History WebVideo / Jimquisition

* AftifactTitle: Despite Steph phasing out their deadname when referring to themself, their website and show still keep the "''Jim''quisition" brand.

* AppropriatedAppellation: After the [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/Jimquisition/9884-The-Slaughtering-Grounds-Developer-Meltdown "epic meltdown of the Slaughtering Grounds developer"]], Steph started calling themself Steph Fucking Sterling, Son, which was an insult thrown at them in the developer's review of their review. ("I don't need to fix that because I'm Steph fucking Sterling, son!") They've since made it into a CatchPhrase.

* ChewbaccaDefense: Near the end of "A Quiet Conversation", they joke that saying "I breathe through my skin" can be used to justify anything, no matter how heinous or ridiculous it may be[[note]]This is a TakeThat at Creator/HideoKoStepha's rather flimsy justification for the VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV character Quiet's {{Stripperific}} 'uniform'[[/note]].

** Alternated between [[HeroicBSOD devolving into]] [[BabyTalk child-like gibberish]] ("it's bad time game, game bad!") and [[LargeHam scenery-chewing ranting]] in their review of ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}: Rogue Corps'', which they describe as being the antithesis of a ''Contra'' title.[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIWwyyOzrFQ]] Admittedly, this was a Creator/{{Konami}} title made after the departure of Creator/HideoKoStepha, which automatically makes it a something of BerserkButton for Sterling.

** '''Wrath''': Konami for basically everything they've done over the past 4-5 years. This includes slamming anyone who criticizes their games, having a PR department that doesn't market their games and their year long battle with Hideo KoStepha, who got banned from receiving an awards at the 2015 Game Awards because of Konami's vindictiveness.

** They also consider Creator/HideoKoStepha one for his TrollingCreator tendencies and the obvious presence of AuthorAppeal in his games. In the episode ''Del Toro's Angry Bedtime'', he's portrayed as lying to Guillermo Del Toro about whether he would be involved in creative decisions for VideoGame/DeathStranding, stealing his credit card info, throwing cards in his face will engaging in PokemonSpeak and letting Creator/MadsMikkelsen [[TheThingThatWouldNotLeave stay on his and Del Toro's couch for free.]]

*** Steph now considers themselves the enemy of the entire "triple-AEYYY" video games industry among Western spaces ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Konami]]), regarding almost all members of it as irredeemable, amoral slime who are raking in huge profits by actively making games worse so as to psychologically manipulate vulnerable people into spending money they can't afford in order to compensate. At the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S-DGTBZU14 "The Addictive Cost Of Predatory VideoGame Monetization"]] they finished by declaring ''"You damn right I'm anti-triple-A."''

* CanonWelding: Virgillio Armarndio is a carryover from their Destructoid show "The VideoGame Show What I've Done."

*** Steph now considers themselves the enemy of the entire "triple-AEYYY" video games industry among Western spaces ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Konami]]), regarding almost all members of it as irredeemable, amoral slime who are raking in huge profits by actively making games worse so as to psychologically manipulate vulnerable people into spending money they can't afford in order to compensate. At the end of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S-DGTBZU14 "The Addictive Cost Of Predatory Videogame Monetization"]] they finished by declaring ''"You damn right I'm anti-triple-A."''

* AuthorAppeal: Steph has an open and unabashed love of the ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' villain ComicBook/{{Mysterio}}. When asked about why they liked him, [[https://twitter.com/StephSterling/status/1127583721182388226 they explained]] that Mysterio's [[MasterOfIllusion use of illusions]] and [[ManipulativeBastard mind games]] is a cool supervillain gimmick and [[NotSoHarmlessVillain he can be genuinely dangerous if a writer invests in him]]. They [[https://twitter.com/StephSterling/status/1125401857990504448 were very enthusiastic indeed]] about Mysterio's appearance in ''Film/SpiderManFarFromHome''.

* CanonWelding: Virgillio Armarndio is a carryover from their Destructoid show "The Videogame Show What I've Done."

