You're a really great youtuber man I don't even follow you that closely but its obvious that you have a genuine passion for making straightforwardly good youtube videos
I cannot overstate how absolutely impressed I am with your writing in your videos. Listening to your critique it's like not a single sentence or word is wasted and all of it delivered with downright encaptivating prose. Thank you for creating not just the best video game analyses on UA-cam, but probably some of the best written stuff on UA-cam period. It seriously inspires me to be a better writer.
In an effort to not vomit up everything in my skull, I waited 5 minutes and had a cup of coffee before typing this out. Discovering your channel this year has kept me on the right side of sane. Having a digital recording of another human being who seems to see what I see is important, apparently. I think the worst thing that has happened with respect to games is that the groundwater has been poisoned. Im 23, which is 'young' still somehow, but when i was a kid, you could find an old consoles and handhelds for bargains, and now "vintage" anything is infested with resellers and scalpers. Only nintendo still offers limited access to the creations that gave them the money to be what they are today. The pathway to something else but triple a schlock gets thinner, and the toll gets more expensive every year. But i only even have an idea of "something else" because im not a kid today. My boyfriend has 2 children, and watching them grow up in this environment has been uncomfortable. They dont know anything but battlepasses, skin sales, IP katamari ball nonsense. My partner understands that implicitly, he's older than I am, even if he's not as distressed about AI as I am. Im also left feeling like I'm looking at something like the end of all things, even though I'm sure there still might be people in 100 years. I also don't have any answers. Ive had no family for maybe 3 years now, and it's not gotten any easier to be a sole human. I think the thing which causes me the most discomfort isnt the idea of getting hit by a bus tomorrow, its the idea that i will have lived 50 more years from this point, and I will find that the other side is worse. That's what scares me the most. Be well.
Ahh, I've been there. What can we do except keep moving? I was really hoping to move away from thinking about AAA, but it's like a car crash. "Posioning the groundwater" is a great way to put it, if I remember correctly the newest Monkey Ball game has a (free) battle pass just because that's what the audience expects now, freaky stuff.
@@hazelsparks4503The only way they know is if people who know tell them. Go forth and spread the good news. I’ve gotten almost all the youngest people in my family into emulation and other PC stuff. Just gotta show ‘em the ropes.
You are my favorite youtuber, i usually don't go around writing paragraph long comments but i also don't come across videos this excellent usually, having fresh and original takes on a game that is so popular to the point of being a core part of video games as a whole aside the ending portion of this video made me feel a sweet melancholy that i scarcely feel in how human and genuine it was, thank you for making this channel and for reccomending void stranger, and happy holidays! PS: im a visual artist please contact me if you need some bs art for your videos or anything, itll be free cuz your awesome.
It's crazy how this channel went from something I've never heard of to being the one I most anticipate fresh videos from. Very rarely am I mentally engaged with UA-cam content but you break through with a very thoughtful manner and presentation. Keep up the fantastic work!
I'm seriously relieved to see someone authentic enough to unabashedly come out and say it is literally all slop. It feels insane seeing people all around just uncritically consume and subsequently complain over and over and over. I can't see how there's still anyone propping up the game industry (or movies or TV tbh) with their money, let alone EVERYONE.
Jimmy the ending of the video almost made me cry and i do not cry often, how dare you. You're an incredible video maker and i'm proud of ya edit: i'm not giving up on AAA just yes because of Monster Hunter Wilds but that is quite literally the only big game i'm even remotely interested in, since i'm a crazy insane monster hunter obsessed person
Nailed it with the Silent Hill 2 segment. The dialogue around it sucked (choosing to not engage at this point seems to be the best option), yet the remake itself was always destined to be a run-of-the-mill modern game. Pales in comparison to the original, yet I guess modern audiences simply need everything to have the gameplay of The Last of Us. I'm genuinely surprised it had no crafting.
The real brilliance of Mario’s moveset that too few platformers iterate on is the run button. It’s always more satisfying to move quickly but doing so increases the skill demanded of the player. Players naturally set their own difficulty level by moving as fast as they are comfortable with in the moment, and it’s naturally woven into Mario’s movement in a way no game had up to this point. Plus, there’s not a ton of buttons to worry about, so your fingers are always on the run and jump buttons, always encouraging you to use both of them.
Worst year and days of my life, appreciate the encouragement at the end my man, your videos always hit for me at least and I recommend them to all my friends. Happy new year, Jimmy. Hope your life's going better than mine lol
it's 2024 (still), you really need to bring something new to the table to make me watch another video about super mario bros. ...you did it, well done lol Your gambling research really shines through in the section where you describe the moment to moment gameplay, in a way that I didn't expect.
ok that silent hill critique makes me feel less crazy, especially considering how much everyone else eats remakes like that up. great stuff as always, so nuanced!
