Jimquisition: Too Cool To Be Cool

[AyreonMaiden]

Badass once again. Spot on with Sonic. If he became self-aware, he'd be so much better. But nope.

Honestly I never thought Duke Nukem was funny. My attachment to the series comes in the form of the awesome arcade gameplay. It was one of my first FPS games.

 

[icame]

I liked it.
I certainly find Jimquisition MUCH easier to stomach than a lot of the stuff on this site. (Not ZP, Movie Bob or Extra Credits though)

This. Extra Credits is so pretentious it hurts to watch.

He was praising extra credits. Reading comprehension is a powerful tool.

 

[Maldeus]

Jim. If enough of your audience didn't get your shtick several episodes into your show that you had to explain it to them in very nearly explicit terms, you've done something wrong. The right solution to this is not to explicitly spell it out, but rather to actually make the shtick work. For the last twenty or thirty seconds or so, the shtick worked.

 

[Zetsubou^-^]

i think jim's point was that duke was played so seriously as a macho jerk that lack of obvious irony makes it harder to play the game. at least in the game, hes idolized (even in that little clip there was a statue)regardless of how he acts. even if the entire game is supposed to be taken as satirical, the fact that hes worshipped as a hero in game gives it the impression that being a macho jerk is acceptable as long as you save the world. the fact is, he doesn't have any redeeming qualities at all, and the fact that no one in game calls him on this is like giving him free license to continue.

basically because he doesn't get called on it, he can't relate to the player. the player subconsciously or not, should realize that his actions are wrong, and that makes it harder to even root for the guy. it would be different if he was like jim said: a guy who is a jerk regardless of people's reactions, a "jerk for the LOL". he used dante as his example of a relate-able character, and sonic for... well, he might not be a full jerk, but definitely is an example of a character type that doesn't relate to people anymore.

i'd say another good example of "what works" would be Travis from no more heroes. hes not exactly a nice guy, but his motives and the comedy mostly comming at his expense makes him resonate with people on some level.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

I dont think people understand what he's saying about DN, its not that he's a serious character, it's that in the game world he's taking to seriously, as in nobody in the world looks down at him. Anyway, I'm not saying to agree with him, I'm saying to discuss what he meant, not what you misunderstood.

You're putting words in Sterling's mouth. If that is what he meant, he misspoke.

"As Duke Nukem Forever speeds towards a release date, I can't stop thinking about the biggest problem I have with the franchise and this game in particular- the complete lack of evidenced irony. Duke Nukem is not a man we're supposed to pity, or laugh at or be disgusted with in any way. [Describes Duke] ...But rather than make that a point of comedy with the character, we're supposed to actually think he's a brilliant, wonderful guy. To me, this is the fundamental difference between Duke Nukem and Sam Stone from the Serious Sam series. One is played straight, the other not so much."

It only gets worse. Face it, Sterling needs a laugh track to know he's watching comedy. If he doesn't have his hand held through every single joke, it goes completely over his head. It's like he can't infer things without having them explicitly spelled out.

Duke Nukem goes over Jim Sterling's head. Just think about that.

lack of obvious irony makes it harder to play the game

I don't lament the lack of "obvious irony". Are things really so bad that Duke Nukem is too subtle for gamers to comprehend? Lack of obvious jokes makes it harder for Sterling to understand the jokes. If we restrict the discussion to what he actually said in the video, that's all this is.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

Am I the only one that thinks he sounds like Robin Leach? And on Duke taking himself serious, I see him as those 90's action heroes that acted all serious but no one took them seriously.

 

[Faux Furry]

Hmm. Sonic the Hedgehog re-imagined as an intentionally out-of-touch character subject to meta-humor? That would pretty much make Sonic into Animal-Man(as written by Grant Morrison). Considering that he's an anthropomorphic hedgehog, that might just be the right move for Sega to take with him at that!

I always saw Duke Nukem as a blonde Al Bundy with guns (both in the literal sense and in reference to his muscles), an image that doesn't lend itself too well to a character meant to be taken seriously. Now, if the crappiest [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7gkn6WQ44M] DNF trailer of them all is a hint of what Duke thinks of his own actions taken throughout the game, there may yet be hope.

 

[BreakdownBoy]

This show really sucks. How can someone be paying this guy to talk this dribble? I would say this guy has a face for radio but then his voice aint so hot either. Should stick to writing articles.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

Am I really seeing escapist content being congratulated for successful trolling? I really hope the escapist isn't producing videos that have no information or entertainment value except to troll. Was everything he said about Duke Nukem purely for trolling purposes? When did this become 4chan/b/?