** In "PUBG Makers Start Suing Over Copyrights And Frying Pans", the news is that Blue Hole Entertainment is suing Chinese mobile game developer [=NetEase=] for making ''Rules Of Survival'' and ''Knives Out'', which copy the formula and look of Blue Hole's ''Videogame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds'' and PUBG Mobile. PUBG was not the first Battle Royale format videogame, Steph notes, but it was the TropeCodifier that put that genre on the map, and immediately other devs started to FollowTheLeader. Creator/EpicGames' ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' has since overtaken PUBG in the Battle Royale genre's top spot, and while PUBG is still popular and profitable, it's understandable that Blue Hole would feel a little peeved. What's really not cool, Steph says, is that after eroding the community's goodwill by making threatening noises towards Epic Games, they went and filed a lawsuit against [=NetEase=] in the Northern District of California, which makes nitpicky and ridiculous arguments about how all sorts of game mechanics and features can be found in other games, which are somehow copyright-able in the battle royale genre. Things like the shrinking playing arena[[labelnote:*]]which is, if anything, derived from ''SumoWrestling'', and is also a common modifier in other game genres[[/labelnote]], having a frying pan as a weapon[[labelnote:*]]which is plain ridiculous, as you cannot lay claim to what is ostensibly '''a kitchen utensil''', much less one known so well for being an ImprovisedWeapon in games like ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', and the episodic ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' games, that FryingPanOfDoom is a subtrope of ImprovisedWeapon specifically to cover these instances.[[/labelnote]], the phrase "winner, winner, chicken dinner" is apparently "iconic" to PUBG[[labelnote:*]]It's not, [[https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/winner-winner-chicken-dinner/ It's a phrase derived from people winning at a gambling game]], and even then, the phrase; "winner winner" is seperate, in that it amusingly means the opposite; no party loses in an agreement between people on, say, ordering food (or, "everybody wins").[[/labelnote]]; “The total look and feel of Battlegrounds", they claim, "constitutes copyrightable subject matter.” This just reinforces what Steph said in their previous video about PUBG, "[=PlayerUnknown=]'s Battlegrounds Is A Successful Failure", in which they show that despite succeeding in creating a fun and popular game, the PUBG team made the mistake of releasing a very nondescript and generic-looking game with hardly any costumes, weapons, character designs, set pieces, or other assets that are really memorable, original, or subject to copyright--things which ''Fortnite'', for example, has in abundance. Since the features that made PUBG successful are ones that are broadly understood in the game industry to be fair game for imitation, they think that PUBG hasn't got much of a leg to stand on.

* NoodleIncident: Most episodes of ''The Videogame Show What I've Done'' include off-hand references to absurd or horryfing details from Rory's life, from Rory being suspended from school for some incident involving glass and having at some point found his uncle's corpse to his father being in jail for a hate crime.

** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S-DGTBZU14 The Addictive Cost Of Predatory Videogame Monetization]] contains a lot more malice and anger than a regular Jimquisition video and is noticeably devoid of the normal humour seen in Sterling's other videos. Most notably, it's one of the few times Steph says 'Triple AAA' without speaking in a condescending & sneering tone.

* RageBreakingPoint: Steph arguably owned up to hitting theirs in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S-DGTBZU14 "The Addictive Cost Of Predatory Videogame Monetization"]] in response to a critic on Reddit accusing them of "not [being] pro-consumer [but] anti-triple A".

** The show within the show ''The Videogame Show What I've Done'' is made to look like someone just got their hands on their very first video editing software, along with gratuitous transitions and even more gratuitous video filters for the game footage. Said footage is also of a game in question being played badly. Or not the game in question at all.

** At the same time, following the leader doesn't always have to be a bad thing. In "[=PlayerUnknown=]'s Battlegrounds Is A Successful Failure", Steph looks at how ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'' actually eclipsed the popularity of the game it copied, ''Videogame/PlayerunknownsBattlegrounds'', because in addition to PUBG's successful gameplay formula it added a bunch of colorful and original content that the makers of PUBG never bothered with. In "PUBG Makers Start Suing Over Copyrights And Frying Pans", Steph talks about the inevitability of a successful game attracting imitators for better or worse, and how Blue Hole Entertainment is being totally ridiculous by trying to claim legal damages from another game imitating its formula.

** In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeHlv6augDw Children of the Resolution]]", Game companies that once pushed the graphical envelope ahead of gameplay, like Creator/SquareEnix, are getting what's coming to them as the graphical arms race is running them into bankruptcy, bringing them backlash from gamers when they can't keep up the pace of graphical advancement, and being overshadowed by games focusing on gameplay first, like ''{{VideoGame/Minecraft}}'' and ''Videogame/StardewValley''.

* ItsPopularNowItSucks: [[invoked]] They call it "Videogame/CallOfDuty Syndrome". While Steph themself has rather mixed feelings on the franchise, they chastise people who hate the series for no reason except that it was really popular.

