MovieChat Forums > Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014) Discussion > Rolfe and Matei are total scam artists

Rolfe and Matei are total scam artists

posted 9 years ago by ProdigyReinEngel
28 replies | jump to latest

The moment James received his $300,000 check from whichever crowd funding site he used, what did he do? Stopped making episodes, moved into a new house and bought a bunch of new toys that he foolishly bragged about on Twitter and the like. The most important one of the three was that he stopped making AVGN episodes, which is what made him semi-famous. Can you imagine South Park receding into four episodes a year at the height of their popularity? Instead of making new episodes, he began going the lazy route of just playing random games while sitting on a couch with a camera pointed at him. Little to no editing required, no special effects, no script... but plenty of YouTube checks.

Thankfully, not all of his fans were total idiots and a backlash resulted. How did they deal with it? By banning everyone who spoke negatively about them. Ever see that South Park episode about safe spaces? That applies to them more than anyone else I've ever seen on YouTube, and that's quite the accomplishment. Rolfe lost 3,500 subscribers in one day and figured something needed to be done, so he started making AVGN episodes again... four per year, that is.

Around this time he partnered with another person, who shall remain nameless because **** him, and sought funding to manufacture reproduction cartridges of Cheetahmen II, a game none of them actually owned the rights to, but if there's a buck to be made, who cares? After collecting some money, through crowd funding websites again, the project was cancelled with no refunds given.

It gets worse.

Currently, since his Cinemassacre account has almost two million subscribers and he was a pioneer of the YouTube partner program, he finds ways to make as much money as possible by uploading old videos. First, he started breaking up newer videos into multiple parts for no reason, then he went back and deleted old videos, broke them up into two parts and re-uploaded them. Then he uploaded older videos with "better quality," even though not a single person could tell a difference (because there was none). Currently, he's uploading entire "seasons" as one video. That means single episodes are on YouTube up to four times, and I'm sure if he or Matei can think of another reason to re-upload them (better sound, bonus commentary...) they'll be on there five or more times.

You know what I find to be hilarious? In one of his videos he joked about Lucas going back and re-editing Star Wars and re-releasing them, saying he'd never do that to his videos. Well, what he's doing is far worse because at least Lucas changed some things around before re-releasing them.

This movie is terrible, plain and simple. It's rushed, poorly edited tripe that was filmed in front of a single green screen. The effects were done on his Mac, it was shot with the same cameras he uses for the web series and no special care was given to the audio. My point is... where did the $300,000 go? In their pockets, that's where. A man named Stuart Ashen crowd funded his own movie, named Ashens and the Quest For the Game Child around the same time Rolfe made his. He asked for $50,000, every penny of which went into the actual film... which, by the way, was released for free on the Internet, and it's still there now. How can someone make a better looking, better acted, better written, better edited and better filmed movie for 1/6th of the price? Eh, I've already answered that.

One of the more sickening things is that every game reviewer that has reviewed this film gives it glowing praise, all because they want a slice of James' pie. Same goes for the AVGN video game, which is a whole other story. Basically, everyone acted like it was just a fan making an indie game, when in reality it was commissioned by Rolfe himself, who receives most, if not all, of the profits.

I think I've given enough examples of why these two horrible human beings are scam artists, who continuously exploit their fans, almost on a daily basis. Speaking of which, congratulations to the AVGN fans, you bought both of them new houses and merchandise, paid for everything Rolfe's kid needs, made sure all they have to do for the rest of their lives is play video games and how do they thank you? They ban you if you disagree, they ban you if you dislike and they lie about what they'll spend your donations on.

"Sorry there haven't been any new episodes, I'm feeling burnt out."

Thankfully he'll never get burnt out on uploading old videos!

[–] blackalbedo 8 years ago

I'm surprised you took all of the time to try and shame the folk behind AVGN and Cinemassacre. Did you invest much money toward the film? Did anyone you know personally invest much money toward it? Were you banned for any of the reasons which you mentioned previously?

I'll be upfront to everyone, I've not seen the movie yet, but here's why ProdigyReinEngel is wrong, and it's not hard to see.

It sounds like you're getting mad that movie producers/directors/writers etc use the profits of their movie toward personal expenses, or in other words, their lofty paychecks for work well done. You're mad at them for using funding to produce content on top of a vast expanse of free content they've offered for years? You can only accuse James of producing a bad film, despite the admitted intentional artistic choices to make it look sub-par. There's a huge cast. Practical effects aren't cheap either. Which brings me to another point.

Could you seriously think that the re-release/remixing of the AVGN episodes is comparable to the Star Wars edits and re-releases? YouTube is a free platform (mostly). All of the content is free of charge! How could their decision to spread out their videos possibly offend you? That's what filmmakers do! You have to shell out your product as much as possible to increase your fanbase, apply to a wide audience, and increase certain revenues. It would be tragic if James and co didn't receive any compensation for their work. How much is not up to us entirely. We just pay to see the movie and we sit through an ad occasionally. What Lucas did to Star Wars however, is tragic. I keep my original VHS under lock and key for the day when Lucas tries to dump all of THEM in a landfill.

James Rolfe is an inspiration to me. I see no deception in the way he's managed his career and his image. We can't say exactly what the money was spent on, but you know what? That's what happens with donations. Once you donate, it's gone, and you have no guarantee what you're gonna get, especially on creative efforts. I love everything he says SPECIFICALLY regarding his views on film creation and design. Practical FTW! Everything else he says is hit-or-miss, but when it hits, man... I've woken my wife up a few times laughing. The Winter Games review on NES was one night. Another was Daydream Davey.

And honestly, what did you expect? This film was extremely low-budget (I know there's many more lower-budget films, this one still extremely low by comparison), based on a free web series launched from the man's house of all places and played to theater crowds across the US. What James has accomplished is nothing short of remarkable. You need to stop worrying about what filmmakers spend their acquisitions on and appreciate the art form more. They didn't steal your Bitcoins. They produced what they said they would. If you don't like it, then rate the content of the film, not your perceived credibility of the authors. If you want to really be shaken, take a look at what Hollywood does with its money. I bet you could write a whole *beep* book on that. Actually, you've already seen what George Lucas did with your money. He made those little changes you like so much. Then he took your money again for what's essentially the same movie, but slightly more annoying.

I plan on renting the AVGN movie as soon as I can get time to watch it. I love being able to participate in a project, in some small way, that started from the ground and speaks loudly to me as a long-time fan of video games and one who understands that rage associated with the worst of them.

Keep up the good work, James and co. AVGN is one thing. I can't wait to see the other projects you've dreamed of writing!

[–] Diamhea 8 years ago

I was banned by Matei for criticizing the "Sports Games" episode back when it was new. My post wasn't "vitriolic," I simply observed that a lot of the arguments seemed rushed and the anger was forced. *beep* Matei.