The Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN; originally called Angry Nintendo Nerd) is an American comedy web series created and performed by James Rolfe. The show follows Rolfe’s character, known as "the Nerd," who is a grumpy and outspoken gamer who critiques old video games that are of low quality. At first, the series involved Rolfe playing games while giving his thoughts about them. Over time, the show expanded to include sketches with guest characters, reviews of gaming consoles and equipment, and short lessons about the history of video games.
Rolfe began making videos as a hobby, intending them to be jokes shared only with friends. In 2004, with help from a future producer named Mike Matei, Rolfe posted the videos on his website. In 2006, the videos were uploaded to YouTube, where they became popular. The series grew in popularity and became well-known among a specific group of fans. Rolfe then appeared as the Nerd in other media, including movies, games, and public events. The show was later renamed The Angry Video Game Nerd to avoid problems with Nintendo’s trademarks and to allow Rolfe to review games from other companies. From 2007 to 2011, the series was shared with popular gaming websites like ScrewAttack and GameTrailers. In 2018, the show briefly appeared on Amazon Video.
The Angry Video Game Nerd is seen as one of the first creators of online video reviews. The show influenced how many other reviewers make their videos and helped introduce the idea of online game reviews to a larger audience. Many other media reviewers and comedians, such as JonTron, Doug Walker, Egoraptor, Angry Joe, Scott Wozniak, and Joueur du Grenier, have said the show inspired their own work.
Premise
The show features a character known as "the Nerd," who critiques old video games, consoles, and accessories. He focuses on games he considers to have poor quality, unfair difficulty, or bad design. His reviews resemble those of comedy shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000, where a host critiques media while reacting to its flaws. The Nerd plays the game while discussing its technical issues, design problems, and other issues, aiming to warn viewers about the game's shortcomings. Some episodes also include lectures about the game's history or the Nerd's childhood memories, mixed with humorous sketches and strong language.
Dressed in a typical "nerd" outfit—glasses, a white shirt, khaki pants, and loafers—the Nerd reviews games from his basement. During these reviews, he is sometimes joined by guest characters from video games or pop culture, who add their own comments, mock the Nerd's frustration, or parody their original characters. The Nerd often reacts with exaggerated anger, uses fantasy scenarios, and drinks beer while reviewing. His frustration is especially clear when he says, "What were they thinking?!" to criticize the game's creators. In extreme cases, he may destroy game cartridges or simulate burning, crushing, or defecating on them.
In some episodes, the Nerd dresses as other famous characters, such as Batman or Indiana Jones. Other recurring characters include the Nerdy Turd, Shit Pickle, the Guitar Guy, and Super Mecha Death Christ 2000 B.C. Version 4.0 Beta. The show also features guest appearances by other video game reviewers, such as Pat the NES Punk. Special guests have included Lloyd Kaufman of Troma Entertainment, Macaulay Culkin, and Gilbert Gottfried, who played roles in episodes tied to specific games or themes.
Production
James Rolfe's first two episodes were meant as a joke and were not planned to be shared publicly. In May 2004, he made his first on-camera game reviews. He used funny insults and exaggerated confusion while reviewing two games—Castlevania II: Simon's Quest and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. These reviews became a key feature of the Nerd character. At the time, the series was quickly named Bad NES Games. Rolfe later explained in an interview that the joke showed how upset a dedicated gamer could feel about games that were already 20 years old. Although the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde review was meant to be the last, Rolfe's friends enjoyed the previous Bad NES Games reviews and encouraged him to make more. A friend named Mike Matei helped produce and publish the videos on Cinemassacre. The videos were later released as part of a four-tape set called the "Cinemassacre Gold Collection," with the first set named "The Quickies."
In 2006, Rolfe began sharing episodes on YouTube. He later released a review of The Karate Kid game, which was the first episode where Rolfe's character was introduced as "The Angry Nintendo Nerd." He named these videos "The Angry Nintendo Nerd Trilogy" and posted them on Cinemassacre. The show's popularity led Rolfe to review games on other systems, and he later changed the title to "The Angry Video Game Nerd" to avoid issues with Nintendo's trademark. Rolfe expanded his reviews to include platforms like the Atari 2600, Super NES, Master System, and Sega Genesis, as well as accessories like the Power Glove and U-Force, films like The Wizard, and the Nintendo Power magazine. He later reviewed games such as Sonic '06 on the Xbox 360 and Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing on PC.