Mr. McGee, your channel has easily become my favorite over the past two years. Seriously, I love your work. I’d referred to what is now called “slop” as “trashy” or “you feel empty inside after watching/playing it” before the terms recent popularization. It’s strange to me that slop, apparently, doesn’t have a pejorative edge to it in common use. Even if the media isn’t bad per se, why the hell would it being in one ear out the other time filler not be considered a bad thing!
I like your concise but thorough ideas. It demands i actually engage my brain and pay attention by the means that not doing so results in missing the entire point of the given segment. It feels more like an audio reading of a blog post/book rather than a youtube video, with the silent pauses at the end representing paragraph breaks to internalize what has been said.
Your coverage of this game is genuinely interesting. Always love your videos but this one really impressed me with how many meaningful things you had to say about one of gaming's biggest hits. Its place in history I think makes people overlook it, in a way that's kind of unfair. It's lovely to see someone truly appreciate the work put into it's design. Thanks for the video, hope you've had a great holiday season!
I work in applied physics and you can already see the AI induced sloppiness with the most recent crop of grads. Many of them have no sense of creative problem solving at all....which is like half of what their degree was meant to teach them
Hey Jimmy, I'm not great with words and I rarely leave comments but I wanted to tell you how grateful I am for your content. I've been silently watching your videos since you first started the Pay to Win series and they've gotten me through a lot. I'm studying digital art and game design and I'm honestly terrified about the future of the video game industry. You have no idea how refreshing it is to hear that somebody else cares so much about the technique and emotion that goes into a game. Your passion for games is infectious and has helped me rekindle my own desire to make games. Thank you.
Could you imagine being 15 years old trying this game out for the first time? Nothing as simple but advanced like it before and you can have it at your house or play it at a friends
maybe it's because it was first mario game i played, but i've always found mario 1's movement to be more responsive and fun than the later games. and yeah, you really hit the nail on the head with this review. subbed
22:14 financiers will always try to enter systems with the hope of turning them into passive money generators. the financier behavior set is devoid of artistry and exclusively focused on manipulating people psychologically to extract money from them. it happened with apple, steam, blizzard, etc, and it's the reason we get so many remakes - turns out financiers are generally not good at making art themselves, and tend towards manipulating the art that others have made. you'll notice that stealing art and algorithmically rehashing it is the **first** thing that came out of "AI".
I have sunk more hours into games older than 10 years than I have modern games. You can see the hand reaching directly for your wallet, reflected in the mechanics you are participating in nowadays. When something comes out that bucks that trend, it's like a breath of fresh air it's so darn rare. Still, there are a lot of smaller games or less mainstream games that manage to avoid the toxic trends. As people get squeezed for money, gaming is going to get smaller, it's gonna start cannibalizing itself and its own audience, and it's probably going to crash again. Hopefully when it comes back, it'll be better than ever.
You're right about the AI diminishing skill development for young software developers, and for people in other industries as well, once everyone catches on to its benefits. I would recommend not ever using chat GPT on the path to obtaining a degree, while it's still possible and before the learning curve gets steeper due to everyone taking the prompting shortcut. Right now it's hard to say no, but it's necessary.
discovered your videos this year. so happy to have found your stuff, it's really special. the raiden fighters 2 video made me try dodonpachi and get into shooting games proper. thank you so much for sharing all this stuff with us
it's really refreshing to see videos discussing the current dire state of games without having hyperactive manchild narration, or weird culture war alarmism (or both). thank you for helping me remember that games can be art. your videos have helped me so much through a really tough year, makes me feel like someone's on my side
The quality and effort that you put into your videos is amazing. Can't wait til your channel really blows up; reminds me of when I first watched NakeyJakey and saw that channel explode. Obviously different aesthetics but the passion and dedication is undeniable.
You uploaded the AoE 2 video around this time last year and it's one of my favorites to go back to when I need to put on something cozy. Thanks for the new upload Jimmy!
Looking at your videos about slot machines and gambling, Balatro is pretty cool in how it uses those same flashy "machine zone" tricks for "good" rather than financial extraction. The flame effect on the score meter is probably the stand out game design of the year.
An additional aspect of SMB to consider is the fact that it was written for a "base" cartridge with no mapper. So, 40k of ROM total and no bank swapping. The game is a masterpiece of engineering, and a proverbial "Sistine Chapel painted with crayons": most of its limitations are bent to become enjoyable gameplay features, in an incredible balancing act. As for your ruminations on this year, triple AAA space and AI: they resonated with me, and I would endorse them almost verbatim. Silver lining: you're not alone in your opinions. We'll see if our voice of reason will make a dent in the world at large - in the meanwhile, as you said, let's gather with our beloved ones and friends, and make the most of what we have. Thanks, and have a good one!
