The Angry Video Game Nerd

[Henry B 50]

Virtual Boy

[John Crichton 4]

Classic. Absolute classic. I reconized every shot from Nintendo Power in the video, that was when I was subscribing to it. I actually tried out a Virtual Boy in a store display, and let me tell you, my eyes have never gotten so sore so quickly. When the greatest game company ever makes a mistake, it makes it a big one.

[Red 75]

The best Nerd video in a while. O'man did the Virtual Boy deserve that desecration. It really is hard to believe that the thing turned out so freakishly bad from what was a great concept and great company. It truly is one of the worst inventions ever.

I played it once when I was a lot younger. It literally almost made me ill.

[John Crichton 4]

Duct taping it to his head was priceless.

[Richard Penna 3,684]

Ahh.. this brought back some memories, not just because I remember playing these games and having exactly the same problems (though considerably less swearing involved), but because I recognised every single character he mentions in the TMNT one.

And his face at the 'you can just walk over it?.....' bit is priceless

[John Crichton 4]

New video! Featuring the greatest guest star since the legendary Sh*tpickle.

[Henry B 50]

I don't really know why, but my favorite part of that is when the lion says, "With a r-r-r-r-uck, and a f-f***!"

[Red 75]

There are some games that defy explanation for why they are so bad. That is one of them.

[Henry B 50]

Intellivision

[John Crichton 4]

The bad: I hope we won't keep going down the music video road.

The wise: Better graphics don't make it a better game.

The good: "It's like trying to stick your d*ck in a Cheerio!"

[Henry B 50]

Yeah, that line was friggin' hilarious.

The music video road? I thought "Double Vision" was a boring song (though visually impressive). The theme song, on the other hand, was awesome. Nothing like clips cut to a thumping techno beat.

[John Crichton 4]

Yeah, I was referring to the "Double Vision" thing, the regular intro was fine.

[Henry B 50]

Ah. I think the problem with "Double Vision" is that it was played straight, not for camp value, unlike the Nintendo Power theme song for example.

[John Crichton 4]

Yeah, it had pretty much zero comedy value, it was just another generic music intro that you see all over the place. But after that the video was classic AVGN.

[Red 75]

Considering how long the AVGN has been around and how the quality hasn't dropped, I don't think we need to worry. That James Rolfe guy knows what he's doing, even if he does screw up a bit occasionally.

[Henry B 50]

Colecovision is coming April 9th.

On a somewhat related note, Kyle Justin (musician of the Nerd) has released an album. I'm listening to samples on iTunes and really liking it ("If I Could Fly Through the Stars"!). Of course, the AVGN Theme Song isn't on this album, presumably because Justin wants to project a serious image.

[nightscape94 965]

I love this guy. Hilarious. I didn't realize there was a thread here for him (I haven't been around that much lately). His 25 minute Christmas episode from last year his classic.

Tim

[Trent B 337]

Well AVGN has posted the part two for Double Vision.

[Lurker 5]

Yes, and it can be found here.

Neil

[Henry B 50]

The beginning's awesome, but I'm not sure if I like the goofier trend in AVGN's videos. It worked for "A Christmas Carol," but that was a pretty sentimental episode. Aside from Rambo there hasn't been enough raw anger lately.

[John Crichton 4]

Well, I suppose everyone's got to calm down eventually.

John- who'll watch the new one later tonight

[Trent B 337]

You're right it is dubbed down than his usual videos, but I thought it was still funny.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

What makes his videos great isn't the creative cursing...though to younger audiences that may seem like the selling point.

It's that he's relaying all the thoughts and emotions we older folks felt when we were playing these games and systems as 5, 6, or 7 year olds, and the extent of our vocabular was "poo." It's nostalgic brilliance.

[Trent B 337]

I agree with you on that one Blumenkohl. What's sad too is today a lot of the newer generation of kids have no clue what the old consoles or games looked like. They're too used to stuff from PS3, X-Box, the Wii, etc...

Yes there are a lot of fun games today but I think back then games were a tad more enjoyable for some reason.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Yes there are a lot of fun games today but I think back then games were a tad more enjoyable for some reason.

Yeah...my best video game memories are still from back in the day.

In the modern day my last truly mezmerizing stick with you forever game experience was in Return to Castle Wolfenstein multiplayer. 7 years ago...but even that did not hold a candle to playing the original Super Mario Brothers....

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

Yes there are a lot of fun games today but I think back then games were a tad more enjoyable for some reason.

It's because today, most games are very formulaic. You have dozens of first person shooters, when in my opinion, the concept became tired quickly after Doom. It's a cool concept, and occasionally there still are innovative games in the genre, but overall it just seems all the same to me. It's all about graphics and scope today, when it used to be about enjoyment. Plus it was always exciting to see how much they could do with the primitive systems of the day.

