Oh my god, I absolutely love this! Really fantastic stuff.

Give me a deliciously fabulous villain and you have my heart. Final Fantasy IX gave me the swishiest, fanciest, most hips-havingest villain of all. In a genre full of campy baddies, Kuja’s still one of the all-time greats.

In my life I’ve always been predisposed toward forgiving a fuck up and I extend that to game dev too. Arriving to that conclusion about AI on your own and doing the work to undo it, that takes some integrity I think. I can’t in good faith judge that harshly.

I very much don’t regret hedging my bets with my award video now. I’m fine with this reasoning. I can understand playing with AI BS back then. I dicked around with really early image makers like many people did when it seemed more like a toy. So yeah, not gonna pillory it, glad I hung back a bit.

It's time for some Simply Sterling Game of the Year Awards! It's a new video looking back at 2025 and picking my favorite games from the lot. Will Clair Obscur make it despite AI controversy? Let's find out! Watch here: youtu.be/ELgU4iCkETo

One of Stephanie Sterling's games of the year was a Bloober game. THE END TIMES ARE NIGH.

That’s one way of looking at it. I thought I made it very clear - I had to mention the game due to my acclaim of it earlier this year but if it used AI anywhere in the process then no, it’s not awarded anything. It’s not on the list.

It's time for some Simply Sterling Game of the Year Awards! It's a new video looking back at 2025 and picking my favorite games from the lot. Will Clair Obscur make it despite AI controversy? Let's find out! Watch here: youtu.be/ELgU4iCkETo

“Original Prompt Do Not Steal.”

So glad you like them, I had so much fun with those 😊.

Kirby Season continues and I’m in for a treat tonight. Not played Kirby’s Epic Yarn since it was new, but I adored it. Puyo!

It’s a shame how this game is flying under the radar. It adds so much to the series and I hope the lack of traction doesn’t dissuade future installments from continuing the fantastic features seen in this one.

I reviewed Octopath Traveler 0. I've loved this series, and I believe this to be the best one. Amazing writing, fantastic combat enhancements, and an okay town builder. Shocking it started life as a mobile freemium game. Read here: www.thejimquisition.com/post/octopat...

I reviewed Octopath Traveler 0. I've loved this series, and I believe this to be the best one. Amazing writing, fantastic combat enhancements, and an okay town builder. Shocking it started life as a mobile freemium game. Read here: www.thejimquisition.com/post/octopat...

Don’t let CEOs quibble over how much they’re pushing for AI. Regurgitative AI is a plagiaristic poison, to use any amount of it is to use it too much. They want the concessions, because concessions can creep. Zero tolerance is the only way to say no to it.

Executives are like very young children. Pretend to pull a coin from behind their ear, tell them it’s magic, and watch them become mystified. Except children grow out of it. Executives invest billions into every hole they’re told is magic and expect money to come squirting out.

“AI is just being used as a placeholder” is the new “I am a fucking dickhead.”

I see the “you hate AI but what if you didn’t?” articles are revving their engines. Fuck off. You write a thinkpiece of shit like that, you betray the art of writing.

Everyone loves AI so much that companies have to quietly smuggle it into our lives and hope nobody notices. That’s definitely what popularity looks like!

Fuck YouTube. I would rather my videos stay removed than edit them to cut out the word gambling. For years, my work was about how loot boxes were gambling, and I used the word because companies didn’t want the word used. I’d sooner lose every video than destroy the point of them. Fuck. YouTube.

Update: YouTube straight up removed another video about loot boxes. They’re just hitting anything that mentions gambling regardless of context. What a ridiculous platform.

YouTube restricted an old video about loot boxes being restricted by gambling laws under the “sale of regulated goods policy.” Yes YouTube, my vids famously “depict or promote” gambling. Those years of anti-loot box videos were secretly pro-loot box the entire time, you ridiculous dumbfuck site 😂.

I reviewed Blood: Refreshed Supply, a remastered remaster with a name that makes no sense because Fresh Supply was delisted. Anyway, I love Blood and this version is good except for the bits that aren't so good. Read here: www.thejimquisition.com/post/blood-r...

I reviewed Blood: Refreshed Supply, a remastered remaster with a name that makes no sense because Fresh Supply was delisted. Anyway, I love Blood and this version is good except for the bits that aren't so good. Read here: www.thejimquisition.com/post/blood-r...

We need more pinball games, or at least *I* need more pinball games. This looks rather neat. Pinball genre mashups don’t happen anywhere near as much as they ought to.