I very much appreciate your thoughts, thanks for sharing them on this platform. I find the quality of your analyses and the eloquence with which you communicate them to be admirable. The closing thoughts of your videos often feel to me like lamentations of the current state of whatever subject it is you're talking about. Not through excessive nihilism, which is such an easy trap to fall into, but realism. Somehow, these depressing observations manage to give me a sense of hope. Caring about things feels increasingly difficult for me, so it's nice to see someone who cares about things, and it's so very obvious to me that you do. I wish you well and am looking forward to your next videos!
its honestly weirdly surreal hearing someone address the inherent "slop"-iness of astro bot. ive just seen nothing but accolades piled on it with nobody to mention the fact that, even if it plays really well, its still just an extended playstation commercial
I love you so much man like your videos are just really fucking good and always make me think more then anyone elses really. Thanks for makin em and please do continue to stick around.
- My signal to retry SMB, to beat it this time - I wouldn't be be depressed about gaming by Game Awards. It shows a fraction of what's actually cool. Lot of cool GAMES (from all genres), DLCs not mentioned in it, LOT of mods. Astro Bot is legit tho, because designers put their spin on 3D Platformer philosophies. Happy New Year, Jimmy ✨💜
Even If you start making videos about random wikipedia articles, rambling about whatever associations pop in your head without any direction or end goal, id watch that.
I was skeptical seeing the title, but you really managed to make a review of damn Super Mario Bros. 1 engaging. Your little heart to heart about this year's gaming (and politics) was also interesting to hear. I know every year someone claims a crash similar to the one in 1983 is near, but i do feel like at this time it geniuenly is. Everything is becoming part of the same 4 or 5 company in AAA, and such monopilistic systems always crash and burn. (I guess with the exception of ones that control economically important things). Such is the nature of "free" markets.
I'm a huge fan of the channel and usually comment but aside from the belated merry christmas I wish you, I want to thank you for not falling to the hype train around Silent Hill 2's remake. I've seen numerous people across other reviews just bomb the comments with praise for that remake in this obnoxious hugbox way of villainizing anyone who prefers the original. This is something I encountered as a classic Resident Evil 2 fan, but in Silent Hill 2's case it was even more jarring.
Finally someone who gets this game. I’ve wanted to make a video on it for a long time cause no one seems to have a similar perspective on it but you made every point I’d have wanted to so now I don’t have to
damn, didnt expect you tear into SH2 like that, first time ive heard a dissenting opinion that scathing. i havent been playing remakes on principle for awhile, but i assumed it was well liked for a reason
If you loved Void Stranger (and everyone should love Void Stranger, it's one of the best games ever made) you should definitely play La Mulana and La Mulana 2, there's a similar dedication to more rigid, punishing design and a world that slowly but surely demands an absolute understanding of it all to proceed further in. The first game has a few rather bullshit puzzles that are better off looked up online but the second is what every sequel should aim to be, an improvement and refinement on every single thing that made the first so good.
Void Stranger definitely demands way more out of the player than La Mulana, though. La Mulana is less forgiving on a moment to moment, finishing it allows for essentially infinite mistakes, while VS is more forgiving in terms of gameplay, but the amount of mistakes you can make for a true ending is frustratingly finite
On Void Stranger, coming from someone who loves difficult sokoban games and knowledge progression games and all my friends said it was amazing, I played it for 20 hours and beat the first two acts and found a bunch of secret stuff and I've never in my life played a game that gave me less fulfillment or satisfaction or being impressed by design or any redeeming value for the amount of time I spent with it. Almost all of the sokoban stuff was awful and tedious and devoid of interesting ideas and that was 98% of the game, and the vast majority of the knowledge progression stuff (with a couple exceptions) was either dull or just existed to support the mechanic of replaying the sucky sokoban 900 times or so obtuse and unintuitive that it gave no joy to solve. I do not understand what people see in it, to me who afaik should be the target audience it is just unabashedly awful in almost every way
fantastic video but i specifically wanted to comment on the music playlist in your channel. you have incredible taste, anyone who puts sparklehorse and big black in the same universe rules by default. if you havent heard them already you absolutely gotta listen to talk talk, especially spirit of eden and the b side john cope. a lot of people prefer laughing stock but spirit of eden is my talk talk of choice. gorgeous music that im sure youll get something out of :)
pretty fun video, i never thought that much about SB1, just like you my experience is mostlyl imited to playing it here and there on the wii or ds, so i'll consider checking it out when i find the time for it. same w void stranger i think its mostly the last segment that echoes the same sentiments i have. it feels kinda depressing to be in the place we are as society. maybe things will get better but it feels quite bleak. i too feel a bit at a loss what to do, so I try focus more on my hobbies and do stuff I enjoy. For me it's mostly art, which the encroaching gen AI does make exhausting to deal with, but at least drawing makes me happy (as its super indulgent). Might check out some of the games that been on my to play list forever too. (eyeing slay the princess in particular) anyway I hope you have a good holidays too, rest well. see you next vid.
