The Jimquisition - Your Thoughts

[AgentBJ09]

So, for those of you who have seen the banner ads on the videos here, you will likely know that Jim Sterling's Jimquisition videos, made famous on Destructoid and YouTube, will be coming to the Escapist next week.

EDIT: Turns out, it starts this week, just later in the day. My mistake.

Spoiler: The Jimquisition - Why big, dumb shooters are better than art games.

For context -

- Jim Sterling is the Reviews Editor for Destructoid.com. Meaning, he's the guy who proofreads those massive reviews the site is very well known for. (Be sure to thank him with a copy of Saints Row 3 for his hard work.)
- The Jimquisition videos are mini-rants/opinion pieces about certain subjects, such as Piracy, Dumb versus Smart games, and ect.

Mr. Sterling has contributed twice to this site before now. Both times were articles for the weekly columns:

- Opinions for Sale and Trade [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_278/8272-Opinions-for-Sale-or-Trade], concerning World Exclusive Reviews and why they're untrustworthy.
- Casual Gamers Are Better Than You [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_299/8746-Casual-Gamers-Are-Better-Than-You], a column reporting on the fact that casual gamers support the industry where hardcore gamers do not.

Both of these articles are, in my opinion, well written and showcase things that need some notice in the industry, however it seems that many see these articles/columns like attacks on their choices of how they enjoy their leisure. (While I do not represent Destructoid, I can see that this is not the intent of these videos/articles.)

------------

So, fellow Escapists, I ask you now... What are your opinions on this?

[HEADING=2][font color=green]Are you liking this idea? Are you not? Why? What are you hoping to see answered?

Discuss.[/font][/HEADING]

 

[AgentBJ09]

Episode 1 - Video Games are not Movies. Get Over It. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/3075-Videogames-Are-Not-Movies-Get-Over-It]

Not bad for a first episode, I thought.

Although Extra Credits said this kind of thing before Jim did on this site, games are not films, nor should they be looked at as such. They are a certain kind of entertainment that needs to be it's own thing.

As stated in the video, when you compare the two, yes, one will look inferior because films have had over 100 years to develop, where as games have only had about half that, if not less.

 

[LobsterFeng]

He's okay I guess. But do we really need another "games are art" rambler on this site?

 

[Katana314]

I'm certainly glad that games like Heavy Rain are the exception rather than the rule, because I mostly agree with him. I still think story-based games controlling the direction kinda have their place - ideally a small one, but he's right that games are meant to be different. (And for the record, I wouldn't automatically call David Cage / Heavy Rain the king of movie-like games)

Thinking about telling Half-Life 2's story as a film, I'd certainly do it very differently from how it WAS done in a game. HL2 has you journey through a train station listening to people and viewing incidents between citizens and civil protection. A film, not giving you control, could freely have events unfold differently, like showing Gordon's life and interactions as a citizen of City 17 for several weeks after his arrival, until calamity finally forces him to action. And likewise if I were starting with that film model, I'd take a very different approach for a game.

Still, I do enjoy story-based games when their story is good and engaging. Sometimes I wonder if it's enough to call games like Phoenix Wright just "mildly-interactive stories" rather than games, to get across that story is in fact their primary drive.

 

[gigastar]

Really i couldnt stand to keep my eyes on the video for more than 15 seconds.

On listening, it seems alot like the second coming of The Big Picture.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I'm sure someone else will have said this before me, but do we really need another show that rants about games on this site? We got three already: Yahtzee, Extra Credits and Moviebob. Take your pick.

Also, this Jim Sterling doesn't really have a good screen presence or speaking voice, which begs the question why he would do a soapbox show.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Ehhhh, it's okay. I prefer when Jim speaks with his pen.

 

[KalosCast]

Horrible. Which is sad because his point is actually one I agree with fully. But this isn't a show, this is just a Vlog with some guy who has no stage presence and obnoxious sunglasses saying "fuck" a lot.

