Jim Sterling

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This article mentions psychological abuse. If you are not comfortable with reading about this kind of topic, we suggest you take a step back.

Jim Sterling is an English-American freelance video game journalist, critic, pundit, and wrestling personality. Prior to becoming independent in September 2014, through crowdfunding, Sterling was the review editor for Destructoid, and an author for The Escapist. Their active YouTube series are "The Jimquisition", "Jimpressions", "Squirty Play," "Industry Bullshit", "Direct to Video", "Oh Mah Gawd Hype!", and "Commentocracy"; their discontinued series include "The Videogame Show What I've Done", "Boglinwatch", "itch.io Tasty", and "Nitpick Theater".

Jim Sterling
Date of birth 1 January 1984
Place of birth London, England
Nationality American
Pronouns They/them
Gender identity nonbinary "gendertrash." "Trash girl from the gender dumpster."
Occupation freelance writer and YouTuber

Sterling was born in London, England, where they lived on the poverty line for much of their childhood and was psychologically abused by their mother's lover, a Hell's Angels outcast.[1] This abuse is what prompted them to take on the "Jim Sterling" name, saying that they would have had it legally changed, if not for their legal issues.[2] In a video from November 2015 on Fallout 4, when talking about the polyamorous relationship options they stated that they are "not a monogamous guy, nor [...] a straight one either."[3] They openly identify as pansexual[4] and queer.[5] In June 2020, they became a naturalized United States citizen.[6] In August 2020, Sterling came out as nonbinary on Twitter, initially saying they accept all pronouns,[7] but since expressing a preference for "they" specifically.[8] They still use the name Jim Sterling, but have added the middle name "Stephanie."

James Stephanie Sterling's videos on YouTube feature a unique style of self expression. Traditionally, they wore a red and black suit, red gloves, and an iconic corseted top hat in all their videos, and carried a scepter. Since coming out, they've substituted these assets for more femme versions, including a pink hat with their pronouns on it. They also have a variety of fictional characters, including the Corn Flake Homonculus, Duke Amiel du H'ardcore, and the Steam Cleaner.

The Jimquisition is a weekly YouTube video series in which Jim Sterling discusses current issues surrounding video games, primarily involving unethical business practices in the video game industry, of which they are an outspoken critic. The series originally started on Destructoid's YouTube channel and was later moved to The Escapist's channel, before being released on Sterling's own channel. Direct to Video consists of their playthrough of recently released, and often poor-quality, early access games, while Oh Mah Gawd Hype! features Sterling discussing anticipated upcoming games. Their main gameplay series is Jimpressions, where they discuss their impressions of a recently released video game while showing their own pre-recorded gameplay. They also have a gameplay series called Squirty Play, where they play and mock a randomly selected game off of Steam Direct. Another (albeit rarer) series, Commentocracy, consists of Sterling playing a flamboyant 18th-century aristocrat character called "Duke Amiel du H'ardcore" (a parody of "hardcore" gamers), who in a tongue-in-cheek manner reads disgruntled, haughty, or otherwise trolling online comments on the topic of video games.[9]

References

  1. "The Beginner's Guide Review – The Hardest Word | The Jimquisition". www.thejimquisition.com. Archived from the original on 14 April 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2015. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  2. "While Wikipedia had already listed "James Stanton" as your birthname, does that make "Jim Sterling" a pseudonym or something more official than that? And is the "Fucking" implied regardless of whoever says "Jim Sterling"? | ask.fm/Jimquisition". ask.fm. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2016. More than one of |archiveurl= and |archive-url= specified (help); More than one of |archivedate= and |archive-date= specified (help)CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
  3. "Fallout 4's S.P.E.C.I.A.L Relationships (The Jimquisition)". YouTube. 9 November 2015. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  4. Sterling, Jim [@jimsterling] (September 23, 2019). "I used to identify as bi before I realized the whole pan thing applied to me so much more..." Archived from the original on September 23, 2019. Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Twitter.
  5. Sterling, Jim [@jimsterling] (May 17, 2019). "Anyway, as an openly queer wearer of corseted hats, I do declare that homophobia, transphobia, and biphobia all smell of poo and wee. #IDAHOBIT". Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Twitter.
  6. Sterling, Jim [@jimsterling] (June 29, 2020). "The job is done, a citizen I am, and I have a flag to prove it". Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Twitter.
  7. Sterling, Jim [@jimsterling] (August 25, 2020). "I am non-binary pansexual gendertrash. I like all pronouns. I haven't been this comfortable with myself before. Ever.". Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Twitter.
  8. "Patreon". Patreon. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  9. "The Cuphead Elitists Episode (Commentocracy)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2019. CS1 maint: discouraged parameter (link)
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