I Miss the Old Angry Video Game Nerd.
Vložit
- čas přidán 23. 04. 2024
- You know what's BEE-ESS? CZcams.
Different topic for a change, this is just something I felt like getting off my chest. As a lifelong gamer it's not surprising that I've watched every AVGN episode... although I haven't made it through some of the recent ones.
I have no desire to attack James Rolfe or take away from his success and tremendous influence, and I still find most of his (especially older) work highly entertaining. However I can't help but notice an unsavory trend in recent years. And the recent Horse Prince episode was... baffling, to say the least.
** Music credits **
Outro:
"Highland Storm" by The Slanted Room Records
theslantedroom.github.io/stev...
Used with artist's permission
** Merch **
www.bonfire.com/store/skallswag/
If you want to join Bonfire to start selling your own merch: www.bonfire.com/welcome/07bb1...
** Support the channel **
Help fund future videos, get bonus content and access to an exclusive Discord server:
/ skallagrim
/ @skallagrim
Other ways to support the channel by shopping through affiliate links:
Kult of Athena, my favorite online store for reproductions of historical arms and armor, fantasy swords, etc:
www.kultofathena.com/?koa=259
Where to get HEMA gear and practice swords:
www.woodenswords.com/?Click=1799
Want to treat your face fluff? I highly recommend the balms and oils from Beard Sorcery:
beardsorcery.com/?ref=0UEFtHW...
Books about history, martial arts, swords, knives, video/audio equipment, and other stuff I recommend:
US - www.amazon.com/shop/skallagri...
Canada - amzn.to/2HeOCMA
** Second channel / other social media **
/ @skallhalla
/ _skallagrim_
/ skallagrimyt
/ skallagrim_yt
#skallagrim #avgn #angryvideogamenerd #jamesrolfe #reaction #opinion #gaming #nerd
![I Rank Every AVGN : Worst 7 Ever! [Every F- Grade Ep]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/g6s3VLPeSkU/mqdefault.jpg)
![I Rank Every AVGN : Worst 7 Ever! [Every F- Grade Ep]](/img/tr.png)
I love the fact that Macauly Caulkin turned down a guest appearance on Big Bang Theory but did appear on James' show.
I always love it when he's on RLM, super funny dude.
Yeah, and it was a fun guest appearance too.
It was a time when he tried to market himself back in the game, at the time he made a ton of cameos with various youtubers and even traditional media.
He wanted to clear his name from a lot of bad things he did, many bad things that were said about him (true or false). And probably made some money out of it too.
I'm pretty sure that episode was Caulkin's idea (or some manager he hired for the whole thing).
I know right!! I forgot about that!!!
@@IIARROWS "Bad things he did"? Like what? The worst thing anyone said about him is he used to be on too many drugs.
This is not the CZcamsr I expected to talk about this.
Consider me pleasantly surprised
Same. Had to insta-click for that reason alone.
AVGN is a large part of our generation.
@@l.a.3680, this is the first time I've ever heard of him, so I must not be in your generation.
I had to stop watching AVGN. I think the guy just grew up and lost his edge. Skall can at least keep his edge sharp.
@@krikeydial3430 I see what you did there
Crazy to think that I discovered James when I was 13 and now here I am at 30. He's been a part of over half my life.
Same!
Same!
Same here as a 15 year old and now a 23 year old.
I don’t think James has fully recovered from his movie failing. I can tell it has taken a toll on his confidence going forward.
Well he did have to move thousands of miles of home away for over a year, and wasn't able to make any AVGN episodes until he was finished with shooting the movie. Also, James is getting older and is a father.
For a movie made with a budget of $325k it was a great movie.
I forgot he made a movie. I remember watching it but I don't remember much of it
@@M0rshu64
Well said. I'm 42, and I can agree that when we growing old our personality modifies.
It was a bad movie, sorry to say this. I think it was a bad decision to do an AVGN movie instead of doing something different.
I’ve seen much better debut movies, while much cheaper than James’s. Take Christopher Nolan’s debut, Following, it was done on a budget of only $6000, albeit in 1998, it was well reviewed and it launched his career.
I think James should have collaborated with a professional screen writer and should not have starred in the movie either. Alternatively, he could have done some apprenticeship work for a real movie studio, even an indie one, because it was obvious he had no real experience in moviemaking.
The profesionalization of CZcams was a mistake. I miss the time, when CZcams wasn't a job for people, but just a hobby, something they did for fun. Now, most of Internet feels so tasteless and dull.
Yup. That is the same way I feel about all art. Once people do it for a living, it loses its soul.
The same with websites that are indexed high in searches. In the 2000's and early 2010' there were many forums and small websites in search results. Now it's mostly wikis of different quality and shitty commercial sites with shitty, generic articles written by copywriters or AI. Most forums died off due to facebook and reddit. In the Polish part of the Internet at least there is a known trend in naming facebook private groups that I know of, that has a kind of similar vibe, but on the English part of the Internet I have no idea where to look for a quality forum-like experience. Also there are times to consider, in the 2000's Internet was still a bit "nerdy" thing to spend time on, right now it's more and more "for the normies".
Yep
I miss the time when you could have a job making art or otherwise talking about or producing raunchy, crass, or otherwise "adult" shit and not have some shitbag corporate execs going "oooh, you shouldn't say thaaat, what about our advertisers!?"
Like, why are they advertising through google adsense if they give even one iota of a fuck what their products are juxtaposed with? Google sucks at it (especially since it just automatically flags adult content as being child-friendly if it talks about video games or cartoons, regardless of how often the creator states it to not be for children in any way)
also, we need to do something about visa, mastercard, and paypal's crusade against the existence of any sort of sex-related content
@@Qwert0mietekdead internet theory?
