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The Angry Video Game Nerd; 10 Years Later.
- Thread starter Tal Shiar Agent
- Start date
It was bad even for what it was. I'm well aware of James' deep fascination with B-movies, I've seen The Toxic Avenger for myself (and liked it), but this was just a bad B-Movie. Every single joke fell flat for me. I watched it by myself, so I don't know if it has any "MST3K appeal" to it.
astroturfing
Member
i used to like him, but now that we have lost him to the alt-right.. i just cant anymore.
just kidding he's great.
just kidding he's great.
I think his video was pretty misguided, but the reaction to it was even more disgusting and no one (save a few people like that Comic Book Girl -i think she's called that?-) looked at it reasonably. They just assumed and pointed fingers.
Articles started to appear everywhere calling his webshow and him in particular a misogynist and right winger (Like, how about ask him if he leans somewhere politically first, before labeling something based on a single, apolitical opinion video?). They were really horrible hit pieces that "analysed" TV programs on IMDB and concluded they only existed to appeal to a certain male demographic and were done purposely to hate on women. It was a real shitshow.
In any case, I liked his show very early on. It really feels like a decade ago in this case. He's the granddaddy of all these angry youtubers, except he had a funnier, more humble shtick going on.
UncleSporky
Member
This critique is reserved for those who offer opinions on things they haven't experienced, about the things they haven't experienced.
James didn't say "oh the second act is terrible." He thought all the prerelease info and trailers and such were terrible, and critiqued them. He didn't critique anything he didn't see, and that was the point of the video. He wasn't going to see it and wasn't going to critique it. That's proper critic behavior. Don't give a movie a bad review if you didn't even watch it...and thus he didn't watch it and didn't review it.
KLoWn
Member
The dude only stated why he didn't like the look of the new movie, and suddenly he's sexist?
You are fuckin pathetic...
astroturfing
Member
"look of the new movie" is obviously just code for "i hate women and want them back as second class citizens"
GustyGardens
Banned
ComicBookGirl19. Yeah, I watch her stuff occasionally. She and James actually had the same opinion.
Mister_Ruck
Member
I wasn't quite there day one I don't think, but definitely around 2006 or 2007. He only had a handful of videos when I first started watching. I was like, 13? 14? At the time, and thought it was hilarious. I used to skip school in 8th grade and rewatch his videos all day. Remained a big fan until like 9th or 10th grade. I fell off really, really hard when suddenly it clicked with me that James didn't really care about games. He only really made AVGN because it paid the bills. His real passion was film, which is fine, but it made everything feel kinda soulless after that. I think it was around this time that I found Giant Bomb and I never really looked back.
But James was a big part of my life back when I was younger. I feel nostalgic about his videos but have no real interest in watching any new ones. I'm glad he's still making AVGN and people are enjoying them but I hope one day he achieves success in something he's passionate about.
But James was a big part of my life back when I was younger. I feel nostalgic about his videos but have no real interest in watching any new ones. I'm glad he's still making AVGN and people are enjoying them but I hope one day he achieves success in something he's passionate about.
KLoWn
Member
It's all so clear to me now! All my life! I've been a fool!
People make a bigger deal about the Ghostbusters thing than they need to. As stated, he had to say something to his fans about not reviewing the new movie given his love for the series. So for like, 2-5 minutes? He states why he doesn't want to review/see the movie (while not mentioning gender at all, just film quality), and then spends the rest of the video rambling about the franchise and the original ideas for a Ghostbusters 3 back in the 90s. His video came out before the hatred for the new film really hit its peak, and...as someone who has watched James' shit for years, it's clear he can be pretty oblivious about what's "hip and happenin'" on the Internet at times. Guess it's a mixture of being too busy and not being nerdy enough to read shit online all the time. I honestly believe he had no idea the controversy was so huge when he made/uploaded his video. He probably would have done things a lot differently if he had known there was such a huge controversy about the movie and the gender of the actors...because, again, he didn't mention the gender of the actors being a problem at all.
Ah man, I forgot he used to make videos so often. Insane work in hindsight.
