Angry Video Game Nerd

This article is about the web series. For the filmmaker and creator, see James Rolfe. For the film, see Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie.
"Fred Fucks" redirects here. For the American film and television producer, see Fred Fuchs.

Angry Video Game Nerd
Logo used since 2007
Also known asBad NES Games[a]
Angry Nintendo Nerd (formerly, until episode 15)
Genre
Created byJames Rolfe
Written byJames Rolfe
Mike Matei
Directed byJames Rolfe
Mike Matei
StarringJames Rolfe
Theme music composerKyle Justin
James Rolfe
Opening theme"Angry Video Game Nerd Theme" by Kyle Justin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons18
No. of episodes219 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersJames Rolfe
Mike Matei (2006–2020)
ProducerJames Rolfe
Production locationsLakewood, New Jersey, U.S. (season 1)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. (seasons 2–present)
EditorJames Rolfe
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time3–26 min. per episode[b]
Production companiesCinemassacre Productions
Screenwave Media
Original release
NetworkCinemassacre.com (2004–present)
YouTube (2006–present)
Odysee (2021–present)
ScrewAttack (2007–13)
GameTrailers (2007–13)
Amazon Video (2018)
ReleaseJanuary 5, 2004 (2004-25-05) –
present
Related
Board James
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

The Angry Video Game Nerd (frequently abbreviated as AVGN; originally known as The Angry Nintendo Nerd[c]) is an American retrogaming review comedy web series created by and starring James Rolfe. The series centers on Rolfe's titular skit character, often simply shortened to "the Nerd" (sometimes just "Nerd"), a short-tempered and foul-mouthed gamer who delivers commentary on retro games of poor quality. While the series began with Rolfe simply playing games while providing retrospective commentary, the show has grown in scope to encompass sketches featuring guest characters, reviews of gaming consoles and peripherals, and short lectures about video game history and culture.[2]

Starting out as an amateur filmmaker, Rolfe intended his earliest videos of the character to be a joke privately shown amongst friends and colleagues.[3] In May 2004, Rolfe, at the suggestion of future series producer Mike Matei, put the Angry Nintendo Nerd videos on his website, and in 2006 on the emerging video streaming platform YouTube, where it gained popularity. The series became a cult success, and Rolfe began appearing as the character in various other media such as a feature-length film and video games, and many public appearances. The series was soon renamed to The Angry Video Game Nerd to avoid trademark issues with Nintendo, and to allow Rolfe to review games from non-Nintendo consoles.[2] From 2007 to 2011, the series entered a distribution deal with popular gaming websites ScrewAttack and GameTrailers, and briefly with streaming service Amazon Video in 2018.

The Angry Video Game Nerd is considered one of the pioneers of internet review videos, being highly influential on the style and format of subsequent video reviewers as well as being responsible for helping to bring the concept into the mainstream. Various media review/sketch comedy entertainers have since cited the show as inspiration for their own material, such as JonTron, Doug Walker, Egoraptor, Angry Joe, Scott Wozniak, and Joueur du Grenier, among others.[4][5]


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  1. ^ "AVGN Episode 200 (Full/No Sponsorships)". YouTube. December 30, 2021. Archived from the original on May 7, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Rolfe, James. "Cinemassacre In General: Faqs and Interviews". Cinemassacre. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nerdfaq was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ McGlynn, Anthony (July 5, 2016). "The Complicated Legacy of The Original Angry Video Game Nerd". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Michigan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).