Spent my Christmas with my friends and family as the richest man in the world spent his arguing with people on twitter. Feels good man. Hope you spent yours with good folk!
Keep on trucking! While I totally share your misgivings and fears, I also know that people in all recorded history thought the world and all that is good will soon end, and yet good things always come through. Like your work! Platitudes - maybe, but those can be true.
this might sound a little like it's coming out of nowhere, but have you ever read the culture industry chapter of Adorno/Horkheimers Dialectic of Enlightenment? I'm not the biggest fan of the Frankfurt School of thought myself but I think a lot of what they write still rings true with newer entertainment industries and lines up a lot with what you critizice about the modern gaming industry
Good shit. Though I disagree about the reality of AI, I agree with the rest. Always enjoy and appreciate your opinions, and I'm looking forward to your upcoming videos.
Omg - I also replayed Silent Hill 3 immediately after Silent Hill 2 Remake - because my dream remake of 2 would just be 2 with more functions from 3 (beef jerky, bullet proof vest, more weapons, more enemy types etc). But yeah - the Silent Hill 2 Remake was trash and everyone who praised it... come on, wake up. You just cheered on every dumb videogame trend so far just because it wore the skin of Silent Hill 2...
Your knowledge of videogame history is always really impressive. The amount of research it takes to build such a solid foundation of knowledge in anything is insane so your interest in the subject is always super obvious and refreshing. Thanks for another good video and I hope you (and hopefully videogames but I won't get my hopes up) have a good 2025!
Don't let AAA demoralize you. Indie is growing and becoming more accessible, we constantly get new great indie titles (recent Balatro and Void Stranger you mentioned, but also Animal Well and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, just to name a few)
has anyone else played this game? it's pretty good
it's a hidden gem imo
eh its aight
Ha, I was just watching one of your older videos when I got this notification, and I couldn't be more happy.
I think I have heard about it before 🤔
Seems pretty derivitive if you ask me... but IDK thats just my opinion
This is what I love about the modern internet: videos on these obscure and forgotten relics
Ah yes, the completely obscure and forgotten relic of Super Mario Bros that few people know of
spacemen 3 are cool
I first read it as "modem internet". The modem is the part of PC which was used to connect to internet through the phone line.
@@JimmyMcG33spiritualized is better
they should remaster Ulysses but every time you don't understand a reference you can pay $0.99 to get a footnote
I'd be broke
You're a really great youtuber man I don't even follow you that closely but its obvious that you have a genuine passion for making straightforwardly good youtube videos
thank you brother
the AI generated summary of this video was a banger
lets... jump........ right....... into it..........
One of the many perks of playing rainworld was finding your channel, and then realizing how great your other content is. Keep up the great work!
but what if mario was an nft?
GET OUT!!!!
I still giggle when I think about that.
what if mario could talk to you about your life in really bland ways, powered by a massive data harvesting scheme
I cannot overstate how absolutely impressed I am with your writing in your videos. Listening to your critique it's like not a single sentence or word is wasted and all of it delivered with downright encaptivating prose. Thank you for creating not just the best video game analyses on UA-cam, but probably some of the best written stuff on UA-cam period. It seriously inspires me to be a better writer.
In an effort to not vomit up everything in my skull, I waited 5 minutes and had a cup of coffee before typing this out. Discovering your channel this year has kept me on the right side of sane. Having a digital recording of another human being who seems to see what I see is important, apparently.
I think the worst thing that has happened with respect to games is that the groundwater has been poisoned. Im 23, which is 'young' still somehow, but when i was a kid, you could find an old consoles and handhelds for bargains, and now "vintage" anything is infested with resellers and scalpers. Only nintendo still offers limited access to the creations that gave them the money to be what they are today. The pathway to something else but triple a schlock gets thinner, and the toll gets more expensive every year. But i only even have an idea of "something else" because im not a kid today.
My boyfriend has 2 children, and watching them grow up in this environment has been uncomfortable. They dont know anything but battlepasses, skin sales, IP katamari ball nonsense. My partner understands that implicitly, he's older than I am, even if he's not as distressed about AI as I am.