By the way, trolling is not the same as irony or satire. I don't see how you could confuse the two, but it looks like Sterling and some of his fans here have done just that.

 

[default]

You know what? I'm actually really starting to like you Jim You're funny and you have a lot of really good points to make.

 

[Friendshipandmagic]

According to that poll that I liked that majority is still better than half the site and more than 1/5 the active community than those that actually like this. Liking or disliking may be subjective, but if you want to watch it so badly, go watch it somewhere else. This site as spoken and they don't want it. You tell me how the numbers are now suddenly subjective.

You didn't get anything close to getting the "entire sites" opinion. You got the people who bothered to click on the thread.

So, you don't speak for anybody really.

 

[Xman490]

Sonic Colors was an unimpressive game besides the character lines? I thought it was pretty good, as well as pretty pretty. From the flashing colors of his world to the speed that halted the least often ever, Sonic came off as the coked-out speed freak jokers felt he should be. His lines, however, not only fit that character but also were rather annoying (Yes, I know you're going to beat the bolts out of the big bad boss. Just shut up about it, Sonic.)

 

[Beautiful End]

I'm glad he's finally commenting on his persona. Call me dumb and spank me hard but the first episodes made me believe he indeed was an arrogant jerk. But the more I watched, the more I caught up with his alternate persona. And while I'll admit I still don't like him entirely for whatever reason, I'll also say that I realize what he's trying to do and I'll also admit he makes some really good points.
With Dante, you see him as cool because of all the badass moves he does but his bad luck brings in the comedy; his bike gets destroyed, a girl shoots him, his business isn't kicking off and its crap, etc. Duke, however, is meant to see as the epiphany of cool when, well, it's not. He was an iconic 90's character and that worked for him, back then when we were easily amused by a fat plumber jumping all over the place and actions movies were filled with guys like Duke Nukem. But nowadays, people need more than that. As time passes by, a character should evolve to stay fresh and current.

Now, I know the joke lies in Duke's personality, a chauvinist guy who never loses his cool. Most of us get that. But you would be surprised to see how many guys still take him seriously. Guys stuck in the 90's and half of the guys who are looking forward to this game (Keyword: Half. Not everyone. Only some). Yes, there are some comedy moments in the game, such as flinging shit at stuff. But if you ask me, for a game that tries to bring comedy into the table, even if its just a comedy bit, they kinda need to be willing to laugh at the main character too and not just only at everyone else who surrounds the character or the environment or anything else. Be willing to dent Duke's armor just a bit.

For once, I agree with Jim.

 

[Baneat]

According to that poll that I liked that majority is still better than half the site and more than 1/5 the active community than those that actually like this. Liking or disliking may be subjective, but if you want to watch it so badly, go watch it somewhere else. This site as spoken and they don't want it. You tell me how the numbers are now suddenly subjective.

You didn't get anything close to getting the "entire sites" opinion. You got the people who bothered to click on the thread.

So, you don't speak for anybody really.

You got the vocal minority not the objective statistic. Numbers are objective. Polls are subjective. This is like going to a protest for abortion and polling people on their views of abortion, then claiming 95% objectively want abortion banned.

The numbers *do* lie, and slanted induction sucks balls.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I'm trying to give this series a chance, but Jim has completely missed the point of Duke Nukem.

Duke has NEVER been a serious character. He's a B-Movie star. A steriotype of 80/90s action movies like Arnie, Stallone etc. but pushed to the nth degree. It's all tongue in cheek and at no point are we supposed to take it seriously. We're supposed to enjoy the ride.

Yeah, I'm going to not say my own opinion and instead, just agree with you.

Duke Nukem is a parody of a bad parody, and his character works because it's a serious-faced parody of a parody. It's why, say, Airplane! and such are hilarious - everyone is acting completely serious and is 100% dedicated to the mechanics of what is basically a stupid, stupid world.

Duke completely works, though I can sort of see the logic in that perhaps it should point itself out more often. Otherwise, yeah. Duke's already a joke.

 

[Fullmetalfox]

I never saw Duke as a serious character either.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

I didn't really understand much of this episode, I think at this point Duke is already an ironic character, if not simply a nostalgic one. I've played a number of Sonic games but I've never really found his personality to have any real effect on my bearing of the game.

I don't really want to address his other statements, they hurt me physically when I think about them.

 

[GrimHeaper]

Can Someone tell me the name of that song he uses?

"Born Depressed" by Drill Queen

Thinks also if appears if you search this song you get something...
liek this