AVGN inspired pretty much every video game critic on this platform
Yahtzee?
especially french ones
I would say he inspired the people that inspired the video game critics on this platform, he's your favorite critic's favorite critic.
Not much of that influence remains. The ragers were replaced by the critiquers
Just like NC Doug Walker did to online film critics
Rock and roll had the fat Elvis era.
TV gave us the jumping of the shark.
Cinema nuked the fridge.
CZcams now offers the balding era of the AVGN.
Oh god you're right...
*cues Elvis shitting on the toilet.*
AVGN will always have a special place in my heart.
Thank you James / Nerd for all the memories. ❤
Same here. Even if it's not as good as it used to be, James created a lot of fun, memorable content over the decades.
Board James was probably my favorite series of his. Just so different and the way it progresses from one thing to the next. If you haven't somehow watched it, anyone reading, don't spoil it. Just go check it out from episode 1, it's not all that long.
That got ruined because of Badluck Bootsie claiming James never "paid" him to be in any episodes even after admitting that he agreed to be in the episodes just for fun and never signed any sort of contract. He just felt like James owed him money once James started making bank on youtube and his website.
Board James should be rebooted but without the WEIRD story line. Potential to hire new people for the roll. Also, he literally had his own website for the polar pose to upload videos that weren’t CZcams friendly.
Personally i really liked the RLM style video store... episodes?
Bootsy :(
I love Baord James, agree on that it´s some of his best, the silly story is spot on what James loves to do in film making
I would actually be okay to see James Rolfe let Angry Video Game Nerd retire, and just be the Tired Video Game Dad. I do still really like his take, and I get how it would feel weird making the same style videos you made in your early 20s when youre now in your mid 30s.
I think taking a chilled out tone of a dad that like likes horror and video games might be a really good fit for him.
I wonder if the AVGN videos just still perform significantly better than other videos he tries. Money is a strong motivator when you have a family.
@@charliericker274 Dude, his AVGN averages a minimum 1 mil views per videos. Nothing else even comes close to that
I agree with this. A rebranding like this would be refreshing and probably exactly what he needs. The nerd himself now needs to accept his place in 'the past'. We can look back fondly at classic AVGN and thats still great - but James needs to move into a new season now, and I really hope he does and thrives.
this isnt a bad take. i love james movie stuff too.
Mid 30s? James is in his 40s.
You know what's buuuuulllllllshiiiiiiit?
TIME
Printers
I'd say the real bullshit is that he can't even say the word bullshit in his videos anymore, so he has to say BS now.
Do you want me to SUFFER???
It's 5:40 right now. And I have to be done at 5:40.
No time, I refuse
truth is that James was never the same after the AVGN movie
Honestly it's harsh to say but it really was bound to flop as convincing anybody but the most die hard AVGN fans to watch something like that is hard. He should have made it about anything else.
I have empathy for Jame's position. He's been doing this for probably most of his life at this point. One can only be passionate about something and making their best stuff for so long. I think he had other film making aspirations that fell through as well, which can be extremely discouraging. As it stands, he has no reason to quit making videos because enough people still watch him. So his content isn't nearly as good as it used to be, but he's making a simple living doing something better than probably most of us could do.
It's a shame because it feels like more emphasis is being placed on meeting deadlines than actually producing good content. The AVGN "formula" is so fucking stale now that it's physically painful to sit through. Especially the most recent "Pony Prince" video. I never wanted to be the "I liked you better pre-2021" kind of fan but that really is the case here. There's no content James can make that would make me stop watching his old stuff, but I stopped instantly clicking on new AVGN thumbnails years ago. Stopped looking forward to new AVGN content and now I only stay subscribed for new movie reviews and Monster Madness type stuff.
Feels like he lost passion for the nerd but is forced to do it, what else is he supposed to do
AVGN really is a holdover from another era. I'd imagine it's just impossible to maintain that same energy and magic and still be a successful channel. Plus let's be honest, we all get older with time.
Joueur du grenier: hold my baguette
Joueur du grenier is an AVGN inspired french channel and is one of if not THE biggest gaming youtube channel on the french side of the internet
The best part is that they're still using their original intro since... Jesus 2009 it's too soon for me to feel old ;-;
I mean todd in the shadows still does his schtick. It's really just a matter of the format itself taking a toll, I think.
@@234fddesa I think the difference is that The Nerd is much more of a character than Todd in the Shadows. Todd is just Todd, maybe amp up a bit for comedic effect, playing up his personality for the camera, but he never gave me the impression of being fully just a character. The Nerd, on the other hand, is just a character James Rolfe made.
So yeah, like you said, the format takes its toll.
@@pougetguillaume4632 Non, Fred fait de la merde depuis au moins 2019 c'est insupportable
Il se prends pour un cinéaste avec ses sketch bidon
@@Arnathor4582 on a trouvé l'exception qui prouve la règle
He's a man with less energy because he's getting older and has a family, and he always saw AVGN as a step to something greater. He made a film that wasn't well received and which killed any chance of transitioning into Hollywood, so with his dreams crushed, so is his spirit. I do feel bad for him as a person. It makes me wonder if he should just hang up the cowl and move on to something else entirely.
because aspergers makes him how he really is
as a person inside on the autistic spectum thats how the things works
@borjitasstoi since when does avgn have asperger
Maybe just maybe..... it's a good thing that he didn't get Hollywooded if you know what I mean.
When I saw your thumbnail I was like "what?! Skallagrim follows James?". I dont usually comment, I usually just watch from the shadows, but this is something that we have in common so... I understand James, I also care about how is managing things right now and I also miss the old AVGN, but theres a lot of factors that we dont know about his life that make him take some decisions or why he has toned down the nerd in recent times.
