Current Events > What is about AVGN that makes it work so much better than Nostalgia critic?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I do enjoy Nostalgia critic but his jokes and skits dont hit as well as James Rolfes stuff. Both are over the top but nostalgia critic actually feels like Adam Sandler style humor while AVGN feels more Troma-esque.
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Nostlagia Critic is much more annoying as a person, and his reviews get worse the more production value/skits he tries to add to them (as do AVGN's, to be fair).
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James has charisma is what

he can get you to really buy into the character

like he has reviewed games he didn't hate before but the audience buys into the game being utter dogshit
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I prefer the nerd, and Cinemassacre in general, but those are really the only two youtubers I check out.
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Yeah I think a part of it is lately AVGN stuff has been more laid back and other than maybe a stupid bit here or there where he destroys a game they play out more like a normal review with some extra swearing and hyperbole. The Critic does stuff like that once in a while as well and its usually his better stuff, but seems more likely to do the big skits with a bunch of "actors" and such. Which rarely comes off well.
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fenderbender321 posted...

Nostalgia critic has too high-pitched of a voice and talks too fast. It's entertaining and funny, but it doesn't need to be so over-the-top.

AVGN is just all-around well done. I can see a lack of passion for it though in the last couple years, but it's still solid.

I saw a vid where he talked about how incredibly busy he is and it sounded stressful. That sonic 06 review was excellent imo even if late to the game.

The Admiral posted...

Nostlagia Critic is much more annoying as a person, and his reviews get worse the more production value/skits he tries to add to them (as do AVGN's, to be fair).

darkphoenix181 posted...

James has charisma is what

he can get you to really buy into the character

like he has reviewed games he didn't hate before but the audience buys into the game being utter dogshit

I feel like Doug is more likable when hes himself rather than his character.
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SharpX68000 posted...

I feel like Doug is more likable when hes himself rather than his character.

I think I enjoy the videos of him and his brother just talking about a movie they just saw more than the "official" review videos.
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He's been around longer
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The Top Crusader posted...

SharpX68000 posted...

I feel like Doug is more likable when hes himself rather than his character.

I think I enjoy the videos of him and his brother just talking about a movie they just saw more than the "official" review videos.

Yeah same. Funny still I more so enjoy James Rolfe talking about films more than Doug.

KlRBEH posted...

He's been around longer

Hes been around the longest. He made his first AVGN vid before youtube was a thing.
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SharpX68000 posted...

Hes been around the longest. He made his first AVGN vid before youtube was a thing.

Yup, it seems like thats usually how it goes for these type of things. The people who were around the longest seem to have the biggest fanbases and all that
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I hate listening to Doug Walker talk about movies. He always sounds so stuck up about it.
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KlRBEH posted...

SharpX68000 posted...

Hes been around the longest. He made his first AVGN vid before youtube was a thing.

Yup, it seems like thats usually how it goes for these type of things. The people who were around the longest seem to have the biggest fanbases and all that

What about Pewdie Pie? I cant remember how long hes been around.
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Critics skits are always too damn long and devolve into screaming
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I choose AVGN over Nostalgia Critic because he doesn't focus solely on stupid skits. Every time I see a Nostalgia Critic video and it's half an hour long or something, I think, "Yeah, but 20 of those minutes are devoted to stupid sketches and not showing the actual movie." What bugs me is that he sometimes does have things to say about the movie through the sketches, so they're not entirely pointless if you want the full review. I just wish he wouldn't do them at all.

But look at AVGN's short little skit in his Planet of The Apes review. It wasn't overly obnoxious, it didn't feel pointless, and it was incredibly short, especially compared to Nostalgia Critic's stuff. He got it done and over with, and got on with the review.

With Nostalgia Critic, there's none of that. There's no "getting on with the review". He lets himself get distracted and sidetracked constantly with making more and more skits that nobody wants, but he's too stubborn to quit doing.
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SharpX68000 posted...

What about Pewdie Pie? I cant remember how long hes been around.

I don't watch his stuff but apparently he's been around since 2010, so a decently long amount of time I guess, especially for Lets Plays.
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I think a lot of it is Jams keeps his material at a monthly at best level while Doug is weekly. It keeps things from getting tired and overdone.

The nature of the material probably also helps. James can and does (mostly) limit what he covers to "just the mockable" parts while Doug is stuck with the full movie. When you have to cover everything, not every joke will land, and the efforts can come off pretentious or unfair (ie: plot holes in movies for 5 year olds).
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Critic is cringe incarnate. Why does he have a gun?
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NC is fucking obnoxious and not funny.
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lightwarrior78 posted...

I think a lot of it is Jams keeps his material at a monthly at best level while Doug is weekly. It keeps things from getting tired and overdone.

The nature of the material probably also helps. James can and does (mostly) limit what he covers to "just the mockable" parts while Doug is stuck with the full movie. When you have to cover everything, not every joke will land, and the efforts can come off pretentious or unfair (ie: plot holes in movies for 5 year olds).

