most people just call them the slobs. its not the same without the slobs.
most people just call them the slobs. its not the same without the slobs.
Pretty informative video BTS of how James continues to make videos, and all the technical gremlins. He's been getting a lot of support from Screenwave. Plus, yes, the basement is still his basement, it's not a film set!
The Paunch Stevenson Show free Internet podcast - www.paunchstevenson.com - DP FEEDBACK
To bad that screenwave has allot of input Few months ago i unsubscribe to the avgn i'm just not entertain anymore so it was time to leave finally.
Can you guys answer a question?
In his Incredible Crash Dummies for NES review... well, put simply, he has some weird trapezoidal-looking NES console that I've never seen before. Sitting right next to it is a type of SNES I've never seen before either.
What are those things? Are those some sort of aftermarket consoles or did one of his buddies make them?
The trapezoidal NES clone appears to be a RetroUSB AVS, complete with four controller ports. The SNES clone to the right of it, however, is the 'SF' variant of the Super Nt by Analogue (note the stylized 'A' logo on top).
-Adam
Last edited by AdamAnt316; 08-07-2021 at 03:28 PM.
VISIT MY SITE! http://www.electronixandmore.com/adam/index.html
The Paunch Stevenson Show free Internet podcast - www.paunchstevenson.com - DP FEEDBACK
To be honest I can't tell the difference between classic AVGN and Screenwave-era. For me he's more of a guy who was always kinda bad but back then, I watched him because there was nobody else. But now that there are better youtube gamers, his shtick kinda feels like a throwback.
But this is the problem with any celebrity: first they do it out of enthusiasm, then it becomes just a way to make a paycheck.
I haven't watched the behind the scenes vid but I saw another forum have a bad reaction to it, saying quote "it reveals that the problem isn't Screenwave, it's Rolfe." Apparently a lot of his explanations are dumb or illogical or reveal he's been doing things in an ass-backwards way. I'm not sure what I would think though. I'm not into questioning guys like Rolfe who have way more experience than I do.
The Paunch Stevenson Show free Internet podcast - www.paunchstevenson.com - DP FEEDBACK
There's only so many times a guy can watch someone shit all over every single retro game he can get his hands on. I will give him credit for "Mimal" though, that was some funny shit.
His videos got much longer, basically that's it. Too long for most of them. Really his best ones were his early short videos when he was basically still experimental and learning, to me he peaked when he first made his longer videos like Halloween and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Then it pretty much stagnated and while I still watched his videos they didn't feel improved beyond that point, the videos really peaked that long ago. Getting celebrities more recently certainly hasn't improved things as they just felt like they were there for the sake of a cameo. Honestly he seems too old now to be playing this 20's aged character.
As for his other videos, his early reviews or overviews of movies as himself were also good, and were mostly short for each film he discussed. I've actually started watching compilations of them recently as he's edited them together and they do hold up. The worst videos about films were when he tried copying Red Letter Media and had the Screenwave crew join him, these were just awful rambling unending videos with mostly unlikable people. You really don't notice the Screenwave people in his video game reviews, his movie reviews are where they became unbearable.
I think also a part of it is that things have changed. I probably said this already (sorry to be a broken record if so) but one appeal to AVGN back then was just... he as a youtuber who talked about the kind of games I would've played (or at least heard of) as a kid. Similar to Nostalgia Critic where he talked about stuff like Pebble and the Penguin I was vaguely aware of but didn't watch.
Nostalgia is funny to me. I don't get tingly feels playing Super Mario Bros, mostly because that game is overdone to me... but talk about something obscure I played as a kid, that might get a jolt, likely just because its not something I hear about every effing day.
But nowadays you have reviewers who do more analytical reviews like Ancient DOS Games, or else reviewers who have a different kind of humor (SomeCallMeJohnny is a mix of informative and occasionally funny). Also even when AVGN was new I sometimes hated how he would play up flaws (the Friday the 13th map is not annoying or hard to use at all... then again, I'm a guy who never got lost playing Wizardry so maybe I just have uncanny mutant powers or something). Although what really made that annoying is people never realized he was playing a character and would always act like these were objective reviews.
It's almost kinda sad now that when I watch Irate Gamer, he's actually gotten kinda good and feels genuinely enthusiastic, while back in the day he was just a shallow ripoff (to be fair I never hated him like most did). Recently Irate did a video about "lost worlds" in Super Mario Bros and that was better than it had any right to be. I'm not gonna subscribe or anything, but for a youtube video about video games I coudl've done much worse.
That said, AVGN did inspire me to pick up Darkman next time I see the trilogy DVD in a bargain bin, and I do like his Taito Legends review.
AVGN is still pretty good, and I still enjoy it, but I get a little less enjoyment now than I got back in the late 2000s when I was about 15-17 years old watching him. There have been some more recent episodes that I still put among my favorites - Sonic 06 and Town With No Name come to mind.