I still love and respect James no matter what because he gave us his better years with such a great character in the form of the AVGN, he gave us TONS of great moments of laughter and that is what I treasure from him, lets not forget that he is primarily a horror movie creator and that he created the AVGN just for fun because his friends and the youtube community at the time liked it, and still he took that hobby and made his best efforts to make the character the one we love now.
Fun Fact: Mike Matei regrets making Shitpickle to this day.
Heh, that doesn't surprise me at all. We all have shitty ideas sometimes. :)
@@Skallagrim true
But his Minecraft with Gadget was so bad it somehow became a meme and he took it down. Sure people reuploaded it but it became ironically good to the point where it was reuploaded back on the channel.🤣
to be fair,t hat was old youtube.. do something different. and they did that.. it was weird but still. different.
Really. Hmm i liked the shit pickle. Ima shit too probably.
James Rolfe just needs to return to the pre 2016, screenwave era. Recapture the passion and love he had for great framing, rekindle friendships, shoot the shit, have fun.
He kind of burnt the bridge with all his old buddies except Mike. Lotta drama over money
I feel like once the movie failed he burned out and now he's just repeating tired stuff with minimal effort for money.
Yeah signing on with that weirdo Ryan was the beginning of his downfall, especially after Ryan spontaneously tr00ned out on one episode and baffled everyone.
@@commandervile394 lol, that legitimately shocked me… for about 30 seconds, then I thought about it and it made perfect sense
@@FrogWalrus He knew the show with Mike was coming to an end and didn't want to lose him, so he tried to be his girlfriend.
I totally agree. I've also been watching AVGN since the old days, although I've never been a fan of Mike. I was there for James. I think the main issue is that he doesn't write his scripts anymore (afaik). AVGN died when it partenered with Screenwave media.
I've been following AVGN since the very beginning. I find the new videos still entertaining but it's really lacking soul (haven't watched the latest one). I get it, it wasn't even just his project to begin (Mike had a big hand in it) with and he's playing a character. But you can feel it's gone from just some dudes having fun to carrying a brand without really wanting to. His videos where he talks about movies are much nicer. I've been following you Skal for 12 years now and what I love is that it's just you. Always has been authentic and that's why it doesn't get old.
The problem of the AVGN is that he never evolved in his videos. When you look at chennels that were inspired by him (for exemple Joueur du Grenier, a big french youtuber doing humoristic old game reviews, he started very close tothe AVGN, but the format evolved with time because otherwise they would be doing the same thing all the time and would have grown tired of doing it, that CZcamsr even said so himself a few years back, the AVGN hasn't evolved passed the amateur style videos he was doing at the start and doing that for so long is bound to burn you out of enjoying doing it).
@@dearcastiel4667 on the other hand, I still enjoy this c-movie style videos. Maybe it's nostalgia for me as someone that watched since episode 3. Or just something I miss today, where everything is professional and expensive.
@@dearcastiel4667 I think an even bigger problem is that he has straight up devolved. As Johannes here points out, there is plenty of audience for his original stuff and there are lots of successful people who never evolve into anything new (AC/DC being a prime example). But James' stuff is getting worse. And it's not just AVGN; look at The Head Returns from 2020 and compare it to The Deader The Better from 2005.
Oddly enough I don’t watch Angry nerd reviews of games, I tune in for James Rolfe to talk about his love of cinema and the Horror genre
This is the way. It's obvious "The Nerd" character is only kept going as a money making vestige of its former self. The rest of his content is still great.
MONSTER MAAADNEEEESSSSSS
**Wolf howl**
I miss the old Skall that did pommel jokes and reacted to them
I just like to go back and watch the old avgn episodes. I tried out their movie reviews and just don't get into banter
Unfortunately he doesn't write those anymore either. Anything with James Rolfe now is just him reading a script someone else wrote. Those were the videos that got caught plagiarizing.
I think it's just life. I went through a version of pre-CZcams website fame and yeah.. you do that a couple decades and it's just not easy to be passionate about the same stuff forever.
I LOVED his Board James stuff. It was SO genuine and I'm not even close to being a board game fan.
I'm trying to create new stuff, but I can tell that whatever audience I once had wants whatever I was back then.
Plus I've had my share of tragedies that people have seen 2nd hand through social media. Any one of those videos.. maybe an argument with a kid or wife... and life gets hard.
I love that guy. I haven't even come close to producing 1/1000th of what he has and my AHD just couldn't withstand it.
I say we let him have his stinkers and give him a hug.
And I hope he finds his fire again.
Great video, dude. You've been hitting my algorithm's radar lately. Keep it up.
Watched his stuff since 2010. I still think his "Castlevania Retrospective" is his most sincere and heart-warming video.
I think his AVGN Movie production 2012-2013 is what exhausted him the most.
You could say, Skallagrim took us all back to the past... For a moment. 😏
Helloooo I’m Skallagrim, I remember it so YOU don’t have to!
I i do test fun sword tticks so you dont have to😏
@@benny4162 Ha. Nostalgia critic reference
He's gonna take you back to the past
To review the shitty swords that suck ass
He'd rather be, a poor serf, and die from a single bleed
He'd rather eat, the rotten flesh, of a dirty orc and down it with mead
He's the angriest swordsman you ever heard
He's the angry longsword nerd
He's the angry mace-pommel nerd
He's the angry, HEMA, nerd....
(I couldn't think of anything to rhyme with mead but I liked the reference too much, just imagine serfs are all inbred and are never given proper medical attention. I was originally gonna call him a monarchist but apart from all the complications of inbreeding that wouldn't be the worst life)
To watch the AVGN who kicked ass.
We're the old men, Ace.
A quote I feel more and more.
I'M DOING MY PART. I did my part. Now I'm old and falling apart.
