AVGN and his thumbnails being changed for a third time

[Glyptofane]

Screenwave seems to be in control of that aspect than James himself. If he cared, he'd have told them to stop changing it.

Oh well, I guess.

He's not in control of all the aspects like in the older eps. There's a bunch of people now that write, edit etc. And he just gets into character and read the lines. It is no longer just HIS show anymore..

then, that's why it sucks major ass now.

Screenwave or The Slobs as they are widely known by critics.

 

[godreborn]

Screenwave or The Slobs as they are widely known by critics.

Am I wrong in thinking avgn now sucks? I stopped watching for that reason.

 

[MikaDubbz]

The one thing James has never had a decent handle on, is social media. Say what you will about Mike, but when he was in charge of that aspect of the channel, I would say that the series was overall in it's prime, he knew enough of how to work social media to keep AVGN out in the zeitgeist (and you can't convince me that he didn't know that Inspector Gadget thing was so bad that it would be genuinely hilarious, but I digress). Once he left and those Screenwave guys took over, what little soul the series still had, really seemed to be stripped away. It's not like they're solely responsible for my now current indifference for AVGN, as that godawful movie was done well before they came along; but still we're now in an era where the Nerd just feels like a business and no longer like a passion project, probably because that's exactly what it is now.

So in that regard, it makes sense that as a business they'll keep updating the youtube thumbnails as time moves on, and the kinds imagery that leads to blind clicks on videos continues to change. I'm sure it will happen again and again as the years continue to move on.

 

[Glyptofane]

Am I wrong in thinking avgn now sucks? I stopped watching for that reason.

You're not wrong. I continued to stick with it basically out of habit I guess until Mike officially left the channel. James & Mike Mondays was on life support well before that, but him leaving finally drove it all home.

 

[godreborn]

You're not wrong. I continued to stick with it basically out of habit I guess until Mike officially left the channel. James & Mike Mondays was on life support well before that, but him leaving finally drove it all home.

Did they have a falling out?

 

[MikaDubbz]

Did they have a falling out?

Not really, in fact I think Mike is back now in some capacity. But Mike himself kinda became something of a controversial figure online, years old comics were found by him that were a bit racist, even dropping the N word. He also posted an image supposedly of his dick on the AVGN subreddit because there was a rumor that he had a huge penis, so he posted an image of a large one I guess. I've heard it was proven not to be his dick though, doesn't change the fact that he did post such an image all the same of course. I think they kinda just unanimously agreed to go their separate ways in part due to the online drama. But again, I think he is back now to some extent.

Edit: Actually I may be wrong about him being back, not sure where I heard that.

 

[mituzora]

Not really, in fact I think Mike is back now in some capacity. But Mike himself kinda became something of a controversial figure online, years old comics were found by him that were a bit racist, even dropping the N word. He also posted an image supposedly of his dick on the AVGN subreddit because there was a rumor that he had a huge penis, so he posted an image of a large one I guess. I've heard it was proven not to be his dick though, doesn't change the fact that he did post such an image all the same of course. I think they kinda just unanimously agreed to go their separate ways in part due to the online drama. But again, I think he is back now to some extent.

Edit: Actually I may be wrong about him being back, not sure where I heard that.

I've noticed Him and Mike have been collaborating more, but I don't think he's back in any capacity. Screenwave likely didn't like the image Matei was posting, even though Silverman is supposedly just as problematic.

I still like AVGN, and at least his recent stuff, he seems to be trying to take control back, but it's definitely not as good as it used to be.

 

[CeeDee]

AVGN is like the Simpsons- it was iconic and important in years long past, and the brand simply continues going for the sake of it. Thumbnail changes or poor writing or whatever don't retroactively change what you liked about the old episodes, and you can always just ignore the new stuff if you don't like it.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I haven't watched avgn in years. I like his earlier videos far more, since they were more about the games than cinematography. show us the shitiness of the games. that's all I care about.

AVGN's always been interested in cinematography, and it's always been a part of his videos. Some videos are more simple, and some have more of a story, he does both. Mainly because visual effects and editing take a long time, and he just doesn't have the time to make more advanced videos. Otherwise, he'd probably be doing mostly that kind.

 

[Veho]

So in that regard, it makes sense that as a business they'll keep updating the youtube thumbnails as time moves on, and the kinds imagery that leads to blind clicks on videos continues to change. I'm sure it will happen again and again as the years continue to move on.

There's a Veritasium video about that. Youtube thumbnails can make or break a video, creators sometimes change the thumbnail only a few hours after the video is released, because the first one didn't get a good response, and changing the thumbnail of years old videos can bring a spike in viewership.

 

[Kwyjor]

Anyway, seen the new episode and personally did not like although the majority loved it. It felt like a "filler" episode than a quality episode to me.

People have spent the last ten or fifteen years – starting from long before Screenwave got involved – talking off and on about how the AVGN is terrible. Some people seem to like the subtle episodes as a pleasant return-to-form. The difference now is that people seem to regularly be cranking out their own hour-long retrospectives about AVGN. (I might be curious enough to watch one at some point – at 2x speed, of course.)

I really can't see how someone can say he's creatively bankrupt or something when he just did that amazing Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas parody just a few episodes ago. (And I really, really can't see how anyone could possibly expect him to crank out something like that for each episode. I hope no one's expecting that.)