Probably a stupid question but isnt Cinemassacre more independent and DIY than Channel awesome?
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SharpX68000 posted...

lightwarrior78 posted...

I think a lot of it is Jams keeps his material at a monthly at best level while Doug is weekly. It keeps things from getting tired and overdone.

The nature of the material probably also helps. James can and does (mostly) limit what he covers to "just the mockable" parts while Doug is stuck with the full movie. When you have to cover everything, not every joke will land, and the efforts can come off pretentious or unfair (ie: plot holes in movies for 5 year olds).

Probably a stupid question but isnt Cinemassacre more independent and DIY than Channel awesome?

Channel Awesome guys use more CG and budget for the studio. James actually probably spends less because his venue is obvious. But that insane xmas episode seemed to be an independent room.

As for James' best DIY work, it was his black and white and red zombie flick. The graveyard depicted in the movie was in his basement, which is insane
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legendarylemur posted...

SharpX68000 posted...

lightwarrior78 posted...

I think a lot of it is Jams keeps his material at a monthly at best level while Doug is weekly. It keeps things from getting tired and overdone.

The nature of the material probably also helps. James can and does (mostly) limit what he covers to "just the mockable" parts while Doug is stuck with the full movie. When you have to cover everything, not every joke will land, and the efforts can come off pretentious or unfair (ie: plot holes in movies for 5 year olds).

Probably a stupid question but isnt Cinemassacre more independent and DIY than Channel awesome?

Channel Awesome guys use more CG and budget for the studio. James actually probably spends less because his venue is obvious. But that insane xmas episode seemed to be an independent room.

As for James' best DIY work, it was his black and white and red zombie flick. The graveyard depicted in the movie was in his basement, which is insane

Whats the video called? Dont think ive seen it.
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SharpX68000 posted...

legendarylemur posted...

SharpX68000 posted...

lightwarrior78 posted...

I think a lot of it is Jams keeps his material at a monthly at best level while Doug is weekly. It keeps things from getting tired and overdone.

The nature of the material probably also helps. James can and does (mostly) limit what he covers to "just the mockable" parts while Doug is stuck with the full movie. When you have to cover everything, not every joke will land, and the efforts can come off pretentious or unfair (ie: plot holes in movies for 5 year olds).

Probably a stupid question but isnt Cinemassacre more independent and DIY than Channel awesome?

Channel Awesome guys use more CG and budget for the studio. James actually probably spends less because his venue is obvious. But that insane xmas episode seemed to be an independent room.

As for James' best DIY work, it was his black and white and red zombie flick. The graveyard depicted in the movie was in his basement, which is insane

Whats the video called? Dont think ive seen it.

Search Cinemassacre The Deader The Better
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Whoops, also it was his garage, not basement
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darkphoenix181 posted...

James has charisma

This, pretty much. You can write all the great material you want, but you need that magic xfactor that engages people. The difference between these two is a perfect example of this.

legendarylemur posted...

SharpX68000 posted...

legendarylemur posted...

SharpX68000 posted...

lightwarrior78 posted...

I think a lot of it is Jams keeps his material at a monthly at best level while Doug is weekly. It keeps things from getting tired and overdone.

The nature of the material probably also helps. James can and does (mostly) limit what he covers to "just the mockable" parts while Doug is stuck with the full movie. When you have to cover everything, not every joke will land, and the efforts can come off pretentious or unfair (ie: plot holes in movies for 5 year olds).

Probably a stupid question but isnt Cinemassacre more independent and DIY than Channel awesome?

Channel Awesome guys use more CG and budget for the studio. James actually probably spends less because his venue is obvious. But that insane xmas episode seemed to be an independent room.

As for James' best DIY work, it was his black and white and red zombie flick. The graveyard depicted in the movie was in his basement, which is insane

Whats the video called? Dont think ive seen it.

Search Cinemassacre The Deader The Better

Impressive!
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Chicken posted...

Critic is cringe incarnate. Why does he have a gun?

That really sums up his ineptitude. It's a literal version of that scene from The Office when Steve Carell is in an improv class, and he keeps having all of his characters pull out guns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u3IKMk5FmI

He's just not very intelligent, and consequently, not funny.
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James also doesn't have a history of screwing his fans or fellow reviewers like Doug has.

Even disregarding that, I can watch almost anything of James, while I can only still watch NC's old stuff. Once TGWTG/CA got really running, fame and power went to his head and his partners. James still has humility and seems like a regular dude you could hang out with.
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I thought you were bad mouthing Nostalgia Chick. Shes one of the few chicks I find funny
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When critics funny hes funny but when he forces skits and a "feel good" message in his video i just turn them off.
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I think AVGN is really funny when he just talks and shits on games

his skits however are super cringey imo but nostalgia critic is annoying to me

I dont think theres a reviewer that has good skits except for Jontron in some of his older videos
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I4NRulez posted...

I dont think theres a reviewer that has good skits except for Jontron in some of his older videos

And that was improv.

