Low budget AVGN was what made him great. I miss Bootsy and Kyle. Board James was some of the best original KZread ever made. Can't say the same about the past 5-6 years of AVGN.

@Tom-qp6oh

Жыл бұрын

AVGN has sucked since he took the hiatus to make his movie. AVGN lost his charm once he went over the top with his character and production about 7 years ago.

@thelanecampbell

Жыл бұрын

AVGN has had zero memorable releases in the past 6 years. The original premise was fantastic but the movie really bombed. I hope James doesn't quit though. It sometimes takes trial and error to create something wonderful.

@travtotheworld

Жыл бұрын

James was a man for his time. He reminds me of a silent era movie star who couldn't transition to talkies. When he started, KZread was cat videos and skateboard tricks. No one was putting out videos with opening credits and a theme song! That's to say nothing of content. Reviewing retro games was virgin content back then. Now, it's been done to death. As he pointed out, the underlying joke of the premise was how ridiculous reviewing a 15 year old game would be; but AVGN itself is now more than 15 years old. When's the last time JonTron reviewed an old game? BrutalMoose videos are all food reviews and random VHS tapes now. James tried to evolve in style and production value, but the 80s/early 90s game nostalgia bloom has gone bust. That's why the board game and horror movie content was so refreshing. Hopefully, for his sake, he can find some interesting new avenues to explore.

@heyyoitsmebrian

Жыл бұрын

@@travtotheworld agree.... man of his time... now thousands of youtubers do what he does but even better than what he does. if i want a comical video game review ::: girlfriend Reviews hits it just right. and they arent outsourcing to people do make their content for them or paying someone else to play the games... theyre on twitch all day playing the game... then they take that same exact footage and cut that into their final videos.

@nneekolas

Жыл бұрын

@@thelanecampbell Power Rangers, Pepsiman and Last Ninja I think are very good episodes. Majora's Mask and Earthbound are good. They're the top 5 (and it's not particularly close) of the Slobwave Era.

All these comments praising Kieran it's ridiculous. Him and screenwave are what killed Cinemassacre. Cinemassacre was at its best when it was just James, Mike, Bootsy, and Kyle Justin.

@avalond1193

Күн бұрын

100%

I remember Bootsy leaving because of money problems.

@Godlike_Virus

Жыл бұрын

Always thought it was because he was seeing Mike's girl Claire at the time or something like that. >_>

@Tomofdahook17

Жыл бұрын

Hahaha I used to see Bootsy all the time. He would walk by my work on the way to the post office and I would open the front door of the store and try to say, “Hey Bootsy!” because I just wanted to tell him that I thought he was hilarious on the Board James episodes. But he probably hated that name or thought that I wanted to harass him and take up a bunch of his time so he would just ignore me even though I would say it pretty loud. Which is a shame.

@jeremiahhester6408

Жыл бұрын

@@Tomofdahook17 Awww, I understand but maybe he wouldn't mind, just maybe.

@jestawell

Жыл бұрын

@@Tomofdahook17 are you sure It was him lol, he always seemed like a nice guy

@Tomofdahook17

Жыл бұрын

@@jestawell Yes 100%. I’m not saying that he isn’t a nice guy if you know him personally. But he would never stop and I was nearly right next to him within a few feet a couple of times. So he just came across as a bit of a dick. But I also understand not wanting to be associated with that character since he could have left on bad terms.

I think James needs to fall in love with his content again. He’s in a position where he can forgo needing an MCN and go back to producing content that he’s passionate about. He can return Cinemassacre to its former glory, and share his passion for films, the obscure, and the celebrated indie flicks.

@kcozz7368

Жыл бұрын

I agree , I want to see the effort and passion for these projects . Not a half attempt

@ryanjacobson2508

Жыл бұрын

​@@kcozz7368 James really tried with the AVGN movie, it failed, he still hasn't gotten over it, and at this point he's just going through the motions and defends himself by saying he needs to make a living for his family.

@RedCowArcade

Жыл бұрын

It’s clear to me that he loved his creative endeavors for a long time, and then fell in love with family and just totally became uninterested in creative pursuits as a result. I get the impression he’s not even really a consumer of film anymore. He’s kinda put film and filmmaking behind him. The problem is, when our children grow up, we have several decades to ourselves we still have to live…

@VideoGameAutopsy

Жыл бұрын

@@RedCowArcade I just think it’s crazy how back in the day, before the movie, before ScreenWave, Cinemassacre was a website that celebrated films. And that even though James was The Nerd, and that it was, and still is, his most popular series, the show always came second to everything else he was passionate about. Nowadays, Cinemassacre doesn’t stand for anything. It’s merely the channel that hosts AVGN content and nothing else. The name went from being a declaration of everything he loved and held dear to an embarrassing URL that he can’t change.

@emobassist

Жыл бұрын

​@@RedCowArcade honestly i think the movie took away his passion because everything was different after that time. I dont think he knew what he was getting into and was way more effort than he expected and it bombed and he never recovered fully

It's interesting to see the parallels between James (AVGN) and Doug Walker (Nostalgia Critic). Leaving aside their similar shtick they both tried to use their channel as a platform to break into filmmaking and failed spectacularly, being forced to come back to their grind with far less enthusiasm than they used to have. The thing is, despite being way more marred by controversy, Doug seems to have taken it much more gracefully than James. He still uploads at least once a week and for better or worse he still puts effort into it. He actually seems to have rekindled some passion for reviewing whereas you can tell James' heart is just not into it anymore.

@heyyoitsmebrian

Жыл бұрын

but that nostalgia critic's The Wall probably made a lot of people say like :::::::: ok... im done with this guy forever ... this is the funniest thing ive seen in weeks but not for the reasons he thinks it is

@HIDHIFDB

Жыл бұрын

To be honest the Cinema Snob is the only rage reviewer who some how keeps going with the same energy no mater his personal failures.

@CypheroX

Жыл бұрын

Thing is James is not a gamer and he doesn't care about games one bit. SNES was his last platform.

@BananaPhoPhilly

Жыл бұрын

@@CypheroXIt seems like James mostly stopped gaming when he was in high school. SNES was probably the last platform he really spent a good amount of time with and even then he definitely wasn’t passionate about it compared to the NES

@jeffc1753

10 ай бұрын

James has just been going through the motions for years, and lets face it, the new AVGN episodes are baaaad. It’s an embarrassment. But hey, if it sells, who needs integrity and dignity?

