Poll: Jimquisition: like or dislike

[Jake Lewis Clayton]

Bloody, hell, can tell who all the americans in here are.

I'd really love to spend hours pointing out that it's an english man (Us british known to be polite, mild mannered and apart from the whole empire thing insecure), acting in a completely over the top fashion as a garnish, for some very tasty opinions which to be honest, have been mostly inline with what quite alot of industry members believe themselves. (But when was the last time, you was given a chance to hear Character asset developer 4 give an interview on what he really thinks about the design directives the managers have set out?)


Yes he may not have the 'insightfullness' or 'politeness' of extracredit, but to be honest, if i wanted to hear polite opinions on the industry, i'd just go read the 10 or so articles a day on gameindustry.biz.

Now the comparrison to Yatzee is unfair, Yatzee is cynical like quite a sizeable portion of the british male gamer demographic, because we are used to being shat on, and yatzee isn't afraid to say it, (Yatzee actually drawed inspiration from a bloke called charlie brooker, and was asked to colab with him after charlie noticed his show, but sadly escapist owned the copyright to yatzee's performances and so nothing could be worked out) but yeah, thats just typical brit.

Jim is trying to be the opposite of the typical brit, hes being crash in your face and acting a hell of alot like how the british percieve some Americans.



Hes got a good show, and if some of the haters bothered to read the stuff he writes, i think they would get theres a difference between persona and personality.

 

[Ian Caronia]

Put it this way:
If I had a pet Glorgag named Jim, who then began to act like said individual in those videos, I would pat his eighth adorable furry head, and then throw it down an mine shaft and bury it alive before it's spuds reached the surface.

The Jimquisition: Zero Punctuation without the charm, wit or production values.

At best it's absolutely indistinguishable from the millions of other people with an opinion and a webcam. At worst it's just a ham-fisted attempt at being controversial for the sake of it. Just being an opinionated dick isn't enough to carry a show on it's own.

I honestly don't understand how it made it to the Escapist or how it managed to gather even a small fanbase.

Yeah, this says it perfectly.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to relieve my stress over the fact that this site will never get rid of that apparently sexist and often ignorant individual by brutally bludgeoning my pet Fleroligh. ...Right after I find a blunt tool that can transcend space and time.
...Stupid Eldritch Horror pets...

ALSO! This has nothing to do with nationality. This has to do with a genuine lack of talent and a lack of tact. Put it to you this way: Would a real journalist who has integrity, talent, and tact take time out to explain their POV and address the topic?

Spoiler: Or would they try to shock viewers like Jim did with this video?

Last time I checked, heads don't explode in warfare games, especially COD. And it was a pop because of the audio and camera equipment being used. Guns don't just sound like pops when firing (especially in a firefight) because, well...that's just obvious. And real war has people screaming. A lot. And taking shots from behind cover.
...Did he just say real violence is boring? Is he trying to go by just this footage alone?
Wait... What the hell? He's PARODYING the SUICIDE?!
Thank you, Jim. I'm sure that trying to shock viewers with such footage was TOTALLY NECESSARY instead of, I don't know, thinking of how to explain yourself clearly and credibly...which you still failed to do.
You hack.

 

[shitoutonme]

Pfft. He's not my cup of tea, but at the end of the day, he's getting paid to speak his mind. His haters can keep hatin'.

 

[Jodah]

If it was a podcast or something like Extra Credits or Zero Punctuation where its animated and he did the voice over it would be palatable. Him standing there with few cut aways...not so much.

 

[DanDanikov]

I come to the Escapist to be entertained and enjoy the community. I can't say that the Jimquisition is at all entertaining for me, nor has it fostered my sense of community. If anything, it's caused turmoil and concern over lowering values and a lot of people had a similar first impression to mine.

That said, I've been willing to give him some rope to hang himself, at least in my opinion, and still not much has been done to redeem the show. I've heard the arguments that it is a parody or a farce, and while I make no judgement on the actor (if it is all just an act and a put-on persona), such arguments seem more like excuses for something that is dangerously borderline. Maybe the intent is to shock, or make fun, but the intention is lost.