Im also left feeling like I'm looking at something like the end of all things, even though I'm sure there still might be people in 100 years. I also don't have any answers. Ive had no family for maybe 3 years now, and it's not gotten any easier to be a sole human. I think the thing which causes me the most discomfort isnt the idea of getting hit by a bus tomorrow, its the idea that i will have lived 50 more years from this point, and I will find that the other side is worse. That's what scares me the most. Be well.
Ahh, I've been there. What can we do except keep moving? I was really hoping to move away from thinking about AAA, but it's like a car crash. "Posioning the groundwater" is a great way to put it, if I remember correctly the newest Monkey Ball game has a (free) battle pass just because that's what the audience expects now, freaky stuff.
@JimmyMcG33 fresh new horrors every year
welcome to the world of emulators and emulation handhelds
@williampan29 i already do, I'm more worried about kids who don't even know such things exist
@@hazelsparks4503The only way they know is if people who know tell them. Go forth and spread the good news. I’ve gotten almost all the youngest people in my family into emulation and other PC stuff. Just gotta show ‘em the ropes.
You are my favorite youtuber, i usually don't go around writing paragraph long comments but i also don't come across videos this excellent usually, having fresh and original takes on a game that is so popular to the point of being a core part of video games as a whole aside the ending portion of this video made me feel a sweet melancholy that i scarcely feel in how human and genuine it was, thank you for making this channel and for reccomending void stranger, and happy holidays!
PS: im a visual artist please contact me if you need some bs art for your videos or anything, itll be free cuz your awesome.
It's crazy how this channel went from something I've never heard of to being the one I most anticipate fresh videos from. Very rarely am I mentally engaged with UA-cam content but you break through with a very thoughtful manner and presentation. Keep up the fantastic work!
limitation breeds creativity
I'm seriously relieved to see someone authentic enough to unabashedly come out and say it is literally all slop. It feels insane seeing people all around just uncritically consume and subsequently complain over and over and over. I can't see how there's still anyone propping up the game industry (or movies or TV tbh) with their money, let alone EVERYONE.
also Free Palestine
i worry that this means we become less discerning, so whenever an actual great work comes out, we don't really have the proper tools to appreciate it.
Jimmy the ending of the video almost made me cry and i do not cry often, how dare you. You're an incredible video maker and i'm proud of ya
edit: i'm not giving up on AAA just yes because of Monster Hunter Wilds but that is quite literally the only big game i'm even remotely interested in, since i'm a crazy insane monster hunter obsessed person
"You can get your high score on the title screen. No initials, though."
Well, unless your name is Theresa Olivia Philips, I guess. >;\
You’re the sanest gamer on UA-cam brother. Thank you again and again for making videos that re-oxygenate my brain. Let us strive for a better world.
Nailed it with the Silent Hill 2 segment. The dialogue around it sucked (choosing to not engage at this point seems to be the best option), yet the remake itself was always destined to be a run-of-the-mill modern game. Pales in comparison to the original, yet I guess modern audiences simply need everything to have the gameplay of The Last of Us.
I'm genuinely surprised it had no crafting.
The real brilliance of Mario’s moveset that too few platformers iterate on is the run button.
It’s always more satisfying to move quickly but doing so increases the skill demanded of the player. Players naturally set their own difficulty level by moving as fast as they are comfortable with in the moment, and it’s naturally woven into Mario’s movement in a way no game had up to this point.
Plus, there’s not a ton of buttons to worry about, so your fingers are always on the run and jump buttons, always encouraging you to use both of them.
Thanks for being a something to look forward to in a year with not a lot of optimism. Please take care of yourself!
Worst year and days of my life, appreciate the encouragement at the end my man, your videos always hit for me at least and I recommend them to all my friends. Happy new year, Jimmy. Hope your life's going better than mine lol
it's 2024 (still), you really need to bring something new to the table to make me watch another video about super mario bros.
...you did it, well done lol
Your gambling research really shines through in the section where you describe the moment to moment gameplay, in a way that I didn't expect.
ok that silent hill critique makes me feel less crazy, especially considering how much everyone else eats remakes like that up. great stuff as always, so nuanced!
i hadn't heard of this hidden gem until now, thanks Jimmy!
goddamnit that was the first joke of the video
@@GirlypopShotgun I respect the pfp
@@Looneyboy thanks i like milk chan
Mr. McGee, your channel has easily become my favorite over the past two years. Seriously, I love your work.
I’d referred to what is now called “slop” as “trashy” or “you feel empty inside after watching/playing it” before the terms recent popularization. It’s strange to me that slop, apparently, doesn’t have a pejorative edge to it in common use. Even if the media isn’t bad per se, why the hell would it being in one ear out the other time filler not be considered a bad thing!