I really think though that 3D is overrated. Many games are great in 3D, but many aren't. But because nearly every game has to be 3D these days, some of my favourite genres (yes, even the point & click adventure) are pretty much dead.

[Red 75]

You have to hand it to Nintendo though, they've really stuck to their roots while still evolving with the changing landscape. In fact, some might argue that they've done it too much, like when they barely included online features with the GameCube.

[Marian Schedenig 8,192]

I still miss 2D Mario though.

[John Crichton 4]

Yeah, I never got into 3D Mario either. But Zelda is better than ever in 3D.

[Henry B 50]

What makes his videos great isn't the creative cursing...though to younger audiences that may seem like the selling point.

It's that he's relaying all the thoughts and emotions we older folks felt when we were playing these games and systems as 5, 6, or 7 year olds, and the extent of our vocabular was "poo." It's nostalgic brilliance.

But there's something magical about the profanity. It's self-effacing. We're meant to laugh not at his cursing, but at the ridiculousness of his cursing. I also quite like the stories developed in the videos, especially the ones in which Rolfe questions the Nerd's purpose in life and then reaffirms it ("Nightmare on Elm Street," "A Christmas Carol," etc.). It's been interesting to watch the Nerd develop as a character. And the cinematography is great. The way the camera cuts to a closeup of the Nerd's face at certain points in "Friday the 13th," for example, is basic, yet extremely effective.

Not to discount nostalgia, but I find the theatrics equally important. The profanity even creates its own nostalgia. Hearing a quote from an early video (like "What's the most important aspect of any game? Well, being able to ****ing play it!") is like hearing a beloved theme quoted in a score. In other words, there's a leitmotivic structure to the cursing.

[Trent B 337]

If you think James Rolfe is the angriest video game nerd, watch this guy....a fair warning might wanna have your speakers down for this one...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBVmfIUR1DA

[John Crichton 4]

Well, he's German. That's a great language for shouting and swearing.

[Henry B 50]

The Wizard and Super Mario Bros. 3

Wow.

[John Crichton 4]

Somehow, playing Mario 3 will never be the same again.

[Red 75]

Very weird last act. The reviews of SMB3 and The Wizard (otherwise known as Product Placement: The Movie) were good, though. I still contest that Super Mario World is the best Mario game ever made, and one of the better games I've played period.

[John Crichton 4]

After just recently playing Mario World again after quite a few years (thank you, SNES emulators), I say it's great, but not quite Mario 3 great. World gets big bonus points for having so many secrets that practically double the play time.

My favorite version of Mario 3 actually isn't the original NES one, but the SNES conversion that was done for Super Mario All-Stars.

John- currently in the last part of Super Metriod

[Henry B 50]

Like Sh*t Pickle, SMDC was borrowed from The Wizard of Oz 3.

[Trent B 337]

Regarding the latest video from James though with Mario Brothers 3. Man that video has been the weirdest one he's put out especially for the end of the video...talk about crazy.

[Lurker 5]

There's a "Wilhelm" in his new video.

Neil

[Trent B 337]

New video is out, can view it here.

Edit: Got done watching it, that was fracking hilarious.

[Henry B 50]

I honestly didn't like this one... at all. Editing was all over the place, writing wasn't funny. A few good moments, though. I'm looking forward to the Indiana Jones review!

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I liked his "Top 10 Baddest Bad Guys" list. It was funny, original, and loaded with characters from a lot of B-flicks, which he's obviously fond of.

[John Crichton 4]

I'm going to have to disagree with Henry on this one, I thought it was good. Everyone who ever owned Duck Hunt and a Zapper (including me) spent almost as much time trying to shoot that damn dog than any of the ducks. I wish he had done more with that, actually, a lot of comic potential there.

[Trent B 337]

I'm going to have to disagree with Henry on this one, I thought it was good. Everyone who ever owned Duck Hunt and a Zapper (including me) spent almost as much time trying to shoot that damn dog than any of the ducks. I wish he had done more with that, actually, a lot of comic potential there.

Indeed the zapper was a very crappy accessory half the time mine worked like how he showed in his video. I don't think I still have mine any more.

[Red 75]

I liked it, it certainly benefited from having more reviewing/anger from the Nerd rather than pure comedy bits.

"Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!"

[Henry B 50]

Well, the anger in this episode was good; the comedy was not. Especially the Rolling Rocker bit. And I couldn't believe how long he prolonged the landing sequence in Top Gun just for an "Ass!" I was expecting something good after all that waiting.

[Henry B 50]

AVGN dons the fedora.

[Red 75]

Now that I really enjoyed.

Heh. 8-bit "Parade of the Slave Children".

[John Crichton 4]

Wow, that was a quick turnaround. It's too bad that he only does console games, he could have gotten a lot of mileage out of the PC version of Last Crusade and the last few releases (Emperor's Tomb, Infernal Machine).

[Henry B 50]

"Dumbasses made this game. They should have sent it to the Marx Brothers."