James Rolfe / James D. Rolfe / Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) / Rex Viper and Cinemassacre / Screenwave - Now with not much grieving about a 41-year old man still making videos on YouTube. We're the balls on the dick.

[Rhysuu]

Not to be the guy that indirectly shills a product, but if James is having issues with lighting and other factors; why doesn't he just get a partnership with Elgato or a brand like that? They make all those items for streamers as is and he can get paid to plug it.

I don't think he knows what Elgato is. He's barely aware of modern game or hardware companies at all. Hearing him describe what a VPN does in his own words is painful every time, even though it's pre-written for him.

 

[BrunoMattei]

It's the video version of the email someone posted a few pages back. It was disappointing, I was expecting a step-by-step description of the actual workflow. But I guess he can't really do that considering that the making of every single video is an uphill battle.

He can't go over it step-by-step because he just doesn't have the time.

 

[BrunoMattei]

Not to be the guy that indirectly shills a product, but if James is having issues with lighting and other factors; why doesn't he just get a partnership with Elgato or a brand like that? They make all those items for streamers as is and he can get paid to plug it.

There's lights that are battery powered, use bluetooth and even have built-in gels that you can use. David F. Sandberg showed them off here:

They go for about $5-600 which isn't too bad considering the flexibility they afford you.

 

[Zbk3VmLfujjzjxBd43tL]

I think he's just so old-fashioned he doesn't know (or want to know) more efficient ways of making videos inside his house. I have to question why he couldn't just use two lights max for lighting the room. It wasn't this bad back when he was recording off of MiniDV tapes, but ever since he got HD cameras, he's seemingly overcompensating for how rather shoddy the room really looked by having all of these lights surrounding the room.

Between that, his distaste for anything past early N64/PSX, his hatred of DVDs, and his list of favorite metal albums, I'm convinced time stopped for James sometime around 1998. And hey, nothing wrong with that, but if you're going to use newfangled shit like Youtube with your boomer technology, you need to prepared to sacrifice a little thing called time if you want quality.

I think you're seeing a lot of James's big strengths become his weaknesses lately, like his reliance on older/shoddy technology or his difficulty communicating with fans which I'm sure kept him from ending up like all the other angry critics but now gives us this weird mess with the Screenwave slobs, the truthers, and this video. Is the situation that bad that even James starts speaking out, or did the Screenwave slobs nag at him to make that video instead of James keeping his opinions (which I have no doubt he agrees with everything he said on that video) private like he normally does?

I would say its a little unfair to compare the two because frenchies (or what ever foreign country the YouTuber originates from) will easily flock over to their national star compared to someone with international notability as James. However, a bigger factor is that Jouer doesn't appear to post as regularly as James does, which means the videos could potentially be of higher quality than a new video on the Cinemassacre channel (correct me if I'm wrong on that though, I don't understand French).

At one point (and I don't know if he still does), JdG had a channel that subtitled his videos and I watched like 5-6 of his videos when I was bored one day. I thought he was definitely funnier than Irate Gamer or any of the other AVGN ripoffs. Maybe it's the novelty of watching an AVGN clone in French? I'd take his stuff, or at least the stuff he was doing 7-8 years ago, or AVGN's output these past few years. He reviewed some interesting stuff AVGN never did like I know he did some Europe exclusives (or shit that never sold outside of Europe).

 

[Sunflower Samurai]

All i was thinking in the back of my mind is how he kept sperging about how the setup was "efficient" when making a simpler video but then 5 minutes later he spergs on how a simple camera angle change requires a fuckton of movement and disconnecting his telepromter and shit


A sharp contrast to the older behind the scenes were all he had is one or two lights and he taped the script to one of those

Round the 15 min mark, all he had was the camera, a bigger filming light, and his regular room lighting with paper or shit to dim it appropiately, and you can clearly see how adequate it was within the same video,

His filmmaking skills probably helped him when the average youtube video was 1 faggot who talked to a camera but now more modernized creators do all the shit he does with half the effort and double the quality

 

[BrunoMattei]

Between that, his distaste for anything past early N64/PSX, his hatred of DVDs, and his list of favorite metal albums, I'm convinced time stopped for James sometime around 1998. And hey, nothing wrong with that, but if you're going to use newfangled shit like Youtube with your boomer technology, you need to prepared to sacrifice a little thing called time if you want quality.

He's certainly a man stuck in his ways. In the BTS/rant video, he mentions how he was still using a Macbook from 2014 until Screenwave provided him a new Desktop. For a man who boasts that he's made movies that is absolutely insane that he continued to use a machine that out of date -presumably with Final Cut that has been long abandoned by professional editors.