Rolfe's series gained mainstream attention when his review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became popular on YouTube. In an article, writer Alex Carlson noted that before 2004, video game criticism was mostly done by professional writers and magazines. He explained that professional reviews sometimes did not match the opinions of average gamers. He added that "anyone with a webcam and software like Fraps could now become a critic and express strong opinions without being censored." Since then, the show grew in number of episodes, production quality, and fan support. Rolfe began adding homemade special effects and storytelling to episodes. The first of these cinematic episodes was a review of the 1989 Friday the 13th game in October 2006. It used lighting and camera angles to highlight a horror-themed story where the Nerd is attacked by Jason Voorhees for disliking the game. Later episodes mixed regular game reviews with documentary-style storytelling, where Rolfe shared facts about the games or consoles being reviewed. When asked if the Nerd would review modern games, Rolfe said the show focuses on nostalgia and that he is mostly a fan of older games.
In late 2007, Rolfe paused the series after losing his voice. On March 17, 2010, he announced he was taking a break due to stress from constant work. The show resumed a month later, but episodes were released less frequently. In late 2011, Rolfe paused the series again to work on the AVGN movie. Production resumed in late 2012. Since then, Rolfe has shared Nerd videos on his Cinemassacre website and YouTube account in a very irregular schedule to balance his personal life and other projects. By 2013, the show had more than 900,000 YouTube subscribers and over 400 million views. By 2014, Cinemassacre had 1.5 million subscribers. Rolfe said the show became popular around the same time YouTube grew in popularity.
In January 2013, Rolfe's YouTube channel was temporarily shut down for serious violations of YouTube's rules. The channel was later restored. In March 2016, the channel reached 2 million subscribers, 10 years after its creation. Rolfe made a video thanking fans for their support. In June 2019, the channel reached 3 million subscribers. Rolfe thanked fans again on the show's 13th anniversary. In December 2020, Rolfe announced that longtime collaborator Mike Matei would leave the channel to focus on his Twitch career.
Other media
James Rolfe's review of the Back to the Future games was shown in an MTV segment titled "Viral Videos Infect the Mainstream." On November 2, 2008, Rolfe and his videos were featured on the nationally broadcast radio show Opie and Anthony. The Nerd, Rolfe's character, was also discussed on Howard Stern's Sirius XM show and by David Arquette during a 2011 convention in Philadelphia. Stern criticized the gaming community and the format of the show during this event. Rolfe appeared as the Nerd at various gaming and internet conventions.
On September 24, 2008, Rolfe worked with fellow reviewer Doug Walker to create a fictional feud between his character, the Nostalgia Critic, and the Nerd. The conflict began because the Critic disliked comments from fans that compared him unfairly to the Nerd. The two made a series of humorous videos showing their characters arguing, leading to a fictional fight in Clifton, New Jersey. They also dared each other to review content from the other’s work, such as the Nerd reviewing a bad movie and the Critic reviewing a bad game. A final fight took place in the Nerd’s basement on October 10, 2008, with parodies of movies like The Matrix Reloaded and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. These videos became very popular. One year later, Walker and Rolfe made another special video where their characters met again, fought, and eventually made peace. Rolfe later appeared as the Nerd in other shows, including a review of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie with the Nostalgia Critic.
On July 21, 2014, an independent film titled Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie was released online and in some theaters. The film’s story follows the Nerd trying to prove that over 1 million copies of the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial video game were not buried, as fans had asked him to review it. During his search, the Nerd is chased by federal agents who think he is investigating a secret location. The film was developed in 2006 after the popularity of the web series. Rolfe directed, produced, and co-wrote the film, and he played the Nerd. The script was designed to let the Nerd finally review the E.T. game. The film’s budget of over $300,000 was raised through crowdfunding. Rolfe asked fans to send webcam videos of themselves reacting to the Nerd’s web series, which were used in the film’s introduction.