At least everyone seems to agree that he's fared far better than the Nostalgia Critic.

 

[Marc_LFD]

People have spent the last ten or fifteen years – starting from long before Screenwave got involved – talking off and on about how the AVGN is terrible. Some people seem to like the subtle episodes as a pleasant return-to-form. The difference now is that people seem to regularly be cranking out their own hour-long retrospectives about AVGN. (I might be curious enough to watch one at some point – at 2x speed, of course.)

I really can't see how someone can say he's creatively bankrupt or something when he just did that amazing Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas parody just a few episodes ago. (And I really, really can't see how anyone could possibly expect him to crank out something like that for each episode. I hope no one's expecting that.)

At least everyone seems to agree that he's fared far better than the Nostalgia Critic.

That parody was amazing, but weirdly enough the AVGN movie was a huge disappointment.

 

[ChiefReginod]

Am I wrong in thinking avgn now sucks? I stopped watching for that reason.

The channel on the whole kind of sucks now but the AVGN episodes are still worth watching. Sometimes they're not that great, but every now and then he'll put out a modern classic. The problem is that they post so much promotional content it's become a headache to sort through all the fluff to get to the real content.

My other complaint is that James is practically the Happy Video Game Nerd now. I want to see him shitting on games, not making excuses for overworked developers. It's like when Stone Cold Steve Austin comes back to WWE. Even though you know he's buddy-buddy with Vince McMahon in real life, it would be wrong if he didn't stun the stupid SOB. Can't let your real feelings get in the way of the character.

 

[Dr_Faustus]

I have not really paid much attention to his stuff since the development of the movie threw off his other works release by whole months if not longer causing me to generally lose interest in keeping track with him on a consistent matter.

That said as well I can't help but feel that the character of the Nerd is not as needed as it was anymore, (at least with old games now). I also found some of his videos such as his Earthbound review a very promising one in that he does not always have to be unbelievably angry at something he is playing to make a genuinely fun and passionate video.

In a weird almost cosmic sense, The games that exist now in our current modern state probably would represent the character of "The Nerd" more than ever now. Compared to games of the past, the shit that exists now and its practices makes a lot of the things he reviewed in the past seem like a competent design in comparison. The Nerd needs to be brought into the modern gaming world for his anger to genuinely be charged and be impactful.

 

[Dark_Phoras]

Another reason why AVGN may be spent as a feature is that he may have run out of bad retro games. As he's looking for younger games to show, it may be more of a chore and less fun. He talks about modern games in James and Mike Mondays and they seem to have fun, but that feature stopped two years ago.

 

[CoolMe]

In a weird almost cosmic sense, The games that exist now in our current modern state probably would represent the character of "The Nerd" more than ever now.

Well, the thing is, he has no interest in either playing or talking about modern games.. Not because there aren't much games that he can criticize, it's because he's grown out of it. It's now (for him) just a side hobby he can turn back to from time, and not a serious project. The games that he's mostly interested in & will likely choose are old games, like pre- 360/ps3/Wii era games, everything after that he's clueless (with a few exceptions like Mario, Zelda etc.).

 

[M7L7NK7]

Take a wild guess, do you want him to suffer?

 

[Dr_Faustus]

Well, the thing is, he has no interest in either playing or talking about modern games.. Not because there aren't much games that he can criticize, it's because he's grown out of it. It's now (for him) just a side hobby he can turn back to from time, and not a serious project. The games that he's mostly interested in & will likely choose are old games, like pre- 360/ps3/Wii era games, everything after that he's clueless (with a few exceptions like Mario, Zelda etc.).

I suppose you have a point and its entirely true, that said the state of finding bad modern games is by no means as unknown or as hard to source as it was back in the day, especially pre-internet days of internet reviews and whatnot. You can pretty much find something wrong with any AAA release that has come out in the last 5-10 years alone with that margin of shit being downright awful increasing every year. Honestly speaking aside from Elden Ring and some highly anticipated indie games has there been a hyped video game release in the last 2 years that did not in some way end up being a complete trash fire? It is not a hard thing to find, its basically shooting fish in a barrel at this point. After all there's a reason why a lot of people honestly believe there might be another video game crash with how awful things have been in the industry with no clear path to turn away from it.

I guess when it comes down to it AVGN's shtick is shitting on older games from his childhood and I get that, especially the bad games. But when seeing how bad some of those games are compared to where we are now with gaming, I think I'd rather be playing one of those old shitty games instead. Even as shitty as they are at least most of them were actually complete upon release lol. I just would not mind seeing him take that character and have him observe the current state of the gaming industry today. I can't help but think he would see a lot of parallels between now and the early 80's.


Also to be fair he did do a video on Sonic '06 which as weird as it was doing something newer, definitely fit well for his character to do.

 

[CoolMe]

Also to be fair he did do a video on Sonic '06 which as weird as it was doing something newer, definitely fit well for his character to do.

I concur. Life of Black Tiger with G. Gottfried (R.I.P) was a good one as well! Again, it's up to him if he ever gets interested in modern games.. Even if now gaming in general is a low priority to him, while now he wants to spend his time mostly raising his kids, working with his band.. It's a possibility in the future, when all the dust has settled, him going back to the current (or old) era of gaming that he missed..