points?

The latter-day Marxist is good at pointing out problems in the world. It is funny how the solution is always more Marxism.

 

[Tanner Glass]

But this video is awful because it completely lacks focus. First he's shitting on Final Fantasy 16, he has problem with the story because the villagers are rude to the protagonist because they're a magic user. But that just reminds me X-Men comic books in how the protagonists are portrayed as outcasts because the civilian masses are rightfully terrified of people who could easily murder them in seconds.

It also shows a lack of care about media literacy.

Clive (the FF16 protag) isn't shit on because he's a magic user, he's shit on because he's branded - specifically he's a literal slave warrior from a literal conquered nation. It's a literal juxtaposition from when he was younger and revered for his magic (from the royal family, blessed by Phoenix, first shield of the Rosarian army). Most people don't dislike Clive for Clive (he isn't even allowed to have a name and most people think Clive died) they treat all branded the same.

In the world magic users are revered - they are often elite troops, kings, princes, lord commanders, field marshals, and so on.

None of this is a spoiler - it's literally the first arc in the game and is very plain about what it's about. It's also contained in the Demo for FF16 as well. It's not some obscure plot point in the game - it's basically the entire meat of the first 50% of the game.

FF16 also doesn't have a huge tutorial so he had to go back to FF13 for the video. FF15 doesn't have many tutorials, FF14 has a few entirely optional ones, most of the games now rely on small "Here's a hint box if you need it".

 

[ESO 137-001]

It has nearly been five years since I watched one of this guy's videos; you're telling me he's still fucking alive? Now that's crazy.

 

[Tanner Glass]

It has nearly been five years since I watched one of this guy's videos; you're telling me he's still fucking alive? Now that's crazy.

There's not a rope strong enough to hold his weight from the ceiling yet.

 

[There Is Light At The End]

Another thousand lost. Another week going by. Until under 700k is 82k subscribers. ETA is between 83 and 85 weeks

 

[Dumpster dived waifu]

It also shows a lack of care about media literacy.

Clive (the FF16 protag) isn't shit on because he's a magic user, he's shit on because he's branded - specifically he's a literal slave warrior from a literal conquered nation. It's a literal juxtaposition from when he was younger and revered for his magic (from the royal family, blessed by Phoenix, first shield of the Rosarian army). Most people don't dislike Clive for Clive (he isn't even allowed to have a name and most people think Clive died) they treat all branded the same.

In the world magic users are revered - they are often elite troops, kings, princes, lord commanders, field marshals, and so on.

None of this is a spoiler - it's literally the first arc in the game and is very plain about what it's about. It's also contained in the Demo for FF16 as well. It's not some obscure plot point in the game - it's basically the entire meat of the first 50% of the game.

FF16 also doesn't have a huge tutorial so he had to go back to FF13 for the video. FF15 doesn't have many tutorials, FF14 has a few entirely optional ones, most of the games now rely on small "Here's a hint box if you need it".

Spoiler: FF16 sperging

That's only true in the kingdom of Rosaria. Every other country brands magic users and treats them as tools to be used and disposed of. The only escape from the life of slavery is to be a dominant, but even then only if you happen to not be born/enslaved in the one country that treats dominants worse than bearers.

Either way, Jim clearly has 0 media literacy.

 

[James done did it]

At the 17 minute mark Jim proclaims games are an increasingly expensive hobby and I've always found it hilarious when apparent poorfags whine about this. Yeah a brand new console can be expensive but what are you buying a $60 video game every week?

People claiming that gaming is getting 'more expensive' simply don't understand inflation. Let's just look at Nintendo console prices:

NES - $180 in 1985 (US release), $508 in 2023 dollars
SNES - $200 in 1990 - $465 in 2023 dollars
N64 - $200 in 1996 - $385 in 2023 dollars
Gamecube - $200 in 2001 - $350 in 2023 dollars
Wii - $250 in 2006 - $377 in 2023 dollars
Wii-U - $300 in 2012 - $397 in 2023 dollars
Switch - $300 in 2017 - $372 in 2023 dollars (but it still sells at $300 for the base models iirc, OLED model is another $50)

Looking at games, many games were $60 in 1990. Back in the 90s there was not an established industry standard price, that emerged in the late 90s-early 00s at $50. Prior to that shovelware would be like $20-40 and actually good games were $40-80ish which is basically the same price structure we have today, 30 years later. The relatively high cost of games back then is part of why rentals were so popular, when a new AAA game could cost the equivalent of $140 most families couldn't afford to buy very many, and back then console games were largely for kids, there wasn't the modern millennial 'kidult' consumer. Basically EVERYTHING else has increased in price more rapidly than video games.

It's only really more expensive if you're a consoomer who has to follow every trend and buy every new game the streamers all play and that's because there are far more games being produced. Most of the free games today are better than the majority of shit that was selling in the 90s for under $50.

 

[Aaron Costello]

At the 17 minute mark Jim proclaims games are an increasingly expensive hobby and I've always found it hilarious when apparent poorfags whine about this. Yeah a brand new console can be expensive but what are you buying a $60 video game every week?

17 minutes? wow you made it that far into the video????

 

[Noebel]

People claiming that gaming is getting 'more expensive' simply don't understand inflation.

To be fair, it's not only inflation. The volumes they sell now is way higher. Digital distribution eases their logistics greatly. Cartriges were basically additional pieces of hardware for the system, which made them understandiably expensive. Now they don't even need discs. Physical boxes now have digital codes instead of discs inside. But that's not all. Big companies doing their best to make the default 60$ version into "basic bitch" version, AND they put microtransactions in single-player games, AND they report highest earnings ever every year, AND those damn games come out undercooked as hell. People are just starting to notice they're being squezed for money and they aren't liking that. Development cycles are also a mess(see Anthem, which was actually developed(more like hastly put together with ducktape) in the last 1.5 years out of 6, and in the prior 3.5 they did fuck-all while still collecting paychecks). And they have an audacity to say that they deserve more money for all that. There's also modern writing, but that's a whole another topic. Saying "fuck you" to AAA companies is a good idea. It's just Jims implementation of it is bad. I rate it Modern Jim Sterling /10.

 

[Kulee Baba]

17 minutes? wow you made it that far into the video????

No. When I see Jim's face I skip ahead. When Jim gets boring I skip ahead. When the video has one of those cartoon reaction image I skip. So maybe I sat through 5 minutes of that thing. Anyway look at Jim wrasslin Promo!

Could you imagine how awful it'd be if any of these ham and eggers actually actually aspire to having real careers in the squared circle? I feel there's no way any of these guys would even have a shot at AEW much less WWE but still aren't these little indie circuits around with the hope that these guys can rise up top talent?