I'm also with the people who feel that the production values are quite disparate compared to the other videos on the site. Previously I would have rated Unskippable as the lowest production quality feature I watch fairly regularly, but even with the humour being a bit hit-and-miss for me, it manages to be entertaining and quite watchable (And my comments about it being lowest production quality are certainly relative). Jimquisition really resets the bar for me.

I do see some value from Jim Sterling. When he slips into his review persona (which I understand are where his roots are) he does shine through, and his asides and style is tolerable. On the Jimquisiton, however, too often he's on his soap-box or hamming through a bad caricature (and not in a good, Doctor Who-style hamming), and I'd venture he doesn't really have the credentials or the experience to be doing so.

So this is the point where I back-pedal heavily. I know the show isn't an Escapist original, so I accept that not only does he already have a following, the basic principle that this show may be enjoyed by a niche audience is also perfectly valid. Just because I don't enjoy a show shouldn't preclude other people from enjoying it nor does it make people who do enjoy it unwelcome here. There are columns and features that I never watch on this site due to lack of interest and I have no problem with them being here.

The only main real concern I can get behind is the visibility of the show. On the one hand, I understand as a fairly new show, it's good to draw some attention and advertise it, but on the other, I'd hardly call it my flag-ship video feature and stick it on my front-page too often. Niche appeal things tend to draw consistent repeat consumers. If you really dislike the show, don't watch it. If it's that much of a flop, The Escapist will notice the poor performance. Just by watching it, you're encouraging more to be made. Vote with your views (or lack of).

I'd also like to offer some suggestions for improvement (just in case Jim takes the time to read our not-so-humble opinions). The first would be to re-examine your editing process. Many of the videos on this site are snappily edited, which can really make or break where nothing else will. Bad editing isn't funny or farcical, it's just plain bad. Same goes for lighting, camera angles, all that; breaking the rules require a deep understanding that comes from highly experienced people who are the avante guarde of their art. Using a middling camera and an environment that sounds like your garage isn't 'style' it's just laziness or inexperience.

The other thing I think it needs is more or less farce. Whether Jim can provide that is entirely down to him, but the show needs to fall down more certainly on one side of the line or the other. Pushing boundaries while being ambiguous to seriousness is a really bad thing to do and can obliterate any humour.

As for me, I'm happy now to just let it pass me by. I might check back in a few months to see if things have changed for the better- some things do mature with time- but I suspect it may remain in a niche of humour that just doesn't appeal to me.

 

[Blastinburn]

The first episode of his I saw was about how the wii is good for smaller developers. While I do agree with him, his example was a complete failure. His example was "The Last Story" made by "up and coming small developer" Mistwalker studios.

Now let me tell you a little about this "up and coming small developer". Mistwalker studios was founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of final fantasy, has music composed by Nobuo Uematsu, composer of the music for Final Fantasy, is financially backed by MICROSOFT, and HAS ALREADY RELEASED 2 GREAT GAMES ON THE XBOX360. The reason the 2 xbox games are significant is that Jim was saying smaller developers can get out the door thanks to the wii and lower production costs.

To me this says he isn't even willing to make a quick search to even confirm his points, is completely full of himself and not worth listening to in addition to the fact that he isn't funny in the slightest.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistwalker)

 

[AyreonMaiden]

I dig it lots.

Not just the videos themselves, but just the very idea of Jim Sterling. I love seeing how haters just bite into it every single time, hook line and sinker. There's always, without fail, people going "Strike three, you're out" every episode. You'd think that most haters would just ignore it five episodes in, but they simply don't, for god knows what reason.

A side of me rears its head whenever, say, some article about games as an artform appears (such as the recent Fox News interviews) That side of me screams "PLAY YOUR FUCKING GAMES, HAVE SOME FUN, STOP MAKING PRETENSES FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO APPROVE YOU, AND SHUT UP ABOUT STUPID CONTROVERSIES THAT ULTIMATELY MEAN NOTHING TO YOU," and the Jimquisition relates heavily with it. It might not be a wholly rational side of me, but it exists.

