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I really think Jim Sterling is on the brink of a psychological breakdown and needs help.

Starbuck2907

Starbuck2907

Member
I like Jim, but his channel has gone downhill some, too many rants about capitalism (unbridled capitalism has problems but capitalism has brought more people out of poverty than any other economic system on earth), too many “AAA devs are bad” videos, and too much trans stuff that no one gives a crap about. The wrestling stuff is funny, but struggling with your sexuality (thinking you are a woman) isn’t fun or funny. I mean, the audience has always indulged Jim’s weirdness cause it’s fun in a lot of ways, but the constant predictability of his content lately combined with yet another tv show/YouTube channel/ celeb struggling with their gender, …it’s just all wearing thin. People are bombarded with the transgender stuff 24/7 on Netflix., Twitter, and the news. It may not even be him so much as people are just tired if hearing about it. Other than the weird commercial edits, which I like, it feels like he’s just been phoning it in for a while. He seems a little burned out by the channel and more interested in wrestling, “discovering his sexuality”, and other stuff.

Despite my disagreeing with about a few things, I like Jim and I wish him the best. I know he takes pride in having a video up every Monday, but I really think he needs a good two or three month vacation to get the creative juices flowing again and just to relax. I thought this before I even saw this thread. He just seems like he needs a break.

Edit: A few ideas…he needs to make a point to do more of the play through videos like he did back in the Steam Greenlight days. Those games sucked, usually, but he was funny! And he used to do videos about games he enjoyed, but we don’t see those very often anymore either. Now, it’s like he could just rename the channel “Jim shits on AAA devs and/or capitalism every Monday”. It’s not bad content, but it’s gotten highly repetitive. He doesn’t have to stop it, but he needs to bring back some variety (skits, play throughs, “reviews” of good and crap games, etc,) with those. He can even lose the “every Monday a new episode” thing for a while and just post playthroughs/reviews of games…whatever gets him actually enjoying the channel again.
 
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TheWanderingOgre

TheWanderingOgre

Member
EldritchAbomination said:
That fucker gave Vanquish 5/10. That was more than enough to show everyone he's a total hack.
Click to expand...
Winner!

I mean, at a first glance doesnt seem much different than 'good old Jim'.

My first real contact with him was I think through the Sega Addicts podcast, where he seemed very missplaced and more of a Sega Hater than Addict.

I always thought he focused too much in the negative of videogames and everything around them.

Hope he is in good health though.
 
O

Outlier

Member
I don't watch Sterling, anymore. Don't care about persona transition. Just don't like sudden changes in what I'm used to. Good luck to them.
 
cormack12

cormack12

Gold Member
He's the perfect example of someone who wonders why he can't grow his fanbase (or moans about it shrinking slowly), while making content exclusively for a target audience that make most people switch off.
 
N

NahaNago

Member
He was a bit too much for me from the videos I had seen in the past but I'm also shocked he is 37. I thought he was in his mid 50s.

I had completely forgotten about this fella. On topic, I have no idea on the psychological breakdown. If it means that much to you try to contact him and give him some encouragement.
 
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Zeroing

Zeroing

Banned
He just don’t cares… actually any of us would stop caring after years in the gaming industry, where anything you say or do makes the gamers angry.

we drive each other crazy now imagine having us gamers as your audience.
 
Werewolf Jones

Werewolf Jones

Member
I used to hate him then I used to like him then I used to hate him again. He has always been a degenerate open about sexual encounters with men and being in a poly relationship with his wife and shit. He's gone in full mental break down mode now though and trans trending, I'd support if he was genuine but it's rather late in the game now when everyone was coming out 5 years ago.
 
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VivaR3V

VivaR3V

Neo Member
Chiggs said:
CObfqyb.png


^^^^^ Yes, that's an actual picture of Jim Sterling, taken from his latest video, which devolves into an absolutely atrocious pseudo-cerebral political diatribe that blends overpriced GBA games, the destruction of fun in gaming, and an economic system which pits us all against each other.

vqcjgQa.jpg



^^^^^Yes, that's another picture of Jim Sterling, presumably roleplaying the purple version of Goldust, but looking like a fat rapist-murderer version of Bob Hope.