I like your concise but thorough ideas. It demands i actually engage my brain and pay attention by the means that not doing so results in missing the entire point of the given segment. It feels more like an audio reading of a blog post/book rather than a youtube video, with the silent pauses at the end representing paragraph breaks to internalize what has been said.
Thank you for making videos and not content.
Your coverage of this game is genuinely interesting. Always love your videos but this one really impressed me with how many meaningful things you had to say about one of gaming's biggest hits.
Its place in history I think makes people overlook it, in a way that's kind of unfair. It's lovely to see someone truly appreciate the work put into it's design.
Thanks for the video, hope you've had a great holiday season!
I work in applied physics and you can already see the AI induced sloppiness with the most recent crop of grads. Many of them have no sense of creative problem solving at all....which is like half of what their degree was meant to teach them
Hey Jimmy, I'm not great with words and I rarely leave comments but I wanted to tell you how grateful I am for your content. I've been silently watching your videos since you first started the Pay to Win series and they've gotten me through a lot. I'm studying digital art and game design and I'm honestly terrified about the future of the video game industry. You have no idea how refreshing it is to hear that somebody else cares so much about the technique and emotion that goes into a game. Your passion for games is infectious and has helped me rekindle my own desire to make games. Thank you.
Happy to have you again one last time this year
Could you imagine being 15 years old trying this game out for the first time? Nothing as simple but advanced like it before and you can have it at your house or play it at a friends
I was seven, but yes, I can imagine.
I don't need to imagine, though to be fair I was 8 i think
you are consistently one of the best essayists on the platform, happy holidays bro
Happy Holidays Jimmy, thanks for making these videos
maybe it's because it was first mario game i played, but i've always found mario 1's movement to be more responsive and fun than the later games. and yeah, you really hit the nail on the head with this review. subbed
22:14 financiers will always try to enter systems with the hope of turning them into passive money generators. the financier behavior set is devoid of artistry and exclusively focused on manipulating people psychologically to extract money from them. it happened with apple, steam, blizzard, etc, and it's the reason we get so many remakes - turns out financiers are generally not good at making art themselves, and tend towards manipulating the art that others have made. you'll notice that stealing art and algorithmically rehashing it is the **first** thing that came out of "AI".
I have sunk more hours into games older than 10 years than I have modern games. You can see the hand reaching directly for your wallet, reflected in the mechanics you are participating in nowadays. When something comes out that bucks that trend, it's like a breath of fresh air it's so darn rare.
Still, there are a lot of smaller games or less mainstream games that manage to avoid the toxic trends. As people get squeezed for money, gaming is going to get smaller, it's gonna start cannibalizing itself and its own audience, and it's probably going to crash again. Hopefully when it comes back, it'll be better than ever.
Examples?
You're right about the AI diminishing skill development for young software developers, and for people in other industries as well, once everyone catches on to its benefits. I would recommend not ever using chat GPT on the path to obtaining a degree, while it's still possible and before the learning curve gets steeper due to everyone taking the prompting shortcut. Right now it's hard to say no, but it's necessary.
been watching since you released the rain world tour. every video you release bleeds authenticity. thank you.
Always look forward to new videos from you, this was great as always!
discovered your videos this year. so happy to have found your stuff, it's really special. the raiden fighters 2 video made me try dodonpachi and get into shooting games proper. thank you so much for sharing all this stuff with us
it's really refreshing to see videos discussing the current dire state of games without having hyperactive manchild narration, or weird culture war alarmism (or both). thank you for helping me remember that games can be art. your videos have helped me so much through a really tough year, makes me feel like someone's on my side
why did you say RIP after gamasutra? they just rebranded to game developer
you continue to inspire, entertain, and teach and I am always so excited to see an upload! thank you for everything ❤
Looking forward to more content next year. Keep it going ;)
The quality and effort that you put into your videos is amazing. Can't wait til your channel really blows up; reminds me of when I first watched NakeyJakey and saw that channel explode. Obviously different aesthetics but the passion and dedication is undeniable.
slop, gloop, sludge, slurry, slush, grunge, and juice.
You uploaded the AoE 2 video around this time last year and it's one of my favorites to go back to when I need to put on something cozy. Thanks for the new upload Jimmy!
Great video Jimmy, looking for forward to your upcoming scripts but this was a cozy little look pack on the year. Thanks for all your hard work.
Looking at your videos about slot machines and gambling, Balatro is pretty cool in how it uses those same flashy "machine zone" tricks for "good" rather than financial extraction. The flame effect on the score meter is probably the stand out game design of the year.
