Heartwarming / Jimquisition

Caricature character notwithstanding, Jim does have some heartwarming moments.

• "Bullshit in Sheep's Clothing" ends with a genuine thanks to everyone who helped with the show.
• "Desensitized to Violence": It's oddly heartwarming to listen to Jim talking about their stepson and how, despite their contact with video games, they’re still afraid of real life violence.
• The "Go Fish" video, where they calmly and politely talk about the recent controversy around the Fez developer.
• "The Beautiful Irony of PC Gaming" has them in some part of the video welcoming people to the PC crowd (Even noting not to let the graphic whores put you off) with the need of an open mind while stating that you wouldn't need a very powerful PC to experience the best it has to offer.
• For Christmas, Jim's wife got them a picture of The Green Goblin, signed by Willem Dafoe.
• In 2012, Jim named Telltale's The Walking Dead as their Game of the Year, and immediately they said that calling the game "The Best of 2012" is a disservice to how excellent and beautiful it is as a narrative.
• Jim Sterling loves Dynasty Warriors, and their first order of business after getting syndicated by Escapist Magazine was to compose what amounts to a love letter in video form for what they declared the "Citizen Kane" of video games.
• "Diversity? LIEversity!" begins with Jim Sterling declaring Nintendo their winner of E3 2014.
  "Before we begin, my pick of E3, my winner of E3, Nintendo. The whole week livestreaming gameplay, actual gameplay which is what a company does when it's confident in its games and doesn't need to hide behind a wall of dishonest CGI trailers and heavily-scripted demos and fucking vertical slices. Very well done to them, Plus they have got a playable Zelda in Hyrule Warriors which Koei can apparently do without going bankrupt, Amazing."
• "Sonic Gloom" has Jim saying that, even though they personally didn't like Sonic Colors, they have no problem with people who did enjoy it. They also plead with SEGA to develop and build upon the good Sonic games, like Sonic Generations, instead of changing Sonic with every iteration. This coming from someone who gave Colors a 4/10, and Boom a 2/10, showing they really wants this franchise to be good^note Didn't stop themself from making fun of Force's Custom Character, of course....
  • And sure enough, when Sonic Mania came out, Jim had nothing but admiration for the game and gave it 9.5, out of 10. Even those who didn't like Mania found it extremely satisfying to hear. Even Sonic Forces, a game they themself mocked and got ratings of "Okay" to "Worst Game Ever", they turned out to kind of like.
• Their video where they roundly mock the homophobia-driven backlash towards Dragon Age: Inquisition and quietly compliments Bioware for at least attempting to include well-written LGBTQ relationships and going against the grain.
• Their video trilogy where they defend the used game market and push back against the notion that used games are bad for the industry, and they gave an inspiring speech about how used games are one of the customers last remaining protections against bad games and that publishers have no right to take them away after everything else they've already taken.
• During their review of the whole Slaughtering Grounds fiasco, they compare the downright shitty behaviour of the company that made it, Digital Homicide, to the behaviour of a different game company whose game they were similarly harsh about, perhaps even more so than SG. They proudly pointed out that the developers had perhaps made a poor game, but had owned up, sincerely apologized and vowed to work on future products so they would improve. They sincerely sounded hopeful that they would one day make a decent game.
• In their video on the death of Satoru Iwata, Jim admits that Iwata was one of the few video game executives they had any respect for. That even if Jim found Iwata's motto that video games just needed to be fun debatable, Jim respected the purity of that statement and considered it a noble endeavor. In fact, in the end, they alter their catchphrase:
  "Thank God for you, Mr. Iwata. And sleep well."
  • Jim later specifically notes in their "The Cost of Business" episode that Iwata's choice to cut their own pay in half rather than lay off any employees over the failure over the Wii U earned Jim's respect. Since then, Jim has frequently cited Iwata's decision to cut his own salary as an example of what companies should do to cut losses instead of firing employees; it's a sign of a leader actually taking responsibility for their mistakes instead of pinning the blame on people who had nothing to do with it.
• During their Itch.io Tasty "Star Wars" video, Jim takes a look at a space shooter game made by a 12-year old. While acknowledging it's pretty barebones, Jim considers it pretty good by the standards of a 12-year old, and points out that a child's first effort you can download for free is better than games made by grown adults on Steam that charge you to play.