But he wasn't always like this. The Jim Sterling of old--at least the one I remember--had savage wit and could genuinely make people laugh. But now...I don't know what to make of him. Sure, he had some stupid dress-up gags, but the exception has become the rule.

Observable trends from "modern day" Jim Sterling:
  • Disconcerting weight fluctuations, ranging from excessively obese, to obese, all the way back to excessively obese.
  • Increasingly bizarre video openings that seem to hint at perverse childhood fetishes.
  • A clear hatred for gaming, especially AAA gaming.
  • A clear hatred of gamers, especially those that buy anything even remotely popular.
  • A clear hatred of developers, especially those that have had project delays, resulting in the most cruel fate known to mankind--"crunch time."
  • Embarrassingly amateur political rants that lead me to believe he hasn't properly fastened his Marxist training wheels.
  • Self hatred and guilt that manifests itself in weird monologues, one of which featured him apologizing for helping to embolden the patriarchy while he was working as a games journalist, culminating in his pansexual reveal in Spring/Summer 2020.
    • Maybe I'm missing a key event, but when in the blue fuck did Jim Sterling ever "embolden" the patriarchy?
  • Persecution complex/narcissism.
In all actuality, this is not a faux-concern thread meant to get cheap shots in at an easy target. Having worked with writers and various artists over the past few years, I've witnessed this degenerative behavior, and it generally starts like this:
  1. Artist consistently looks for their personal flaws, dwelling on them, and generally blowing them out of proportion.
  2. Artist's quality of work begins to suffer and clear signs of mania present themselves in their work.
  3. Artist latches onto a guru or movement and is easily manipulated.
  4. Artist is reborn as something or someone completely contrary to their previous identity, or a grossly exaggerated cartoon caricature, completely lacking the personal charm or positive traits that made you like them to begin with.
On Jim's Wikipedia page, there is this statement:



If any of that is true (and there is reason to doubt, unfortunately, given what I've outlined), it's undeniably tragic.

But even more tragic is the path he's headed on.
  • He recently moved to the American Southeast (Mississippi).
    • Apparently he moved out, but is now an American citizen.
      • He obtained citizenship in 2020--great year to come to 'Murica, Jim.
  • Took up wrestling in Ryse, a terrible federation with backyard matches
  • Spends a lot of time talking about his wrestling matches on his video game channel
    • His "shoots" are generally pretty bad, since he needs to abide by politically woke standards.
  • Cannot seem to crack the 1,000,000 YouTube subscriber mark, no matter what he does.
    • Think about how long his channel has been around for, and all the controversy and swirl around it, and yet....
  • His blend of humor seems to grow more and more fringe as the days go on, and a lot of it seems be inside jokes and stupid toy references that only his most staunch followers would get.
    • I actually ended up unsubscribing from his channel last week, a move which is petty and symbolic, since it doesn't cost me a damn thing to be a subscriber and nobody cares. Strangely enough, it still felt good.
-------------------------------------

TLDR: Jim is headed for a crash. And it's a matter of "when" and not "if." I truly hope someone stages an intervention, because if that doesn't happen, we're all bound to hear him rant and rave about the supremely evil United States healthcare system, and I don't think I'll be able to ignore his YouTube death rattle.

Jim, if you're reading this...you're not the video game version of John Oliver or John Waters, and you're not a good wrestler or even a good "bad wrestler." Please get back to your core, Jim. You were a good writer and an adept video game critic. I implore you to get back to that persona, and please, please, please dial down the hamfisted political cringe you think is so cutting and profound. It's not, and you sound like a nut job, a moron, and a hopelessly naive little boy.

Please, Jim. Do it for yourself.
Click to expand...

You appear to have a personal issue with Jim and his life, which perhaps is equally worrying.