The RIP when citing Gamasutra felt way too real.
Also great video but you forgot to cite how level 1-1 teaches pl
I love your narrative and I love your voice. Each time you post, it's like I discover another hidden gem from Fugazi.
"Coins sponsored by raytheon" damn, looking forward to future vids, especially the spicy one. Enjoy the year's end, everyone
An additional aspect of SMB to consider is the fact that it was written for a "base" cartridge with no mapper. So, 40k of ROM total and no bank swapping. The game is a masterpiece of engineering, and a proverbial "Sistine Chapel painted with crayons": most of its limitations are bent to become enjoyable gameplay features, in an incredible balancing act.
As for your ruminations on this year, triple AAA space and AI: they resonated with me, and I would endorse them almost verbatim. Silver lining: you're not alone in your opinions. We'll see if our voice of reason will make a dent in the world at large - in the meanwhile, as you said, let's gather with our beloved ones and friends, and make the most of what we have. Thanks, and have a good one!
19:55 what game is this?
Age of Empires 2
I very much appreciate your thoughts, thanks for sharing them on this platform. I find the quality of your analyses and the eloquence with which you communicate them to be admirable.
The closing thoughts of your videos often feel to me like lamentations of the current state of whatever subject it is you're talking about. Not through excessive nihilism, which is such an easy trap to fall into, but realism. Somehow, these depressing observations manage to give me a sense of hope. Caring about things feels increasingly difficult for me, so it's nice to see someone who cares about things, and it's so very obvious to me that you do.
I wish you well and am looking forward to your next videos!
its honestly weirdly surreal hearing someone address the inherent "slop"-iness of astro bot. ive just seen nothing but accolades piled on it with nobody to mention the fact that, even if it plays really well, its still just an extended playstation commercial
Theres other people put there haunted by it being a party held at a graveyard.
I love you so much man like your videos are just really fucking good and always make me think more then anyone elses really. Thanks for makin em and please do continue to stick around.
Great video, happy holidays. I always appreciate your lucidity amid the madness of our age.
God Its hard to put into words how much I respect your work and your drive to create good videos. Youre a true visionary💚💚
- My signal to retry SMB, to beat it this time
- I wouldn't be be depressed about gaming by Game Awards. It shows a fraction of what's actually cool. Lot of cool GAMES (from all genres), DLCs not mentioned in it, LOT of mods. Astro Bot is legit tho, because designers put their spin on 3D Platformer philosophies.
Happy New Year, Jimmy ✨💜
The balls of this man, reviewing Super Mario Bros 1. I wish I was this confident.
Love how detailed you are
This video was incredibly grounding. Thank you for sharing yourself.
Even If you start making videos about random wikipedia articles, rambling about whatever associations pop in your head without any direction or end goal, id watch that.
I was skeptical seeing the title, but you really managed to make a review of damn Super Mario Bros. 1 engaging. Your little heart to heart about this year's gaming (and politics) was also interesting to hear. I know every year someone claims a crash similar to the one in 1983 is near, but i do feel like at this time it geniuenly is. Everything is becoming part of the same 4 or 5 company in AAA, and such monopilistic systems always crash and burn. (I guess with the exception of ones that control economically important things). Such is the nature of "free" markets.
Merry Xmas :)
Always a pleasure, Jimmy.
I'm a huge fan of the channel and usually comment but aside from the belated merry christmas I wish you, I want to thank you for not falling to the hype train around Silent Hill 2's remake. I've seen numerous people across other reviews just bomb the comments with praise for that remake in this obnoxious hugbox way of villainizing anyone who prefers the original. This is something I encountered as a classic Resident Evil 2 fan, but in Silent Hill 2's case it was even more jarring.
Finally! Love your stuff!
Finally someone who gets this game. I’ve wanted to make a video on it for a long time cause no one seems to have a similar perspective on it but you made every point I’d have wanted to so now I don’t have to
Fantastic video as always. You convinced me to pick up Void Stranger.
what's the game near the end?
RIP Gamasutra. The cold, soulless hands of corporate HR have throttled you into submission.
Jimmy strikes again
you couldn't be more spot on both sh2:rm and astro bot
damn, didnt expect you tear into SH2 like that, first time ive heard a dissenting opinion that scathing. i havent been playing remakes on principle for awhile, but i assumed it was well liked for a reason
Great video, I love classic platformers. If by some chance you've never played the Donkey Kong Country games, you really should.
I had no idea about 'minus worlds'. Just read the article you liked in your script, wow, really fucking cool!
I wish video games were real
..no russian
Good thing your mom is real, AMIRITE?