Been a fan since 2008. Came for AVGN, stayed for Monster Madness. I love pretty much all their content, except those Mike/Ryan videos. I tried watching a few videos with Ryan and I just can't get into him. I don't mind Mike, but Ryan feels like Mike's weird friend, and not James' friend exactly. I say this because all the other guys that show up in the Cinemassacre videos seem like real cool, chill guys.
The more informative videos like the Sega console orgy monster and Atari's Swordquest games are my favorites. It's hard to find people online who still go into stuff like that, outside of Lazy Game Reviews. Anyone here remember Clan of the Grey Wolf? They seem to only make twitch stream videos with some "round table discussion" with their viewers now. I really miss those indepth history / game series videos.
Anyway, back to James Rolfe. In those earlier days I was going through rough shit in my life, so his content became a sort of comfort food thing. I'll always appreciate his work and wish the best for him.
Is his daughter still going through complications? I don't know much about his kid or wife, but I hope they're doing all right.
This'll be the last year of a full Monster Madness, and while it'll be sad to see that go, I'm sure he'll still have something for us next October. He'll probably just do a small number of videos, but since he's a huge horror / film / Halloween fan, he wouldn't let the whole thing die. Pretty sure his information video about it says as much.
Also am I the only one who cracked up at the newer Beavis and Butthead video? I will agree his newer AVGN's aren't always amazing (though some are still really great like Seaman), but that Beavis and Butthead one really kicked in about halfway through the video.
I watched the movie a few months ago. It's not as good as his AVGN work as a whole, no...but it had some great moments in the movie. I think it's worth it for those moments of charming or hilarity. I kind of want to compare it to watching the Adam West Batman show, in terms of the comedy, and not an AVGN episode (though the movie can still be raunchy, and there's plenty of cursing). You should probably tone your expectations down a few and watch it while grinding in a game or whatever. It's worth it to buy (or can you rent it on Steam?) the movie and check it out just to support him, imo. I could see myself rewatching the movie at least once more, though not anytime soon.
Ah man, I forgot he used to make videos so often. Insane work in hindsight.
Been a fan since 2008. Came for AVGN, stayed for Monster Madness. I love pretty much all their content, except those Mike/Ryan videos. I tried watching a few videos with Ryan and I just can't get into him. I don't mind Mike, but Ryan feels like Mike's weird friend, and not James' friend exactly. I say this because all the other guys that show up in the Cinemassacre videos seem like real cool, chill guys.
The more informative videos like the Sega console orgy monster and Atari's Swordquest games are my favorites. It's hard to find people online who still go into stuff like that, outside of Lazy Game Reviews. Anyone here remember Clan of the Grey Wolf? They seem to only make twitch stream videos with some "round table discussion" with their viewers now. I really miss those indepth history / game series videos.
Anyway, back to James Rolfe. In those earlier days I was going through rough shit in my life, so his content became a sort of comfort food thing. I'll always appreciate his work and wish the best for him.
Is his daughter still going through complications? I don't know much about his kid or wife, but I hope they're doing all right.
This'll be the last year of a full Monster Madness, and while it'll be sad to see that go, I'm sure he'll still have something for us next October. He'll probably just do a small number of videos, but since he's a huge horror / film / Halloween fan, he wouldn't let the whole thing die. Pretty sure his information video about it says as much.
Also am I the only one who cracked up at the newer Beavis and Butthead video? I will agree his newer AVGN's aren't always amazing (though some are still really great like Seaman), but that Beavis and Butthead one really kicked in about halfway through the video.
I watched the movie a few months ago. It's not as good as his AVGN work as a whole, no...but it had some great moments in the movie. I think it's worth it for those moments of charming or hilarity. I kind of want to compare it to watching the Adam West Batman show, in terms of the comedy, and not an AVGN episode (though the movie can still be raunchy, and there's plenty of cursing). You should probably tone your expectations down a few and watch it while grinding in a game or whatever. It's worth it to buy (or can you rent it on Steam?) the movie and check it out just to support him, imo. I could see myself rewatching the movie at least once more, though not anytime soon.
drotahorror
Member
Have been watching it all along. I also tune into Cinemassacre's Monster Madness reviews every year.