Feel so bad for Keiran - He was lumped with the insurmountable task of having to write material to compete with Classic AVGN. He should never have been put in that position. And to get so poorly paid that he is considering selling his car, and all of the death threats and constant abuse from fans, and from inside the company. It’s amazing he lasted as long as he did. It speaks to his passion for creating and love for AVGN. Wanna shoutout Kieran writing the AVGN Resident Evil review, it’s excellent, and you can tell he’s a huge fan of the series. It also quietly announced that James doesn’t write his own stuff, as he admitted to his indifference to the franchise in the two Resident Evil 2 promotional videos (ignoring Kieran’s gleeful playthrough while dropping easter eggs and lore!). Even if he hated his time with Screenwave I hope in time he comes around to being very proud of what he has produced.

@heyyoitsmebrian

Жыл бұрын

i agree with ........ Mooooooost of that

@bloosheee

Жыл бұрын

death threats from avgn fans dont mean much. who are those guys gonna hurt? 🤣🤣🤣

@JohnSmith-yd5wq

Жыл бұрын

That was the saddest thing I heard. As a fan of RE games, when James said that he couldn't get past the 1st screen of RE2 as a college student I was dumbfounded. 1st off James who's whole job is to play videogames why would you admit that. Second it's just embarrassing he couldn't and just gave up. Plus he's a big horror fan. That's really when I stopped really watching Avgn

@Dielawn69

Жыл бұрын

I definitely get what you're saying. While the only screenwave guy I ever really liked was Tony. I really only think I disliked them so much was because of the power James gave them. So i think it's fair that they shouldnt have as much hate directed at them as they have. James definitely deserves a lot more for hiring people that arent that talented to take over his very successful and long running youtube channel

@ergoth154

Жыл бұрын

​@@JohnSmith-yd5wq He's a retro gamer, he never seemed particularly interested in anything past the SNES. He also says he doesn't even play games casually anymore, he's just playing a character and reading script. Also loving Horror films doesn't always translate to Horror games.

If James and his producer just introduced this guy and the other slobs honestly ("hey we're collaborating with screenwave now, expect some changes," etc) he wouldn't have gotten all the hate. Instead cinemassacre went with the "let's gaslight our fans into acting like they already know these guys" approach. Nobody responds well to that. It's just human nature.

@mrmusickhimself

11 ай бұрын

They seriously just popped up out of nowhere. I remembered Justin from that awful AVGN Roast that he threw for Silvermania (where James couldn't even be bothered to come up with a rebuttal at the end), and that was it. Then he was suddenly in every nerd video with a crew, I assumed they were friends, yet he never introduced them.

The guy being treated the worst, getting the lions share of the work and making the least money?.........shocking!!! Kieran was always my favorite when they had group discussions. Just by the tone of his voice you can tell how genuine he is.

@pdmayton

Жыл бұрын

I can't remember his name, but the really fat guy is the one I didn't care for. And the podcats in the basement were boring. James barely contributed to those conversations as well. I actually liked rental review though.

@3AMREVIEWS

Жыл бұрын

@@pdmayton Justin I think. I liked the rental reviews too

@xXTwigManXx

Жыл бұрын

Yep! In the past, whenever I'd be discussing how crappy Screenwave is, I'd always be sure to mention that I *do* like Kieran. I'm also one of the few people who watched the Cinemassacre Podcast and I always noticed that Justin seemed to always belittle him or treat him like some dumb kid or something. I really hope Kieran's ok and gets back on his feet soon. It would be a damn shame if he actually quit editing because of all this

@JosephWalker-ip7pd

11 ай бұрын

Kieran was the best of them justin and tony were unbearable.

@ungabungus01

Ай бұрын

​@@pdmaytonHI I'M JUSTIN

James is basically that band or solo artist that put out a string of classic albums, but, as time went on, their output got weaker and weaker. It's been 20 years and they're still releasing music, but you can't remember the last time any of it was good.

I give Cinemassacre at most, two years before it completely folds. James's heart hasn't been in it in a while, and Screenwave's takeover has been a disaster.

@LackaJudgment

Жыл бұрын

The hour of Five-Forty is upon us⏳💀

@VideoJamesNZ

Жыл бұрын

I'm really surprised it's still going now TBH. You're absolutely right, you can tell James has kinda just ran out of steam, and understandably so. I tried watching a newer episode fairly recently. I honestly can't stomach it anymore. It has been done to death.

@keithoneil9894

Жыл бұрын

@@VideoJamesNZ I thought I read somewhere the Earthbound episode was originally supposed to be the last one. I think it was before the Screenwave takeover.

@keithoneil9894

Жыл бұрын

@XtraMint Yeah. I gave The Screenwave era a fair shot. I thought Rental Reviews was OK at first. Then I realized James didn't contribute anything other than "Yeah", "Uh ha", and the crew just read whatever was on IMDB. I tapped out when the Rex Vyper videos began. They were a bridge too far.

@doomsday9973

Жыл бұрын

Yep I agree. It’s on fumes

There are so many talented young people out there and James picks Screenwave. I'll never understand that.

@freedustin

Жыл бұрын

$€££¥ Outty, that's why. If you worked on something for 20 years you'd probably want to get some return on it too.

@mattjindrak

Жыл бұрын

They're all his wife's boyfriends and he just wanted to feel included

@fabricatedreality418

Жыл бұрын

He probably picked them cause he thought he'd be able to pay them dog shit wages

@DoubleBeast

Жыл бұрын

Well... James has known Ryan for a while. And we know how well James researches things beforehand. Filming the AVGN movie in CA, climbing the Rocky IV mountain with worn out shoes... James simply went for his most convenient option, which is Screenwave. As long as they feed him a script and handle all the editing, he's cool with it. He doesn't care... Put in the bare minimum and cruise along.

@BananaPhoPhilly

8 ай бұрын

Like the guy above me said, I think he didn't want to reach out or do much research into finding people, and he already knew Ryan so he picked screenwave. It's honestly sad, he could have picked ANYONE with talent from his fanbase and they probably would've been better. Hell, he could've hired JonTron or someone as a ghost writer lol and he would probably have a much larger channel now

james wont show up to his own funeral because he just doesent have the time.