Been a fan of AVGN and James's work in general ever since I first watched the Ninja Turtle NES game way back in 2007. And I'm still watching to this day. It's true that some of the 'magic' from the early days of AVGN withered away a little bit, but I still keep watching, it's my way to show my support.
AVGN's latest episode was brutal to watch. I turned on season 5 and did house chores. Miss those older seasons.
I was not expecting an AlphaOmagaSin reference but I'm all for it.
Me to miss him
He made a video about the Dead Space reboot and then he disappeared again.
I loved him as well.
You can tell he was sick of everything. Even in his few rare recent videos you can see he's been beaten down and accepted defeat to how the industry has changed. He was a front line warrior back in the day to the culture war in gaming.
Now we're reliving it again and we have new and increased roster of warriors.
@@TallulahSoie idk sounds like projection from a culture warrior.
@@andysnyder3844At least AOS had the balls to go full gamer and ragequit youtube.
The adpocalypse was when the proverbial knife went into creators' collective guts, but money getting into youtube was when it was getting unsheathed. Modern day youtube does have an admitted increase in production quality, video quantity, and anyone who is actually making money would never want to go back, of course, but there is a distinct charm to the youtube of the past where every video was put on the web with nothing but heart and a desire for your work to be seen. I don't think it's just nostalgia either, because I don't ever remember being bored from the wild places your recommended videos would take you despite their quality being all over the place. Nowadays you can doomscroll for hours seeing the same formula of 10+ minute videos recommended by the algorithm and never find anything worth watching.
or the same exact topic covered by 10 different people.
I have still found some enjoyment in the modern content, but I definitely do have to agree that I always go back to my 'Retro AVGN' playlist.
I've always loved James, and always will, and I also have no idea what has transpired in his life over this almost 20 years I've been enjoying and being entertained by his work. His fans will be here waiting for his return to form.
And as you said, if he never does, then at least we have all the amazing memories and episodes from the past we can always re-watch, and most importantly remember.
edit: Also, thanks for making this video. I thought it was a bit unusual to see you so direct about something like this, and also to talk about something like this on your channel, but I'm very glad you did.
I enjoyed this, you can tell your love for classic AVGN is sincere. I just wish James was transparent about it all. He has an incredibly supportive fanbase, they'd understand and appreciate it.
Yeah he’s changed but i feel like basically all of youtube has. He’s said before it’s a business that keeps food on his family’s table…
That's the part people need to know/remember. He's not doing AVGN cause he still loves it. He's doing it cause he has to. So i give him a lot of slack. He's basically suffering from success. Though I do like his movie analysis. They're still top notch.
Yeah, there's that.
@@korinoriz Except the ones that are written by other people, which is a lot of them. And then there were those plagiarized ones...
I'm not saying that James knew they were stolen, but it's another hit that he will never fully recover from as it demonstrates his lack of quality control and personal involvement in his more recent content.
stop making excuses for him. he could do better if he wanted.
@@JaredGenesis444 Could he though? How much free time do you have after working to provide for your family and ensuring you maintain healthy relationships with your loved ones? How many jokes can you write about an idea you came up with, what, 15 years ago and are now disinterested in?
After MFer Mike showed his wiener to a discord server and got replaced with a content farm, AVGN lost half its soul, to be sure. It wasn't two buddies screwing around about stuff they were passionate about, it was an aging suburban dad dragging himself to the office like the rest of us.
Bingo. Mike had the passion for games and the attitude.
Mike sucked. Fuck that guy. He was riding James' creative coat tails.
Wait... what?
Whats hilarious about this is that Mike didnt even show his own wiener. He found a picture of a wiener online and pretended it was his lmaooooooooooooo
@@miceltusav88 that was the gist of it. Though i dont think mF mike actually showed his penis, he shared an image of a penis and claimed it was his. But either way. Mike is a troll and kind of an asshole. He has a history of trolling people when he ran the cinemassecre twitch streams back in the day. But yeah he did seem to be "the soul" of AVGN. James was the guy who organized all the special effects, had the space to film at his place.
"Comfort food in video format." That captures how I feel about avgn, too.
James needing to let the nerd go can be analogized to him needing to shave his head.
It's hard seeing people get older and change. I don't watch his stuff like I used to, but I still like him. I thought Board James was his best series.
Board James was great! But I think he got too carried away with the storyline. It was better when it was simple. It's like he lost sight of why people enjoyed it in the first place and just started doing whatever he wanted to do
That alphaomegasin reference at the start 😢
He was funny til he went full alt right bro. I imagine he's still out there somewhere, spreading misogyny to this day.
I never heard of this channel before (my loss, I guess), but you really hit the nail on the head on all points. You captured very well what made the Nerd funny and what was never so funny or essential, and what's missing now. I don't think James knows what was really funny or special about some of his original content anymore, and that's why we're seeing what we're seeing. I've been watching AVGN since very close to the beginning.
I definitely get your point. I've been watching AVGN since 2010, and back then, James had a lot less restrictions with his character.
I recently watched one of the Nerd's videos and really liked the direction he took. I don't remember, but it was really close to what the episodes used to be. The anger and rambling were on point.
I also miss Alpha Omega Sin. He was a awesome YTer as well.
Im 23 and AVGN is my childhood even though it was a lil behind my time
I have watched avgn from the beginning, really love him. He took me back to my childhood with all these videos. But! Yes, I can feel that after all years, the soul of the legendary nerd is fading. But, I understand, he is older, have family now and so on. Im glad he still doing videos, that all I can say. Love from sweden!
I liked this video. I didn't expect it but I definitely enjoyed. If you want to do more of this content I would love to watch. Not necessarily drama but a retrospective on various channels you used to watch maybe.
I think the issue IS time, but in the wrong context here.
