James Rolfe can't act as the AVGN anymore... - Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014) Discussion

[–] Edvfrt 10 years ago

Why do you think he has lost touch with the character and do you ever think he will ever get back on track?

I think he is tired of it and i think he has been for some years. The fact he cares to make a movie at this point is surprising. I wouldn't mind a special final Nerd episode and then focus on his other projects where his heart is still into it. I enjoy his Board James series way more than AVGN now. Actually i think i always did. I wish he focused on that one for a while.

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[–] Sanke 10 years ago

When he was releasing an episode every two weeks he was naturally more consistent because he immediately starting writing the next one after finishing the last. That was his whole focus. When he started production on the movie, he released episodes sparingly so it makes sense if you notice changes because he wasn't doing it as frequently.

The nerd character kind of became a hybrid of AVGN and James Rolfe and I think he feels he can just make up his own rules as far as the 4th wall is concerned at this point because most of his fanbase know James Rolfe quite well by now and it's not that necessary to separate himself so much from the character.

Besides that, even when he was in his "prime" so to speak he still had episodes that weren't as good and today is the same. Some episodes are still great quality and hold up to his older ones but because they're not as frequent anymore, if he releases a not so good episode today it reflects worse than before because the next one won't be for another month or more.

Regardless, he has said he'll never stop doing them. No matter if it ends up being once a year he specifically stated that he enjoys creating the show it will be ongoing with no end in sight so get used to it.

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[–] Pseudoephedrine 10 years ago

Ever since the beginning of 2011, James Rolfe has been overacting as the AVGN. He drags out reactions too long and it gets annoying. His performance as the AVGN just doesn't feel right anymore. His performance in this movie is no exception.

He's at his best when He's just sitting there bitching/complaining about the games. That rant he gave over Tiger games being 'obsolete' is classic.

I agree, I think Rolfe really wants to move on from the "Nerd" character and is probably in his "I AM NOT SPOCK" phase, but a few decades from now? Rolfe will be thanking all the stars that he made these videos as it will come back to haunt him (in a good way)

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[–] Emily_Seung 10 years ago

watch the Nightmare on Elm Street & Bible Games 1 review and compare it to the character in the movie, those 2 episodes captured the definitive nerd and he seems different in the movie.

anybody remember 2006, 2007 when we didn't see much of Rolfe and our first real look at Rolfe out of character was a video of him with friends at a party, joking around in front of a mirror making himself have multiple arms etc that was the first time I remember seeing the Rolfe outside of the Nerd!

Mike I don't remember seeing until his tour of the Night of the Living Dead film locations.

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[–] MurderCapital666 10 years ago

The well wnet dry and he ran out of ideas. The character is just a shadow of it former self. He is exaggerating it now.

tHe MuRdER CaPiTaL oF thE woRLd

"walk into this world with you head up high"

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[–] HEYitzED 10 years ago

James used to BECOME the AVGN, now all he can do is portray him. When he was on screen in the Friday the 13th and Silver Surfer reviews for example, he was not James anymore, the AVGN side of him took completely over. I wouldn't say he's lost it, his heart just isn't it as much anymore. It's sad, but people change and there's nothing we can do about it. While I don't think this is a COMPLETELY bad thing, AVGN now is basically just James dressed up like the AVGN.

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[–] avortac 10 years ago

Some of this is definitely true, but the main core point is;

What does it matter, if he makes good episodes?

I don't even care about the AVGN character one way or another - it is not why I watched the AVGN episodes. The first episode I saw was the Atari 5200 review, and I was hooked, because it showed in a FUN and also slightly funny way a geek in his basement trying to play old console games on a bright, old TV, and reviewing the system in a coherent way.

His pleasant and easy-to-listen-to speaking voice (just look at some of the alternatives with thick accents, mumbling, or being incoherent/listless or sounding too tired.. it's pretty horrendous) also sealed the deal.

The video was a great 'teaser', and the only thing that I really hated about it was that he never actually PLAYED A GAME in it.

Imagine that - I started wanting to see more of AVGN because of an episode where he doesn't actually play anything, or review any specific games!

So, there doesn't even have to be a review for the episode to be good. Just good 'presence', well done presentation, good, clear and 'awake' speaking voice (which Rolfe always has), and an old game system and its interesting games. Granted, the 5200 was a failure and all that, but it is still an interesting system, and its games still look pretty radiant to me (I mean, atmosphere-wise).

Of course, if there IS a good review - what more would there need to be?

I would love to see any good reviewer review some good games, instead of just bad ones - and not have them turn into the whole Mario 3-fiasco (yeah, that episode really reached the limit of my tolerance, although it began well).

It doesn't matter if the character is AVGN - Heck, Rolfe already has so many characters that he might just as well imagine a "Mellow Video Game Nerd"-character, or whatever he wants, that reviews only good games - or both.

Balancing the bad game reviews with good game counterparts would also liven up and refreshen the approach a lot - he has done it randomly sometimes, especially with 'Contra', but it could be done more systematically.

I think a lot of us would watch any good AVGN/MVGN/WhateverVGN-episodes, whether they are reviews or not, as long as they are relatively free of gimmicks and theatrics.

I didn't (and don't) mind the Atari 5200-episode theatrics, because they were basically just Rolfe trying to get the game system installed, and casually bumping into the oddities of the system while doing it. It was actually pretty great to do it that way - it's easy to feel sympathy for him, trying to install an old game system. We've all been there (or at least we can imagine being there).