Very sad he currently regrets half a decade of his life. Hopefully one day he'll be able to look back on it with a bit more fondness, or at least feel he learned from it.

Keiran is kidding himself on the weight thing. As a former fat slob myself, it was like night and day. Nothing was worse than being 24 years old and sweating going up stairs and being out of breath like an old man and always being uncomfortable in jeans and in car seats and some public settings. Keiran put that weight back on and is trying to make it sound like he wanted to, not that he lost control again. Like he's trying to minimize the failure of keeping it off by saying "I didn't care anyway". Otherwise, I felt for everything he had to say. The problem is in the geeky social media climate Big Ryan will hire anyone who will work for cheap just by dangling pseudo web fame in their face and getting to meet The Great James Rolfe. A lot of single, young dudes with no kids will hop on that job in a second regardless of what it pays. Until they get older and realize it sucks.

@cmdrfunk

Жыл бұрын

Your body reflects what you put into it and what you do.

@MoonMagicks

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I seriously call bullshit on his excuse for loosing and gaining weight back. When you loose a lot of weight it feels INCREDIBLE. The guy's an alcoholic and he's trying to blame others for his own problem.

@XdonttakeL

Жыл бұрын

its very weird you care about his weight

@thethrashyone

Жыл бұрын

If he still felt like crap after losing the weight, the likely culprit is that his overall diet didn't change much. You can lose a lot of weight just by starting to exercise and making no other changes to your diet, sure, but if you _don't_ change your diet then you're likely to both hit a weight loss plateau and still feel like crap. Doesn't really matter if a big-ass cheeseburger fits into your daily calories, the sodium still bumps up your blood pressure (which leads to lethargy) and the grease still isn't good for you. Not that I claim to know what Kieran's diet was like while on his weight loss kick, just saying that continuing to eat like shit even while introducing exercise into your life is a common factor in "losing weight, but still feeling like shit".

@Coffee-Stain-Music

Жыл бұрын

@@thethrashyone he also quit drinking at the time too and has since taken it back up long with putting the weight on. I refuse to belive that going sober and dropping like 70 pounds didn't make him feel any better. That's BS. He's just downplaying his weight gain and failure at sobriety.

Controversy aside, I hope Kieran does well for himself. I get the feeling SW wasn't the most.... non-self sabotaging place to work at.

@cerisejones8061

Жыл бұрын

From my understanding kerian was editing the avgn episodes. If James rolfe had anymore heart in video making he would edit. Editing a video is a real craft.

@mrmusickhimself

Жыл бұрын

@@cerisejones8061 It certainly is. It's like putting together a puzzle where the pieces keep changing shape, and you have to get rearranging it. It's maddening, but it's a blast.

@madcapmakov2

Жыл бұрын

SW?

@joshtoten

Жыл бұрын

@@madcapmakov2 screenwave. now they go by retroware or something

To be fair, Kieran didn't "rage quit". He quit.

@RedCowArcade

Жыл бұрын

We address this in this clip: kzread.info/dash/bejne/a6hrrdZ8YtDalag.html

@tthomaselli2

Жыл бұрын

@@RedCowArcade- I didn't think you did... Thanks for the additional info.

A raise to 50k is still nowhere near enough to put up with all that. Working with Screenwave, under James the absent-minded boss, and being a public punching bag for the internet? Hell no man. I don't think that's worth it even for the mainstream celebrities who make millions. I can't believe he's making that pittance, if he's telling the truth. But hey, at least he got paid, unlike Kyle and Bootsy.

@cmdrfunk

Жыл бұрын

He could just not act like an idiot and actually groom himself

@sikkableeat5614

Жыл бұрын

@@cmdrfunk I think he and Justin prefer another kind of grooming

@chasejackson7248

Жыл бұрын

He's an adult if you can't handle online idiots that's in him.

I find it interesting that all the haters accuse whoever just left of "Being AVGN and the source behind it." When Mike was around he was constantly harassed by people online for ruining things, he leaves? "Mike WAS the AVGN. He wrote everything and did all the game play footage! It won't be the same!" Then they turned to straight up harassment, personal harassment, of Keiran and Justin. They harassed Tony so much that he started yelling in one of his chats: "I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH AVGN, I'LL NEVER BE ON ANOTHER EPISODE OR HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT AGAIN. LEAVE ME ALONE!" And now Kieran leaves: "He was the heart of the show, he wrote all the stuff!" Shock: People leave when the 'fans' who seem to want James to abandon his family and only re-write the first 50 episodes over and over until he dies harasses in every way the people around James. Kieran was paid $40k a year? That's pretty decent in the area he is in. Could he have been paid more? Yup, he should have been for sure due to all the hats he wore. But this needs to stop with "They did it all while James did nothing" every time one of the people are driven away. Either enjoy the channels content or leave, but the harassment and stuff needs to straight up stop.

This is harsh man, I’m literally watching James’ soul get sucked away the longer Screenwave goes on. I hope he retires gracefully. But he’ll probably go dramatically :(

I'm a genuine James Rolfe fan. The man has provided me with more entertainment the better part of two decades than just about anyone else in any media. He's a fascinating guy, genuinely talented in many ways, and I personally love the idiosyncrasies that make him seem strange. He's authentic. In a world full of Doug Walkers, be a James Rolfe. But I love the fact that Bimmy has become a nickname he's widely known by. 😂 Also I think your takes on AVGN/Cinemassacre are quite fair, and always entertaining. It's great that you don't lose sight of the person/people behind the KZread brands. I'm not a big fan of Screenwave, but of course I wish all the best to Kieran and I hope he finds a way to rekindle his passion in a way that contributes to his happiness and mental health.

@barney5421

Жыл бұрын

He’s a pants peeing spazz who lets others prop him up so he doesn’t cry on the floor in his on waste

@Blowncapacitor84

Жыл бұрын

James?.. Is that you?

@barney5421

Жыл бұрын

@@Blowncapacitor84 yes certainly

@dm6905

Жыл бұрын

lol Doug Walker is way more authentic than James Rolfe, at least Doug is actually into the content he creates, and he creates it himself

@ismolaitela6666

Жыл бұрын

Authentic? Not so much anymore...

