Bombin' the A.M. With Jim Sterling

District Dafoe!

Love me some Jim Sterling =)

Really loved this Bombin'!

Something about this tells me that Jim can't stop thinking about Edward James Olmos. Anyone else getting that feeling?

@patrickklepek use more ropes and bomb them spikes mannnn!!!!

Ahh, Jim. The only reason Destructoid was worth anything. Ever since he left (well, even when he was there) the place turned into a shit hole blog full of wannabe journalists. Glad he has moved onto greener pastures. Looking forward to listening to this later.

@caesius6: The Escapist isn't exactly a fantastic website either, to be fair :)

I hope he made up with David Boreanaz.

I got that feeling too, I don't really know why.

Funny - I haven't watched this yet, but I was going to say that he was the main reason why I STOPPED visiting Destructoid. He seemed to base all his writing/commentary and podcast time solely on unnecessary cursing or being offensive and sensational. It wasn't really funny or informative, even with a British accent.

Didn't he give Deadly Premonition a perfect score? Mad props.

@thiago123: Even he admits that that went a bit far. Personally, I've gone from not really liking him to liking him this past year.

Time for chungus!

yes, yes.

*Puts head down slowly behind bar.*

my roomate's half sister loves Jim Sterling!

stoked to check this one out. DToid was a shining beacon around Jim's intro and now that he's gone I feel like nearly all the personality the site used to have is gone :(

once you got past his shctick and more and more these days the dude has got some interesting things to say

This was a great episode.

BTW, this is the jimquisition episode Jim was talking about:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/8773-Free-To-Wait

I really like Jim nowadays when he isn't playing up his personality for his videos. his stuff in that vein just isn't my thing, nothing against the guy.

I don't wanna cause a big thing, but I'm one of those people that think flappy bird is dangerous to the game industry. I find it insulting that it got such a zeitgeist. There are a trillion other amazing REAL games people could/should be playing. They get nothing, but this horrible piece of crap phone game gets hundreds of headlines.

I don't want to cause a big "real game blahhhh" augment, but I do find it insulting and offensive.

This has to be my favorite Bombin' in the AM so far. Jim Sterling is an acquired taste, but I've gotten to really respect him and his opinions over the years. It's great to see him on the best gaming site.

BTW I was super bummed to hear Jim switched from Windows Phone to Android and calling it moving up the ladder. As far as games go, Windows Phone is no where close to iPhone or Android, but if you work in an enterprise environment with Exchange servers, Windows Phone is the only way to go. Just nit picking here...

@patrickklepek When I first played Soldier of Fortune on Dreamcast, I was blown away by the dismemberment. The back of the box had a quote saying how many different body points can be shot at. Now that's how you sell a game to a teenager looking to fuck some shit up.

Aw, I love myself a healthy dose of Jim Sterling. Before Giantbomb I was mainly on Destructoid and his reviews are always fun :>.

Jim can be a pretty insightful guy. There was a lot of good talk on this episode.

yo there are millions of other people in this world who don't give a fuck about video games

they were the ones playing flappy bird

not everything has to fit in the hardcore video games circle

You gotta love Jim. He is my favorite.

This really was a superb "episode" of this show. Jim is very informed and opinionated, and it made every conversation lively and interesting. I've shied away from watching the Mondays of Bombin' in the A.M. because most of the guests just don't really have much to contribute to current events at all, but if there were more guests like Jim that would be delightful.

@wes899: I really miss Battlestar Gallatica

Jim Rules

So say we all

Jim Sterling is awesome. The Jimquisition continues to be the best.

Thank god for Jim.

I would disagree because I don't think it's crap. I think it sets out to do one thing, and does it fantastically well, which is the reason it became so popular (along with the art, which you can criticise all you like if you're also willing to criticise games like I Wanna Be The Guy or Giana Sisters that pay homage to a cultural touchstone). The fact is, a mainstream audience won't attach to "real" games like Device 6 or Superbrothers because they require a certain time investment and deeper thinking that, and thats fine. Games like Flappy Bird aren't taking money away from these "real" games because many of the people playing Flappy Bird wouldn't describe themselves as gamers, and so wouldn't even consider buying these. This audience wants a fun, mindless timewaster that allows them to compete with their friends, and Flappy Bird is great as this. Some devs will make games like this, and others will aim to cater to a "hardcore" audience that I assume you are part of. I also don't get people's problem with this game getting headlines. The reason it's story got picked up by gaming outlets is because it was selling a bunch; I'm not convinced that the kind of people who are so into games that they are reading websites such as this will forgo buying a "real" game and just pick this up instead.

In Short: Don't be worried about this fun timewaster made by someone who (at this time) probably only knows how to make fun timewasters. Worry about companies such as EA choosing to abuse the free-to-play system as opposed to making the quality experiences (whether they be "hardcore" or "casual" we know they can.

Bennet Foddy (Sportsfriends, QWOP) speaks eloquently on this matter in an article by Keith Stuart in The Guardian. I reccomend you give it a read.

JIM STERLING !!

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS !

Did you know jim sterling was a nazi robot back in the 1930's/40s and was in fact sent back in time to change the future so it could be ruled by hitler and kill off pc gaming? here he is in one of the historical battles.

before that though he also worked as a hindu god and had a temple where people would sacrifice lobsters in huge brass cauldrons of boiling butter. as a hindu god he was never allowed to play the pc sega cd and sonic cd.

Go to Hell, Monkey Adam!

Great show. Love Jim calling out publisher's BS

@brasshi: the headlines send a bad massage to game companies. If I worked at a game company my morale would be in the basement, after seeing the attention flappy bird got.

Well, to be fair, it's not as if it's Flappy Bird's fault it's getting so much attention. Blame the news outlets.

really great show guys

I do. Every fucking day and not just in gaming news outlets.

Anyways, that rant on Dungeon Keeper was just savage, fucking really riding EA's ass. It was great. It needed to be said. 5 star jim, you got a new fan.

It's quite cathartic to hear a good rant from Jim. Giantbomb doesn't hold back criticisms when they have them, but with Jim you can feel the legitimate anger he has for a bad business practice (without going over the top about it.. depending on your definition of that).

Been watching Jim since his first video on the escapist. I don't even know why I clicked on that video, but I stuck through ever since.

@jsnyder82: yeah that's very true, I should blame them for giving the attention.

I've seen a few of Jim's videos in the past. He's pretty entertaining. Great show today!

Awesome show, lots of good talk. I like Jim and look forward to seeing him on here again. Loved the heartfelt rant on Dungeon Keeper.

Funnily enough, some of Flappy Bird's most vocal supporters are other indie developers who have made more critically successful games. Check out Bennett Foddy and Jon Blow's twitter feeds. I reckon people in the business have a greater understanding of the ability for different styles of games to coexist peacefully.

@jz said:

Who even says that?

There this whole "everyone is entitled to their opinion". An opinion is something like "Ilike this game". That's an opinion; stating a personal preference.

A statement like "this game is good" or "this game is bad" is not a personal opinion; it's stated as a statement of fact on a qualitative issue which is tendentious.

Good and bad are shorthand for value judgements, and if people want to engage in these debates they should state what they value, or what criteria are being used to make these value judgement. A good car, a good friend, a good steak. If we agree on what we value, we can agree on qualitative judgements.

You don't have to slip in relativism on judgement if you can qualify your opinion. Most people use the "everyone is entitled to their opinion" as an argument stopper or to sound tactful, not as a means of promoting a conversation.

What got you so riled up anyway?