• Jim plays Dungeons of Kragmor and points out that it was developed by Digital Homicide, an indie game studio they clashed with for years over their shoddily made games and their negative reactions towards criticism. However, Jim was willing to give the game a chance since they read that it was in development for quite a while. As Jim plays the game, they became impressed by how everything flows and how there were very few problems they encountered (which they were willing to overlook due to the game being in early access). Jim even got to fight against Robert himself and both sides seemed to had fun blasting each other in game without any drama or animosity. Towards the end of the video, Jim was actually proud of Digital Homicide putting in some actual effort into the game and hoped to see them continue to grow from it. Compared to Jim's snark towards the studio in the past few years, it's a complete turnaround. ^note Sadly, this was completely ruined when Digital Homicide not only went back into making shitty games since, but had the gall to sue Jim as well for defamation, damages, and other silly charges. To top it off, Digital Homicide gave up on Dungeons of Kragmor because "it took too much time and resources to develop", which is the actual standard of how video games are produced.
• "A Lesson in Five Nights" is a video of praising Five Nights at Freddy's creator Scott Cawthon for actually listening to constructive criticism and applying it. Jim also praises Scott for remaining humble, and gives him a lot of credit for pulling Five Nights at Freddy's World after bad reviews hit, offered anyone who played it a full refund, revamped it and put it back up for free. Jim even holds up Scott as an indie developer doing everything right, and saying that Scott deserves all the success he gets. ^note Unfortunately, they revoked this opinion after Cawthon's political donations to right-wing politicians were revealed, particularly because said politicians are openly hostile to LGBTI+ people like Sterling themselves and makes Cawthon look like a hypocrite by verbally supporting LGBTI+ fans but supporting politicians trying to oppress them.
  • Keep in mind that Jim was one of the most notable critics of Chipper & Sons Lumber Co. - they were thrilled that Cawthon was able to bounce back in the way that he did. They have also talked to Cawthon personally and confirmed that there are no hard feelings either way.
• In one of their Boglin Watch videos they proudly show off three custom made Boglins that fans sent in that were made in Jim's likeness. While Jim hams up their reactions a lot on Boglin Watch, they admit that they were moved to tears by the gesture when they checked their PO Box and extended a sincere thanks to the creators and the fans.
  "This is more effort than I'm worth..."
• After hearing the news that SidAlpha, a games critic who backed Jim up by reviewing Digital Homicide's shoddy games after they were sued, had been hit by a DMCA strike from Dentola Studios, Jim made a short video about it where they backed Sid up in turn. When Sid was unlucky to be hit by a second DMCA strike, this time by the developer of Fur Fun, Jim commented on Sid's video where he broke the news, vowing to have Sid's back.
  • The best part about this? Jim, alongside The Cynical Brit, helped give Sid a massive Colbert Bump to the point that his subscribers initially quadrupled from under 2,000 to 8,000 in a matter of days. The second time around, his subscribers doubled to roughly 16,000. Mr. Alpha was almost in tears, purely because he was so overwhelmed by the support.
• Exposure has a moment that also counts as a serious crowning moment of Awesome. Brash Games is infamous for not paying their writers and treating those who wish to leave like social pariahs. One of the writers, Ben McCurry, left but not before leaving a blistering Take That! towards Brash Games in their review of Pac-Man 256. The heartwarming/awesome part? Jim Sterling was not only impressed by this act, but they proceeded to hire McCurry to write an article for the Jimquisition website, complete with proper pay. Better still, they stated that McCurry's welcome to write more paid articles in the future.
  • In a follow-up video, Paul Ryan: Not That One, Jim details how Paul Ryan (not that one) of Brash Games released private information about two employees' mental illnesses (which is illegal, mind you), and highlighted Meg and Olly's responses to it, how Olly calls out Ryan's hypocrisy, and how Meg felt violated and guilty over a health condition that she has no control over. At the end of the video, Jim not only says to thank God for them, but also for Meg, Olly, and Ben, as well as all the other writers for speaking against Ryan.
  • In the same follow-up, Jim mentions that some writers and a game developer are getting together to talk about a libel lawsuit against Paul Ryan (not that one), and Jim gives a message to them to keep them updated on the status of it because they wants to donate to the legal fund (they even say it with a smile!).
• How to Not F2P Like a Total Wanker starts with Jim noting that a few indie developers have asked them for advice on making a good free-to-play game. Most of the episode's filled with the usual snark, but it ends on a surprisingly sweet note. Jim notes that, for all the steps they gave out, the indie developers had already fulfilled the most important step: they cared enough about their audience to worry that they're going to do it wrong. That alone is proof to Jim that they're on the right track.