Damn good fun. Love the AVGN persona, passion and history about games, and the MST3k-ish inspired skits and even a full movie. As for the shitty Ghosbuters reboot - dude was correct and it's not like other fans, critics, and moviegoers around the world didn't agree; that bullshit flopped.
stufte
Member
How horrible that he explained why he wouldn't see/review a giant summer blockbuster that he thought looked like shit! Must be sexism! So toxic!
Fucking hell.
I could easily say that you are contributing to the continued harassment of James, but that would be silly, just like it's silly to lump him in with actual sexists like those who harassed Leslie Jones.
StrangeRoboMemory
Member
I've always really liked AVGN and its creative, fun energy. Even when it's cheesy, I get a kick out of it. There are absolutely plenty of skits that go on too long and the schtick is a little tired at this point, but even recent stuff like the Seaman episode was awesome. James just has a great spirit and I like his stuff a million times more than other figures like the Nostalgia Critic, who I just find obnoxious.
Been around since day 1 as well OP. Although I was in University around that time.
Loved his early work, and still do. But as time went on his videos got more immature and catered to the lowest common denominator. No longer did he meticulously pick things apart and ridicule them. Instead just dropping F bombs left right and center. And all the poop humour. Cringe.
At a certain point he just fell off for me. But still love those early videos.
Loved his early work, and still do. But as time went on his videos got more immature and catered to the lowest common denominator. No longer did he meticulously pick things apart and ridicule them. Instead just dropping F bombs left right and center. And all the poop humour. Cringe.
At a certain point he just fell off for me. But still love those early videos.
Tal Shiar Agent
Member
The Godzillathon was my favorite. I eagerly await his review of Shin Godzilla.
Hayama Akito
Member
He is awesome, and still had some awesome stuff like the Seaman review <3
Well, he got worse over the time. And it's kinda sad, he was known all over the world for AVGN (honestly know a couple of guys here in Germany that watched him), then decided to pursue his movie-making... Which just isn't good. At some point he was the best at what he did and he lost that. Nowadays he just rarely makes videos that interest me, but I still watch AVGN.
Goes to show that people are actually more concerned about being right* than having an adult conversation about an important issue they claim they are passionate about.
*Being right in this case is: Either you are on my side and embrace everything about Ghostbusters or you are an alt-right misogynist. Fuck nuance and opinions or not wanting to watch a movie for any other reason.
I love his videos. I've seen each episodes multiple times. I watch James and Mike Monday each week and look forward to it. James has a family now, AVGN is clearly not the high priority for him it once was, but his videos are still great when we get them. The recent AVGN Paperboy episode was one of his best. He still has passion for gaming as you can see if you check out his videos last week on Link's Awakening. It's the first time he's ever played it and he loved it. The controller was sweaty at the end and he was really into it.
Best videos in order off the top of my head
1. Ninja Gaiden
2. Silver Surfer
3. Rob the Robot
4. Dragon's Lair
5. Dick Tracy
6. Paperboy
7. Bible Games
8. Super Pitfall
9. Castlevania Retrospective
10. Battletoads
11. Atari Porn
12. TMNT
13. Ghosts and Goblins
14. Atari Halloween
15. Nintendo Power
16. Milon's Secret Castle
17. Ghostbusters
18. Tiger Games
19. Terminator
20. LJN Video Art
21. 32x
22. Superman 64
23. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
24. Atari 5200
25. Zelda 2
All the above are incredible. I wanted to list them in case anyone is wondering what to watch or rewatch.
James and Mike
1. Super Ghouls N Ghosts
2 Double Dragon
3. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - better than the AVGN episodes because this is real genuine hate
4. Battletoads
I'm glad Monster Madness is ending. I rather him be doing something with games.
Best videos in order off the top of my head
1. Ninja Gaiden
2. Silver Surfer
3. Rob the Robot
4. Dragon's Lair
5. Dick Tracy
6. Paperboy
7. Bible Games
8. Super Pitfall
9. Castlevania Retrospective
10. Battletoads
11. Atari Porn
12. TMNT
13. Ghosts and Goblins
14. Atari Halloween
15. Nintendo Power
16. Milon's Secret Castle
17. Ghostbusters
18. Tiger Games
19. Terminator
20. LJN Video Art
21. 32x
22. Superman 64
23. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
24. Atari 5200
25. Zelda 2
All the above are incredible. I wanted to list them in case anyone is wondering what to watch or rewatch.