I dunno how intentional it all is on his part, but I love the effect it's had on The Escapist. It's refreshing. It's so nice to see someone who won't talk about women in gaming solely in terms of ALYX BAYONETTA JADE HERP DERP and pretend like it's a subject worthy of a goddamn panel. Someone who won't rehash the same stupid arguments about why gaming is an art and repeat the same Limbo-Braid-Ico-Bioshock examples in the same tired way. Someone who won't write another needless editorial about why Mario is the best of the best at everything gaming. I think The Escapist has always been sort of a circle-jerk where the same ass shit is discussed and no one seems to ever disagree. And I like the chaos Jim Sterling has brought to the site.

I feel that no industry needs a brutish contrarian to remind us that hey, it's all bleeps and bloops no matter how you cut it, quite like we do. And that's why I appreciate his existence.

 

[kroldok]

Put it this way:
If I had a pet Glorgag named Jim, who then began to act like said individual in those videos, I would pat his eighth adorable furry head, and then throw it down an mine shaft and bury it alive before it's spuds reached the surface.

The Jimquisition: Zero Punctuation without the charm, wit or production values.

At best it's absolutely indistinguishable from the millions of other people with an opinion and a webcam. At worst it's just a ham-fisted attempt at being controversial for the sake of it. Just being an opinionated dick isn't enough to carry a show on it's own.

I honestly don't understand how it made it to the Escapist or how it managed to gather even a small fanbase.

Yeah, this says it perfectly.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to relieve my stress over the fact that this site will never get rid of that apparently sexist and often ignorant individual by brutally bludgeoning my pet Fleroligh. ...Right after I find a blunt tool that can transcend space and time.
...Stupid Eldritch Horror pets...

ALSO! This has nothing to do with nationality. This has to do with a genuine lack of talent and a lack of tact. Put it to you this way: Would a real journalist who has integrity, talent, and tact take time out to explain their POV and address the topic?

Spoiler: Or would they try to shock viewers like Jim did with this video?

Last time I checked, heads don't explode in warfare games, especially COD. And it was a pop because of the audio and camera equipment being used. Guns don't just sound like pops when firing (especially in a firefight) because, well...that's just obvious. And real war has people screaming. A lot. And taking shots from behind cover.
...Did he just say real violence is boring? Is he trying to go by just this footage alone?
Wait... What the hell? He's PARODYING the SUICIDE?!
Thank you, Jim. I'm sure that trying to shock viewers with such footage was TOTALLY NECESSARY instead of, I don't know, thinking of how to explain yourself clearly and credibly...which you still failed to do.
You hack.

In the Video description:
This week, Jim Sterling talks about Leigh Alexander's "Who Cheers For War?" (erroneously named in the video because of unscripted bollocks) and counters the claim that gamers want realistic violence.

From the video:
"Were you at all disturbed by that? if so congratulations you have not been desensitized to real voilence, videogame violence: yes, real violence: no."
"Videogames are not like real life, and i for one am very very glad of that"
"They (gamers) don't want a real iraq war situation, because not only is it disturbing on a true level, it's boring".

Yes, he is highly inflammatory in his presentation, and there are other ways of making this point (wether or not they are better is subjective).

The point I see here being that real violence is disturbing and scary, the word boring certainly seems ill placed here but when taken within the context of the video where he clearly states that videogame violence is over the top and cartoonish, this signifies to me a use of the word to not mean it's dull but simply unwanted, that most people who play violent videogames do not achieve hard-ons, or laugh in glee when they watch the news showing the latest natural disaster, or pictures of actual war-victims, I believe it's not a case of boring as in: "I can watch this all day and I'm not bothered", but rather a case of boring as in: "I derive no pleasure or excitement from this whatsoever", and there is a difference.

"There is no screeching, there's no Wilhelm screams in real war":
From Wikipedia:
The Wilhelm scream is a film and television stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the film Distant Drums.[1] The effect gained new popularity (its use often becoming an in-joke) after it was used in Star Wars and many other blockbuster films as well as television programs and video games.[2] The scream is often used when someone is shot, falls from a great height, or is thrown from an explosion.

What is said here is that the specific kind of screams often heard in film and videogames are silly and cartoonish in that they don't properly represent the actuality of a war-zone.

On a final note: with your comments on burying alive or bludgeoning fantasy-animals littered about, I'm honestly having a hard time telling if you are serious or poking fun (witch is not to say that I mind, I do after all eat meat).

 

[kroldok]

The first episode of his I saw was about how the wii is good for smaller developers. While I do agree with him, his example was a complete failure. His example was "The Last Story" made by "up and coming small developer" Mistwalker studios.