 

[Shirō Ishii]

At one point (and I don't know if he still does), JdG had a channel that subtitled his videos and I watched like 5-6 of his videos when I was bored one day. I thought he was definitely funnier than Irate Gamer or any of the other AVGN ripoffs. Maybe it's the novelty of watching an AVGN clone in French? I'd take his stuff, or at least the stuff he was doing 7-8 years ago, or AVGN's output these past few years. He reviewed some interesting stuff AVGN never did like I know he did some Europe exclusives (or shit that never sold outside of Europe).

Being fluent in French, I prefer a lot of JDG's videos over AVGN's newer videos. But as a reviewer, he's also calmed down with the swearing compared to his earlier videos and it's become more informative. I do prefer his review of Ecco the Dolphin over AVGN's because he goes through the whole game and talks about how difficult it is as well as the plot of the aliens. (The review also came out before James' did his, if that info matters to anyone)

JOUEUR DU GRENIER - ECCO le dauphin - Mégadrive

Hello ! Voici le lien pour participer au concours et gagner une Switch et une PS4 1To : http://igg.com/event/jdgNouvel épisode de Joueur du grenier ! On a e...

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EDIT: His video output isn't as big as Cinemassacre's, but the quality is overall better as well as his view count doing much better than the view count of current AVGN videos

Spoiler: Compare the views between the 2

 

[Pickle Dick]

EDIT: His video output isn't as big as Cinemassacre's, but the quality is overall better as well as his view count doing much better than the view count of current AVGN videos

"Quality over quantity, that's our lesson here"

It's amusing in a way how this message completely dropped by the time James started bending over for Screenwave

 

[I Love Beef]

James Rolfe: "This is fun."

Because I'm also dealing with a major case of The Nile isn't just a river in Egypt, your lie didn't just regurgitate itself, it chemically reacted upon contact with oxygen to lower its PH levels enough to become an acid and poured out through the cracks between your teeth while eating the plaque and food debris.

No James, this has become a slog. Not a job, not fun, a fucking slog. A job is what you're willing to put up with in life and it becomes what you love because there will come challenges that kick you in the ass and reminds you why it can be fun and drives you to struggle and toil and finish to your best effort with or without grace. Something fun is when you can always come back to it even after years of hiatus, and you'll be even determined to start up on it again even in the worst case scenario of your logged work/efforts ends up in the shitter. A slog is when you have to tolerate at best and fucking hold yourself back from fucking killing yourself or blowing the fuck up to at best get minimal results in, and even then, you'll still cut corners thinking that will help you get out.

Does anyone remember that James and Mike Mondays video of Double Dare, and at the end with the whole Double Dare Challenge obstacle course, James got so pissed off, he channeled the AVGN fucking raw, and he called the game bullshit and threw the controller at the screen? That's work being done. That's fun. That's something with soul and heart. That's what brings the AVGN to life, along with that old home movie of him getting pissed off as a child over Super Mario Brothers.

I think another thing from me to add is that James isn't burning out, he's experiencing complacency and/or artistic growing pains. While fame should be taken for what it is and to inspire you to do other things with it, James long hinted with the AVGN movie that he doesn't take that role strongly, to appreciate it. Not just to get bigger and better with it, but to know how to make other works that at least match the expertise you've had TIME with your main feature for. James seriously needs to stop aiming to be something lower than he is and really is not and take himself much more seriously. Fun fact, no one deliberately sets out to make B-Movies. B-Movies came out as a result of making the best of a script written in a limited time frame by writers still working for that experience with a limited budget and a limited cast. You were the man who helped started Youtube to be known as the new generation internet platform away from Hollywood regulations and TV standards. You starred in a music video with BRITNEY FUCKING SPEARS DUDE.

You want to have a style, to be cheesy, over the top, larger than life, good, go for it James. But don't think settling for cheapo shit with poor business direction and management is going to help you. You are fucking better than this. And if you don't realize this, you will be left behind on the road of life.

 

[Pickle Dick]

You were the man who helped started Youtube to be known as the new generation internet platform away from Hollywood regulations and TV standards. You starred in a music video with BRITNEY FUCKING SPEARS DUDE.

I agree with most of your post, but I found the bolded part a little inaccurate. It was a parody music video of a Britney Spears song, "Piece of Me", and of course he appeared in it because his part was horror themed.

 

[skykiii]

If I may add one autistic complaint.