Jims‘s content is turning into a tirade of all that is bad with the video game industry, but so what? He’s allowed to vent his frustration as we are all allowed to unsubscribe should this not tickle our fancy. I unsubscribed last week myself as his content is not currently my cup of tea. But we do not need to pull him to pieces as you are doing in much of the above. He’s admitted he’s got mental health issues. Pulling him to pieces is not going to help anyone.
 
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balt1kr1s

balt1kr1s

Member
He went downhill after his 6/10 review for BOTW and death threats from nintendrones for that.
Used to like his videos, now can’t stand him, which is a shame.
 
Vaelka

Vaelka

Member
I used to like his videos but they became too repetitive.
I get it, MTX bad but damn.
It's as if he was reading the same script over and over again.
 
Endless Fluff

Endless Fluff

Banned
I also watched his content a few years back and then switched off at some point. His shtick didn't just get old, but also annoying.

Looking at his socialblade, he seems to be in a steady decline. He's getting a fifth of the views he's gotten 1-2 years ago... but I guess his formula works for his supporters, so he doesn't really need to change anything even with his reach plummeting.
Clear said:
I'm also kinda curious how someone who claimed to live below the poverty line in his childhood somehow managed to emigrate to the US on a freelance game's journalist's income. Clearly something changed in his circumstances to accomplish this.
Click to expand...
He makes 15k a month on Patreon. He's been making over 10k a month for years now.
 
Krappadizzle

Krappadizzle

Member
He's been going downhill for a while now. I've always liked his self-loathing British humor, but these last 2 years or so I can't watch him without getting annoyed. I wish him the best though and hope he's happy.
 
STARSBarry

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Its funny I can't quite remember when but I used to watch all his videos, however I just one day stopped. I dont remember him mentioning living in America so it must of been before the move, but I watched him for his scathing videogame critique, when that stopped and slowly become more about him and the political climate I just stopped watching.

If I want politics I read the guardian, and if I want opinion I read the opinion section of the guardian, his rants just came across as the unhinged ramblings of a mad man, and at that point how could I trust his opinion on games?
 
Tschumi

Tschumi

Member
FoundryMusic said:
A complete lack of talent always shines through in time. That's what's happening with that... thing.

Jimmy Savile, Rolf Harris, Jim Sterling. You wait and see.
Click to expand...
I'm just wondering, innocently, what talent has to do with perversion? Anyway Harris for one made some pretty classic songs (not that I ever liked any of them lol)
 
Stuart360

Stuart360

Member
He did that cringy vid recently where he basically accused everyone of being bigots and transphobic, and thats why he had been losing viewers and subs. And he's probably right, but he's in the public eye and should of kept his personnel shit seperate from his 'work' imo.
It doesnt matter if 'should he have to do that though', its obvious what was going to happen when he starts coming out looking like this in his vids lol.
 
anthony2690

anthony2690

Member
I always thought Jim came across as someone who is mentally unwell, could probably do with some genuine help.

I don't think YouTube/social media platform is doing him any good.

But for all I know it could just be some weird character he does for YouTube, but I can't stand his videos, he comes across as really unpleasant person/negative.

But I guess people enjoy watching others hate everything. (for some weird reason)
 
Shut0wen

Shut0wen

Banned
I quite enjoyed him but i started stop watching his vid almost 3 years ago, he was quite funny to start eith and just goes off on mad rants that go on for far to long, hes literally just cringe now
 
RedWhiteBlue

RedWhiteBlue

Banned
He seems to always be on this "anti capitalism" thing despite building his entire career around multi million dollar entertainment products. He is himself part of a sub-industry of that industry.

This is on top of basically being the poster boy for capitalist excess.

An obese man, surrounded by silly little toys, ranting about entertainment products and being paid 13k a month to do so. He's all about that anti capitalism though.

I am sure it is stressful and draining to live that contradiction day in and day out.

Why doesn't he drop the whole "industry watchdog" thing. Stop focusing on AAA content. Just dedicate his channel to talking about smaller games that he likes.

"I hate capitalism and this world of excess we've created is unjust and unequal. Now gather round and look at my collection of expensive memorabilia as I stuff my face with food!"
 
DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy

DevilMayFlyForAWhiteGuy

Member
I’ve always felt his stuff was pretty hit or miss. I mostly watched him when he was calling out all the shitty early access games on steam because it was pretty entertaining. I think that was around when that one company that made shitty asset flip games took him to court. I think that whole debacle got him a good amount of viewers and support and he rode that for a while, then went downhill after that.

I hadn’t seen his stuff since then so I had no idea last year he started doing the whole “trans” thing. I’m guessing he’s doing it for attention and just to keep himself being talked about.
 
Rikkori

Rikkori

Member
48086 said:
Why do video games attract such mentally ill and degenerate people? Good grief.
Click to expand...
If you're already a loser then playing video games and spending a lot of time on socials is a low-investment way to lose yourself in and not confront your deficiencies and do the work required to correct them. In short it's a way of spending time that postpones you feeling the consequences of your (in)actions. Inevitably reality catches up to you though and that's when they lose their minds.
 
CAB_Life

CAB_Life

Member
He's clearly transing, which in his case is a deep-rooted and internalized homophobia and an inability to correct what he loathes about himself. It's rare to see someone so mobidly obsessed with their own body-image, and so blind to their behavior (I'm not on Twitter, mind you).
 
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nush

nush

Member
Stuart360 said:
He did that cringy vid recently where he basically accused everyone of being bigots and transphobic, and thats why he had been losing viewers and subs.
Click to expand...

Yet Contrapoints sits at over 1 million subs. He went "Trans" hoping for a win-win, I get more subs because I'm "Stunning and brave" or I don't and "I'm a victim of transphobia".

Whatever side of the fence you might be on it's really transparent. He didnt rename the channel Stephany Sterling, the real person he claims to be is just a hedge bet middle name.
 
digoutyoursoul

digoutyoursoul

Member
In his earlier days you could see he was a little bit influenced by the likes of Chris Morris (Brass Eye, The day today, Blue Jam) with a video game spin on that style of humour and personality. Not saying he’s as talented, yet influence was there.

I haven’t watched him in recent years, just forgot about him really. Once YouTube started going down the monetisation route with sponsorship, live streams for money , ads etc I switched off to most of it not just him.
 
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MrS

MrS

Banned
His behaviour over the last three years has been positively beastly. I try not to be overly critical of him because it's clear that he's not right in the head. Hope he's able to sort his life out.

Brilliant OP, Chiggs Chiggs
 
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Velcro Fly

Velcro Fly

Member
Their youtube content went downhill long before this stuff was going on. I was unsubscribed from them for a while and had no idea this was even a thing until someone on GameFAQs got mad and corrected me when I was using the wrong pronouns.

Live and let live I say. It isn't hurting me any. If they say they are happy who gives a shit.

Also contrary to what they will have you believe about people unsubscribing en masse over this, that patreon for the Jimquisition is making more money a month than ever before.
 
gradient

gradient

Resident Cheap Arse
I'm still subscribed to his channel, but, to be totally honest, each week when the new video pops up I tend to skip it.

I used to enjoy the Jimquisition each week and looked forward to a new show, but over the past 12 - 18 months the videos have become very samey and often end up veering onto the same subjects and talking points that he used in recent videos and has been playing on for far too long. Jim has also become far too self-obsessed and spends far too much time focussing on his/herself which grows tiresome and really should be separated into another video or media platform if that's what s/he wants to do. "I told you so" and "look at me / look what I did / look what I'm doing in my personal life" have become a large portion of the content and it's to the detriment of the gaming subject matter and content that I used to enjoy.

Jim used to be great at putting together some gaming related content and some of his/her content on the industry has been stellar, but it really does feel like s/he's recycling the same content over and over again and that each video inevitably goes back to the same limited talking points that he just thinks he can keep milking, a big dose "me me me", and an ever increasing amount of personal political and ideological lecturing.

Right now I'm still subscribed because I know Jim can put together good gaming related content but I'm really not confident that s/he ever will again. The channel has been going downhill for quite a while now and the repetition and self-obsession only seem to be getting worse and making up ever more of the content.
 
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