Now let me tell you a little about this "up and coming small developer". Mistwalker studios was founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of final fantasy, has music composed by Nobuo Uematsu, composer of the music for Final Fantasy, is financially backed by MICROSOFT, and HAS ALREADY RELEASED 2 GREAT GAMES ON THE XBOX360. The reason the 2 xbox games are significant is that Jim was saying smaller developers can get out the door thanks to the wii and lower production costs.

To me this says he isn't even willing to make a quick search to even confirm his points, is completely full of himself and not worth listening to in addition to the fact that he isn't funny in the slightest.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistwalker)

From your link:

Released games:
Nintendo DS
ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat (2007) co-developed by Racjin
Blue Dragon Plus (2008) co-developed by Brownie Brown and feelplus
Away: Shuffle Dungeon (2008) co-developed by Artoon
Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow (2009/2010) co-developed by tri-Crescendo and Bird Studios
Xbox 360
Blue Dragon (2006) co-developed by Artoon
Lost Odyssey (2007) co-developed by feelplus
iPhone
Untitled project (TBA) [1]
Wii
The Last Story (2011)

All games have co-developers, apart from 'The Last Story', hardly a 'Big Name' developer.

"Mistwalker Corporation (ミストウォーカー Misutowōkā?) is a Japanese video game development studio founded by Hironobu Sakaguchi (the creator of the popular Final Fantasy series) in 2004, with the financial backing of Microsoft."

Financial backing has no definition, it could be anything from one dollar to a billion dollars, and Microsoft are not co-developers anywhere in the list, not to mention that no matter how much money Microsoft handed them, there is no way it was a gift, meaning they will siphon of a fair share of the income of the company they have 'backed' to make back what they handed out, meaning that even after creating a few games they are most likely not in a grand financial position anyway, evidently good enough to make their first game without
co-developers, but most likely not good enough to ignore their original backers.

As such i think up-and-coming developer is a decent description, The Last Story being their first solo-project as a studio.

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

Never watched. Not going to.

 

[Matthew Wilson]

I think he makes some good points and for the first 3/4 of his video's I find myself thinking 'ah, I see what you mean.' but then at the end he ruins it at the end with the whole 'I'm so great bow down to me.'

At the end of his last video he thanked himself for Bin Laden which was out of nowhere and shit.

 

[Lilani]

The main problem I have with him is that he seems to go for the same sort of contemptuous, "offensive" humor Yahtzee and Moviebob go for but he has presented zero credibility to back it up. Yahtzee backs up all of the statements he makes, and in the midst of all of that swearing you can tell he's truly thought all of this out and he has a lot of experience to back it up. Moviebob is just bursting at the seams with his knowledge on all the subjects he approaches.

Jim though...he just kind of came out of left field shouting expletives and waving around fully-colored cartoon penises without any apparent prior knowledge on the subject. His humor goes passed satire and straight into needlessly offensive territory. Yahtzee's insults are more or less endearing, and it's clear his contempt is not directed at the audience (unless it is, but even then he makes his point and moves on). Jim's videos just seem like he's being negative for the sake of being negative, and his grief is too often directed at the audience.

Look at his first episode, for example. He treated the audience in a patronizing and insulting way, as though we personally have done something wrong. Rather than putting a barrier there, go goes and uses the word "you"--directly addressing the individual. That didn't sit well with me. I know video games aren't movies, and I know why video games hardly ever make good movies. Most of the points he made I already knew, yet he was addressing his ENTIRE audience like they are idiots regardless.

Also, those fully rendered penises got on my nerves quick. I mean really, Yahtzee does that sort of thing, but it's much more implied. He doesn't make it HUGE and he certainly doesn't fully color it in. I'm just glad I wasn't watching that episode in the university library, otherwise I probably would have lost my Internet privileges for a while.

His more recent episodes have been better, but he still treats the audience with very little respect. And regardless of what amazing nuggets of knowledge he may have to bestow on us, that means absolutely nothing if we don't want to hear what he's got to say.

 

[cymonsgames]

He's not as smart as he thinks he is. And his production values suck.

This.