Let me just spell this out for everyone out there who's interested in making their own online video series, webcomic, or similar outing: YOU ARE WORKING WITH A VISUAL MEDIUM. IF I CAN TAKE OUT THE VISUAL PART AND LOSE NOTHING, YOUR WORK IS BAD AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD.

 

[Sylocat]

The fact that his video promos call him "gaming's biggest douchebag" is a giant red flag, since usually when internet critics call themselves assholes in the flavor text of their own videos/articles/whatever, then what we're most likely getting is a guy trying way too hard to come off as "edgy" and "hip" by coming up with elaborate insults for everything and referring to anyone who likes something he doesn't like as a "fanboy."

(notice how Yahtzee only refers to himself as an "asshole" in-video, usually in a self-effacing way? Yahtzee doesn't base his whole persona around trying way too hard to be an asshole. This kind of internet humor is harder than it looks)

Then I watch the video, and see that, as far as I can tell, his only "gimmick" is that he is standing in front of the camera and holding the mic up like he's doing a standup comedy routine. This would be embarrassing for a YouTube Vlogger. And then I hear what he actually has to say in the video (which, after all, is the important thing), and find that he's basically doing a less-funny cross between Yahtzee and TheSpoonyOne, crossed with a less-insightful version of MovieBob and James Portnow/Daniel Floyd.

I know it's just the first episode, but still, not terribly enthused.

(oh, and why does CAPTCHA insist on giving me words that I need to open a "Special Characters" window to complete?)

 

[googleback]

Trying to hard, that's how I would describe it. But He seems to have an interesting point of view, it just needs a bit of reinvention before it hits the escapist.

 

[Redem]

Put me in the "meh" nothing see we haven't seen before and better

I've grown more critical of moviebob recently and still found it better than this at his worst (kinda feel like Cleveland show, doesn't really do anything particular good or bad, but its trying to get hype for something that is clearly forgeteable)

 

[SilentCom]

I wasn't exactly thrilled after watching the first episodes. There were some almost-funny moments but overall, I felt like Zero-Punctuation and Extra Credits do a better jobs.

 

[C2Ultima]

Well I always liked the Jimquisition on Destructoid, so I'm glad it's here now.

 

[rockyoumonkeys]

Terrible. Will not be watching anymore. Some shit just doesn't need to be in video form. If he started writing articles instead, I may take another look, but he's just too obnoxious and has the screen presence of a lump of dirt.

 

[tjs09]

Wow, I didn't even notice that this was Jim from Destructoid.
It looks like he changed his whole persona, on the site he was brutally honest and occasionally self-deprecating
Now he's trying waaaay too hard to be "cool" and it shows sometimes.

EDIT: By "on the site", I was referring to his articles, not his vids

 

[DustyDrB]

I'm just gonna copy my post from the other thread on this...

Ehhhhhhhh......Maybe? He is a lot better with a pen then in front of a camera.

I agree with this.

But I've been hanging around Destructoid long enough to be accustomed to their style of video. The Jimquisition has always been low-quality production, crass, but great discussion material and usually carries a good point (he's done like 20 of these videos on Dtoid, by the way). I'm astonished at how few people here have seen at least a few of them.

Spoiler: I wonder what would happen if The Escapist featured an episode of Sundays with Sagat...

 

[ace_the_poet]

I'm not going to lie, I really disliked the first episode. I just found it kind of boring.

 

[Pat8u]

I think he goes for the swears a bit hastilly someone like Ben Chrosaw (can't spell his alias) knows how to swear but this guy doesen't this guy needs to watch more LRR

 

[Pat8u]

I'm sure someone else will have said this before me, but do we really need another show that rants about games on this site? We got three already: Yahtzee, Extra Credits and Moviebob. Take your pick.

Also, this Jim Sterling doesn't really have a good screen presence or speaking voice, which begs the question why he would do a soapbox show.

EXTRA CREDITS DOES NOT RANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry I had to give this point extra credits vids are lectures on the industry and I am a very big fan of the lectures