timp Sep 18, 2007

Everything is in my control is in my control



Lipstick Apathy





Last thread got gassed but The Nerd is nowhere near finished, so here's the AVGN Thread Mk. II!







Who is the Angry Video Game Nerd?



I'm very surprised you've been on the internet in the last 10 years and haven't heard of him, but whatever! The Angry Video Game Nerd, or AVGN for short, is the alter ego of James Rolfe, film maker and movie critic. The AVGN started as an inside joke between James and a few of his friends back in 2004 as a one-off called the Angry Nintendo Nerd.



The basic premise is that James plays a grumpy, shut-in nerd who feels that it's his responsibility to find and review every lovely game ever made. As of the writing of this post, he has released 140 episodes in the past 10 years. New episodes plus full archives are released here: http://cinemassacre.com/category/avgn/



Who gives a flying poo poo gently caress?

There is certainly no shortage of video game critics on the Internet, and let's face it, every single one of them is an angry nerd. Well, for better or for worse, we have James to thank for that, because he was the first. James started uploading videos to YouTube in 2006 when it was a relatively small video sharing site. By uploading well produced and thoughtful content on a regular basis that is more often funny and insightful than it is bad, the AVGN began to grow in popularity, developing a small but loyal fan base of nerds. To date, his YouTube channel has 888,173,237 views, 2,125,792 subscribers, and 808 videos uploaded.



James has also had the prescience to grow with his fanbase. For example: one of the Nerd's signature characteristics is that he's crass. He curses very heavily in every video and revels in making up childish and disgusting insults to hurl at the games that he play. While he still does that to a certain extent, James has toned it down tremendously over the course of the years, even commenting on it a few times in character and mentioning that it's not really that funny anymore. In 2006, a grown man screaming obscenities at a child's game was funny. Now, unfortunately, it's the norm.



Also, and perhaps most importantly, James is a film maker and a die-hard cinema buff, and a video game fan second. After the AVGN character began to gain popularity online, he started directing people towards his true pride and joy, Cinemassacre.







What is Cinemassacre?

Cinemassacre is the name of James's production company. Cinemassacre started out as a one man show in which James did 99% of the work: writing, directing, acting, editing, producing, etc. Several short films, mostly horror and comedy, have been released, as well as one full length feature film, Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie. But typically if people in this thread are referring to Cinemassacre, we're referring to http://cinemassacre.com/, which is where all of his weekly content is released (in addition to YouTube, but the cool kids go to Cinemassacre directly)



Cinemassacre "Staff"





James Rolfe (aka The Angry Video Game Nerd aka Board James)

James is the founder of Cinemassacre, duh. You'll see him most regularly on James and Mike Mondays, but every other week or so he'll release movie reviews, short films, and of course the occasional AVGN episode. He's also the mastermind behind Board James and Monster Madness (see below for more on those).





Mike Matei (aka Motherfucker Mike)

Mike Matei and James became friends in college after discovering that they both had many hobbies in common, most notably classic video games and movies. After years of helping out with behind the scenes editing and writing, Mike is featured more and more prominently as time goes on and he gets more comfortable in front of the camera. He now works full time for Cinemassacre and is the co-star of James and Mike Mondays, Mike and Ryan - Talk About Games, and Mike & Bootsy



Mike used to get on everybody's nerves, but as he's grown up and we've seen more of him, most now regard him as a genuine (albiet sometimes slow) and entertaining guy to watch.





Bootsy (aka Bad Luck Bootsy)

Bootsy also went to college with James and Mike and is a frequent guest on Cinemassacre's various shows. Boosty is probably the most skilled of the CInemassacre crew, constantly setting high scores and beating notoriously tough video games like Battletoads. He's also a drat fine musician and singer in his own right.



Bootsy is the chillest. One poster in the last thread alluded to "a kind of mystery" that shrouds Bootsy, and I think they nailed it with that description. He's like the ultra-cool older brother you never had.





Ryan

Ryan Schott is the site admin for Cinemassacre and a decent gamer himself. His typical contribution to Cinemassacre content is as the co-host of Mike and Ryan - Talk About Games. It's easy to be skeptical of newcomers to the Cinemassacre team, but all agree that Ryan knows what he's talking about when it comes to games, and he's pretty funny too.



Other frequent guests



Kyle Justin - Writer and performer of the now famous AVGN Theme Song. Sometimes comes around to play multiplayer games or do a guest spot in an AVGN video. Pretty funny guy.



Kevin Finn - High school friend of James and the co script writer for the AVGN Movie. Has also guest starred in some multiplayer J&MMs and some AVGN episodes.



The Nostalgia Critic - A terrible and unfunny hack; just skip the videos he's in. Amusingly enough, you can easily see Mike's utter contempt for this guy when they're on screen together.



JonTron - Co-founder of Game Grumps. Has appeared in a few J&MM episodes plus some random movie reviews. He's alright; not great, not terrible.



AlphaOmegaSin - Somewhat lame metalhead that curses like an 8 year old trying to impress his friends. Some people can't stand him but he's really not that bad imo. Fortunately he's only been in a few videos.





Content released by Cinemassacre on a regular basis



James & Mike Mondays

James and his best friend/Cinemassacre lackey Mike Matei sit down to casually play a game. Results very wildly.



Mike and Ryan - Talk About Games

Mike Mttei is joined by Cinemassacre's site admin Ryan Schott. They typically talk about newer games, especially of the indie variety. Mostly PC but also some mobile and console in there too.



Mike & Bootsy

Just what it says on the tin - Mike and Bootsy sit down to play. They tend to choose old school Atari games to play, so this show is great if that's your thing. As mentioned above, Bootsy is naturally talented at all games so you can usually expect to see some decent game play on this show.



Board James

Currently on hiatus; it's the only board game review show that I know of. In addition to showcasing board games from the 80's and 90's, it begins to take on a life and mythology of its own, which should come as no surprise if you know a thing or two about James. Highly entertaining.



Monster Madness

Monster Madness is a national treasure. In 2007, James decided to review one horror movie per day in October, choosing his top 31 most iconic horror movies. It was so well received that he decided to do it again in 08. This October will mark Year 10 of Monster Madness, and unfortunately it will be the last one*. If you consider yourself a fan of horror movies, you probably already know about Monster Madness. But if not, click that link and dive right in my friend.

*James says that Monster Madness will live on in some form, but one video per day, or even one video every other day has become too much to keep up with every year.





gently caress! That's a lot of content!

Yes it is! To help you get started, here are some of the best and/or most memorable Cinemassacre videos.



Early AVGN: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on NES

Rare Console Review AVGN: Sega CD

The Nerd gets cinematic: The AVGN Christmas Carol

Newer AVGN: Seaman for Dreamcast

And of course, the Angry Video Game Nerd Movie



Early Board James: Weapons and Warriors

Cinematic Board James: Mr. Bucket

The Best Board James: Dream Phone



Don't forget about aaaaaall the other content on this site, including over 300 movie reviews, dozens of Top 10 videos, commentaries, interviews, and so much more.



Post some of your favorite Cinemassacre content and I'll try to add them in the second post when I can.