He's a douchebag, but he's good at it. The way he exaggerates claims or makes strange arguments is past "he's wrong" and into "he's got to be kidding".

Also this.

He cultivates his image of duchebagery so we can have someone to hate, so we will talk about him, and so his popularity will grow. After all even bad publicity is publicity. But for me, personally, I've got other things to spend my time on. Worthwhile things that aren't trying to rile me up with ridiculous hyperbole and half-thought through arguments that I don't need this.

 

[pocru]

I'll just rehash what's already been said, pointing out why I don't care for Jimquisition:

1) He serves no purpose on the site- everything he does, someone else does better.

2) any point he's made in his video's are all points I've seen used in forum discussions. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he stole the ideas rather than thought of them himself. Even if he didn't, it just goes to show he has nothing UNIQUE to bring to the conversation. Its one thing to not be as smart as Extra Credits or as charming as Zero Punctuation, but if you don't have anything new to say, or even a unique perspective or twist on what's already been said, why should you get paid to say it? Its like if I was paid to stand in front of a low-budget camera and remind everyone that "Fox news hates video games" or that "Nintendo re-hashes old IP's for money". We don't need anyone to do that, least of all someone who does it badly. It's been said that he brings up some unique points, but I don't think that's true: he brings up points we've all THOUGHT of, just had the tact to know not to SAY, or at least the foresight to know it wouldn't be a viable argument. I see that mostly in Extra Consideration. (which is just sad, really, to see him go up against MovieBob and Extra Credits...)

3) Part of what makes Zero Punctuation so charming is that Yahtzee makes fun of everything, more or less- he'll sing his own praises, and in the same video, he'll make fun of himself. Plus, his humor is well paced, expressive, and genuinely witty- Jim's IDEA of humor is sarcasm and unrelenting egotism: that's not so much funny as it is reminiscent of that dumbass we all knew back in high school... you know the guy. And I bet he's even less likeable now that he's being paid to do what he's doing.

Am I going to rally against his every video and pray every night that he gets a heart attack or that the Escapist cancels him? No, I'll just avoid his video's, plain and simple. When it comes down to it, I'd say the biggest tragedy Jimquisition has caused is that the resources going into him could be used to foster someone ELSE'S talents, someone with genuinely fresh idea's and perspectives in the gaming world. Someone who didn't cause such a dramatic divide in the Escapist's community. Someone we could ALL rally behind.

But that's just me.

thanks!

 

[The Funslinger]

I dislike him very much. I gave the first two episodes a chance and I will never watch another one again. I honestly don't think he even belongs here, but to each their own I guess.

I saw his bio paragraph on the destructiod, it's so self worshipping as some kind of badass, it's hilarious. If only in a pathetic way...

Meh, He can make good points, but that doesn't change the fact that he's an ass about them. Just remove his camera privileges, and the videos will be fine. He only acts bearably when voicing over clips of game footage.

 

[Jesper Christiansen]

The topics that he addresses are valid and important.
But I cant stand the guy. Everything from his looks, his voice, to his humour, annoys the hell out of me, and I have yet to last through one episode. Hi is simply to annoying for me.
It's completely personal, and i wouldn't discourage people from watching it, if they can stand the guy.

 

[Reishadowen]

he make some good points but his humor is hit or miss so over all hes pretty good

Well, I WAS gonna post, but you seem to be reading my mind. I'm not sure I care for his brand of humor, but it does get me to laugh sometimes. Overall, I think he has some nice points, and he presents them fairly enough. He doesn't have it quite yet, but his later episodes seem to be getting better, so I think that given enough time, he'll adjust to make a good formula and be an awesome escapist member. Not everyone can roll out being an instant star.

 

[Silver PBall]

He's living proof that verbosity and an accent can't always make me think wit is present. He just comes off as arrogant and snobby until he's describing(not really in depth, just a flat description) the thing he's talking about then he injects more smarmy sarcasm. I've tried his videos, they're bland. I'd say vanilla, but I like vanilla. I am not thanking God for him.

 

[ryai458]

Dislike almost didn't come to this thread because I thought it might be another one of his videos.

 

[FightThePower]

Jim Sterling does irritate me but I quite like the show, I don't necessarily have to agree with him, it's entertaining enough. I have to say, he was right on the money with the most recent episode.