Jon has admitted that when he was on his own, his scripts were trash but he improved shit and people found that funny. It also helps that Jon went to acting and music school.

Seriously, JonTron's most famous line ("I ain't havvviinnn that shit!") wasn't on the script, he just said it out of excitement and it sounded better.
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I like both, but I find James' videos a bit better. NC gets too much hate, but I can see what people are talking about.
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Well, for starters, you didn't see James cancel his main show in favor for exploring a cinematic endeavor only for said endeavor to fail and quickly come back to hastily resurrect his old schtick like Doug did.
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James is an awesome reviewer when he's not doing his AVGN shtick. I think I've watched every one of his movie reviews.
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Never an NC fan, too loud for my tastes, but I don't hate him.

James is good when he's doing AVGN or James and Mike etc. but I find he's way too soft with his reviews. Ghostbusters controversy aside, even before that he went way too easy on bad movies. He actually likes the pile of shit that was Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and he enjoys the Super Mario Bros movie.

I get that he's a film maker and reviews differently than actual reviewers do, but there's gotta be a limit, and he's way too easy on bad films with interesting effects (Especially if they're handmade), or Nostalgic films.
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Soggy_Burger posted...

Never an NC fan, too loud for my tastes, but I don't hate him.

James is good when he's doing AVGN or James and Mike etc. but I find he's way too soft with his reviews. Ghostbusters controversy aside, even before that he went way too easy on bad movies. He actually likes the pile of shit that was Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and he enjoys the Super Mario Bros movie.

I get that he's a film maker and reviews differently than actual reviewers do, but there's gotta be a limit, and he's way too easy on bad films with interesting effects (Especially if they're handmade), or Nostalgic films.

I think he just appreciates practical effects so much because he's a massive user of practical effects himself. He knows how much creativity and effort goes behind implementing them in a convincing enough way.

His Astrobastards video was entirely practical, and that one looked amazing
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Does it really work better though?
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Mostly, I think it's because the Nerd does a better job of providing a standard of comparison. The Nostalgia Critic comes across as nitpicky and snobbish in ways that I don't think are intentional.

When the Nerd criticizes something, he'll often provide a point of reference by mentioning a game with better mechanics and similar content. He doesn't come across as unpleasible like the Nostalgia Critic is sometimes prone to do. If and when the Nostalgia Critic does provide a point of reference, it's usually a sarcastic comparison to a film by Stanley Kubrick or something from Hollywood's golden era. That makes him come across as extremely snobbish.


It's all in the presentation. The Nostalgia Critic often comes across like a Gene Siskel type who will run down anything he dislikes from a point of superiority. The Angry Video Game Nerd feels like a friend who is going into a humorous episode over an ultimately minor disappointment.

Soggy_Burger posted...

Never an NC fan, too loud for my tastes, but I don't hate him.

James is good when he's doing AVGN or James and Mike etc. but I find he's way too soft with his reviews. Ghostbusters controversy aside, even before that he went way too easy on bad movies. He actually likes the pile of shit that was Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and he enjoys the Super Mario Bros movie.

I get that he's a film maker and reviews differently than actual reviewers do, but there's gotta be a limit, and he's way too easy on bad films with interesting effects (Especially if they're handmade), or Nostalgic films.

Yeah but to be fair his movie reviews are more personal impression than critical takes.
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When AVGN criticizes things, he does his best to ignore things like politics, religion, and directly insulting creators/actors directly vs. Nostalgia critic who doesn't really have that kind of bar. Any cheap shots or anything and he'll make a big rant about it even for the smallest things. I do enjoy Nostalgia critic when he's more laid back though like this review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbS-pUOb15Q
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AVGN actually does his homework. Nostalgia Critic gets all ragemad and questions obvious things that could be immediately answered with 5 seconds of research.

One thing I haven't seen pointed out:

AVGN is, objectively and conventionally, more attractive than NC. I don't mean that as I, or really any sizeable portion of either of their audiences, watch for that reason. It is a known fact that attractive people just seem more likeable/successful. This even goes for straight men observing/interacting with another man.

NC looks like a creepy weirdo. AVGN looks like a ordinary guy who'd set up your VCR for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygv_EIpyDvY
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_Rinku_ posted...

One thing I haven't seen pointed out:

AVGN is, objectively and conventionally, more attractive than NC. I don't mean that as I, or really any sizeable portion of either of their audiences, watch for that reason. It is a known fact that attractive people just seem more likeable/successful. This even goes for straight men observing/interacting with another man.

NC looks like a creepy weirdo. AVGN looks like a ordinary guy who'd set up your VCR for you.

Id say James is more distinct looking and has an excellent way with facial expressions.
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James actually liked Big Rigs. That's why.

So what we can conclude:

James is more charismatic, laid back, funny, engaging, and doesn't seem to take himself or his material too seriously. Also, his material is perhaps more relatable, because we can all actually feel the pain of the experience he has playing shitty games.

That adds up to a better recipe for success.
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