Something down-to-Earth like that, combined with an interesting presentation of an old system or a game or games, would be just fine, and I am sure most of us would gladly tune in to see the next episode.

The core point is old game systems and games.

If Rolfe can remember THAT, he can toss away the AVGN character, he can toss away the cursing and drinking Rolling Rock, he can toss away the faked anger - and he can replace it with anything he wants. The games (and the game systems) need to be the focal point and the main focus, and with his excellent research, attention to detail and explanations and presentation skills, he can make anything interesting.

With the right focus, of course.

Just bring games and game systems.. games, games, games, games! That's what it's all about!

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[–] HEYitzED 10 years ago

Hell, I thought it was funny back in his Angry Nintendo Nerd days when he barely explained the rules of each game and just cursed every time he died.

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[–] avortac 10 years ago

"Funny" is different from "overall good episode". And the episodes WERE all about games back then. As long as it's about games, and enough games are shown, Rolfe can make any angle good. Your comment actually proves my point. Even if it's just him falling and cursing, he can make it fun(ny) and entertaining.

And it's still fun and entertaning to watch the episodes, as long as they are about games or game systems, and enough games are shown and/or played.

I'd require a little more from a good video than just falling and cursing, though, but to each his own. And maybe it was funny, because it was fresh. But you can't keep repeating the same joke if you want 'funny', and there are only so many things you can do, joke-wise, with video games - so in my opinion, it'd be better not to focus on 'funny' as much as 'entertaining and informative'.

But as I said, as long as it's about GAMES, he can make it good, no matter what kind of angle he takes (I mean, it doesn't have to be funny, it doesn't have to be AVGN, it doesn't have to have cursing, rolling rock, shítpickle, or even actual reviews (the Atari 5200 episode proves this - no game reviews, but a great and entertaining episode) - as long as it's about games, and Rolfe puts his finest (honest and humble) self into it, it should be good.

The problem with AVGN is the problem of telling the same joke in different packaging over and over again. A guy went to a bar.. we have all heard it so many times, it's not funny anymore. There are only so many times you can tell a joke, before it becomes stale, and you have to change it. The same goes with any kind of 'schtick'.

If the viewer KNOWS there will be 'sucks monkey fúck', 'what were they thinking', 'I'd rather drink buffalo diarrhea mixed with skunk píss' in a new episode, it's not going to have impact. It can only be funny a couple of times, then it becomes a cliché.

When you repeat things a lot, they tend to become caricatures of themselves, which is what happened to the AVGN character. He seemed sincere in the beginning, then he became a little fake with the skits, and then he became a parody of itself. With so many episodes, it's probably inevitable. You run out of stuff, ideas, jokes, 'extreme things to say' about something.

Meanwhile you lose your youthful spark, you take on more responsibilities, and mature - it's not going to be easy to keep up.

In my opinion, the best thing would be to keep the focus = Games and Game Systems - and then renew everything else. If he dares, he could create a brand new character, and make it almost anything, as long as it's about games, and the skits are kept to a minimum, and gameplaying-specific (not character-driven), and he still reviews games and tells about the history and the 'other platforms' and things like that as well.

Imho, he doesn't always have to be angry. He doesn't have to cuss. He just has to show us games and/or game systems in an entertaining way - that's all.

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[–] HEYitzED 10 years ago

Not saying informative reviews aren't good. But he used to sound like he didn't care as much about the main objective (even while explaining it) and his main goal was just to crap on the game as much as possible. For example, in the Friday the 13th review he says something like "you have to make it to the cabin in time or Jason kills one of the camp counselors" and he says it in this very sarcastic tone, like he doesn't even care if they die or not. Then when he rescues them they thank him and he says "thanks for walking into the cabin? I didn't fight Jason yet but you're welcome". Then he pretends Jason actually scared him and made a Punch-Out reference. I just used to love his sarcastic sense of humor and he seems to have lost it a bit. He doesn't have to say "what a s*** load of *beep* over and over to be funny. He can use jokes that aren't cliche and still be funny. He just doesn't work off of the games as much anymore and just kinda makes stuff up like in the Kid Kool and Beetlejuice reviews. Like he's saying, "okay, here's a list of reasons why the game sucks". Rather than just not really caring that the game sucks, but pretending he cares. I hope I'm making sense here, lol. Like the old AVGN thrived off playing crappy games but the new AVGN would rather be playing something good. Also seems like he's more focused on beating the games than picking them apart.

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[–] OctoberFox 10 years ago

I think this is an example of "Flanderization". Honestly, I remember seeing him when he was the Angry Nintendo Nerd, enjoying the gimmick, but figuring out there was one trick to this pony by the time he was moving to GT.

I don't mean to slam the guy at all, but his act couldn't have lasted on what he was doing in his videos. Setting aside personal ambitions and examining his ability realistically, was acting, writing, directing or really any part of the creative process honed or really even there? I admire a self-made man, but internet celebrity and anything approaching mainstream (even the kind that comes with the indies) are worlds apart, and what might have been passable as talent in smaller videos might not translate well under the scrutiny of a feature length film.

The humor in and of itself was tissue thin and mostly sophomoric. What the heck else would one expect to grow from that?

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