I just stumbled onto Angry Video Game Nerd recently and I’m captivated. I’m not really sure why. He’s not terribly funny a lot of the time, and he’s obsessed with scatalogia on a level that would put South Park to shame. He does really asinine skits that are funny maybe 10% of the time, and they all seem to involve him beating up random characters from the games he shits on (sometimes literally). However, he shows off a lot of games and systems that time forgot and actually highlights the most memorable and shitty parts of them in loving agonizing detail, in a way that I can’t help but laugh at. He’s an honest reviewer, and he’s really, scarily enthusiastic about video games (his collection includes virtually every console ever made, and probably thousands of games).
When he’s actually talking about the games, systems, and accessories, he’s like a potty-mouthed professor of obscure video gaming history, and it’s an interesting trip.
I’m a fan, but I’d pretty much agree entirely with your opinion - he thinks he’s way funnier than he is. When he’s actually showing you why the game sucks so freaking hard, he’s hilarious. (Ghostbusters was fantastic for this. Also Indiana Jones, the first one.) When he’s trying to think of metaphors for why the game sucks so hard, he’s really obnoxious.
Agreed with your agreement. I find him oddly alluring, even though he really isn’t that funny. But some of his videos (or moments at least) are pretty classic. He also seems quite well informed of the games he plays, and I think I find that enjoyable too.
Also, I urge anyone who likes Angry Video Game Nerd to check out the Nostalgia Critic. Similar concept, only with shows and movies from the 80s, early 90s. Similar to AVGN he’s not always hilarious, and he is a bit of an acquired taste, but he takes himself slightly more seriously than AVGN (well, sort of) and is actually pretty fair to most of the stuff he covers. Video archive here: http://www.thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic
I like the Angry Video Game Nerd. He can be hit-or-miss, but he’s usually entertaining. James Rolfe obviously knows his stuff- he is quite intelligent when it comes to games and movies (he does some stuff under his own name talking about movies, the documentary Rocky Jumped A Park Bench- in which he travels around his hometown of Philadelphia searching for locations used in the Rocky movies- is a personal favorite). I’ve actually met him, and he seems like a nice guy. Some people don’t realize that the Nerd is just a character, but it’s an interesting character- if it was just himself swearing and complaining about video games, it probably wouldn’t be as interesting. By creating a typical “nerd” character, he’s channeling these aggressions we all had as a kid playing a horrible video game, except exaggerating it tenfold or more.
And any list of great Nerd episodes that doesn’t include his magnum opus Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties is a shitload of fuck. Just like Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties itself.
(I’ll agree that the Nostalgia Critic is also entertaining. He’s actually done a few collaborations with the Nerd- their review of the Making of the Ninja Turtles Concert video was entertaining, especially since the two of them have similar character traits and both are, as stated in the video, big Ninja Turtle fans.)
I’m a big fan of the Nerd. Like other have said, he highlights a lot of old interesting games, examines aspects and flaws I would have never even considered, and above all, of course, he’s really funny. He just has a way of phrasing things that consistently cracks me up.
I’d recommend anyone interested in James Rolfe’s work outside of the Nerd stuff, or anyone interested in independent filmmaking, to watch his autobiography of sorts, Cinemassacre 200. It’s pretty inspiring and he has some real dedication.
It was complete luck, (as I’m sure James would admit), but the look of total shock on his face is required viewing for every gamer on the planet. (After viewing the original Top Gun review, of course.)
I really like the James Rolfe, but I do think it requires knowledge of the fact that “the Nerd” is just a character. He’s very charismatic and obviously know his stuff.
He speaks to a specific audience, but those of us who watch him love him. I never miss a video.
Really? It’s not that hard. As long as you realize that A and B slow you down or speed you up. I always crashed before I finally figured that out. :smack:
Hey, maybe I haven’t gotten to that one yet! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!! It’s such a load of shit, I’d rather have a donkey anus having a shit party in my balls with all of its anal friends than listen to another of your fartfuck utterances!
Yeah, I got a whole new level of respect for him after I saw that. He had to be pretty dedicated to put up with the stuff he did.
His best line was after he had to explain all the stuff he had to go through for video editing: “And then I got a COMPUTER! So that was the end of THAT bullshit!”
I prefer to watch the other sections of ScrewAttack. I never find the Nerd to be funny. ScrewAttack’s Top 10 and retro-game reviews are much funnier I think.
The Nostalgia Critic is a lot closer to Yahtzee than AVGN. AVGN just cusses a lot. The Nostalgia Critic cusses, but he’s also very clever and has an excellent delivery that reminds me of Yahtzee.
Actually it’s trickier than that. You have to realize that you’re supposed to control your altitude with the speed controls (A and B) and control your speed with the angle of the plane. That’s how it’s done in RL, too, BTW.
If the game says “down, down” and you just angle the plane down, well, sure, you’re gonna go down… and too fast. BOOM. If the game says “faster, faster” and you throttle up, you’ll just overshoot the carrier. BOOM.
Now, that being said… I never landed that fucking plane, either. For that matter, I think I managed in-flight refueling like twice in my entire childhood. That game was ass.
AVGN doesn’t just cuss a lot, he’s far more informative about the games he reviews than Yahtzee. And AVGN highlights the inherent awful hilarity of the games far better than Yahtzee does. However, AVGN is pretty bad at generating his own hilarity, whereas Yahtzee is a genius at it.
AVGN is who I’d go to if I want to actually learn about a game and laugh at its actual mechanics, and Yahtzee is who I’d go to if I want to hear funny and acerbic industry- and genre-related commentary with the game as a starting point. Both have their uses, though I agree that Yahtzee is far tighter in his presentation than AVGN could ever hope to be.
Never heard of AVGN before but I watched the Bible Games video and it was quite amusing, the highlight being the replay and analysis of the spectacular lion versus squirrel battle. The inside dope on the transformation of Wolfenstein 3D to Noah the goat-hunter was great too.