I think the problem is James is trying to "evolve with the times" a bit, which is not what people go to his stuff for.
I like his game reviews, I like his cinema talk (especially the Halloween specials), and other things in general, but I like them all for certain reasons.
Just yesterday Paul Robertson released a new animated video on CZcams. He's another I've been following for decades now... not on CZcams but in general.
The reason I'm happy to see Paul Robertson stuff since early 2000s to now? Yeah, his craft did get better and progress over the years, but he still got that "Paul Robertson vibe" going. You can look at his stuff from 20 years ago and to now and you can still feel Paul Robertson in his work. From his independent stuff, what he did for Scott Pilgrim, his Adult Swim stuff, his work on Mercenary Kings, etc etc etc. It's flat out Paul Robertson.
Why did I bring him up here? The thing is AVGN seems to have went the way of being more laid back James than AVGN anymore. I like James for James and I like AVGN for AVGN. I think the issue is his feel for AVGN is kinda dead and it's been dead for years now sadly.
While I wouldn't like him to, I guess it's best to say he should just quietly kill off the AVGN videos if he's not really feeling it anymore. Would be a real shame, but you shouldn't push doing something if your heart really isn't in there anymore.
Or hell, could put you in the same thing. The reason people still come to your videos is because it still got the "Skillagrim touch" to them. Yeah certain things are different or done not the same as it used to be, but it still FEELS like your work, whether it's a review, whether it's playing a game, whether it's a video like this. Your feeling and passion is still there in your videos and that's why it's still working (despite the crap CZcams and the algorithm likes to do...)
tl;dr: Just let AVGN go, James. I don't think anyone will be mad as they rather AVGN don't go the way of The Simpsons... so to speak.
Yeah I agree with you here. Skall keeps it feeling what his channel is about, which makes me come back even if I don't watch his videos for a bit. That isn't something I can say of some YTers.
Honestly it hasn't been the same since Mike left.
This. People will say he got the controversy ball rolling so to speak, but by the next year everyone had warmed up to him and James and Mike Mondays really ensured viewers that Mike and James were just two really good friends clowning about the silliest stuff. Man I miss those days
@@MikeSandersonVideos hehe controversy ball.
I mean, he isn't onscreen anymore, but if you look at the credits you see him listed as the one who is capturing all or most of the game footage still, which can be confirmed by going to his channel and finding the exact videos that AVGN pulls it from. In fact, I kinda wonder if that isn't part of why James seems less passionate now, he's literally more distant from the experience of playing the game because he's no longer playing it right before the shoot to refresh himself on the experience of playing it, but rather relying on Mike quietly doing that for him. He may not be a method actor, but there was some element of that needed to fully sell people on the anger of the Nerd.
Mike doesn’t want fame he likes having a small cult corner of the internet and that is always where the best content is
I miss his Talk About Games podcast.
I think it's been clear for a long time that he would have been fine retiring the nerd long ago. Not that he necessarily wants to or doesn't want to. He still has a huge audience, and if he wants to make low quality videos, that's fine. He provided us with years and years of content and has comtemplated retiring for over a decade now. As far as a channel, hes been a hit FAR longer than most. Even when he's not at his peak, I'd rather watch a sub-par James video than half of what's on this app. The day he does stop making AVGN, I'll still be rewatching his collective seasons on repeat for as long as they're around.
James is an icon. He owes none of us anything. Without him, CZcams wouldn't be the same, especially the video game community. I also believe he played a huge part in the revival of retro games. I think he still makes great content. Yes, the quality isn't like it was in his prime. But, the man has a family now. And, even then, he has made some wonderful episodes, such as the Doom and Contra episodes. His review of Final Fantasy 3 was perfect.
Those were amazing episodes. The man has been a staple of YT since its inception and hasn't turned toxic at all. I will always respect his work and who he is as a person.
AVGN was my childhood on CZcams, just hope James can stay true to his work and himself.
Well damn Skall, i wasn't expecting to relate to you in this way but I'm here for it.
LadyEmily has the definitive video explaining details over time, but the real point is that James is more a cast member of the avgn productions now rather than a creative. The scripts and video editing aren't done by him anymore; that might not apply every time, but it's a regular occurrence.
I couldn't even watch 2 minutes of the horse man dating sim game and i turned it off. 1st time i have ever not watched a avgn.
Doug Walker and James Rolfe are without a doubt the original Big Two of the Internet
I still watch them both
Nah, Doug Walker sucked dude
He went from "Angry Video Game Nerd" to "slightly annoyed, sometimes but not really gamer"
The gamer of mild disapproval
Part of me thinks it's because of CZcams's policy.
@theeternalslayer
Actually, after some digging around, it turns out he apparently sold out to a different company/entity. Before, he'd do all the scripts mostly solo, now he's probably not involved as much if at all. In fact, some of the scripts sound vaguely chatgpt-like. I did watch his most recent video about Castlevania, and it was actually pretty decent. Its the ratio of good videos to bad videos that have me mostly disappointed. Once you hit season 10, it becomes an episode by episode basis.
Sadly, this happens to a lot of channels over time. At first, they're just someone having fun and being passionate about something without worrying much about presentation or production value. You stay for just that person. But over time the need to constantly grow and get better leads to having an editor, hiring a writing team, additional behind the scenes, vlogs, drone shots, etc.
It's no longer just for fun and the passion, but a job and a brand to keep up. And tbh, I usually just unsubscribe at this point because, yes the production value might have increased and is now at TV quality, but that's exactly it. I watch content creators on YT or twitch to get away from the sanitized world of TV productions. In a way it's exactly what's wrong with YT as a whole. The most successful web video platform where the attraction is to be able to watch videos from anyone is run like a TV network today. I WANT that raw single camera potato quality (within reason ofc).