* MisaimedRealism: Talks in various videos about how the fetish for "realism" has led to some ironically unrealistic game mechanics, such as "Weapon Durability" in which purpose-built weapons are ridiculously fragile compared to real life. In "Blood, Guts, And Videogames" they also talk about the skewing effects of obsessing over one area of realism while ignoring others, such that while games go to disturbing lengths to depict a realistic hanging, hardly any of them know how to depict a sex scene without it being total Narm.

** In 2020's "Blood, Guts, and Videogames" they revisit the issue, in response to reports that game developers are pressuring staff to watch graphic footage of real life violence and gore as artistic reference without any system to protect them from mental trauma, and trying to make the violence so lifelike as to disturb the player. For all their talk about trying to show the real horror and consequences of violence, Steph notes how creepy it is that these companies want a player to feel like they’re actually murdering someone, and how ironic it is that game devs denied during past controversies that they were making "Murder Simulators", yet now feel it fashionable to advertise that yes, they kind of ''are''.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Heavily analyzed in "Blood, Guts, and Videogames", in which they analyze the abusive practice of making artists and devs watch real life violence in order to get references for video games violence without any kind of psychological help. They mention the fact that real life violence is not as dramatic or cinematic, it's the reason why it's not used so much, and even punches themself in the head to show that the sound of a punch is not very audible or dramatic, compared to the sound of punches in movies. They point out that, because most people have actually never seen gruesome real life acts of violence like people being decapitated, hanged or exploded, but are familiar with the stylized violence of movies and games it's more likely that this kind of overly-realistic visuals will fly over people's heads and come across as anti-climatic or unrealistic because it's so out of most people's frame of reference.

** However, they actually do give {{Videogame/Loadout}} praise for decency themself in the "Free to Wait" episode.

* ThreeAmigos: Steph, Gavin and Laura.
** Now Steph, Laura and Conrad.

James Stephanie Sterling (born 1 January 1984) is the host of [[WebOriginal the web video series]] known as ''The Jimquisition''. Sterling is an independent video game pundit (formerly of ''Destructoid'' and ''Website/TheEscapist''), known for their tendency to stoke controversy and frequent examination of the video game industry's seedy underbelly.

In 2020, Steph came out as non-binary. Steph's pronouns are they/them.

* WidgetSeries: [[invoked]] Steph's "Nintendo of America" episode is about how the titular company refuses to localize niche Japanese games, [[FridgeLogic despite the fact that said games usually sell more units in America than in Japan.]]

*** They are also [[ALighterShadeOfGrey much more sympathetic]] to more niche Japanese companies like Creator/{{Atlus}}, Creator/NipponIchi and Creator/XSEEDGames, both of which create enough WidgetSeries games and be high-quality enough that Steph is generally a lot more reasonable with them. However, it's when they ''do'' screw up that like with Nintendo [[ToughLove Steph lays into them hard]]. The [[DisappointedInYou appropriately-titled]] "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pjc1sWw6Dw Oh, Atlus, Honey, No..."]] has Steph lay into Atlus's excessive spoiler-enforcement policy that's banal even by Japanese standards, and another separate news segment where [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOYh-6WLBMk Steph rips into XSEED for not crediting translators who leave the company in the credits]].

* LyingCreator: [[invoked]]Discussed in "The Business of Lies", in which they talk about how pre-release misinformation has become so routine these days that you can't trust anything that creators or publishers say about which games they're working on, when and where they will give certain announcements or previews, or what features and content are going to be in the final version of the game. One kind that may sound relatively harmless is the "little white lie" told to keep fans from guessing some surprise that's scheduled to be revealed with great fanfare on a certain date, which may extend to denying leaked information that is actually correct. The problem is that creators who do this habitually lose all of their credibility, since the fans and journalists will inevitably find out what they lied about, and if they have any sense then they won't take the creator(s) at their word ever again. Creator/HideoKoStepha is a cautionary tale, as he pulled a legitimately brilliant misdirection on the audience with the NeverTrustATrailer marketing for ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', but since then he has remained so addicted to pre-release stunts that everybody is expecting him to pull a trick on the audience, and it doesn't work like it used to. Besides that, creators telling lies can have serious consequences for other people who are depending on them to be truthful: it's kind of a dick move to deny leaked information brought forward by a fan or journalist, only for it to be revealed as true a week later, since that's basically throwing that person and their reputation under the bus just so the creator can keep their surprise. It also makes the creator(s) look rather foolish when they resort to BlatantLies about something that everybody has already found out about. "Little white lies" are supposed to be okay, but exactly what things it's 'okay' to lie about and for what reasons is so vague and undefined that many creators think they can excuse or get away with anything, such as knowingly misrepresenting the graphics or gameplay in demos, or lying about whether things like DLC, DRM, and microtransactions will be included. They're so used to lying that they don't see how they're doing anything wrong, and they're going to keep doing it for as long as fans and the press keep giving them a pass.