Honestly the shorter videos he's done lately are a lot better than doing long, drawn out ones, as it's over in 8-10 minutes. Not too long to drag on.
The Paunch Stevenson Show free Internet podcast - www.paunchstevenson.com - DP FEEDBACK
When he started it was about 15 years ago, I just felt differently about things in general back then so these types of scripted sketches aren't as appealing in general to me. Really, how many years do actual TV shows tend to last before completing or ending? Most are cancelled or ended between 4-8 years, maybe 10-12 if it's really good and popular. It's amazing to me that so many internet shows have lasted as long as they have, especially something like the AVGN which really just focuses on diarrhea type jokes in general.
I never really watched Nostalgia Critic much, maybe a few early episodes years ago but not that many. His earlier reviews tended to focus on actual bad/mediocre movies or obscure ones, like the various animated Titanic movies as an example. Today he basically reviews recent popular movies as they'll get more searches and therefore more views compared to anything obscure. But those popular films are actually good, so there's really less to make fun of. He's started reviewing well loved movies like Disney's Hercules, what exactly can you make fun of with that? So his overall quality went down, especially since he added sketch comedy to his reviews awhile ago. He really wanted to be done with the character but just couldn't be successful with anything else so he had to keep going with it.
There are definitely much better reviews for games by other reviewers, even back 10+ years ago I found much better reviews for old games. I found the Friday the 13th map confusing when I played the game years ago, but that was mostly because the controls were backwards and going left ended up moving right, etc. I'm sure I could have got used to it if I needed to but I just moved onto better games instead.
I never hated him but I never found him that great either, he was still better than a lot of other copy cat reviewers. Basically he just jumped on popular trends with his videos and only made game reviews because they were popular at the time, he also made ghost hunting videos at one point if you remember those. I still don't hate his videos and they're decently made.
While we're mentioning other reviewers, if you remember the Game Dude, he disappeared awhile ago and actually used to post here on the forums to promote his videos years back. All those threads are now locked because of spamming. I actually wanted to post an update to them as apparently recent documentaries came out following up on what happened to him. Long story short, he started stalking his ex girlfriend who cheated on him, started confronting law enforcement at the same time, and fled the country to avoid prosecution.
I actually have the Darkman trilogy on DVD and have been meaning to watch them, I have a pile of DVDs I'm meaning to watch first so it might be awhile. Never watched them before but they seemed interesting. I forget what reviews got me interested in the films, it could have been the AVGN but I think someone else also reviewed the series. I'm still looking for the first Taito Legends as well, eventually I'll find a cheap copy locally.
Very true, those recent ones are much better, though I would say basically on par with his earlier reviews rather than better. With age he's mellowed out a bit too so his fake rage just isn't as extreme as it used to be, which is partly why I say he's too old now for the part. It was also funnier when old games were less of a real collectible and most people just thought of the cheap/crappy games as disposable, like you wouldn't feel bad using a crap NES game as a drink coaster back then. Now every game is a part of history and needs to be saved and respected.
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Admittedly at first I wasn't a huge NC fan either, because like AVGN he tended to be unfair to movies, often doing the cinemasins thing of acting like something isn't explained when it actually is, among other things... and also because I found that NC was only occasionally funny. Like for every one "made me laugh out loud" video, five or ten would be just "mildly amusing."
Comedy in general is a weird thing. If I've been away from it for awhile and then I go watch certain funny reviews or whatever, it'll be the most hilarious thing ever... but as soon as I look for more it just starts to feel tired. I have this experience with Phelous a lot... I'll watch enough of him to get bored, but then months later will come back and be reminded just how insane Dingo Pictures movies are.
For some reason the whole right-and-left thing just never confused me, I don't know why.There are definitely much better reviews for games by other reviewers, even back 10+ years ago I found much better reviews for old games. I found the Friday the 13th map confusing when I played the game years ago, but that was mostly because the controls were backwards and going left ended up moving right, etc. I'm sure I could have got used to it if I needed to but I just moved onto better games instead.
It sounds like he was the Game Dude, he was so rude, he played the worst games with a bad attitude...While we're mentioning other reviewers, if you remember the Game Dude, he disappeared awhile ago and actually used to post here on the forums to promote his videos years back. All those threads are now locked because of spamming. I actually wanted to post an update to them as apparently recent documentaries came out following up on what happened to him. Long story short, he started stalking his ex girlfriend who cheated on him, started confronting law enforcement at the same time, and fled the country to avoid prosecution.
Yeah I heard of him. I actually first ran across him because of this series of Youtube videos called "I Can't Believe Its Not AVGN!" who mostly just plastered text over game reviews to criticize them, sometimes with some actual video editing. I Can't Believe... tho was a big fan of Channel Awesome and like them, just loved running gags--in particular I remember this recurring clip of a kid who said "I didn't know!" whenever someone would state the obvious.