I hope Kieran’s ok. And I really hope he quit drinking. I worked a very stressful job full of toxic people and the constant alcoholism across everyone including myself made it so much work. It took me over a year to get over it. Despite making insane money for a short while, it crushed my soul. Was also fat and miserable. I just cannot lose weight while drinking no matter what I drink. These days I’m lean, sober, and loving life. And when I left my toxic job, I had to start over from the beginning and it was absolutely worth it. Hopefully Kieran builds a new life for himself as a Chad instead of a slob!

@mr.smithgnrsmith7808

Жыл бұрын

Boo boo…MAN UP

@PoutingTrevor

Жыл бұрын

​@@mr.smithgnrsmith7808 Sounds like he did. You could really learn something.

@Twi66e

Жыл бұрын

@@mr.smithgnrsmith7808 that’s the toxic shit he was talking about dude

@gyromurphy

Жыл бұрын

Thats what's up dude. I went was into some... slightly harsher....chemicals, but that was more than a decade ago since I got rid of that bs life and things are so so so so so much better. Got my shop in Pittsburgh and I'm loving life. It's always good to see when another person got off the wagon and is happy.

@bobanmilisavljevic7857

Жыл бұрын

​@@Twi66e 😱

7:44 As a zoomer (who dislikes a lot of social media except here) and a writer/editor, don't force your comedy for a certain demographic, always stay true to yourself and be honest to those around you or follow you, because even if you lose job opportunities, people respect honesty and transparency when it comes to entertainment and/or entertainers.

@FeIixDragon

Жыл бұрын

My philosophy is if, as a writer, I don't find my own writing entertaining or funny or enjoyable, then it would be condescending to expect my audience to enjoy it.

@holdingpattern245

Жыл бұрын

maybe they wanted to sell it to certain advertisers, so it had to be nominally the specific thing that they could sell

@ataraxxx

Жыл бұрын

The best videos are the ones where James just talks about things he's passionate about.

@1983jcheat

Жыл бұрын

Good to hear a younger person say that. I'm turning 40 this year and rarely ever hear that ever!

@bb-gc2tx

Жыл бұрын

need more zoomers like you. once the gen x comics retire will be stuck with "comedians" looking for agreeing applause on their views instead of going for laughs because of an edgy joke

avgn is like most things that become popular. it starts out organically and simply for the love of doing it. once big money is involved it becomes forced and soulless

@codyjohnson8961

Жыл бұрын

Starwars

@mrmusickhimself

Жыл бұрын

Thing is: James lost out on a LOT of money. He's a Thousand-aire who should be a millionaire.

@codyjohnson8961

Жыл бұрын

@@mrmusickhimself was that a cm punk reference

@colonel1003

11 ай бұрын

@@mrmusickhimselfhow did he lose out on money?

Kieran was treated like Butters in the SafeSpace episode of South Park. He had to gobble up all that toxic shit BY HIMSELF, and was used as a lightning rod. I seriously hope he'll be okay, despite the doxxing and garbagestabbing.

I will finally sign up for the pateron if y’all get Karen on the podcast.

@Supersquigi

Жыл бұрын

Call the Caveman!

@cannonballkid

Жыл бұрын

@@Supersquigi 1-800 ooga booga!

@andykishore

Жыл бұрын

Karen for life.

@NeonKnight83

Жыл бұрын

Lol Karen

@anom5389

Жыл бұрын

KZreadr simp

It's weird how James never bothered properly introducing his staff. Meanwhile JonTron, who started much later and was originally inspired by his work, was completely transparent in letting his audience know "this is the format now, I have a whole team, I have writers and a producer". Did James not realise the importance of that, or does he just prefer to have more people assume he still does most of the work? Who knows.

@OSW

Жыл бұрын

I think it's so he feels he's hoodwinking his audience having a "written by, directed by and starring" credit.... of his KZread video

@TheLakabanzaichrg

Жыл бұрын

They are so close he rammed a massager up on one of them

@DONKEYKONG260

Жыл бұрын

@@OSW I agree. It's all a bit fishy. Also I gotta say, love your content. I have been watching your back catalog and just got to WrestleMania IV. Stellar work guys.

@OSW

Жыл бұрын

​@@DONKEYKONG260jeez that's like one of our worst episodes 😂😂 but thank u matey! I hope osw never gets so bad there's a truth subreddit! Whenever it's the 2043 Tatanka Redemption Arc

@zacksguitarhacks6390

Жыл бұрын

Season 6 is where he stopped putting credits

Has there ever been an introduction to the whole team? I had watched almost all AVGN content but the Screenwave guys just showed up and I thought 'who are these guys?'. It was nice for James to have some helping hands regardless of how people perceive them but, uh... who were they? Heck, the only reason I found out the group name was because of the Reddit thread where everyone was bashing the hell out of the guys. First AVGN video I saw was his NES collection 14 years ago and was hooked. The man is a gem. Not perfect, but like anyone he has to reach out for a little assistance because doing the shows has kicked his ass in the past, leading to at least one long hiatus.

@bluepiggaming204

Жыл бұрын

I started watching cinemassacre for avgn, i stayed at cinemassacre for James Rolfe. Hes a normal guy doing the best he can. I feel bad that often james is in the middle of everybody elses choices, ie bootsy being a jerk, controversy around his theme song and then mike flashing his junk on the internet apparantly (rumor).

I think the golden age of AVGN was 1-100. I still load up the oldest to newest playlist to fall asleep to just because they're so cozy to listen to. After the movie there's been some gold here and there like MegaMan games, Ikari Warriors and Tiger games but anything done in the last 5 years or perhaps more most I cant even finish. His real passion is movies and his movie reviews when its him alone talking about his favourite things are amazing. Wish he just cut AVGN loose and did more of that. Sadly, AVGN is his money maker.

@thesucc990

Жыл бұрын

Lmao I'm sorry, but the thought of you falling asleep to an AVGN episode is absolutely hilarious. Are the sounds of the cowardly lion stapling The Wizard of Oz with his shit to the ceiling soothing to you?

@xXTwigManXx

Жыл бұрын

@@thesucc990 I do the same

AVGN getting guest directors/writers would actually be a draw IMO lol

James is just in a much more competitive era of KZread, there are countless channels that do humorous game reviews, and if he's going to phone it in, people will just watch something else instead. He's not only burnt on the AVGN thing, but he clearly has no passion for Movie Madness or anything, he's tired of youtube, but gotta keep doing it because it brings the dosh home. It's the classic tale of people don't have what they want, and can't appreciate what they currently have, many would do anything to have the online audience he has.