James and Mike
1. Super Ghouls N Ghosts
2 Double Dragon
3. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - better than the AVGN episodes because this is real genuine hate
4. Battletoads
I'm glad Monster Madness is ending. I rather him be doing something with games.
SoundPulse
Banned
I had the feeling that the movie was more for his sake than anything else. He really wanted to make a feature length film, so he went and did it. Which is pretty admirable.
Doesn't really excuse the film's quality, but hey.
Doesn't really excuse the film's quality, but hey.
Damn, that's hard to hear. Is it really that bad? I mean, I'd heard it is, more than once, but I still can't believe it. It's his life passion, after all.
Nah, actually I believe it. If AVGN fans are criticizing it, it must be truly bad. I just don't want to believe...
The movie would have been improved tremendously if it had Mike co starring. AVGN didn't have any chemistry with the rest of the cast. The other characters weren't funny or interesting. They were too over the top and wacky when really they should have been played normal to let the craziness of the nerd stand out. It was unfortunately boring. Any AVGN episode is better.
Japanmanx3
Member
Love it still. Spiderman, Batman, Ninja Garden episodes are still funny to this day!
I honestly don't think he said anything wrong and I believe he would've said the same thing if the movie was starred by men. His reasons were solid in the context. I can relate to be honest, not for ghostbusters but I refused to watch Batman vs superman since it was announced.
Head of Vengarl
Banned
Damn I can't believe it's been a decade.
Waddle Dee
Member
I first saw AVGN when I was in 8th grade, I believe. Goddamn, it's been 9 years...
I loved the first 5 or so years of AVGN. I don't know if I'm in the minority on this, but I always favored his videos where he just played the game and made jokes at it's expense, as opposed to some of them where there is some "story" happening in the middle. The fight scenes and whatnot didn't interest me.
I haven't seen any of his recent stuff ever since he started making sub-par LPs with Mike that are similar to the Game Grumps (in that, they just talk about whatever and have no structure or effort put into them).
Favorite episodes are the Silver Surfer one and Plumbers Don't Wear Ties. I doubt the latter would even be known by nearly anyone online if it weren't for his video of it.
I loved the first 5 or so years of AVGN. I don't know if I'm in the minority on this, but I always favored his videos where he just played the game and made jokes at it's expense, as opposed to some of them where there is some "story" happening in the middle. The fight scenes and whatnot didn't interest me.
I haven't seen any of his recent stuff ever since he started making sub-par LPs with Mike that are similar to the Game Grumps (in that, they just talk about whatever and have no structure or effort put into them).
Favorite episodes are the Silver Surfer one and Plumbers Don't Wear Ties. I doubt the latter would even be known by nearly anyone online if it weren't for his video of it.
I agree. The skits were eurghh...
Quintin DM
Member
Been watching since 2009, and while I find some of his more recent video can be hit or miss, I still love the show, and will continue to watch as long as it continues.
Yeah, playing shitty games for laughs has definitely run its course.
Are there any channels that play weird obscure retro games that are actually good? In the vain of AVGN's Ninja Baseball Batman video and Jontron's Dinocity video.
Adam_Vania
Banned
this isn't proper critic behavior. this is someone flat-out refusing to do their job.
thing is, this is the only movie he has ever done that with. unless i am wrong? has he put out other "i will not see this movie" videos before? the fact that this is the only thing to get that treatment makes it a special case.
who knows maybe he would have liked parts of the movie. assuming it would be bad so why bother is shitty critiquing. he judged a movie solely on the trailer hype and press. literally judging a book by its cover.
His job isn't to review every movie out there. As far as we are concerned, his job isn't to review any movie at all. He has a few youtube channels, he chooses what he speaks about or not in them, what he makes videos about or not. He gave his reasons (which I thought were pretty dumb to be fair) and explained his position. What does it matter if it is a special case or a common case for him? Because you have an assumption of what it "really" means that he picked this movie to skip and had the nerve to talk about it?
