In the chair with
JAMES ROLFE
The creator and star of the Angry Video Game Nerd comedy series looks back at his 200 episodes of creative obscenities, raw reviews and raised middle fingers that he’s lobbed at some of the worst games of all time
Words by Danny Gallagher
YouTube is full of vitriolic videogame critics trying to be comics but James Rolfe is one of the few who’s actually funny. The Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) has played and cursed at some of the most tedious, boring and poorly made videogames in the history of the industry since 2006. James started filming reviews of unplayable dreck like Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde on the NES as the angry critic just for friends but they urged him to make more and post them on the web. Fifteen years later, Rolfe and his Cinemassacre studio have produced a feature-length film about the character, two retrostyle side-scrollers and his 200th episode in which he attempts to play every game made by the notoriously bad, third-party, Nintendo-based publisher
LJN.
What’s it like making your 200th episode? We assume it’s a mix of pride and hard work or is one feeling bigger than the other right now?
It’s been extremely time consuming since I’m trying to cover every LJN published game (67 to the best of my research). About roughly one-third of them I already reviewed in past episodes of the show, so I’ve incorporated the milestone episode trope of using flashbacks. But still with the massive amount of new reviews, it’s been a lot to write. I try to keep it light and funny with keeping each review brief and humorous with the Nerd being as cynical as always. There’s also a little story thread in there too about the Nerd realising it’s actually harder to make games than he thinks it is. I think it’s an appropriate ‘season finale’, especially since LJN has sort of been the Nerd’s arch nemesis. This year, many fans have told me they’re looking forward to seeing what I have in mind for episode 200, so I knew that it had to be something special.
What is it about the series that’s helped it last so long even through the rise and fall of websites that hosted the show like ScrewAttack and GameTrailers and YouTube’s constantly changing algorithms?
I don’t know. Fifteen years later, the entertainer in me says to keep going because fans keep expressing how it has brightened their days and kept them going too. YouTube has definitely changed a lot over the years. Screenwave (the media company that currently handles and distributes Cinemassacre’s videos) has been handling the YouTube/business side of things for as long as I can remember now, probably ten years or so. That way, I don’t have to handle much bullshit. I just focus on the creative side. So I don’t know how it has lasted so long. I just keep doing what I do.
How much of your time creating films and videos is dedicated to the AVGN series and what contributes to that percentage?
» The Nerd doesn’t realise that Jason Voorhees from the Friday The 13th series is about to eviscerate him in his practically unplayable 1988 NES game based on the horror movie.
AVGN has been the majority of my time making videos for years. That’s the most popular thing I do, and it’s what pays the bills and supports my children but I always make some room for personal creative projects. Last year, I made a short horror film The Head Returns, and this year I made some fun music videos for Rex Viper. That’s the artist side of me. It’s the need to express yourself.