@takerdust

Жыл бұрын

he better start getting passionate about making money with his subscriber base, or he'll be a guy in his late 40's working a low wage job that he despises even more.

@ataraxxx

Жыл бұрын

Many would do anything to put their career on the backburner to be present in their kid's lives as well. It's all about perspective.

@emobassist

Жыл бұрын

Yeah it's pretty obvious that James deals with depression anxiety and self doubt

@headshot217

Жыл бұрын

​​@@takerdustno chance guys set for life financially

@FuzzBucket69

Жыл бұрын

There's a huge difference between prioritizing your time and having no passion. That's an ignorant comment, of course he's got passion for it, He's a pioneer of youtube with the game reviews and monster madness and all that he does, but he's also a father and husband ya moron.

Mike was the real AVGN, the real passionate about classic games, James is just passionate about movies and rock music, so of course he wants to move on, but can't, nothing takes off as highly as AVGN did. James is like Kurt Cobain writing and writing but most of people just cares about Smells Like Teen Spirits, the song he wrote as a bad joke and took off like non of his more serious, passionate songs. AVGN was a small gag that took off like he wasn't expecting and now he can't escape it. Like imagine Kurt alive, balding, old and sad still singing a song about a teenager deodorant. That crap is depressing. James outgrown AVGN and his indiference about the character is understandable. He is a prisoner of his own sucess.

@AarturoSc

6 ай бұрын

Not really. The Nerd is James’s character. Mike is just an obsessive retro gamer that lacks charisma, but he isn’t really playing a character.

This channel is fair with criticism involving James and everyone else.

@SINfromPL

Жыл бұрын

We are all aware

@Hack_The_Planet_

Жыл бұрын

Don’t you guys ever worry you’re wasting your life focusing on inconsequential pointless B***S***???

@FeIixDragon

Жыл бұрын

​@@Hack_The_Planet_ telling on yourself a bit aren't ya?

@Hack_The_Planet_

Жыл бұрын

@@FeIixDragon LOL I’m not the one projecting, you are. I don’t like my own comments either, you do. Weirdo

@slamrobot6584

Жыл бұрын

@@SINfromPL Good. Then you know.

James is too busy not working to work

@kevinpaz3142

Жыл бұрын

He's got personal errands to run, do you want him to suffer?

The guy on the right looks like Paul McCartney in the thumbnail.

Nothing like the algorithm showing me this right after the “inside writing AVGN” episode dropping

@dm6905

Жыл бұрын

It's an interesting contrast. James claiming on his inside writing video he wrote all the 2022 episodes without help, while Kieran claimed on his quit-stream that he was the head writer on all of those

I got really annoyed with AVGN for many years. As James started asking for donations for his movie. And I just assumed it would be released on KZread, which made sense why he'd be asking for donations to help fund it. So I ended up donating like $75. Then later on is when he started the Indiegogo, which I didn't follow as I didn't know what that was. Then years later, he releases the movie, and he released it to sell it on blu-ray and digital. And I asked them through email if they could send me a digital code or something since I had donated $75, and they never responded. So I ended up pirating it, and the movie was terrible. And then I realized it was lame that James used his fans to help fund his movie where his fans didn't participate in any of the profits. I'm talking the period before he started Indiegogo making videos asking for donations for his movie without even disclosing that the movie would be for-profit via blu-ray and digital sales.

@lostconciousness4255

9 ай бұрын

lol, cause your $75 paid for a year of film crew, equipment and food? welcome to the world of crowdfunding. Minecraft was crowdfunded, can you go get a free copy of it?

@colt5189

9 ай бұрын

​@@lostconciousness4255 When AVGN first started asking for donations for his movie, I had assumed it would be released on KZread, which made sense why he was crowdfunding. So I donated and then didn't pay a lot of attention to it for the years he was off making it. Though at first, I was annoyed when Mike took over the channel, but got to liking some of his content. Anyways, after I donated, James later started a Go Fund Me where I guess people who donated got a copy of the movie or whatever. And then I had got annoyed when the movie was done and he announced he was selling the movie. So I ended up watching it on a 3rd party website so I didn't have to pay more for this movie and the movie was terrible. I did send them a couple of emails asking if they were going to give digital codes to the early backers, but they never responded. And when I'd complain about it on the AVGN website message board, they'd always delete it, which made it more annoying. At the end of the day, it wasn't that big of a deal. Just wish he had did a Go Fund Me from the get go letting people know early on it was a for profit venture.

@walker1984

6 ай бұрын

​@lostconciousness4255 some backing sites do send things to backers that give a certain amount.

Avgn definitely jumped the shark when James changed the outfit and tried to be a badass by showing off his awful trashy upper arm tattoo. At least we have the early days...

All the hate that guy had to deal with on a 40k salary. That's brutal.

@johndodo2062

Жыл бұрын

That's allot of money for supposed that's he could just not read. God you people are so weak

@cfisher2447

Жыл бұрын

40k? Are you shitting me? How the fuck am I making almost twice that sitting on my ass writing custom software?

I think Mike was the reason a lot of the original nerd episodes worked so well. I think he needs to get more involved.

@jaytpmc

Жыл бұрын

Disagree

@Zontar82

Жыл бұрын

he ruined most if not all episodes

@varvarvarvarvarvar

Жыл бұрын

Mike is the angry video game nerd

@mver191

Жыл бұрын

Most of the gameplay was actually coming from MIke and I loved the Last Ninja episode which was co written by Mike (He also plays Ernie).

@actionjackson442

Жыл бұрын

They have good chemistry

Say what you want about Mike Matei, but he's genuine and loves video games and golden-age media it's a sin to say that he's not the real angry video game nerd. James and Mike met in college and were the true heart of Cinemassacre and even though Mike said he left, he's the heart and soul as well as James.

@Suichkaa

10 ай бұрын

agreed! i still watch mike on twitch almost every day and the dude is a genuine gamer.

@7milesdavis

8 ай бұрын

He’s awesome I watch him all the time. Him as the joker was hilarious along with the other characters he played.