* CrossCastRole: Retroactively; Steph is non-binary while their Duke Amiel H'ardcore character is (a very effeminate) male, although they haven't performed him since coming out.

* LoonyFan: In "Guns Blazing", Steph notes that, whilst their fan base is generally friendly and even buys them gifts of their online wishlists, they inevitably attract the occasional creep. [[spoiler:Cue Steph revealing that a fan had bought them a sex toy -- a rubber replica fist of pornstar Belladonna to be precise -- that they never even asked for.]]
** And it only gets loonier. [[spoiler: Later gifts have included a dragon-tongue sex toy, and ''gay furry porn.'']]
*** All of these gifts have been featured on Jimquisition episodes.

* FrivolousLawsuit: They were nonchalantly threatened by Digital Homicide to be sued for slander[[note]]Since slander usually means spreading lies and misinformation about a person and Steph technically isn't lying when they say Digital Homicide produces shovelware, a judge would likely laugh Digital Homicide out of court.[[/note]] and tried to force them into signing an agreement with their lawyer saying that they would stop dragging their name through the mud. Steph casually mentioned that they would need to talk to their own lawyer before signing anything, which made Digital Homicide extremely upset. They eventually actually [[https://www.docdroid.net/k5yw9tP/1-main.pdf.html followed. [[https://www.docdroid.net/lQKJ45a/1-1.pdf.html through]] with the their threat, but the case was dismissed with prejudice. [[note]]meaning that the case is closed and cannot be reopened.[[/note]]

* FrivolousLawsuit: Was nonchalantly threatened by Digital Homicide to be sued for slander[[note]]Since slander usually means spreading lies and misinformation about a person and Steph technically isn't lying when they say Digital Homicide produces shovelware, a judge would likely laugh Digital Homicide out of court.[[/note]] and tried to force them into signing an agreement with their lawyer saying that they would stop dragging their name through the mud. Steph casually mentioned that they would need to talk to their own lawyer before signing anything, which made Digital Homicide extremely upset.
** As of the fourth of March, 2016, they've ''actually [[https://www.docdroid.net/k5yw9tP/1-main.pdf.html followed]] [[https://www.docdroid.net/lQKJ45a/1-1.pdf.html through]]'', believe it or not.
** As of July 2nd and 13th, 2016, [[http://mmofallout.com/ipe-update-judge-strikes-down-digital-homicide/ it looks like the case will be dismissed]] and [[http://mmofallout.com/ipe-update-digital-homicide-needs-a-lawyer/ Rommie, who does not have a lawyer in the case has no clue what he is doing.]]
** And in February of 2017, the case has been dismissed with prejudice, which means that the case is closed and cannot be reopened.

* NonIndicativeName: Steph points out in their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nd6I9W_z6Y shittiest games of 2015]] that because ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDarkIllumination'' is a co-operative game where you use light to fight your enemies, you are neither alone nor in the dark.

Sterling's [[AlterEgoActing on-screen persona]] is a sarcastic and egotistical caricature of game journalists who engages in various entertaining antics, but always has something important to say about how people play and relate to video games, what goes on behind the scenes of game development, and how the exploitative and abusive practices of companies involved with video games are often manifestations of social, economic, and political problems facing society as a whole. Episodes can be found [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/Jimquisition here]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/user/StephSterling/videos here]].

* TheScrappy: [[Invoked]], Steph discusses how VideoGame/DukeNukem would probably be far more likable as a character if they stopped trying to play him so straight.

** One early episode ("YOUR REVIEWS ARE TEH BIAS") discusses this by showing how often people complaining about their reviews keep misusing the word "bias"]] to describe any reviewer they vehemently disagree with.

