James Stephanie Sterling

Marvel's Wolverine came out and it wasn't very good. It's the last thing Sony needs right now, but in fairness, Sony was the last thing Wolverine needed too. Sony's Wolverine (YouTube)

Dead Island lurched so Dying Light could parkour. While history has placed it in the shadow of its successor series, Dead Island has more going for it than many might assume. It's a game with genuinely dark horror elements, a great central premise, and some incredibly underrated sound design... even

What does the lack of paper dividers between slices of cheese and Sony's plans to end physical media production have in common? According to this weirdo's video, they're both symptoms of capitalism's undead era. Zombie Capitalism,The Death Of Physical Media, And Cheese Dividers (YouTube)

They'll tell you "life's not fair" but they're actually lying to you. Life's neither fair nor unfair, it merely exists in unfair systems designed by unfair people. It's okay to say something isn't fair, and it's more than valid to tell game publishers and AI-humping investors that they have no moral

YouTube claims it will protect you from bad actors and harmful people by removing anything that explicitly criticizes bad actors and harmful people. This is quite literally the policy at play, as I learned when I had a bunch of videos taken down for being pro-gambling despite the fact they spoke out

Bobby Kotick's emails with the despicable Jeffrey Epstein reveal two things. First, that videogames were being used by the rich to prey on kids. Second, Bobby Kotick and his corrupt wealthy friends are as mediocre as they are unhinged. Truly the most useless men on the planet. https://youtu.be/ZlrWz

Here it is, the list you've all been waiting for! Ten games, ten piles of extraordinary excrement, ten opportunities to rip into some slimy software. With the likes of MindsEye and Black Ops 7 on the market, competition is croweded, but we found the filthiest dregs for you. Take it away, Skeletor! T

It's time to name the games that were the best of 2025 according to one random person on the Internet! Will Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 make the cut despite controversy? Let's find out! The Simply Sterling Game Of The Year Awards 2025 (YouTube)

In a business of Makers and Takers, the Dread God AI devours with a mouth that cannot eat yet chews the world to pieces. The Machine's executive priesthood serves us to her on a digital platter and tries to convince us that we are her consumers. The games business is a death cult, and its axe is sha

A look at how YouTube is abusing its creators with financial threats to create a chilling effect that controls the very foundation of how we speak. This video's been a long time coming. (Note: subtitles will be late this week due to Laura being away and me getting external help. They'll be up ASAP)

Tale of Tales, a classically controversial indie developer and one of the first to spark what became the "art game" debate. I hated The Path for the longest time, but recently decided to retread it. Let's see how that went, 'cos lord knows walking in real life is very painful right now. Disabilities

Game companies love to inconvenience players or outright dump on accessibility if there's a "cool new feature" that they desperately want to push. Let's talk about that, and then look at the absolutely abysmal pushing of Ninendo's ridiculous "Virtual Game Cards." Railroading Features And The Absurdi

Friendly fire. Some people defend it. I bloody despise it. Let's talk about that, especially with FBC: Firebreak demonstrating some of the worst ways you can possibly implement the bloody mechanic. A Video About Friendly Fire(break) (YouTube)

Don't set unrealistic expecations by constantly saying your game's director worked on Grand Theft Auto, especially if you made a feature-poor game ripped straight from the seventh generation that's set in an open world but punishes players for engaging with the open world. MindsEye should NOT be as

$80 games? $10 user guides? Wow, Nintendoatse sure turned heel! Anyway, time for HYPE! Reviewing The Nintendo Switch 2's Utter Temerity (YouTube)

It's Reyn time! Show me what you've got! Sumfink a bit meatier! A bit o' poison on my blade, and let's go! The games, they keep on talking, and yet they've nothing to say. We need more settings that let you customize NPC chatter, because the sonic torture needs to end! https://youtu.be/Ucv_8AaDVDw (

It's looking like an $80 base price for mainstream games is inevitable, and companies are readying the propaganda machine to justify it. One CEO, however, was accidentally honest about the whole thing when he said "real fans" would find a way to afford it. Your fandom is a license to exploit you to

They're paid millions. They get bonuses. They are bums. https://youtu.be/1ls41Pjd1j8 (YouTube)

This isn't just another Clair Obscur video. That game just happens to be very inspirational. Anyway, we're talking about so-called Game Breakers today, and why busting a game wide open is awesome. Also, Jagi. Games Were Made To Be Broken (YouTube)

Last week I couldn't play Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. This week I can play Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Case closed, right? I just demonstrated that anybody can "git gud" if they struggle for long enough, didn't I? No, I simply showed that I could personally do it for one particular game. Let's tal

If games have "filter points" that turn players off - skill checks such as tough bosses - should that filter not come before a game is bought? Anyway, I come up with the case for the Filter Demo(tm) while whining about how I absolutely SUCK at Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. https://youtu.be/UBy3EnYyrE

A video about remasters, misunderstanding the context of aesthetics, and making games look far too clean. Some Games Look Worse Because They Look Better (YouTube)

Two Point Museum is my latest obsession, and while I'd take any excuse to talk about it, I actually have a very good reason. Games are getting pricier while offering less value, yet along comes Two Point Museum - cheaper and offering SO much more value. It could so easily have gone the other way, to

I know I'll catch heat for refusing to let Nintendo off the hook for this one, but I am not accepting tariffs as an excuse for normalizing a price hike that publishers have literally been looking forward to. In fact, that very excuse is WHY I am so disgusted at the permission Nintendo just gave this

NOTE: The video is back up after some re-edits! Did you know the Nemesis System from Shadow of Mordor was developed to combat the perceived scourge of used games? Warner Bros. is very silly, but at least its ridiculous paranoia led to a great gameplay mechanic... that Warner Bros. systematically rui