One thing that burns me watching Rolfe, and really a lot of gamers on youtube, is seeing their shelves. I noticed in one video that this fucker has TWO copies of Phantasy Star II on Sega Genesis, both with the original case. While I only have one copy and its just a single pathetic cartridge. Worse is watching him damage this vintage technology for the sake of his stupid skits. People like him are (part of) why old games are going up in price.

Whenever I see a cartridge broken open, I hope to god its something dirt-common like a sports title.

 

[BrunoMattei]

Does anyone remember that James and Mike Mondays video of Double Dare, and at the end with the whole Double Dare Challenge obstacle course, James got so pissed off, he channeled the AVGN fucking raw, and he called the game bullshit and threw the controller at the screen? That's work being done. That's fun. That's something with soul and heart. That's what brings the AVGN to life, along with that old home movie of him getting pissed off as a child over Super Mario Brothers.

The Bucky O'Hare video is like that too:

He goes full DSP in this one. He rarely experiments or uses the other characters. While the game is difficult it is extremely lenient in that there's infinite continues and you even start at the screen you died at even if you use up all of your lives you still get to continue at the screen where you died. It's a great game and I say that without wearing Nostalgia Goggles.

 

[100% VIRGIN M00TY]

As others have said the kids excuse doesn't make any sense. If he had a regular job he would be out of the house for most of the day 5 days a week. So why can't he work on videos in his shed during regular work hours? If he has to finish by 5:40 pm then he can start at 8 am and achieve a lot every week. Is his wife a nagging cow that asks him to watch the kids every time she needs to go out? Does she work?

 

[MidUSA]

I would say its a little unfair to compare the two because frenchies (or what ever foreign country the YouTuber originates from) will easily flock over to their national star compared to someone with international notability as James.

Nah, If anything I'd say the comparasion is unfair to the french guy, since French is a less spoken language than English (especially when comparing the number of people in countries likely to drive youtube numbers who speak english as a second language), so his numbers are even more impressive compared to Rolfe's, since he draws from a smaller potential audience.

 

[PeriodicTrouble]

As others have said the kids excuse doesn't make any sense. If he had a regular job he would be out of the house for most of the day 5 days a week. So why can't he work on videos in his shed during regular work hours? If he has to finish by 5:40 pm then he can start at 8 am and achieve a lot every week. Is his wife a nagging cow that asks him to watch the kids every time she needs to go out? Does she work?

It seems his argument is that he is working on behind the scenes stuff like backing up his old videos/data for instance. Which still doesn't make sense since that should be the work of Screenwave not James. At least Doug was smart enough to have other people handle running CA while he focused on making videos.

 

[Pringles Can]

As others have said the kids excuse doesn't make any sense. If he had a regular job he would be out of the house for most of the day 5 days a week. So why can't he work on videos in his shed during regular work hours? If he has to finish by 5:40 pm then he can start at 8 am and achieve a lot every week. Is his wife a nagging cow that asks him to watch the kids every time she needs to go out? Does she work?

I think James uses the kids as an excuse because it really is a good one when it comes to getting rid of most people. Like what are you gonna go? Tell James to ignore his kids? You wouldn't want to be the monster who tells James that his internet videos are more important then his kids?

Its a excuse that is really good to use even though I do believe there is truth to it and he isn't totally full of shit. I haven't heard much about the wife, so no idea if she is a nagging bitch. From what I do know tho she has the reputation of being a bitch.

 

[deeman]

After all this time i finally realised his lack of time is not because he fills the days with effectivness, he is just plain slow.

 

[Wonathan Joss]

A minute in he say's "Let me address some of the... Complaints... Of the assholish variety. That's not representative of all of you."

Yeah, he mad. Put more effort into your work, James. Then people won't give you shit.

2 minutes in and he shows off an Everdrive that apparently has every game ever made on the NES, SNES and Genesis. Then why even keep the carts except to use as props? So lazy.

Oh god, he's a Mac fag. I thought he just used Mac for editing but no, he is a true blue Mac fag. SMDH.

11 minutes in: he goes over the convenience of how he has the room setup for filming emphasizing "This saves me a lot of time." Not sure if he's self-aware of the meme or not. Then he complains that when a different angle is needed he needs to move all of the equipment around. Yeah, no shit. The filmmaking process requires effort. That's why Red Letter Media or Jontron film in a studio. If you don't want to film in a studio then suck it up and deal with it. How much does this nigger make from this shit? Maybe half a million a year, easily? Pay me half a million dollars and I won't bitch at all about moving some lights and cords. And he uses a teleprompter too... FUCKING JUST REMEMBER YOUR LINES! Or have your lines written down and off camera to reference. THIS MOTHERFUCKER CAN'T EVEN BE BOTHERED TO REMEMBER HIS LINES ANYMORE??? Fuck you, James.