Maybe he would've loved the movie, maybe not, but that has nothing to do with anything. He didn't want to do it, and people went as overboard as labeling him and claim even in this thread he was a part of some sort of "problem movement" to reject this movie because it has women in it. He didn't judge a movie based on its cover, he decided not to judge it because he believed it he wouldn't enjoy it. That's anyone's prerogative, and I'm pretty sure something you do all the time, unless you watch every single movie that is ever released and give your opinion on it.
And no, again, his job isn't to review this or any movie you want. He has no obligation to do it, full stop. It's amazing people fighting for equality and rights wouldn't think of awarding him that chance or giving him the benefit of the doubt at least (especially because it's not like he's making alt-right. misogynistic videos every other week), even if he is "wrong".
It is a special case. It was probably the shittiest trailer ever for an anticipated film.
Why are you so obsessed with him wanting to see a bad movie? What's the point of this? It's not like he didn't want to see The Godfather.
Adam_Vania
Banned
his entire reason for not seeing this movie is that it's a reboot. it looked like a shitty comedy horror reboot.
AVGN's entire schtick is shitty comedy horror regurgitation! he does this himself, constantly!
look, he has some very good qualities, and can really get into the minutiae of the mechanics of a game, and can say revealing things about player interaction. but he relies very much on referencing old stuff. on regurgitating culture. and scatological humor too. both are things that were reasons why not to see this new Ghostbusters. it had stupid throw up humor in it. it was relying so much on referencing old stuff.
but ultimately, he is a public figure. he is youtube famous because the public finds him interesting. he is influential. he must have realized this would influence other people.
imo he promoted a dangerous anti-intellectualism.
this is what it comes down to for me. telling people to close themselves off from a potential experience. promoting a kind of self-censorship. why?
this is anti-intellectual.
He told the public it looked like shit because it looked like shit. He was doing us a service. Big difference between enjoying bad movies and enjoying bad movies that are sequels or reboots to something good. It's perfectly normal to enjoy laughing at bad sci fi films from the 70s and 80s and be disgusted with the Star Wars prequels. Star Wars is supposed to be good. Why is this the thread to explain normal human behavior to you? Just because you like one thing that's shit doesn't mean you're required to like and watch everything that's shit.
I started watching him in the early days but have never followed him on a regular basis. I'll usually catch up to his videos in large batches and then repeat the process a few months later. Always loved his work though.
Glad he's still going strong and I hope his success continues.
Glad he's still going strong and I hope his success continues.
He wasn't advocating for people to close off to that experience. He is explaining why HE wouldn't see it because maybe his audience would expect him to and would demand an explanation as of why he didn't, knowing he is such a big fan. He admits he is completely biased because he cares a lot about the original Ghostbusters. He talks about Star Trek and Star Wars Reboots positively too, going as far as to say that he liked the way Ep VII did it and that he felt it respected the legacy of the movies (which also flies in the face of people calling him a misogynist, considering the main character in SW), so your claim that his entire reason for not seeing it is "because it is a reboot" is also wrong. He's liked reboots that connect to the source material much more closely.
He's not promoting self-censorship because I doubt he considers himself a serious critic in the first place. Most of his work, even retrospectives and recommendations comes from nostalgia. He's more of a curator who shares his personal tastes through a nostalgia lens than a broad, intellectual critic who analyses form and content.
Yes, his MO is repetition and regurgitating and paying homage to old things, and frankly that's the key to understanding his position in this case. He loved the NES, it was a big part of him growing up. He is also a film student,and loved some franchises and movies growing up. He doesn't want to support a specific movie that doesn't seem to cater to that personal love and nostalgia. That doesn't mean he is right either, just that it is his choice.
It's not anti-intellectualism as much as it just a (childish) attachment to certain things and an expectation to be catered to as a big fan of them. You can criticize him for that position of course, but in this case it went way beyond that to ascribing a different meaning to his very simple and understandable position. And that was the shit that's completely wrong about it.
Jawmuncher
Member
I still watch his new stuff, and the old stuff. Also his let's plays with Mike once in awhile. Funny reviews are just my go to form of time killers if I'm on YouTube. So I still watch a lot of stuff like avgn, NC, spoony,etc
I like his show, I think the visual identity he's carved for his show is great for the format (and that he's spawn so many imitators speaks of his influence). I think the production values for a youtube show are good, and everything is generally to a quality where I don't mind catching an episode. It helps that Rolf's voice is pretty ear pleasing.