Sounds like Ryan is a terrible boss, and Justin falls in line right behind Ryan

@FeIixDragon

Жыл бұрын

Ryan is a terrible boss and Justin is an adequate yesman.

@thewhitematstudio

Жыл бұрын

You mean Rian?

@JamesJohnson-tr1gu

Жыл бұрын

@@thewhitematstudio maybe that's why Justin has become the face of Screenwave lol

@SPQR101010

Жыл бұрын

not sure if he is a terrible boss, but based on the last talk about games he is transitioning.

@slippi2476

Жыл бұрын

@@SPQR101010 Like... "TRANSITIONING" transitioning? lol

It's all good. James will duct-tape another camera to a chair and sally forth.

I just think "slob" is the funniest thing

Personally loved all of Kieran’s writing, consistently one of the best additions to Rental Review, and a true AVGN fan through and through

James is pretty much left alone at this point, right? Man, that 2021 with Rex Viper, bobcast, and the all-new Plagiarism Madness looks so bizarre in the retrospect - it's really obvious that Screenwave desperately wanted James to do anything for his brand (that would preferably involve them at the forefront, let's not kid ourselves) before they just went "You know what? Fuck it" and left him.

@opaljk4835

Жыл бұрын

They’ll just hire more people, who everyone will dislike and then probably leave in a similar manner

@GODCONVOYPRIME

Жыл бұрын

It would be interesting if he half-assed it on purpose so that he can get out of contract. Golden handcuffs if you will.

@dissraps

Жыл бұрын

You realize t he only reason they were 'at the forefront" is because James has 0 personality, doesn't want to do anything, can't do anything by himself, and is incapable of anything unscripted right? What options did they have NOT to be at the forefront? MIKE couldn't even make James interesting/engaging in anything on James and Mike mondays, what the hell were they going to do? At least if there was 4 of them on the shitty podcast they could keep it moving to try and hide the fact the only contribution James has is "mmm hmmm. Ya." Let's not forget the fact that they: write, plan, film, make the set, edit, do the internet stuff, pick the games, etc. and James STILL complains about how he's being abused and has no time to spend TWO HOURS A WEEK IN HIS OWN HOUSE. What James-exclusive projects do you think they had the chances to get going? And on the (non-existent) chance they could ever convince him to do it (once), what could it be that he'd have any engagement in? The only one that desperately wanted limelight was Justin, but even still that was a benefit to James because at least he could hold a conversation.

@worldscoolestperson7672

Жыл бұрын

@Diss Raps uh oh, wrong opinion alert!

@fordid42

Жыл бұрын

@@dissraps

Ironically, I had the least negative things to say about Keiran. He wasn’t the most… charismatic person on earth but he wasn’t even in the same league of annoying as those other screenwave dudes.

Eyo thanks for the shoutout guys! 🙌 We definitely have to collab again! 😄

@brendantheprinceofhismomsl9907

Жыл бұрын

Collaborate = buttsex

@Alexander84129

Жыл бұрын

You-know-whats would be HUGE

@ernestareheart4238

Жыл бұрын

Ohhhh! Look at Cazzy getting a plug from them big boys! Been watching your AVGN content, (as well as Brown Electrons, of course) since the beginning and, I know you read this a lot, but your editing honestly did make the vast majority of it watchable. So, you do great things with what you're given I will say, and I hope it takes you somewhere you need or want to go. Have a great day, and as always, HIIIYYYAAAH!

So James’ iconic silver flat Sanyo CRT, which was the centerpiece of his retro gaming set-up for years, was moved and mounted in a corner in his new videostore basement stage set-up here. The TCL Roku flatscreen replaced it. My question is this… how the heck did Justin manage to fit in the staircase leading down to his basement?

@AarturoSc

6 ай бұрын

They buttered him up, which was also time consuming because he kept eating the butter.

@JodyBruchon

2 ай бұрын

​@@AarturoSc HAHAHAHAHA

Here's the problem in my opinion. When Mike left. Mike was like James's Tyler Durden. And no matter what they do it will never be the same.

@deusprogrammer_thekingofspace

Жыл бұрын

Mike Matei rode Jame's coat tails and honestly brought nothing to the show IMO.

@TheJinjo75

Жыл бұрын

That channel was already going downhill long before Mike left

@8Bitorbust

Жыл бұрын

@@deusprogrammer_thekingofspace I can totally understand why you'd feel that way. What I can tell you is Mike was the brainchild behind some of their funniest skits. But that's the thing with Mike, he strikes me as the kind of guy that either you like him or you don't. He's unapologetically who he is and I can respect that.

@joshthefunkdoc

Жыл бұрын

Mike was an all-around asshole who had to go, but he & Bootsy were the people on the team who really knew games. They just screwed Bootsy on money while Mike made himself more of a problem than he was worth, so that's how we get here...

@varvarvarvarvarvar

Жыл бұрын

@@joshthefunkdoc Mike was definitely a backbone of avgn since the beginning. There would be no avgn without him. But he's a somewhat unconscientious childish slav as well and James became a motherly dad.

I actually liked Kieran,not Justin though ,NOT Justin.

@calebmurray9292

Жыл бұрын

Justin takes up a lot of screen time 😂

Man, that's a real shame. Kieran was the one person out of the Screenwave guys that I actually LIKED appearing on James' shit

''James Childhood Friend'' (trademarked) will be replacing caveman ,he just doesn't know it yet lol

Tony is gone too...took Hack The Movies and went solo...rumor is he got laid off from there...which is why you've seen Screenwave pivot from making content to making video games

@SteveMcbrain

Жыл бұрын

Hack the movies has surpassed cinemassacre in my opinion

Kieran mentioned you Guys - I really hope you get to have an interview with him??!!

@RedCowArcade

Жыл бұрын

The thing he mentioned was that he refuses to do an interview with us! 🤣

Just for what you guys have covered, James clearly lacks communication skills and has an inability to confront confrontation which would be required to resolve the issues with Kieran. It also seems like James doesn't want to be involved in AVGN anymore. I watched AVGN as a kid here and there, up to what I would assume would be season two, and then was surprised to see it still going years later when a co-worker brought it up. I watched a few a few of the newer stuff and never understood why Kieran and Tony would get hate. In retrospect, it seemed like they would carry the Rental Review episodes. It's sad to hear that about Kieran, he deserves better.

