Wii Fanboy interviews The Angry Video Game Nerd

by Kaes Delgrego { Nov 26th 2008 at 2:35PM }

Most viral video stars tend to fade away fairly quickly. The Afro Ninja is likely waiting tables, "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" reached its peak with a mention on Family Guy, and let's pray to God that we've seen the last of Chris Crocker (I'm ashamed to even know his name). Yet one Internet favorite has managed to grow exponentially in popularity and success since his first video debuted four years ago. What started as a simple decimation of Castlevania 2 on a VHS tape for friends has grown into one of the most recognizable features in the Internet gaming culture.

James Rolfe, better known as the Angry Video Game Nerd, is a New Jersey native who has entertained web viewers for the past four years with eviscerations of awful games. Every two weeks, he produces a new admonishment of an old-school abomination for ScrewAttack. What you might not know is that he's an aspiring filmmaker with a passion for the medium unrivaled by most directors with astronomically larger budgets. His hard work hasn't gone unnoticed, as the MTV-owned GameTrailers.com now sponsors his AVGN videos and Spike TV has commissioned him to produce non-AVGN related content.

Wii Fanboy recently tracked the man down during production of his latest video, a scathing look at the Philips CD-i. We discussed gaming old and new, the AVGN character, and his independent film studio known as Cinemassacre. Find out more about the man behind the glasses and Rolling Rock after the jump.

Gaming:

We know that you have an impressive back catalogue, but what current consoles and handhelds do you own? What current generation games do you like?

I have a DS, PSP, Wii, and Xbox 360. I own just about every major game console. As of now, the only one I don't have is a PS3, which is funny if you think about it.

What do you think about the Virtual Console?

It's nice to see those old games being made available again. It doesn't affect me personally since I own and collect the cartridges. But from what I've seen, it's pretty cool.

I saw that you had a chance to play Mega Man 9 at E3. Have you played the finished version? If so, did it live up to your expectations?

I have it now, yeah. I played it for a while and didn't make it very far. It's a hard game, one I look forward to playing more when I have time.

If you're anything like us, you're praying for more retro revivals like Mega Man 9. What old franchises in particular would you like to see given new life via WiiWare / XBLA / PSN?

Another side-scrolling Metroid, maybe, or another linear Castlevania.

As someone familiar with bad games, do you find a consistent trait that usually indicates a terrible game?

Off the top of my head, not sure. But my videos all seem to come across the similar problems with a lot of games. It could be something about the control being delayed or something as minor as the password system.

NEXT >>

Tags: angry-videogame-nerd, joystiqfeatures

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

samfish @ Nov 26th 2008 2:57PM

AVGN is not funny in the slightest.

Mike @ Nov 26th 2008 3:22PM

I agree. I can't listen to more than a minute of his stuff before I have to turn it off.

CJLopez @ Nov 26th 2008 5:29PM

Oh, wow, man, can't believe, i find this guy and most of his review hilaryous, to the point almost every month I do a all nighter looking at all his reviews one after the other.

Shame there's people who doesn't find him funny, but then again, most of his reviews are good, and get to learn things about old school consoles that didn't knew there where

ChrisCanberg @ Nov 26th 2008 2:59PM

lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky lucky

WaffleTehNut @ Nov 26th 2008 3:04PM

James is awesome! Very very funny

Eric @ Nov 26th 2008 4:12PM

I like the old Nintendo Power posters... I have a few dozen myself.

Daryl @ Nov 26th 2008 7:39PM

The introduction movie is a bit disgusting but actually he is pretty funny. His ones about ghost busters, sega cd, and 32x are hilarious.

nicolas @ Nov 26th 2008 8:00PM

chris crocker is the shit!! dont dis him!

Anonymousaurus @ Nov 27th 2008 1:04AM

i found his shows amusing. funny or not, James Rolfe is still busting his ass to make a splash wherever he presents his work.

i am all for James doing trying things outside of AVGN; he seems knowledgeable and capable enough to prove that hes not just some one trick pony.

Nervous Nick @ Nov 27th 2008 1:10PM

As a member of ScrewAttack, I'm only disappointed to see that the site James makes revenue from making videos for gets no mention :D It's all good.

I've been a regular visitor here since the days of the Nintendo Revolution and when I saw this post, I knew I just had to respond. Keep up the good work, NWF!

WaffleTehNut @ Nov 27th 2008 4:11PM

I'm also a member of Screwattack and was also disappointed that they didn't mention the site. :( I was kind of surprised. :/

-Annie

Nervous Nick @ Nov 27th 2008 4:31PM

Haha, well, what I MEANT by that was I literally work FOR ScrewAttack... as in I'm a "personality" on the site. What's your username on the site?

WaffleTehNut @ Nov 27th 2008 5:18PM

Oh snap! I just realized you're Nervous Nick! I didn't notice your user name when I replied to your comment. My username on screwattack is WaffleTehNut. I don't post much on the forums though.. I'm mostly a lurker but I go to the site every day! Oh! I've been wanting to tell you that I think it's awesome that you're a christian and you work for screwattack! I'm a christian too and I thought it was awesome that you joined the screwattack team. yay!

-Annie

Kaes Delgrego @ Nov 28th 2008 10:17AM

@ ScrewAttack members:

Forgive me for failing to mention your site. I've updated the intro with a link to ScrewAttack.com. Thanks for the kind words, and the same to you! :)

Nervous Nick @ Nov 28th 2008 12:58PM

@Waffle
I actually believe I've seen you around somewhere... could it have been the chat room? Thank you so much for the kind words, it's cool to know that a brother in Christ goes to ScrewAttack!

@Kaes
Haha, I never meant it to be a request for you to add in a link to our site, but we all appreciate it anyway! Thanks to all the NWF staff for maintaining this site for so long. I've visited every day for well over 2 years now (jeez, what am I doing with my life? :D).