Kirby: Triple Deluxe is still such a lovely game. It was criticized quite a bit for not being challenging, and it isn’t, but that doesn’t stop it being supremely pleasant. It’s a great example of how difficulty and fun aren’t inextricably linked. It’s okay to just be a chill & breezy ride.

I was due another period of Kirby fixation, and Air Riders inevitably kicked it off. I dug out the 3DS and I’m reminding myself of how much I enjoyed Triple Deluxe (very much). More importantly, I found a Whispy Woods plush and had to get in on it. I love that dorky tree so much.

This is fucking pathetic on Steam’s part. There’s no way in hell “has muslims” should be approved as criticism, and the DEI whining is the same hateful sentiment with a flimsy cover draped on. I can only assume Valve *agrees* with the bigotry if it’s gonna keep claiming such nerdzi shit is valid.

Keir Starmer more like Queer Harmer.

Of *course* they’ve rereleased Skyrim again 😂.

It says a lot that AI “artists” are so creatively bankrupt they think writing prompts is a difficult, arduous task. You realize coming up with a prompt is what a real artist would call “having an idea,” right? It took them weeks of sleepless nights to have some basic thoughts.

A friend has arrived!

AI is the Poochie of tech.

Catching up on my backlog of @commandersterling.bsky.social (There's a lot) and I saw this piece of actual art and wanted to share.

Delighted there’s a Blood remaster. My best friend at college introduced me to it, it was the only game he played because he found it hilarious. Which it is.

This is a kind of epiphany that I kinda *felt* but never was able to put to words, and it is brilliant. When executives (and their marketing sycophants) say something, it's not because they believe it's *true*, it's what they *want* to happen.

“John Cena believes rapists can still offer things to the wrestling business.” If you replace Vince’s name with what Vince did, you can really appreciate how much of a piece of shit John Cena is.

A truly great idea. 10,000 ethical assets freely available. There’s no excuse for resorting to so-called AI with this and the *many* other assets you can use without resorting to laundered plagiarism. Support real artists, not con artists.

The *very* first words in Octopath Traveler are “you can go anywhere.” The *very* first path I tried to explore when I left town resulted in this screen. This is such peak videogames that I can’t bring myself to legitimately complain about it.

It’s always validating getting emails from developers who watched a video and felt like their frustrations were thoroughly voiced. I could never claim to actively speak for any other workers in the industry, but it means a lot that when I do speak, others feel heard.

I reviewed Marvel Cosmic Invasion, which charges $29.99 for barely any videogame. It's not well designed, it's short as hell, and it features superheroes who don't feel super in the least. Real shame, given the studio's great track record. Read here: www.thejimquisition.com/post/marvel-...

Watched this last night. It's a brilliant evisceration of the state of (most) corporate executives and publishers in the games industry. The "I want a $10m game for $5m" is something I have heard before with lesser sums. Someone once asked me to make a €250k game for €2k.

Genuinely one of the best videos she's ever done. Gloriously vicious, filled with extremely justified fury. Go watch it!

Executives are the only ones regurgitative AI could actually replace. AI can fuck up game projects by making irrational demands based on utterly derivative ideas. You wanna lay off the dead wood? Start at the fucking top.

Game developers were here first. Not executives. Game developers make games. Not executives. Game developers have skills & knowledge important to the business. Not executives. Game developers deserve to keep their jobs. Not executives. Executives are replaceable. Not game developers.

Hey folks, my new video is out now, a review of the 2024 horror game Still Wakes The Deep, set aboard a Scottish oilrig. I'm really proud of this one, and I think it might be my best video yet! Please give it a look, and let me know what you think. www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Oq...

Alongside one of the most beautifully vicious scripts I’ve written, the big thing to note is that wonderful new intro sequence and rebrand by @pandangit.com. The new logo in particular is great. I love how the older winged concept has been combined with lobster claws. Zilla just gets me.

NEW VIDEO: Big business is a death cult worshipping a many-faced Techno God. In an industry full of takers who want to eradicate the makers, so-called AI promises a nonsensical fantasy where games are made for free and sold to a world of laid off former workers. It is unhinged. youtu.be/xcB_kqpYNhc

NEW VIDEO: Big business is a death cult worshipping a many-faced Techno God. In an industry full of takers who want to eradicate the makers, so-called AI promises a nonsensical fantasy where games are made for free and sold to a world of laid off former workers. It is unhinged. youtu.be/xcB_kqpYNhc

Off we go.