For me, AVGN was always about just hearing him reminisce and ramble about his observations about 8 and 16 bit games - not to have elaborately staged videos about the most absurd games he could find, or some slapstick skits. Same with Nostalgia Critic. Ever since he filled every video with 20 skits of him and his team it's no longer the same.
Less is more usually.
It lets you put time into what's there rather than cramming it full of fuff.
Alot of times the added production quality seems to take away from the videos rather than adding to them. Alot of times it's a bunch of artificial fluff that's just in the way.
You gotta skip the long ass intro, skip through the skit, skip through the sponsor message, skip the mandatory patreon list reading, skip the video diary updates, all so you can get to get to the actual content. And then there's like 5 minutes left on the video after it's already over.
Meanwhile a simple 360p video that abruptly starts and ends would be fine, would be better actually imo.
i remember working in my college's IT department, bored out of my mind late a night binge watching AVGN. the feeling is kinda like growing up and realizing you can never truly go back home, it's just gone
Man, this made me happy as shit. Great fun as someone who has watched his stuff since 2007. We share a lot of the same feelings on the content, past and present...
Do feel free to make more videos like this. I reckon a lot of your audience may be nostalgic for the early CZcams days and would love to hear your thoughts on a bunch of stuff, nerdy especially. Could be something to tap into now and then...
CZcams even decided to default to 480p, for that added nostalgia factor ^^
I think he burned out on AVGN a long time ago but needs the algorythm hits
AVGN died when he handed away all the work to his new team, after Mike left.
These words are so true. The „new“ AVGN-episodes have no heart :(
While I agree that the quality has gone down I think it is important to understand that AVGN died a few years ago. The whole project was never only his, and a lot of things changed in the DECADES since it started, it is not only the issues with Mike, or having kids and a family, or the fact there was always going to be a limited amount of games he could genuinely rant about. It is also the you tube thing and how difficult it has become to actually say something without being afraid someone will take it the wrong way. Hell even him NOT saying something got him in trouble with the whole female ghostbusters movie. So he stopped. Cinemassacre was sold a few years ago to avoid the whole legal issues now that the creators have fell off. And as I understand part of the deal was he was to remain appearing in episodes as to keep the brand alive. But he has not been involved creatively or emotionally for a while and you can tell. I do not blame James even a little bit, he gave us years of awesome entertainment. He wanted to make a movie and he did. Now he is just cashing in the benefits of all that. I think he earned it.
I see what you mean, but i don´t think James is happy the way it is, a creative mind wants to create something it likes, not phone in the same stuff to earn bread.
Not sure who was mad at him for not reviewing that ghostbusters movie besides the angry grifter types who'd call him a pussy for not shitting on the movie or something.
He took the mature way and didn't review something he didn't enjoy because it would have just spread a lot of negativity (warranted or not) for no actual gain.
Also Idk, the people taking it the wrong way thing is kinda exaggerated, AVGN never came out as offensive to me in any way unless you're a christian grandma who can't listen to people screaming about literal shit.
@@blackjacka.5097 there were a lot of the angry feminist type who disliked anyone who said something against fembusters
@@ImperatorNocturne Yeah apparently if you didn't like that piece of dog shet movie then you're just a racist misogynist.
Angry grifter types? It was Twitter feminists who called him a misogynist because he didn't talk about the movie.
That ending at 15:34 made me laugh, it was so unexpected after your rant ^^
14:55
He may not be as good as he was in the past, HOWEVER I still believe in my opinion he still makes great content. Not just AVGN. It is still fun watching his new stuff even though it is watered down due to monetization issues here on CZcams. I’ve been watching him for over a decade. He’s doing a lot of different projects and updates us on what he has planned and that is one of the things I love about him. I love his movie/show reviews.
He’s got a family. He’s a father, and I personally would like him to spend as much time with his kids as he can and take his time into crafting better and amazing things.
Another thing is that sometimes some formulas need to change, to improve upon/become better than what the past ones were. There are so many factors to these things, and I’d much rather have him not be stressed about the stuff he’s doing. I do agree there isn’t much of his ‘spirit’ put into what he creates, but at least from my side of it, his content isn’t horrible. It’s really not, there are definitely some good laughs in his modern episodes for sure. I’ve been a fan of his ever since I started watching it, and still will be. He’s trying some new things, especially with modern games and that mobile game and it’s good to try something new to see of how it goes.
Thats all I’ve got to say about this, overall he’s doing his best and trying to figure some things out.
Been looking for your channel lately!
There's an entire sub culture of his fan base that revolves around memeing on how far James has fallen off.
And it's warranted.
I've seen those guys. They are so sad lol. Have you seen the group that does the same thing to Cinema Sins because they dumped on movies some guy liked? He made his own youtube channel and troll gang to try and get even.
@@MikeSandersonVideos Not really. If you out grow content, you move on. You dont stick around and be weirdly pissy.
@@functionatthejunction Cinemasins was always ass.
@@MikeSandersonVideos Someone hasn't 'fallen off' because you don't like their videos the same way you did 10 years ago, when you were a child and the creator was still a young adult.
People age, times change, everything is transitory.
There was something wonderful about that era, about the earliest video stuff on the internet. Whether it was the Flash animation of Homestar Runner or Angry Nintendo Nerd moving beyond the limitations of "Nintendo" in his name (plus not wanting to draw their ire) or one I tried re-watching a year ago but I'm not sure I could get into again, Pure Pwnage... that was *really* a favorite of mine. Lotta nostalgia there. Weird how things change.
You managed to put into words something that I've been feeling about AVGN episodes for a while now. Back then, the Nerd didn't feel like a character, it felt real, even with the overreacting and all the excessive things that occasionally happened. It felt like a real person rambling about why he found some old games to be shitty. Now it just feels like James playing a character. Some of the energy and the authenticity of the old videos is just gone. Production quality went way up, but the quality of the product didn't necessarily improve, I guess.
