Did you like the latest AVGN episode?

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

While some episodes have eventually grown on me (namely: "My Horse Prince" and "Polybius"), it pains me to say that "Crash Bandicoot" was the first AVGN episode I absolutely didn't like.

The review was shallow, the jokes all fell flat, and the guest star was both awkward and decidedly unfunny — this didn't feel like AVGN at all... and coming at the tail end of a streak of, if not hits, then at least good episodes? It sticks out like a sore thumb that's also oozing shit xD

How do you feel about it?

 

[bombatomba77]

I haven't regularly watched in years but I'll go watch this one. I do enjoy some of his more creative "newer" ones (Polybius and the Berenstain Bears one come to mind) that don't really rely on rage, but most I do not.

 

[Nebulon_Galaxy]

I notice that every guest episode of the Nerd has been absolute trash. I'm not talking about ones like Bugs Bunny or Spiderman, im talking about actual Youtubers and Celebrities.

 

[Bloodshed]

I like AVGN and I like Caddicarus, but the Crash Bandicoot episode was a steaming pile of dogshit. James has made AVGN for over 2 decades now and for many years his work was fire. Maybe he's slowly losing the Nerd-spirit, but I still hope the next episodes won't suck ASSSSSSS

 

[Majora Fi]

Does that guy still exist?

 

[electro56]

i have never seen his videos, is there a video you would recommend? i really don't care about reviews, i just want funny videos like videogamedunkey

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

i have never seen his videos, is there a video you would recommend? i really don't care about reviews, i just want funny videos like videogamedunkey

Check out the Tiger Electronic games one.

It's really good.

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

For me personally; AVGN's been falling off for a while now. I know it's really popular to bash on Screenwave and their involvement on AVGN, but honestly I do agree with a lot of the hate they get because they really did change the series for the worse IMO. It's really no secret Mike Matei was the real driving force behind the "classic era" of AVGN, and him leaving had a VERY noticeable effect. On the flipside though, the few episodes he came back to assist James on in recent years are genuinely really good. That Jekyll and Hyde re-revisited episode was one of the best episodes he's made in a long time.

I agree this latest episode fell totally flat for me. It reminded me of that Kingdom Hearts chronologically confused video he made some years ago where you could clearly tell he didn't give a fuck and the guys at Screenwave just gave him a script to read about a subject he clearly has no investment or care for. Haven't watched Caddicarus in years either, and his guest appearance was just more confusing to me than anything. He was hardly in it for one, and all the gags and jokes he was involved in did nothing for me. That last gag especially, the Mary Poppins one, was so random and out of place. What was the joke? Caddicarus is English, so he's like Mary Poppins? Just a bad video all around.

 

[High Voltage]

It was probably his first time playing those games.

Really embarrassing.

 

[CrunchyComputer]

I probably haven't watched AVGN consistently since he did the movie and the E.T. episode. That's around the time I started noticing he just wasn't as entertaining as he used to be. I remember hearing there were a lot of problems surrounding the movie, especially after moving the shoot to California.

I still stop in and catch a new episode now and then, but as others have pointed out, something just feels different about the newer episodes. They're not necessarily terrible or anything, but they don't really hold my attention the way the older ones did.

Mind you, doing the same thing for over twenty years would probably drain anyone. Maybe he just lost some of that creative spark he once had, or maybe I simply grew out of his style of humor.

 

[NotReallyHere]

Polybius was the last one I watched. Around ten years ago, when it was first posted. Realized right then and there that I didn't care for the direction the series was headed.

If his passion is filmmaking and he wants to make short films, fine! But at some point, it stops being AVGN and becomes a James Rolfe project. They are obviously not the same person, and I respect that.

But, sometimes, it can be challenging for the actor to separate themselves from the role they play. I feel that's the rut he's been in for years now.

 

[Majora Fi]

From the way I saw him in that latest video, AVGN is recycling the same formula that entertains his audience without reinventing himself (though I don't know if he tried to do that and failed... or if he even tried at all).

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I agree with those of you who are saying that his passion might be waning... he was incredible for most of his career, but I don't think he can fake interest when there's none at this point in his life, and this episode was one of the top examples of it.

And I'm saying that because the Not Contra episode was this year and fucking fire!

 

[Burzuru Burzuru]

caddicarus was ok when he started reviewing like 13 years ago. AVGN has been really hit or miss for me for a loooong time. i can't really say when, but the more recent AVGN videos have been missing that "energy." sometimes there's a level of hate and anger missing that used to be in every episode.