Anyway, my first encounter with Game Dude is he actually did a response to one of I Can't Believe...'s videos, and there was a sort of feud between them for awhile. I also do recall at some point seeing Game Dude's posts here and how he spammed. He struck me as a guy with problems back then, so when I later learned of his legal troubles, I was like "figures."
Sort of similar to all these e-celebs who are now involved in controversies... in a lot of cases, the signs were there.
I used to own both of them on PS2, wound up selling them some time back. I've heard that Japan's version, "Taito Memories" (of which there are four discs, not just two, and they include a lot of games Legends does not) are way better... but I don't have a modded/import PS2 to play those on.I'm still looking for the first Taito Legends as well, eventually I'll find a cheap copy locally.
These days, since I've had money troubles, I'm more keen on emulation for this type of thing, and I tend to find that in most of these compilations there's only like four games I like. One thing that bothered me right off the bat is that the Legends version of Space Gun has no option to use an actual light-gun... you have to play with a controller. Granted, ever since my CRT died, that could be construed as a plus...
Honestly this brings me to something that annoys me.... Rolfe is AFAIK not even really a gamer, yet he has all this gaming swag I would love and cherish. Sometimes even redundancies (he has TWO copies of Phantasy Star II on Genesis, both with case!)Very true, those recent ones are much better, though I would say basically on par with his earlier reviews rather than better. With age he's mellowed out a bit too so his fake rage just isn't as extreme as it used to be, which is partly why I say he's too old now for the part. It was also funnier when old games were less of a real collectible and most people just thought of the cheap/crappy games as disposable, like you wouldn't feel bad using a crap NES game as a drink coaster back then. Now every game is a part of history and needs to be saved and respected.
Like, he could put that on ebay and make lots of money if he needs it, and it could wind up in the hands of someone who would actually want to use it.
And then I see reviews like Crash Dummies where he seems to have destroyed an actual cartridge, or worse, episodes where he destroys consoles... I can only hope that those are some sort of camera trickery or that he's only breaking things already proven to not work. Seeing someone break these just for a damn youtube video these days is kind of grating.
That and you could argue the AVGN is a huge part of why retro game prices went through the roof.
As a person the NC seems decent in real life, he seems laid back and can take jokes aimed at him pretty well. I wasn't really bothered by his reviews being unfair, they're not really balanced reviews but general complaints why he personally doesn't like a movie, just as I can ask anyone here about a movie they didn't like and ask them why. It's more about just not finding him or his jokes all that funny, at least to the point where I would want to devote hours of my time to watch his content.
It's the same way with Phelous for me, I occasionally watched his stuff but it's pretty rare. Also the same with Obscurus Lupa as well, and most of the Channel Awesome people if I really think about it. Don't know why but I never really found most of them that funny to the point of regularly watching their content.
It's mainly when I want to go in one direction, I travel along and then look at the map to find I've been moving in the wrong direction. It's just a bit frustrating when everything is timed and it takes more time to backtrack. Really I know I could get used to how the game works but I never bothered to devote too much time to it.
I've heard that the Japanese versions are better in some way, I'm forgetting now in what way though. I do agree with you about the lack of light gun support as it really seems like an oversight. I basically just buy games I come across in person so I'll consider the import versions if I actually come across them locally, I do have a modded system that should be able to handle imports just fine. I still buy them cheap so if there's just a handful I like it's still well worth owning. I would say that the Taito collections are better than most other compilations I know of, as an example there's very little on Rare Replay that would interest me. And I would always want a CRT, I would keep an eye out for another one if I needed to, though they are starting to get hard to find compared to previous years.
I'm pretty sure he received various games as donations at some point, and some reviewers basically refuse to sell or give away gifts they receive, even if they have doubles. I know Bennett the Sage does this with anime he receives as a donation, he keeps the copies he gets as a gift but is ok with selling off DVDs he originally bought himself.
Rolfe is more into games now than when he first started, but he does play games quite a bit. He did that streaming show with Mike for years, which I never actually watched as it's all a giant time sink. I don't play games as much as that, so who's to really say who else is a gamer or not.
It used to bother me a lot more when any old game item was damaged or destroyed, it still does but it just doesn't get to me as much as it used to. During film production there's a normal cost to props or items that can be broken or destroyed during filming, like breaking a flower vase or a table. Really the cost of most games were really cheap so it does make sense that real cartridges were destroyed at one point, I'm not sure if it's the case now as various games got much more expensive since then and I think he borrows rare games for reviews more often instead of owning them.
Maybe only partially, he mostly just talked about the crappy games nobody liked to play. It was other youtube people talking about "hidden gems" that started driving up prices, talking about overlooked games that are worth playing. Maybe the AVGN got more people back into older games but I don't think he focused much on the pricing or value of items.
Real collectors drive Hondas, Toyotas, Chevys, Fords, etc... not Rolls Royces.
Now I thought his Rocketeer episode was pretty good. Short, simple, hit all the points of why the games stunk.
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Does AVGN ever review any games he likes or does he just shit all over every single game he makes a video about