If you loved Void Stranger (and everyone should love Void Stranger, it's one of the best games ever made) you should definitely play La Mulana and La Mulana 2, there's a similar dedication to more rigid, punishing design and a world that slowly but surely demands an absolute understanding of it all to proceed further in. The first game has a few rather bullshit puzzles that are better off looked up online but the second is what every sequel should aim to be, an improvement and refinement on every single thing that made the first so good.
Void Stranger definitely demands way more out of the player than La Mulana, though. La Mulana is less forgiving on a moment to moment, finishing it allows for essentially infinite mistakes, while VS is more forgiving in terms of gameplay, but the amount of mistakes you can make for a true ending is frustratingly finite
On Void Stranger, coming from someone who loves difficult sokoban games and knowledge progression games and all my friends said it was amazing, I played it for 20 hours and beat the first two acts and found a bunch of secret stuff and I've never in my life played a game that gave me less fulfillment or satisfaction or being impressed by design or any redeeming value for the amount of time I spent with it. Almost all of the sokoban stuff was awful and tedious and devoid of interesting ideas and that was 98% of the game, and the vast majority of the knowledge progression stuff (with a couple exceptions) was either dull or just existed to support the mechanic of replaying the sucky sokoban 900 times or so obtuse and unintuitive that it gave no joy to solve. I do not understand what people see in it, to me who afaik should be the target audience it is just unabashedly awful in almost every way
13:30 That's Spiny and he's my son.
How do I find more games I like? I try to look at the steam store page but they're started putting AI stuff on there, help please
fantastic video but i specifically wanted to comment on the music playlist in your channel. you have incredible taste, anyone who puts sparklehorse and big black in the same universe rules by default. if you havent heard them already you absolutely gotta listen to talk talk, especially spirit of eden and the b side john cope. a lot of people prefer laughing stock but spirit of eden is my talk talk of choice. gorgeous music that im sure youll get something out of :)
Beautiful video
Best movement controls ever
I've always wanted to ask Miyamoto what version of chatgpt he used to help him code Super Mario Bros
pretty fun video, i never thought that much about SB1, just like you my experience is mostlyl imited to playing it here and there on the wii or ds, so i'll consider checking it out when i find the time for it. same w void stranger
i think its mostly the last segment that echoes the same sentiments i have. it feels kinda depressing to be in the place we are as society. maybe things will get better but it feels quite bleak.
i too feel a bit at a loss what to do, so I try focus more on my hobbies and do stuff I enjoy.
For me it's mostly art, which the encroaching gen AI does make exhausting to deal with, but at least drawing makes me happy (as its super indulgent). Might check out some of the games that been on my to play list forever too. (eyeing slay the princess in particular)
anyway I hope you have a good holidays too, rest well.
see you next vid.
Spent my Christmas with my friends and family as the richest man in the world spent his arguing with people on twitter. Feels good man. Hope you spent yours with good folk!
Keep on trucking! While I totally share your misgivings and fears, I also know that people in all recorded history thought the world and all that is good will soon end, and yet good things always come through. Like your work! Platitudes - maybe, but those can be true.
excellent video, thank you!!
thanks jim
NEW JIM VID WOO
this might sound a little like it's coming out of nowhere, but have you ever read the culture industry chapter of Adorno/Horkheimers Dialectic of Enlightenment? I'm not the biggest fan of the Frankfurt School of thought myself but I think a lot of what they write still rings true with newer entertainment industries and lines up a lot with what you critizice about the modern gaming industry
Good shit. Though I disagree about the reality of AI, I agree with the rest.
Always enjoy and appreciate your opinions, and I'm looking forward to your upcoming videos.
Omg - I also replayed Silent Hill 3 immediately after Silent Hill 2 Remake - because my dream remake of 2 would just be 2 with more functions from 3 (beef jerky, bullet proof vest, more weapons, more enemy types etc). But yeah - the Silent Hill 2 Remake was trash and everyone who praised it... come on, wake up. You just cheered on every dumb videogame trend so far just because it wore the skin of Silent Hill 2...
Your knowledge of videogame history is always really impressive. The amount of research it takes to build such a solid foundation of knowledge in anything is insane so your interest in the subject is always super obvious and refreshing. Thanks for another good video and I hope you (and hopefully videogames but I won't get my hopes up) have a good 2025!
Interesting comparison to GT4. Never considered it
Jesus Jimmy how many mangonels did you build on that AoE 2 match??
Don't let AAA demoralize you. Indie is growing and becoming more accessible, we constantly get new great indie titles (recent Balatro and Void Stranger you mentioned, but also Animal Well and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, just to name a few)
I love you Jimmy....