That is Marlon Brando levels of laziness.

12:30 "When I'm short on time and trying to be as quick and convenient as possible." I think he is self-aware of the meme. That and he's become extremely lazy.

12:40 "I'll even set up a different angle when there's a good reason and if it's worth the price of time." Fuck you. He then whines that there's brand deals and he's contracted to two episodes a month and there's simply "Not enough time." Funny, because he used to do 2 episodes a month back during the Game Trailers era. Granted, okay, he's got kids now. But it's his channel, who stipulated you have to do 2 videos a month? Who put quantity over quality? You did, James. Fuck you.

I understand YT is fucky and favors people that pump out videos like no tomorrow. If so, then make a Patreon. James has hordes of drooling mongoloids who would give him their NEET bucks. Red Letter Media has a Patreon so there's no shame in it. I don't get him other than just being lazy.

13:00 he starts complaining about people pointing the basic couch shot and how lazy it is.

13:25 "As if I'm not aware. I'm a guy who makes movies." No, you made one feature and it was dog shit. Nice humble brag, faggot.

"We've had some dynamic shots like in Eco the Dolphin and the one continuous take in The Immortal."
Yeah, everyone hated The Immortal episode largely because of the one continuous take. Fuck you.

Then he complains about spending 100 hours on the Vegas episode. 100 hours gone to waste because the episode was dog shit.

If you can't tell, this video is really making me hate him and I've been watching his shit since 2006.

14:50 "In 2006 we made really basic episodes." No shit, those were the earliest episodes...

"Those episodes were soooo basic they would hardly be accepted as full episodes now with the current standards I've set."

Wow, fuck you James. What fucking standards? Fuck you, man. Then he brings up Monster Madness WHICH HE DOESN'T EVEN EDIT THE FUCKING VIDEOS ANYMORE. They don't even use clips from the fucking movies but just still shots.

"In the old days I would spend 18 hours a day to get the episodes done." Okay, did you have the rest of the week off? How much did you get paid from Gametrailers and YT? 18 hours in one day to get something done is typical. What he doesn't mention is how much time was dedicated throughout the week or the month. I think he's bad at lying. A better way to lie would be saying "I spent 80 hours a week to make videos." And that would be understandable but I don't think he did. And the videos he made where he claims he spent 100+ hours on, okay, was that done in a month? Was that done over the course of several months? Also, if you're spending 40 hours a week making videos then boo fucking hoo. You are your own boss. You don't have to break your ass working on an oil rig or in a mine or talking to customers. A lot of that is spent editing and capturing footage but it's more tedious than difficult to do.

15:50 "Most of the people have asked me 'why are you so busy?" Then it hard cuts. I am legit wondering if the original recorded response was so nasty he decided to do another take?

"There are some mystified or can't fathom 'why you don't have time anymore?'"

From here on, like 15 minutes onward, it's just James bitching about people complaining about the decline in quality.

Brings up that he doesn't have time because of his kids. Another hard cut at 16:25 "Big thanks to my wife for keeping the whole thing going." Boy, that doesn't seem awkwardly placed at all...

And how much time do you spend per week, James? 40 hours just like everyone else? Plus you have the added benefit of working from home.

BTW, here's a drinking game for you: take a shot every time he uses the word "time." You will get shit faced in no time (pun intended).

"I must stress that I do not want to burn myself out working on epic videos all around the clock."

No. One. Liked. The. New. Videos. Moron.

No one liked the Vegas or The Immortal videos. Take. The. Fucking. Hint.

16:45 Complains about filming alone because of Covid and (poorly) tying himself up and putting an onion in his mouth for a video. Really, nigga? You could have poorly tied yourself up, you know? Even Troma knows to do that.

18:00 it's him at his most raw "Boy, I wish I had a crew. I wish we didn't have COVID and all this fucking bullshit!" Nigger, the ropes didn't have to be realistically tied for one. And two, maybe -oh I don't know- try some improv when the onion falls out of your mouth? Go off script? That could be funny. But no, just bitch like a Karen you fuck.

18:20 "Since then we've been vaccinated and can be in person again." You can still get the virus and spread it you dumb fuck(s).

"But we're now in catch up mode, not just with videos but with personal life. Most people I think get that." ANOTHER hard cut. He must have been very nasty originally.