• The opening to Cancel Half-Life 3 has Jim reacting to the trailer for the remake of MediEvil, ending with them jumping into the air and then dancing joyously to Dreams by Gabrielle. It's not snark like their cynical "OH MAH GAWD HYPE" series—it's pure joy on their part.
  • Speaking of that video, it is nice that they pleaded to Valve to put the kibosh on Half-Life 3, and let everyone just move on and avoid torturing themselves with the endless build-up.
• The Jimquisition Game of the Year Awards 2017 ends with a dedication to Jim's grandmother.
• The episode "The Cost of Business" ends with a section about the Horrid Spider Contest, which was to make something creative out of the tired "Human Head Spider" asset. Jim gives props to the over 600 submissions sent in for it, including fanart that wasn't technically eligible for the contest but were too awesome to not include; the second-place winner, who made an entire font out of the asset's shapes; and the first-place winner, who made an entire playable short snake game out of the asset. At the end, they told everyone who participated and showed off their talent:
  Jim: Thank God... for you.
• A blink-and-you-miss-it one: In the footage for their Jimpressions review of Shenmue, at about the 4:50 mark, Jim can be seen carefully maneuvering their in-game forklift in order to avoid running over a cat.
• During their "Why We Need Middle Shelf Games" video, Jim notes that what they have said regarding publishers abandoning smaller-scale but still enjoyable single-player games in favor of larger, more profitable titles that take on the form of a "live service", doesn't really apply to Nintendo or their consoles because "they exist in a weird little bubble where games are still good".
• “That Time The Last Of Us Part 2 Was Compared To Schindler's List” has Jim sticking up for Jason Schreier against Cory Barlog’s comments; while freely admitting that while the two will never be close friends Jason is stated by Jim to be one of the few genuine Video Game journalists covering harmful business practices by video game companies.
• While it's mostly very depressing, as to be expected given the subject matter, "Ubisoft Spent Years Protecting Mental and Physical Abusers" has them praising those who had the courage to speak out against abusers in their workplaces and thanking them for putting themselves on the line to make those places safer and better, while reassuring those who have been hurt but who have been reluctant to come forward that it's okay to be afraid and that many people will be grateful to them if they do speak up.
  • They also thanked their fans who have been messaging them about their mental health given the more cynical tone of recent videos and reassures them that while the year has been hectic, they're actually in a good place.
  • In further videos talking about the abuses in the Game industry, they keep thanking those brave enough to speak out about it.
• In their Game of the Year Awards 2020 section for Ikenfell, they talk about how representation in media matters.
• Their review of Hades is them gushing over the game and saying the only thing that it needed to make it their favorite of all time is the option to have a pet crustacean follow their character around.
• Given how many times they've commented on industry scams flourishing despite all reason, their video about the failure of NFTs is a much needed breath of fresh air. While they're still angry that the game industry attempted it, they also find it very relieving and refreshing that the gamer community refused to buy into it and that for once, an industry scheme to exploit its costumers has failed.
  Jim: For now, at least, we won't have to talk about NFTs anymore. Thank God for that.
• Part of their video "The Accessible Brilliance Of Street Fighter 6" sees Jim outright gushing about how much they like the Modern Controls option in the aforesaid game. Basically, Jim had resigned themself to always being a spectator at Street Fighter because there were physical and mental deformities they had which prevented them from playing those games with any sort of proficiency. But with Modern Controls on, Jim not only is pretty good at the game, but genuinely wants to play more of it because it allows them to play the way they want. This is all done with an allegory about how they were in chronic pain for most of their life, and never thought they'd get anywhere near a pro wrestling ring... until they found the right trainer and made a second career out of being a pro wrestler. They praise Capcom for implementing Modern Controls as an option, and reiterate a point that they've long since held: lower the barrier to entry, and people will come buy what you're selling. And they do it all with a deeply personal, triumphant story.
  Jim: I’m a better Street Fighter today than I was yesterday, and tomorrow I’ll be better still. All because I was given the starting point I needed. Very much like PPW and Liam Slater did when I said I’d never be able to wrestle, and they made it fucking accessible. I told you I had an allegory. A deeply personally meaningful one, too. I carved a whole new second career as an indie wrestler for myself because the right trainer knew how to guide instead of push, encourage instead of punish, work with a trainee’s limitations instead of ignoring them and trying to make a unique case follow an established pattern. You damn *right* I think accessibility is important. I found a welcoming home in a world full of barriers and inaccessible hostility, and now I’m wrestling in London on June 29th for a drag king run promotion called Fist Club. Hell, I’ve got bookings until November - not bad for a middle-aged disabled girl.

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