Although Rolfe has not ruled out making a sequel about the "lost Swordquest treasures," he says it is unlikely because of the time spent on the movie and other projects.
In 2013, a video game called Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures was announced. Developed by FreakZone Games, it was released on September 20, 2013, for Windows via Steam. The game follows the Nerd rescuing friends who were sucked into his television. He uses a NES Zapper as a weapon and is guided by a character named Naggi the Patronizing Firefly, a parody of a character from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The game includes enemies like zombies, Mr. Hyde, and parodies of characters from other games. The game was later released on Wii U and 3DS in 2015. A sequel, Angry Video Game Nerd II: ASSimilation, was announced in 2014 and released in 2016.
A remastered version of the first two games, The Angry Video Game Nerd I & II Deluxe, was released in 2020 for Nintendo Switch and Steam, with versions for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Epic Games Store following in 2021. The remaster included new features, updated levels, and an extra story chapter.
A new version of the Angry Video Game Nerd is being developed for the original NES and other platforms, by Mega Cat Studios.
Unofficial fan-made games based on the Nerd include titles like Angry Video Game Nerd's Angry Video Game, AVGN Planet, and others. The Nerd mentioned these games in an episode titled AVGN Games. He also appeared as a playable character in Texting of the Bread, a game made by ScrewAttack.
The show’s opening theme song, The Angry Video Game Nerd Theme Song, was written by Kyle Justin and James Rolfe and performed by Justin. Over the years, the song was changed for special episodes. A soundtrack album was released in 2011 by Lachlan Barclay. Another album, based on the video game, was released in 2013 by FreakZone Games. A soundtrack for the movie, composed by Bear McCreary, was released in 2014 and included rock, metal, and music from classic gaming systems like the NES and SNES.
Board James is another internet show created by Rolfe. In it, he plays a character named Board James, who is innocent but has hidden evil intentions.
Reception and legacy
The Angry Video Game Nerd show helped James Rolfe become one of the most popular Internet celebrities even before YouTube became widely used. The show won the award for Best Online Web Series at Mashable's 3rd Annual Open Web Awards on December 16, 2009. Peggy Rajski explained that the show's success came from using the Internet effectively and from a system where fans could support the show financially. She also noted that James Rolfe had already built a group of fans who cared about his earlier work, and when he asked them for help, they were willing to support him. Another filmmaker and Internet celebrity, Doug Walker, called the Nerd the "Greatest Video Game Critic of All Time." Jacob Rich from the Michigan Daily described the Nerd as the "pioneering Internet 'gamer' show," explaining that many major game review shows online today were influenced by the format of the Angry Video Game Nerd. A French show called Joueur du Grenier was inspired by the Angry Video Game Nerd.
Zach Whalen described how the show connected retro gaming with modern gamers as "a way of looking back at a past that is hard to reach and trying to bring that past into the present." James Rolfe told The Guardian that the show's impact on today's video game industry is still felt, as younger gamers enjoy learning about the past. In the same article, reporter Luke Langlands noted that the show inspired the creation of other independent online shows. The Nerd's success as a celebrity outside of mainstream pop culture showed that people could build long-term careers online. A survey by Mediscape found that many people said they were inspired by the Nerd to create and share their own content on platforms like YouTube, DeviantArt, SourceForge, GameFAQs, and ScrewAttack. This influenced creators such as the Nostalgia Critic and Angry Joe.
In an analysis of the show, writer Alex Carlson from Hardcore Gamer called Rolfe's character "The Nerd Who Changed Gaming Culture Forever." He described the Angry Video Game Nerd as "one of the most recognizable figures in gaming culture," noting that most gamers have seen at least a few videos from the series on YouTube. Nearly ten years after the show began, James Rolfe's character—known for his strong, colorful way of speaking—continues to influence the gaming world. With every new gaming channel on YouTube, there is some inspiration from The Nerd. From the start, The Angry Video Game Nerd was a major step forward. Whether James Rolfe realized it or not, the rise of The Nerd marked a turning point that changed how games are reviewed and how people enjoy entertainment online.