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.

[Mongo0o]

Probably lead to even more hair loss. Directing a movie is fucking insanely stressful and if it doesn't come out the way you intended then that would definitely fuck with your drive to keep going.

Edit: I didn't realize Justin Silverman jumped on the Cinemassacre Truth reddit for an AMA. That takes balls.

Balls but completely unprofessional. In the long run he's already done more than anyone at the Channel Awesome abyss. For attempting damage control he deserves respect.

 

[Van Darkholme]

Damage control or PR move? You decide. A lot of no-answers, but that was to be expected.

 

[PeriodicTrouble]

Damage control or PR move? You decide. A lot of no-answers, but that was to be expected.

PR move. It's better to deal with all the rumors coming out of the Cinemassacre Truth than to be like Channel Awesome and ignore it. If you just ignore it, eventually people will use it as a way to attempt to destroy your livelihood. It's a smart move on Justin's part to do this AMA as people have saying a lot more good things about him as a result of this.

 

[Van Darkholme]

I'm actually a bit surprised that some of the simps on that sub are buying into it, like that grotesque lardass is some sort of hero for coming there and posting "the truth".

 

[White Devil]

Shamu's meal ticket is on the line, so I'm not surprised he is trying to curry favor with the most rabid detractors.

 

[Least Concern]

PR move. It's better to deal with all the rumors coming out of the Cinemassacre Truth than to be like Channel Awesome and ignore it. If you just ignore it, eventually people will use it as a way to attempt to destroy your livelihood. It's a smart move on Justin's part to do this AMA as people have saying a lot more good things about him as a result of this.

I disagree. I think Channel Awesome handled their issues properly by refusing to address them publicly, since no answer they could give would appease the haters. They waited for everything to just blow over, and eventually it did. I don't know if he secretly did that Reddit post on behalf of Screenwave or Cinemassacre, but if he did, it was a bad move.

 

[PeriodicTrouble]

I disagree. I think Channel Awesome handled their issues properly by refusing to address them publicly, since no answer they could give would appease the haters. They waited for everything to just blow over, and eventually it did. I don't know if he secretly did that Reddit post on behalf of Screenwave or Cinemassacre, but if he did, it was a bad move.

The thing is the rumors didn't start in 2018, some of them were started all the way back in 2011 like the duct tape incident. Channel Awesome just kept IP banning people from the site, which caused the creation of DHI, just like with the Cinemassacre subreddit kept banning accounts and that caused the Cinemassacre Truth to be created.
You have to nip these rumors in the butt, or else a Jason Pullara for instance will come along and verify false rumors like he did with the 4chan Kickassia thread and people will believe it's true as a result.
Allison Pregler had people believeing for years that she was let go from CA because she was late 15 minutes for a skype call. It took until 2019 for people to really look at the situation and realize she was lying. It was too late, because it kept building the hatred of CA based on false rumors and it eventually culminated in #ChangetheChannel.

 

[Exbein]

Cinemassacre or AVGN/James is another one of those youtubers that got popular by being the first.

Unfortunately for him or/and the rest of the crew, they didn't realize how much they overestimated their abilities and luck.
They don't realize that they have surface level understanding of games/films and everything else, that's why they are easily overtaken by other channels in subscribers and views.

Not to mention, they got many facts wrong. Like Hong Kong 97, it was actually sold in some stores in mostly asian countries as floppy disks you can use to play on the Super FamiCom Doctor (pirating device) attachment for SNES/SFC. In Super Noah Ark 3D, he mentions that the rumor Id gave wisdom tree the engine as they are furious for the Doom SNES port, but the truth is that Wisdom Tree paid for the engine.

I guess James had illusions of grandeur and thought his little fame translates well in his every endeavour. "Hiring" Screenwave is apt for James, because he isn't really that passionate for games, his knowledge and enthusiasm is average and his directing skills is laughably average. He is easily overtaken by channels like Dead Meat who just talks about horror movies' kill counts. At least Screenwave can prop him up for at least a decade or two.

 

[Big Jake]

Probably lead to even more hair loss. Directing a movie is fucking insanely stressful and if it doesn't come out the way you intended then that would definitely fuck with your drive to keep going.

Edit: I didn't realize Justin Silverman jumped on the Cinemassacre Truth reddit for an AMA. That takes balls.

I was lurking when he did it. In my opinion it's not really balls so much as PR AND damage control. He came there acting nice and cordial, half-assed a bunch of answers, basically unloaded a bunch of corporate speak like "we have room to improve, we'll do better", and left little quips here and there on some of the users' comments. The sub is divided now with a bunch of people who formerly hated Justin now licking Justin's boots, and a bunch of other people who are condemning their perceived lack of conviction and integrity. All it really did was sow discord among the thread and make Justin look like the good guy which was probably the plan all along.

 

[Anchors-Away]

At least Screenwave can prop him up for at least a decade or two.

I give it five more years, tops.

James has established a wonderful legacy for online media. When it comes to YouTube, James can easily be described as one of the forefathers of modern content creation; alongside the likes of Neil Cicierega and Weebls Stuff. He set a trend with "angry" reviewers and many of his visual quirks are still replicated today either in the reviewing space or livestreams. That all said, WE know this because most of us in this thread grew up with his videos in some capacity. However it's 2021 and the general range of content being offered by AVGN (via ScreenWave) just isn't appealing nor engaging to modern demographics or audiences. We can blame it on Mike, Justin, ScreenWave etc. sure, but I doubt things would be any better if James was still solo.