 

[BrawlMan]

It was fine overall, but dragged a little. I don't watch AVGN much anymore, aside if it's a game I am interested in him covering. Though I stopped caring for angry reviewing pretty much around the time Max Dood and YoVideoGames started their fighting game and Sega videos. Basically when Max, Simmons, and Kenny were filming most things in Max's house or garage.

 

[KarensAreTheWorst]

 

[Jeff]

That Crash Bandicoot review was a bit odd and a little cringe. It felt rushed, and I never heard of this Caddicarus guy. Aside from the Home Alone one with Maccully Culkin which was really good, I do not like the ones when special guests such as Youtubers appear as they sometimes steal the spotlight and go over the top talking nonsense instead of the nerd finding flaws in the game while using the same Ass and shit jokes. I know that things keep changing and consoles from the 2000s are now over 20 years old, but there are still a few bad NES games/SNES games/Genesis games and N64 games that can be crapped on with a good script while not using a bad dad joke. Even other games like Spider-Man, Simpsons, Addams Family, Fast food games, and any other game that can be revisited again if there are less ideas.

 

[lestagio]

Yeah, I fully agree. People claim that AVGN has been dead for years now, but I don't think so. It's rare that you get an episode that's as good as one from 10-15 years ago... but it is a 20+ year old series, lol. I still like most of them, but the Crash Bandicoot one... WHAT WERE THEY THINKING????

i have never seen his videos, is there a video you would recommend? i really don't care about reviews, i just want funny videos like videogamedunkey

The top quality ones are really anything 12+ years old as of right now. That said, I love Seaman (which is actually one of the "newer" ones), Nintendo Power, Action 52. I love both Dunkey and AVGN, but they're certainly different humor.

My personal favorite is the Castlevania retrospective. It's four videos, each about a few different Castlevania games. I've watched it every Halloween for years.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

People in the comments of the video are right, though — it was a terribly pointless crossover.

I think that's the biggest flaw of the video: neither party being invested and one of them pretty much vanishing in between segments.

 

[Zerohour2k12]

I still watch whenever it drops but I gotta say I didn't quite like this one tbh.

 

[brettd94]

Honestly I never really liked his stuff. The poop and cursing jokes just came off as extremely cringey and juvenile. I'm not necessarily against these type of jokes but there was no edge to it.

He seems to have a very limited frame of reference for games. Everything is compared to Mario, Zelda, or Castlevania.

The videos have definitely declined in quality. His energy is down. It's clear to me has has no attachment to half the games he reviews now. The show was better when it was a pure nostalgia fest. Just him going over Atari and Nintendo games he played as a kid. But I don't really think James is really that big of a gamer.

Still, he is a legend on youtube. His videos were a very basic education in games for me.

 

[Amphineura]

I'm mostly tapped out from AVGN by now. I got through midway with the Scott collab one and gave up. I haven't been super excited about Caddicarus either so I just ignored it.

Come to think of it, what even are these collabs? Scott the Woz? Caddicarus? Two Youtubers that are also slowly realizing that they're past their primes as well? Why not JonTron?

Oh yeah, they did collab with him. Ten years ago, when both were more relevant. It feels Scott and Caddy are 5-10 years too late. Irrelevant youtuber collabs with increasingly irrelevant youtubers. Is it just nostalgia bait at this point?

 

[Frickinfrik]

it was ok. I was expecting some crazy shit since Caddicarus was involved but he’s just there. AVGN definitely doesn’t even really try to be angry, he’s just mostly irritated nowadays. I liked the episode where he had Scott the Woz as a guest, that one was decent. But yeah, the nerd kinda just speeds through the Crash games. Wasn’t really angry in that episode. He could’ve reviewed Crash Boom Bang and Mind over Mutant DS, those would’ve made him really angry. But he didn’t.

 

[CheesyExplosive]

SHAVE DAMMIT!!!! NOBODY WANT TO SEE YOUR BEARD!!! AND ALSO... YOU'RE BALD!!!! STOP BEING SOFT ON THESE SHITTY GAMES!!!​

OR YOU WILL BE REPLACED BY AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII MOTER FA-KER!!!!!​

https://www.youtube.com/@TheAIVideoGameNerd

 

[tht009]

Eh. It was okay, I guess. I don't like most of his celebrity guests though and that Caddicarus dude is no exception. He also clearly wasn't that into the games, which sucked because I was a big fan of Crash as a kid. Good that he skipped 2 and 3 though, because there's really not much to complain about in them. I just don't think he was really the right person to cover those games, and clearly he agrees because isn't that the whole reason he brought in the other guy?