Xenoblade Chronicles X is a great game, but it's an even greater example of a terrible design misconception some games perpetuate. It conflates unpredictability so strongly with cheap ambushes that the ambushing becomes the most predictable thing in the world. Let's talk about world design, the role

Publishers desperately want to sign "The Next Balatro" because they are reactive losers who chase trends rather than lead markets. Will they ever find it, however, when games like Balatro are the antithesis of what these corpos stand for? No. No they won't. https://youtu.be/9JO3xKbzcuA (YouTube)

The twisted version of Early Access in which publishers hide a game's real launch date behind a paywall so you buy a deluxe edition of a game isn't just a scam, it's a scam that's subtley taking away content as it becomes THE reason to pay more money. It is terrifying how well FOMO works... The "Pay

When I said I'd do a Bomb Jack retrospective because the modern game industry was terrible, I meant it. Here, enjoy a look back at an arcade quasi-classic! https://youtu.be/G-qVri5G6CI (YouTube)

More layoffs. More and more layoffs. Marvel Rivals makes millions, so NetEase makes cruel savings, because it doesn't matter how much money you make, in a system where executives have promised profits in perpetuity and growth that grows forever, desperation and devastation is all you'll see. Yeah, i

Is summoning in Elden Ring a violation of the "pure" experience, or is it the very purity of the game? While fighting every boss solo, rejecting tools deemed overpowered, and otherwise engaging in the "hardcore" experience is perfectly valid, it might not be the objectively correct method of engagem

The headline says it all, really. Let's say enough to fill out a video's worth though, 'cos we get a bit spicy this week! https://youtu.be/rMLbHrBpwNw (YouTube)

Mods are good. It was on the exact day a mod transformed the way I play one of my favorite games of all time that I learned Sony slapped a cease & desist on a Bloodborne mod that did what the publisher refuses to do. So let's talk about how important modding is! Modded Convenience: How Mods Meet An

As a professional reviewer, I've earned the ire of many fandoms. As a player, there is one fandom I could truly call myself part of - Dynasty Warriors. These two things clashed with my review of Dynasty Warriors: Origins, as I did not love it the way the crowd did. Let's discuss what that says about

It was during the recording of this very video that I realized the "Live Service Bubble" existed only in the heads of game executives, and it made Sony's plan of TEN such services even more ridiculous. It was absurd even before Concord happened, let alone after. Now, as the company desperately cance

Did you know Capcom's answer to Dynasty Warriors was utterly bananas? Like, completely unhinged stuff? It was also brilliant, in its own cracked way. Looking back nearly 15 years into the past, we take a look at the amazing nonsense of Sengoku Basara! https://youtu.be/PaeB7Eu9YMo (YouTube)

Well... they are. Game Executives Are Cowardly Pustules Who Dodge Their Responsibilities (The Jimquisition) (YouTube)

It's time once again to give a kicking to some real deserving garbage. From Funko to Star Wars to Suicide Squad, we've got the worst of the worst covered. Let's look at the top ten most dreadful bits of nonsense to come out in 2024! The Top Ten Sh*ttiest Games Of 2024 (The Jimquisition) (YouTube)

NOTE: Subtitles are being done but not up quite yet, which is on me. Laura’s taking a well-earned break and poor planning on my part plus Christmas difficulties led to a late substitution. I know having subs immediately is preferable, but I also want to make sure there’s no rush/stress on this end.

Soundcloud's algorithm accuses me of terrorism, Funko's AI-powered nonsense takes Itch.io offline, and we're all left shaking our heads at the tech industry's awfulness. When The Algorithm Accuses You Of Terrorism (The Jimquisition) (YouTube)

An analysis of the critically acclaimed horror game Mouthwashing, and what it means to a disabled chronic pain sufferer. I hope this hurts... https://youtu.be/ogLJapz3oik (YouTube)

It was inevitable. Can Elon Musk Save Videogames From Elon Musk? (The Jimquisition) (YouTube)

I genuinely didn't bring the whole "what they DID" thing back last week because of this. It is the most horrible of coincidences, but yes, Dynasty Warriors Origins has done it again. Look what they DID to Zhang He! https://youtu.be/Bo3qqm2YoZY (YouTube)

Let Commander Stephanie Sterling guide you through a celebration of... Commander Stephanie Sterling. Ten Years. Never Missed A Monday. Thank God For Me (The Jimquisition) (YouTube)

Setting out to laugh at scalpers who tried and failed to sell PS5 Pros at inflated prices was a good start... then I just talked about Empire of the Ants. https://youtu.be/DaY8YLkSxQI (YouTube)

There are cishet men in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and that makes it the most offensive game ever made. I'm guessing I can say this and it's perfectly okay, since so many people are saying it about people like me. https://youtu.be/noefL6EoLu8 (YouTube)

Over time, the word "addictive" has been used positively when describing games, and it makes sense that a good game is one you can't stop playing. However, addiction is nurtured by bad games too, as evidenced by my habitual playing of Aeternum: New World. I love how language can evolve but we need t

As a lover of so-called Eurojank games, I have a high tolerance for bugs and roughness - within reason. Also, contextually. See, there's a difference between a scrappy game that needs some polish but did its best and... Bethesda's track record of blatantly unfinished nonsense. The Difference Between

Silent Hill 2 Remake is better than I expected, but while Bloober Team impressed me in some areas, its love of hackneyed horror tropes had at least one ruinous effect - it turned Silent Hill's Mannequins into Spammequins. Let's talk about monsters in horror games, and why too much exposure to them r

Ubisoft is in trouble. Sales are down, market value is down, investor goodwill is down, down, down. Ubisoft, quite honestly, deserves its straits and more, but the problem in wishing for that is how many undeserving people get dragged down as well. The Dilemma Of Ubisoft's Dilemma (The Jimquisition)