His analysis, I can give or take. His reviews seem split into two groups - things he's reviewing that he actually grew up with, and things he's reviewing that he didn't grow up with. When he reviews things he actually grew up with, emulating the mindset he had of the time, I like those episodes a lot. But when he reviews something he isn't familiar with, I find myself usually more frustrated. This is because, if he grew up with a game, more often than not he knows how to play it, and the review tends to be more a critical analysis of the failings of the game from a design point.
There are many reviews or snippits he's done of the game where he plays for like 10 minutes, and doesn't even bother to learn how to play. His review of BattleMorph for the Atari Jaguar CD, for example. His review actually says nothing at all, other than that he hates Jaguar games. He tries to play a game that is more like defender, as though it were star fox.
Enjoyable, but I feel bad for the people who take their opinions on classic games for him. For example, Ghostbusters is now apparently some awful game in the eyes of many... when it used to actually have a pretty warm reception online back in the day.
There are other people on youtube that I feel are more "authentic" in their analysis of games, for lack of a better word. Lazy Game Reviews is pretty much my gold standard, because that dude clearly puts time into the games he reviews. I think AVGN's schtick of only reviewing "bad" games really limits his analysis, too. Sometimes, being positive in your critique can also be interesting.
For my money, the best episode of AVGN is the Nintendo Power episode, because it was full of warm nostalgia, and he wasn't trying his hardest to find things to slam about it. I never read Nintendo power, personally, but that episode mirrors the way I used to read EGM and GamePro and GamePlayers and all those magazines.
His analysis, I can give or take. His reviews seem split into two groups - things he's reviewing that he actually grew up with, and things he's reviewing that he didn't grow up with. When he reviews things he actually grew up with, emulating the mindset he had of the time, I like those episodes a lot. But when he reviews something he isn't familiar with, I find myself usually more frustrated. This is because, if he grew up with a game, more often than not he knows how to play it, and the review tends to be more a critical analysis of the failings of the game from a design point.
There are many reviews or snippits he's done of the game where he plays for like 10 minutes, and doesn't even bother to learn how to play. His review of BattleMorph for the Atari Jaguar CD, for example. His review actually says nothing at all, other than that he hates Jaguar games. He tries to play a game that is more like defender, as though it were star fox.
Enjoyable, but I feel bad for the people who take their opinions on classic games for him. For example, Ghostbusters is now apparently some awful game in the eyes of many... when it used to actually have a pretty warm reception online back in the day.
There are other people on youtube that I feel are more "authentic" in their analysis of games, for lack of a better word. Lazy Game Reviews is pretty much my gold standard, because that dude clearly puts time into the games he reviews. I think AVGN's schtick of only reviewing "bad" games really limits his analysis, too. Sometimes, being positive in your critique can also be interesting.
For my money, the best episode of AVGN is the Nintendo Power episode, because it was full of warm nostalgia, and he wasn't trying his hardest to find things to slam about it. I never read Nintendo power, personally, but that episode mirrors the way I used to read EGM and GamePro and GamePlayers and all those magazines.
That always bums me out, because there's a great bit of trivia behind that invention. LJN didn't make it, they just distributed it in North America.
Actually, that balance board thing was the first ever product from the Amiga team at Commodore. They released a few gaming peripherals before releasing the Amiga 1000 after being purchased by Commodore, and that balancing board was their first ever retail product. They actually used it when developing the Amiga 1000 as a meditation device. The thing has an IMU inside that lets it detect changes in orientation. They had a practice called Guru Meditation where, to calm down while debugging problems in the system, they'd play a game that measured how long they could sit still and meditate. That is the reason that peripheral exists.
LJN eventually released it for the NES in North America, but it really doesn't make sense without the meditation software in the first place.
Incidentally, this is why when an Amiga crashes, the "blue screen" reads "Guru Meditation" at the top. It was an inside joke.
That's neat info. Was the one that James had broken or all of them run like crap on most games?
test_account
XP-39C²
I remember watching the Turtles episode back in the days, thinking that all the criticism was ment to be taken seriously, lol.