Media's "life expectancy" online is fickle. Meme's for example, can transcend time (Pepe / Doge) or burn out within mere days (BongoCat / White Vans) and this can also be applied to content creators too. Some of them aspire to be more than an "e-personality" and indirectly self-sabotage the empire they built. Annoying Orange and Ray William Johnson with Equals Three come to mind. Whereas others continue to wallow deep and inward, unable to accept the irrelevance they face due to poor choices and false promises like Spoony or Boogie. Despite the repeated rise and fall of names surrounding him in the platform, James has done a lot to withstand the ever changing tides of online media. Ultimately there is one thing you cannot defy forever James. Time.

James is getting on with age. That's just obvious. However unlike Doug Walker, Mega 64 or even the creators who'd go to mimic him like Angry Joe, the creators who where active during his notoriety; what's amazing is that they all still enjoy making content. James on the other hand, he has cast himself into a role that doesn't actively facilitate his passion. James isn't by all accounts a "Gamer" on the same level as Mike. He is a film buff first and foremost. James isn't tech savvy either. His inability to adapt or adopt todays practises can be traced back to his old commentary tracks, in which he mentioned using a VHS to record gameplay back in 2015. As we move further forward in time, what kids consider "retro" will become too complicated even for James to handle. (For context, the 360 is already 15 years)

It's only going to get worse from here.

 

[BullDogsLipBrandClamjuice]

I loved AVGN as a kid, more recently I'd have the Rental Reviews on as background noise, but Justin started to get on my nerves his very holier-than-thou attitude bothered me.
Started watching Board James and god damn it's really good, did not expect it at all. We all know the Nerd character had been phoned in for almost a decade now, but Board James seemed to keep it's spark though out the series- dare I say that may be James' Magnum Opus (yeah I know shit opinion).
His Monster Madness reviews I enjoyed, along with his some of his other movie reviews...Sucks how he dismissed MotherFuckerMike leaving as nothing, eh what are ya gonna do...
After rewatching some Rental Review's the weird nostalgia fetish the group has for the 80s/90s started to perplex me

 

[Least Concern]

I don't think three-year-olds should be playing video games, even innocuous ones, but whatever, I can't parent other peoples' kids. Most of those levels don't look all that different from some of the "real" challenge levels people make with this thing…

 

[DDBCAE CBAADCBE]

I don't think three-year-olds should be playing video games, even innocuous ones, but whatever, I can't parent other peoples' kids. Most of those levels don't look all that different from some of the "real" challenge levels people make with this thing…

Oh yeah, that whole video is bullshit if you know anything about Mario Maker. At least a few of those levels were made by someone with a fair bit of meta knowledge regarding things like spike runs. No three year old made that.

 

[PeriodicTrouble]

I don't think three-year-olds should be playing video games, even innocuous ones, but whatever, I can't parent other peoples' kids. Most of those levels don't look all that different from some of the "real" challenge levels people make with this thing…

I hope that James wasn't lying about it, but who knows? The video was fine, nothing that I'm going to watch again, but I enjoyed watching it as it seemed that he was having a good time. It was better than the video talking about his favorite comedies.

 

[Stab You in the Back]

I hope that James wasn't lying about it, but who knows?

He wasn't lying about this, ffs. Even the retards at Cinemassacre Truth don't believe he faked the levels.

 

[DDBCAE CBAADCBE]

He wasn't lying about this, ffs. Even the retards at Cinemassacre Truth don't believe he faked the levels.

You’re a fucking idiot. I don’t know anything about this Cinemassacre Truth shit but I can say with 100% certainty that a three year old did not make those levels. The seven year old maybe but definitely not the three year old. You’d have to be absolutely retarded to think a three year old made those levels. I’m not saying James is knowingly lying either as I know how children are prone to lying and trying to take credit for the work of their siblings. The most likely scenario is that the seven year old did most of it and the three year old tampered with the finish product and claimed it as her own.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Should rename his channel as the Angry Video Game Boomer.

 

[Least Concern]

You’re a fucking idiot. I don’t know anything about this Cinemassacre Truth shit but I can say with 100% certainty that a three year old did not make those levels. The seven year old maybe but definitely not the three year old. You’d have to be absolutely retarded to think a three year old made those levels. I’m not saying James is knowingly lying either as I know how children are prone to lying and trying to take credit for the work of their siblings. The most likely scenario is that the seven year old did most of it and the three year old tampered with the finish product and claimed it as her own.

Okay, I'll bite. Please explain to me, as someone who has played many Mario games but not Mario Maker, how specifically any of those levels shows any level of strategic planning beyond a three-year-old mashing buttons on a controller.

 

[Exbein]

Okay, I'll bite. Please explain to me, as someone who has played many Mario games but not Mario Maker, how specifically any of those levels shows any level of strategic planning beyond a three-year-old mashing buttons on a controller.

i dont believe that a 3 yr old have any cognitive ability to play a game console, let alone to design a video game level with a map editor

 

[Friendly Primarina]

Are we still allowed to talk about Mike on this thread? I checked his channel after not looking for a while and found that he played Stuntman recently. "Great," I thought, "Stuntman is brutally hard so this should be good for some Mike Rayge™." Even given Stuntman's difficulty, I did not realize it was possible to be this bad at it, Jesus Christ.

It gets really good about 1 hour 20 minutes in where Mike gets to "A Whoopin'." He is legitimately bamboozled by the game telling him to get close to a police car without touching it. The man has no instincts whatsoever. Also, he can't seem to figure out that the game uses pressure-sensitive controls (to be fair, few games did because everyone hated it) so he spends 90% of the game at partial throttle.