I can't say I agree with all your points, but you are definitely right about old AVGN being better. His episodes are very hit or miss now days. Some recent-ish bangers are: his new Castlevania, Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde Re-Revisited, Ecco the Dolphin, Doom, and of course his FF6 episode (probably his best in a long time). But some recent stinkers are Purr Pals, My Horse Prince, and Carmagedden.
I never really felt like James "got bad" in the way his fans seem to hate him for. I always thought it was the changes youtube went through over the years that forced him to change his content. Now a days people censor saying "Weapons" "Drugs" "Suicide" etc in fear of losing their monetization I wouldn't be surprised if that's what made James had to tone it down as well. Personally I still enjoy the modern videos just as much as the old ones but they do have a different vibe to them I can see some people not being into.
U-tube became Ju-Tube
I have that same mindset. His newer AVGN episodes certainly aren't bad and have rewatchability but his older videos are much more enjoyable.
avgn got worse but its still good he went from 10/10 to 7/10 but some of his haters hold him to unreasonable standards while giving others a pass
I don't know anything about this beyond what I just watched but I can tell that the problem is not an easily fixed one because he clearly lost his passion for it. You can see it in his eyes and that makes the performance come across differently.
Nothing lasts forever I just love that he’s still around making AVGN videos content so I’m thankful 🙏
Didn’t know you were a fan. I’m at peace with how his career has changed. There’s always something to appreciate.
I love Shitpickle (shitpickle).
What an unusual topic for you Skal! Regardless, a welcome one. AVGN is ... look, James tries his best, but that ship has perhaps sailed. It's like a relic now. I am eternally grateful for all the fun experiences I've had with his videos, but perhaps ... yeah.
I remember a moment when James asked his fans something about whether his fans wanted more avgn or other projects. Fans chose more avgn. I feel like he just doesn't have the same soul in his videos
That felt like him asking for permission to move on, but unfortunately the fans did not give him permission. I don't blame him for phoning it in, he's being forced to do something he doesn't want to do anymore
Yeah that when he was balding and started doing board game and movie reviews which i love and maybe as soon as the avgn movie. Love all of it!
Oof, that is actually sad.
given how fun some of his other stuff is.
@@seanmadson8524 Really? Are you that disingenuous for blaming *AVGN fans* for wanting AVGN instead of something else? And why do you think it's acceptable for James to throw this burden on his fans? He's a grown man.
Doug Walker tried to do that, it failed and he bounced back, for example. *Don't blame others for your decisions in life.*
Stop lying: most of the comments in his videos nowadays say they prefer James simply giving his own opinions, talking to the camera...
What does he do? He approves a plagiarized script on "Monster Madness" that was supposed to be his review, written by him - not an AVGN script that understandably can include a writing team behind it.
Haven't come across your channel or content before but I thought this was very fair and tactful, while getting across a point that I agree with and feel strongly about. The Nerd got me through some hard times and I'm glad to know I wasn't alone 😃
Great video and observation. James should be proud of his success. I am proud of him. I also would like say thank you for all the memories the Nerd brought back from my childhood. At 40 years old, he is the reason why I have an original working nes from 1986.
AVGN much like The Simpsons will be remembered for when they were once good instead of for being good. At least his influence is still present all these years later on many of us CZcamsrs. I enjoyed the first few seasons worth of content but after a while it's clear he was not writing the scripts and just reading someone else's work with no emotion. He's just making money and very soulless today in comparison. Watch Plumbers Don't Wear Ties episode and compare that to the Tomb Raider episode. Night and day.
I agree with The Simpsons I stopped watching that so many years ago, same with AVGN. At some point the charm was gone and the content no longer appealed to me it felt forced in a bad way, not sure how to put it in words. I get it we all get older but when you lose your passion for something and you still do it you need to somehow ignite the spark again. If not your work will feel like you're clocking in and that's an awful feeling as a viewer, at least it was for me. I don't like blaming things on getting older there are plenty of older people out there doing amazing content on youtube and even streaming on platforms like twitch, age is not an excuse and never will be.
@@huldu yeah and you end up pretty much just rewatching the old content.
The last video of avgn was him making fun of the mobile game by ignoring the fact that the game was comedic and not serious, it was so confusing.
Not to mention Danny Gonzalez made the same video a while back on the same game.
Thanks for the awesome videos Man
What a banger of a crossover, got my boy Skall talking about AVGN and referencing AOS. Real recognize real.
The AVGN transformed from a passion project to a job with a lot of responsibilities. He is now responsible for the income of others, not only of himself, and that can be very stressful
But he also placed himself in most of that
Tell that to his fans who work a 9-to-5 job, have families but don't use them as scapegoats to justify their own personal issues.
Your justification is just insulting: children don't ask to be born, if you chose to have a family *don't throw them under the bus.*
You will become James too, in the end. In fact we all will. It's basically the "old rock star" syndrome - it's important to know when to leave the scene.
Indeed. I was a fan right fron "Season 2" of AVGN and saw the golden ages, put my donation to the movie (I still have the picture and his autograph that I got from it) and so on. But things change and it is clear James' heart is no longer in it, which is understandable because when you are married and have kids your priorities change and what used to excite you as a 20-30 year old single, may no longer light a similar fire as a family man.
Another guy I sorely miss is Spoony. Now, he was not mentally OK. His comedy was pure gold but in hindsight it may have been growing from... an unhealthy place. Unlike James who just got old he instead had a complete mental break down and stopped all of his old projects on the spot years ago. I have heard he is in a better place now but still the old Spoony stuff is no more. A lot of his videos have been lost to time too, sadly, so even if I would want to (and I do) revisit them, I cannot. Almost all of them are gone, except for his most famous retrospectives which are on youtube in bad quality.