@underwaterlevelz1947

Жыл бұрын

+Smashedbrothersgaming James needed to take a paycut and let a piece of his earnings go to Kieran. Kieran was paid very little compared to James despite doing more of the actual "work".

@ruko9876

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, James really lacked communication skills. If not for this video, I would not have even know that one of the slobs just quit. These was no post or even anything regarding any announcement of Kieran leaving in any of Cinemassacre's Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and their other social media accounts. No surprise there though, when James can't even properly announce the departure of both Kyle Justin and Bootsy from the channel.

@alfsleftnut9224

Жыл бұрын

I think james as straight up said that if it were up to him, avgn would have ended in like 2018

@kwc0435

Жыл бұрын

​@Alf's leftnut he originally planned to end it on episode 100

the 5:40 meme will never die

Keerin has been such a cool dude to watch streem. I knew what he was doing and feel bad for the situation he was put in. Hopefully he's happier now!

Never cared too much about him, was the one I'd rather keep from the bunch, though. Remember one talk he had with Mike and Ryan... he brought up that he had some action figures and the others totally ignored him, until Ryan in an ironic tone said something like: "Yeah? Cool story..." and laughed like he stood on higher grounds. I had the feeling then that the chemistry wasn't too good.

Can’t wait til Kieran is on the show!

I'm a "truther" and would never contact/message/whatever anyone. Some people take things waaaay too far and those people are simply assholes of the assholish variety. I've also never made fun of Justin's weight, never called Kieran a caveman, etc.

I think the AVGN days are over. The need had a great run over the years but I feel it is over

So he doesn't have a problem with James and the others. Also I've noticed a lot of people say things about James that they couldn't even know are true or not. Yet they state them as if they know.

@allenellsworth5799

Жыл бұрын

@@MyPixelatedPast Agreed

Bring him on for an interview guys. Ppl love kieran and tony when they do reviews of resident evil movies on hack the movies

@Brendan-Fraser

Жыл бұрын

Bring Cooper Folly on too!

@cmdrfunk

Жыл бұрын

Yeah ask him why he's proud of how he got himself fired from Gamestop

Looks like Big Ryan is going to be dropping a few spots down on the Cinemassacre Universe tier list.

2009 just called, it wants AVGN back.

James chose quantity over quality and went "off brand" along the way. These 2 things essentially ruined the AVGN character image. James tries to make AVGN episodes like mini crappy movies and scripts everything to death. Its sad to see the AVGN character melt away and become something no-one wanted or asked for. James could focus on quality (and fix his character changes, persona, wardrobe, etc...) and make 4 videos a year supplemented with "filler" content videos and it would be great. No-one wants pumped out crap. I really want him to succeed. Currently its like a sitcom that went 3 seasons too far and its very very sad to see...

If there's anything to take away from this, it's that the cinemassacre podcast was their biggest mistake because the ripples of it will haunt them forever. I hate Justin.

Tony from Hack the movies left and redid his set i believe at his house. Kieran had a actual stalker "Rex Viper Rigs" that approached him multiple times at CONs and screenwave did nothing for his protection. Those are some of the breaking points. Apparently Ryan Schott's sister has a lot of pull

@Dead2009

Жыл бұрын

No, he's still there. They were only doing episodes at his house because the HTM set was being rebuilt.

If you are being disrespected & belittled by the Screen Wave guys, I can see how it would mess you up mentally… 😂

Can I find a video of Kieran saying these things? I'm just curious.

AVGN has been dead for a decade. The AVGN movie killed James' passion. His fans are in denial.

@BananaPhoPhilly

2 ай бұрын

Dead for a decade? Nah. But it definitely started declining in 2013-ish. There were still some fantastic episodes until that year… drake and the 99 dragons is when it officially seemed dead or dying to me. I’d say it died officially with cinemassacre 200.

For as great of a job James did for the first 10ish years of AVGN, he really made some poor decisions as of the last few years. He should've just kept putting out one episode every couple of months, written by him, and continued with James and Mike Mondays. That's nothing crazy for a guy with two kids to accomplish, and he still got tons of views and likely made good money. But, instead, he acted like having kids made him too busy to have any kind of job. What else has he been doing? Screenwave handles 90% of AVGN and then James puts out a random easy video now and then. I just don't get it. He ditched the stuff his fans liked most, James and Mike Mondays, and writing his own AVGN scripts.

@Ragnnar

Жыл бұрын

I hated James and Mike Mondays, just fyi. Mike has always got under my skin for some reason.

I wish James would fire Screenwave completely. They've only hurt the Cinemassacre brand. Even if AVGN becomes even worse I'd still be more interested if it was James and Mike still doing it.

Cinemassacre has not been the same ever since Mike left. Say what you want about him personally. But on a professional level he was the backbone of that franchise. He was the guy that made AVGN the powerhouse it was. The COVID pandemic and Mike leaving doomed the chanel. James and Mike Mondays was better than the AVGN episodes. I should add the ending of Rental Review as another blow. As well as the podcast which was great but lasted 6 months unfortunately.

@rossomac21

Жыл бұрын

The problem with "Rental Reviews" was that James clearly didn't watch the movies they reviewed and stood there awkwardly on a weekly basis.

@georgenelson8284

Жыл бұрын

@@rossomac21 I dunno about that. I feel like James kept up on movies. But he rarely played video games after N64. Meanwhile Mike kept up on both.

Guy on the right really clutching his pearls about weed like it's 1933

@RedCowArcade

Жыл бұрын

Not a fan

@markcollins2704

Жыл бұрын

Weed is cringe.

@tetsuoakira8294

Жыл бұрын

I've smoked it a few a times and all it made me was sleepy. So yeah, it's a great sleep-aid. Just don't see how it's all that great.

@sn1000k

10 ай бұрын

Weird

@casvandijck9338

10 ай бұрын

@@tetsuoakira8294 A lot of people need help with dealing with stress or with sleeping. If you would be one of us you'd see.

A shame that AVGN has gone the way it has.

It's not really fair to say that he "rage quit." Rage quit has the connotation that him leaving was unwarranted or that he was in the wrong or something. Kieran was likely in the right here.

@RedCowArcade

Жыл бұрын

Well, fair. He quit, and he broadcasted an enraged Twitch stream immediately after the fact.