* OneForTheMoneyOneForTheArt: [[invoked]] {{Discussed Trope}} in [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nxdfWn4Sbnc/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEZCPYBEIoBSFXyq4qpAwsIARUAAIhCGAFwAQ==&rs=AOn4CLAdoyA2Fbl2bWTldHP99hYYHRLXRg "Game Journalism of Thrones"]], where they discus the idea that news sources who produce otherwise legitimate and respectable journalism still have to indulge in short, low-quality clickbait articles, advertorials, and coverage of somewhat-off-topic material in order to stay relevant and keep their readership up. If it wasn't for the latter category of material, the former wouldn't exist.

* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Steph explains that the Steam community forum for ''Predator Simulator'' had a thread were in users were wondering if Steph would be summoned by the game.

** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCNJni1kp2E "The 'CD' Stands for 'Crunching Developers'"]], Steph notes the alarming tendency for Fans to defend companies with prior track records of being pro-consumer, even when the company in question does something wrong. They give the example of "CD Projekt Red", who despite having goodwill among gamers for creating [=GOG=] as a hub for [=DRM-Free=] games, actively rallying against microtransactions, lootboxes, and other nasty predatory business practices, and making [[VideoGame/TheWitcher3 critically acclaimed games]], [=CD-PR=] fully admits to abusing its workforce in crunch periods to get games made. After promising to not do crunch at the start of 2020 for the remaining time to make VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077, [=CD-PR=] went back on its word nine months later, and announced that it was forcing crunch for the last month of development. Steph then recieved premeditated excuses from fans of the game ''before making a video on them on said practices'' as to how [=CD-PR=] were not like other companies, and that their goodwill outweighs their recent transgressions, apparently applying a literal case of MyRulesAreNotYourRules when it comes to scorning companies. As Steph notes; people don't mind Steph scorning [=EA=] and Activision-Blizzard for their predatory practices, but as soon as the tables are turned and Steph attempts to criticise [=CD-PR=], Nintendo, or indie developers in general; there's immediate backlash as apparently in the gaming space, they're off-limits for criticism, which is based on the false assumption that lots of good things make up for one horrible thing. This line of thinking is purely for the fans own selfish reasoning of course, wanting to purchase the game they were excited for without any guilt or shame that they bought it from a once-respected source that are practising whatever misdeed in the meantime.

** Their video on ''VideoGame/StreetFighter6'' discusses this with regards to the "Modern Controls" scheme, which requires pushing simplified controls as opposed to more complex ones. Sterling calls out players who insist that "Classic Controls" is the only "correct" way to play, since it explicitly denies a large portion of the playerbase from playing it. Also, Sterling argues that such players are {{Hypocrite}}s, because these players are accusing those who use Modern Controls of being pandered to, while at the same time insist that the game's developer should pander only to them.

** [[invoked]] Discussed in regards to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'' in the episode "Final Fantasy XVI's Magical Misery Tour", where Jim talks about the main character Clive is constantly discriminated against by {{Muggles}} because he is a Bearer. Steph points out that while it can be quite interesting to play as an underpriviliged character, the problem is that its the rule rather than the exception that every NPC will make racist remarks about Clive and his status as a Bearer whenever he speaks to them or even just passes by them in the street, and Clive just passively accepts it, making him coming across as an ExtremeDoormat. Steph notices that they find it really rather hard to keep being motivated to help anyone in a world where the average person ranges somewhere between [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Colonel Volgin]] and [[Series/GameOfThrones Ramsay Bolton]] in personality and likablity.

** [[invoked]] Discussed in regards to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'' in the episode "Final Fantasy XVI's Magical Misery Tour", where Jim talks about the main character Clive is constantly discriminated against by {{Muggles}} because he is a Bearer. Steph points out that while it can be quite interesting to play as an underpriviliged character, the problem is that its the rule rather than the exception that every NPC will make racist remarks about Clive and his status as a Bearer whenever he speaks to them or even just passes by them in the street, and Clive just passively accepts it, making him coming across as an ExtremeDoormat. Steph notices that they its really rather hard to keep being motivated to help anyone in a world where the average person ranges somewhere between [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater Colonel Volgin]] and [[Series/GameOfThrones Ramsay Bolton]] in personality and likablity.

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: [[invoked]] Discussed in their "Crying Through the Laughs" video, where Steph says that a story's sad moments have more meaning, and are therefore more memorable, if things were happy first. They use Zidane from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' as an example, saying his late-game HeroicBSOD had more weight because of his earlier characterization as a ChivalrousPervert.

* ShootTheMoney: [[invoked]] In "The Manhog Is Horrifying,Jim Carrey Is Jim Carrey (OMGH)", Steph takes note of this.