He proceeds to use Covid as an excuse to give him some slack even though the decline in quality preceded Covid...

19:00 He directly addresses the detractors here. If nothing else, just skip to this timestamp and prepare to cringe at this man's endless excuses.

"Without them (Screenwave) if I was doing it all by myself you'd probably see only 3 videos a year. Would you want that?"

YES. I think everyone would prefer quality over quantity. Fuck you, James.

"Over the years people have given me shit for working with Screwattack (since fucking when?), Gametrailers (when? Maybe at first when he made the videos exclusive to Gametrailers for a year but people migrated over), it doesn't matter."

He claims he's still writing the scripts and if so why would you need a teleprompter? That just doesn't make sense if you're writing or co-writing the scripts.

20:30 directly speaks to people who tell him to retire AVGN, to fade quietly into the night
"This is fun. Most importantly, this is my day job and this is how I pay my bills and support my kids. You want me to quit? I'd rather be doing this job than something boring."

"And I know most of the people who say that are nice and kind they just mean 'hey, you don't have to keep doing this you're allowed to quit if you want' and I appreciate that. What I also want to hear is 'hey, you're allowed to do a basic episode or do them less often' rather than go to the most extreme, to quit. Maybe, someday, the time will come but not now. If and when it does I'll let you know. And hey, don't want you want me to make it to episode 200 (no)? We're almost there."

Maybe take the hint, dude? If there are enough people taking the time out of their lives to meet you and tell you, to your face, that there is a decline in quality and maybe you should rest or let it end and you have to make a video confronting people like this. Maybe, just maybe, there is a problem. Maybe the problem is you, James.

And it ends with a plug for his upcoming autobiography. Great. I'll be sure to torrent that shit.

These are all just bad excuses, man. I'm glad addressed some complaints but the least he could have done is make a good case for himself. His examples for "epic" AVGN episodes are some the worst episodes he's ever made. It's actually baffling to me, the thought that he spent loads of time and effort imitating Fear & Loathing. It was too much effort on the set up and not enough effort making it funny. At least when Nostalgia Critic did it for his Baby Geniuses reviews, they made sense for the setting being in Comic Con surrounded by cosplayers who were in on the joke (for the most part) and Doug's performance was way funnier. And the onion thing? I mean come on, just tape the onion in his mouth THEN tie himself up, or get his wife to tie him up like she did for his R.O.B video.

He seems too committed to that categorising of "basic AVGN" and "epic AVGN", as if "basic AVGN" is just lil' 10 minute low-effort money-grinds, and lemme tell you, this behind-the-scenes video came out at the wrong time, right after that absolute slog of an AVGN video, Pac-Man 2. I mean that one should be "soooo basic [it] would hardly be accepted as full episodes now with the current standards I've set." but apparently he was fine with it, but I would much rather watch those insanely basic episodes from 2006 than that shite. I'd rather watch his fucking Master Shu and Drunkard Hu video than any of his "epic videos".

I mean he has a more efficient way of making AVGN videos now, right? He just gets Screenwave to edit them. We miss out on those personal touches but if it works, it works. So that should be all the more reason that he can focus more on the quality of the script and his performance, even for "basic episodes". I think he should sit down and watch his old videos with his friends just to understand the appeal of them. Last thing I want from James Rolfe is to end up suffering from George Lucas-syndrome

 

[Gru]

God this behind the scenes video came off both so condescending, and so out of touch at the same time.

What the fuck is his setup? This looks like a fucking nightmare to work with, why did he tie a tripod to the fucking ceiling?
And don't even get me started on the shit like "do these people not want me to have any help? do they want me to suffer?" My jaw literally fucking dropped when he said that.

I gave Screenwave-era AVGN a hell of a chance, but I can't do it anymore, everyone involved seems to be so incompetent, and has such contempt for the people watching, from Justin and co warring with the truth sub, to James complaining that people wanting better content are making him "suffer". What the fuck happened to this channel?

 

[Shirō Ishii]

Similar to my last post about Joueur du Grenier, I rewatched his video on Pacman's New Adventures, which was also the game which AVGN reviewed, and the quality is night and day. He talks more about the game and it's overall funnier, especially some of the cutaway skits. There are English subtitles if y'all are curious. Similar to Ecco, this is another video which was done by "The French AVGN ripoff" a few years earlier and it is much better than the recent AVGN upload of that video.

Joueur du Grenier - PACMAN The new adventures

Hello. Après une galère sans nom et des problèmes techniques en pagaille, voilà la toute modeste vidéo du mois de janvier (qui sort en février) sur le jeu Pa...

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