Before the gaming biz was all about the fancy graphics and microtransactions there was a time when no one could have imagined the explosion of gaming content that would follow. That time was the early 2000s aka the period when internet routers made weird noises, and that person was The Angry Video Game Nerd. The American comedian, filmmaker, and game enthusiast James Rolfe was one of the first pioneers of independent online gaming content. Even though the premises of the show were quite simple, a guy on a sofa critiquing shitty old games, the 2000’s were a completely different time and James’ videos were phenomenal. Back then thumbnails were not enough to ensure ad revenue and independent content creators would rarely make money. If you were a gamer and wanted to know what new games were coming out, your best bet would be getting your ass all the way to the corner store and buying a magazine. Do you believe that shit? You had to go out and pay REAL FUCKING MONEY just so you could get a disc full of shitty 32-bit game demos (some of them were fire tho). The Nerd was a first step in the right direction and the gaming community responded extremely positive. After moving his show to YouTube from his website Cinemassacre, James’ content had such a huge impact on the platform, he soon became one of the first internet celebrities and his show even got a spot in MTV’s hit tv-show Viral Videos Infect the Mainstream. As Alex Carlson said (in a much more superior article that you can read here), he’s the nerd that changed gaming culture forever.
But what I think makes the nerd so special is not the persona, nor the bad NES games. I think it’s the community itself. Targeting the average gamer, he influenced a whole generation of game reviewers. Seeing how popular and easy to access internet was, along with the fact that video cameras and capture cards became much more affordable, people adapted his show’s format and with the help of platforms such as Screwattack, YouTube, Deviant Art and Game FAQs, the gaming community was bombarded by higher quality content that formed today’s gaming community.
Yet after all these years there’s something that makes come back to the Nerd. I don’t know if it’s because of the theme song (which is the catchiest shit on earth and is basically stuck in my mind 24/7 since 2011), the lovable quirky characters or the profanity (big fan) but there’s something about the AVGN that makes me, and his huge online cult following, keep wanting more. Even though the format of the show has changed over the years, he has consistently managed to provide high-quality content and as long as the fans are not bored of his psycho anger issues his channel will remain one of the greatest gaming channels on YouTube.
Big Money, Big Women, Big Fun. 
Best ever , shoutout to my boy Alex, peace !
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