@dissidentechoes3752

Жыл бұрын

@@RedCowArcade You should reach out with him to go on your show.

never done weed either, 31 years old, respect for standing up with your opinion!

0:29 a Freudian slip if there ever was one!

That AVGN Shrek episode was horrendous

Tony rebuilt the hack the movies set at a new location. Just fyi

You hit the nail on the head,if they had just been open and honest and had James say something to the effect of "from this point I'm reducing my role to onscreen talent,these guys will be writing,producing etc." Everyone,or at least most people would have accepted that,by trying to cover it they drew more attention to it and put themselves under more of a spotlight,they basically Streisand effect-ed themselves

@sn1000k

10 ай бұрын

If the writing wasn't so BAD

I was a graphic designer for over 14 years on a really low wage and got very badly bullied by my boss (who also owned the company). I got very depressed and turned to drugs as a way to cope resulting in my wife leaving & divorcing me. I eventually got so bad I left the company to go on the sick. That was several years ago and I have worked since but I'm still recovering, but I lost any and all passion I ever had for design and haven't done it since. My advice, get professional help before it gets that bad.

@RedCowArcade

Жыл бұрын

Josh, I’m sorry to hear that. What are you doing to stay straight and recover?

@joshoshea3194

Жыл бұрын

@@RedCowArcade a lot of therapy, video games (of course) and my little dog helps. I was thinking to myself after I wrote that comment that that was the first time I actually admitted out loud so to speak about what happened to me. My ex wife doesn't even know what was happening to me at work. I moved back into my parents to help with my dad who had cancer and just recently lost. That obviously didn't help matters but I'm staying sober? After watching your video it just made me aware that's a dark side to KZread channels that I just never realised? I just always figured that if you had a lot of subscribers then it was all positive? I hope that everything goes well for you guys and that your channel continues to grow 👍

@RedCowArcade

Жыл бұрын

@@joshoshea3194 Thanks for sharing. I'm rooting for you. It's okay to have scars, they mean that you healed.

WHY DO YOU WANT HIM TO SUFFER

There goes the Kieran!

As a stoner who has a loyal fan base of other stoners, red cow scratched my itch for various types of content and humor. You guys may be 2 squares but us stoners love you. We’re good people, we just enjoy getting lost.

30:33 weed is awful. I was addicted for almost a decade. So much time, money and my health absolutely wasted. It’s a serious epidemic in the USA’s youth that’s not being taken seriously

Has anyone got the clip of him quitting ?!?!

Kieran needs to do an AMA in CT.

I gave you guys 12 and a half minutes of my time, and that was more than enough. Seems like you're willing to try and take a shit on James and cinemascre. But keep this in mind. People like myself only gave you nthe time of day because you're piggy backing off those names. I've been watching James nearly 15 years. And I'll continue watching him until he decides to hang it up. I'll likely never come across your channel again, no matter how hard you work at KZread. James is, and always will be the king of gaming KZread. You guys will probably only ever be a tiny blip on that same radar. 😊

@dm6905

Жыл бұрын

Maybe you can give Kieran a new job as one of your sasquatch models

@SpaceGhost999

Жыл бұрын

@D M I'm sure in your head that was gonna be a real humdinger of a joke. But in reality it was trash.

@dm6905

Жыл бұрын

@@SpaceGhost999 You have upset me greatly so excuse me while I go stab the garbage out of that trash

Not sure why this showed up in my YT algorithm but there's a community that exists to nitpick/gossip about AVGN stuff? Truly feel embarrassed for you all.

I wish Kieran the best. He is talented and could do way more with his life. I hold James as culpable in this situation. The guy just doesn’t care. The sole man responsible for his content quit and nothing from Bimmy. James has given up and doesn’t care. He’s lazy. Mike works hard streaming hours and hours.

@ryanjacobson2508

Жыл бұрын

The thing is, James basically backed into internet fame/becoming a meme. The early AVGN stuff wasn't meant to be sustained, but James ended up playing that character for years hoping it would help him with his film career since his real passion is movies, not video games. Then the AVGN movie came out bad, the word was that James basically didn't know what he was doing on set, and James ended up being very bitter that his attempt at being a filmmaker failed.

@slippi2476

Жыл бұрын

lol how many hours do you hang with James each day? Or Mike? Or anyone? You're just piecemealing information on the internet like everyone else who ain't directly involved. How about not take sides and just wish the best for people?

James has taken back AVGN and fired ScreenWave because they suck!

James Rolfe should've called it quits years ago, right after he made his movie. At this point he's "Jumping the shark 🦈 with his angry video game nerd show.

@Thomasmemoryscentral

Жыл бұрын

Those old screwattack era videos hold up to this day. Hearing his rage on figuring out Dick Tracy, discussing wasting his days on bad rentals including xmen and using horror film influence for the horror game reviews never ages.

@politefan8141

Жыл бұрын

I still think he produces good AVGN content every now and then. Doom, Ecco the Dolphin, the Commodore 64 episode, and the LJN video all felt like classic AVGN. He can focus more on quality as long as he doesn't have to upload on a schedule.

@danzig3764

Жыл бұрын

I always believed that movie was a mistake!! I also think he should of hung it up many years ago. I would say before he made the movie.

Talk about how James' fans dumped 300k in his lap and he made one of the most god awful movies ever created

@chasejackson7248

Жыл бұрын

Why, no one forced them to give money, they knew he's not Spielberg

@Metal-Gear-Moogle

Жыл бұрын

@@chasejackson7248 apparantly he thought he was, which was why instead of filming locally where it was cheaper, he went allll the way across the country to hollywood where it's ludicrously expensive to film, and it took up most the budget, which is why he dressed people in frickin cardboard boxes for his robots for example. His fans basically paid for a dream vacation for him, and the end product shows

Bootsie, Justin, James and Mike together again is the only hope honestly. And thats not happening. Sad. Really.

Everyone gets bullied suck it up and move on.

You guys ramble, a lot.

@coolmedina117

Жыл бұрын

I was thinking that

Impersonating his dead dad is just so oddly vicious and personal. Real incel vibes.

That's crazy, with bonuses, I made more than the legendary Kieran, working at Wal Mart. He was an amazing member of Screenwave and Cinemassacre.