This is a substantially more articulate version of what I was thinking. Thank you for voicing it as you have. Appreciate the video, Skall :)
i loved James back in the day, but i felt like he should have retired the channel along time ago. he has some decent episodes every once and a while, but i always thought he should have gone the movie way, I would love to see him make some low budget movies like comedies or monster movies. he is very clever with his camera work and special affects. He just needs to get a crew together, good writer and actors
He actually tried to go the movie way. The one movie he made didn't poorly, so he gave up.
It's a sad fact Skall but James doesn't even write his own material anymore he sold out to screen wave years ago and there was even that plagiarism scandal with Monster Madness a few years back.
I think at the end of the day AVGN is just a paycheck to James Rolfe now, to quote Hbomberguy "the magic is gone".
He trapped himself financially with the gimmick and now does not see a means of escape (he does not want to take the risk in any event, and I don't even believe he knows how to navigate those waters--Bimmy was the product of many of the people around him in those early days, and his disastrous feature film making escapade revealed him to himself.
Why would you quote Hcuckerguy lol, does he claim copyright on that saying too?
@@ThatOneGuyJet omg such a witty retort, excuse me while I go rethink my whole life
I love hearing your commentary about AVGN. I still watch him to this day, but I feel almost the same way about his current state as you do. Keep up the good work man.
Thing is : CZcams has changed a lot over the years. And since 2017 especially, they unmonetize every videos with too much swear words on them, making channels like the nerd's (or others, like Filthy Frank's for example) totally unviable. Not only that, they also made the algorythm value posting multiple low effort videos way more more than posting scripted, well edited, finely crafted videos.
I'm not saying there isn't a slightly "burned out/getting old" factor on some of James' vids in recent years, but I think it's also due to CZcams's will to transform its meta into something that focuses more on : kid friendly stuff, daily posts, reaction based and unedited commentary style content. So yeah, nothing that he was known for or good at, really. I think he just tried to adapt to the site's demands over the years.
Beyond that, I think we should thank the guy for being still there after all these years, regardless of what we think he should do with his channel. Because if it wasn't for that 2005 Simon's quest review he posted to make a few friends laugh, content creation as we know it today wouldn't exist. CZcams would still be for cats videos and Charlie bit my finger kind of stuff. He started a trend where everyone with a camera, a bit of technical know how, and a lot of passion can potentially make a career out of it and inspire thousands to do the same.
I miss old Spoony more.
Ultima retrospective
The original 3 avgn episodes were supposed to be it. James never planned on making a career out of the persona. He had to ride that hype train and it worked, he made a living off of it. He still is. I think it's just obvious that's not the career he was intending. Making films was his plan. He never planned on playing the same role for 20 years. To me it seems like he's been tired of it for a while and just does it to pay the bills at this point.
"i dont know who that is"
*Avgn has the Crawlspace moment from breaking bad*
Man that shit was cathartic and hurt my soul
Wild switch up, im here for it
I like AVGN because it was clear it was a character and he actually enjoyed most of the games to some degree. And the video was really just highlighting a classic or an obscure game. But a lot of people took it literally and it spawned a wave of cringe copycats who were legitimately angry and it wasn't funny or charming.
love the diversification of topics. If I may suggest , have you considered doing sci-fi fantasy book reviews ? I would love to hear your perspective on swordplay in something like game of thrones or the stormlight archives.
Literally grew up watching avgn since childhood he was probably the first CZcamsr I ever watched and have seen every video since. Love your take on his newer episodes I totally agree but I’ll always be a fan
If memory serves, Screenwave Media basically runs AVGN, they write everything, choose the sponsors, pick what games he plays. At this point, I am pretty sure James just shows up, says what he is told to say, cashes a check, and goes back to his family. And I dont blame him for it, man is basically retired at this point and just cashing in on his decades of hard work in the trenches of CZcams.
I dont blame him one bit. Money is money and when you got a family's, providing for them is priority 1.
And an unstable tr00n is at the helm of that ship..
can't hate the guy. i get being fond of his old stuff, but it's been so obvious that the show ended a long time ago. still watch his movie vids just to support with some watchtime and a like
To think that James Rofle has made AVGN for 20 years, i feel old. But i still watch his videos :).
Huh, 20 years on May 25th.
it wouldn't be so strange if it was nit for the fact that his video were supposed to be nostalgic so its like nostalgia for nostalgia you have already lived trough so many different eras with unique cultures
Looks like Bimmy Rolfe is at it again
No time to be at it, it's 5:40
3:13 Keith's Neo Geo song is an all time banger imo.
Neo Geo! Neo Geo! 4 bright buttons and 2 joysticks! Neo Geo! Neo Geo! Cool red cab and a name that sticks!
AVGN (and Nostalgia Critic) had so much influence on early CZcams and inspired so many great content creators. The old guard changed.. a lot. But they left their mark.
As a french, without AVGN we might never have had Joueur Du Grenier (JDG), one of the greatest pillars of the french YT community and humour. I enjoyed AVGN too, but not as much as you apparently did Skall.
Can only wish for him to reignite the spark.
He's gonna take you back medieval times, to review some weapons that suck ass.
He rather have, a ninjato become disassembled in his ears.
He rather throw, a rotten pommel, of a fantasy sword and end someone rightly.
He's the angriest weapon reviewer you ever heard, he's the angry sword nerd.
He's the angry axe and club nerd.
He's the angry, Skallgrim.
Skallagrimm the cranky sword dad oldman 😮.
@@marocat4749 AVGN: Cowabunga piece of DOG POOP!
Skallagrim: Cowabunga piece of sheep fluff!