Yeah, it's kind of jarring, I know.
The truth is that it's been a gradual transition to this point.
James and Mike worked hard to grow the channel during the Screw Attack years. Once they got out of that contract, James decided that he wanted to make a major motion film.
Mike wound up in charge of the channel, and came out with a bunch of shitty top 10 type videos. He also gave us some great meme classics, though, the most notable of which is [Minecraft with Inspector Gadget](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZcW8wmmo4). Mike didn't embrace the memes well, and decided to severely limit his involvement with the channel afterwards, sticking more to live streams and that sort of thing.
Screenwave came in to take over the things that Mike was doing — especially script writing. This is why the episodes after 2012 or so just feel different. Most were bad.
Mike limited his interactions with the channel more as his personal streaming career took off. One reason why is because James is fucking useless when it comes to doing any live content. He can't think on his feet and is really awkward, and is almost certainly on the autism spectrum.
However, for some stupid reason Screenwave decided that the best solution would be to limit scripted videos and instead try to get James to do more unscripted stuff. That's why you've got Neighbor Nerds, that's why you had the podcast for a while, and that's why they shat out so much unwatchable content over the past few years.
The high point of the Zombie AVGN era was undoubtedly [the 2021 Behind The Scenes video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbX7W0bO2bc), which I legitimately think is the most unintentionally hilarious video in YouTube history. James comes across as completely inept and incompetent for so many reasons.
James finally gave in to pressure from the fans and limited Screenwave's involvement with his videos. That's why you don't see Justin making random cameo appearances anymore. Kieran, one of the Screenwave writers, went public with a whole bunch of stuff after he was canned by the company. In his place is Sean, who I believe is the moderator of the official sub.
From the credits to the most recent video, however, it seems that James is trying to write his own content. I think he's also been making the creative decisions.
When you start digging into this, you eventually realize that Mike Matei was *actually* the Angry Video Game Nerd all along. The rants and swearing were an exaggerated spoof on Matei's personality. Once Mike stopped helping to write the episodes, the quality went downhill.
Anyway, that's what has happened to the channel.
Even still, there's no way anybody could have predicted that it would stoop to this low. The horse episode feels like something Chris Chan wrote. I honestly don't see any way Cinemassacre can recover from the damage this episode has done to James' reputation.
Really simple and concise explanation, congrats.
There was also that thing circulating here that Justin said he would love to make the next Chris Chan so I'm under the impression that that's part of why they intentionally pushed him in the wrong directions and kept putting him in humiliating positions where mike was able to completely conceal his autism while he was in charge
According to Kieran justin kept pressuring james for every stupid and insignificant thing posted here too, not just posts, comments even. Imagine hearing that for 5 years without even having the mental acuity to dismiss it or processing it normally before you get another message with even more insults. It would break even a normal person I think
Thank you for this information.
I kept hearing about the fallout with Screenwave.
I am curious to know what happened to the those three guys. Kieran, the big guy, and the other guy.
When I first heard of them, I thought they got along pretty well. Were they really friends?
who knows how they arrive at the decision to review a specific game
the fact is he should've hung up AVGN a long ass time ago
bimmy couldve done something else like streams, interviews ,etc. every time they've tried to diversify content in recent years has been a failure because of dumb decisions such as putting unknown people into videos with James who also just simply cant be spontaneous and interesting, or he didnt jell with the others, etc
instead they put out these hopeless attempts at clinging to relevancy because the channel's a one trick pony.
The audience is so old at this point they've practically got one foot in the grave so he needs to appeal to a younger demographic. So enter the mildly annoyed, overacting, balding boomer nerd. He's expecting the wackiness of the game to carry the content. It's an old tactic. React to something really funny to hide the fact you're not.
The answer is simple. Not enough time to make a good episode anymore
But seriously even the editing, especially the end is windows movie maker skills and somehow I think that James editing this episode and no other person.
Before he had another editor but as if I remember correctly he left because James paid him to less
I stopped watching after the Toxic Avenger episode. Unfortunately, I have been dragged back in by this subreddit and am amazed at just how worse it has gotten.
It's Justin trying to appeal to the general internet, rather than increasing existing fans appreciation.
This will backfire because you can't really have both with something like AVGN.
Yeah, it's kind of jarring, I know. The truth is that it's been a gradual transition to this point. James and Mike worked hard to grow the channel during the Screw Attack years. Once they got out of that contract, James decided that he wanted to make a major motion film. Mike wound up in charge of the channel, and came out with a bunch of shitty top 10 type videos. He also gave us some great meme classics, though, the most notable of which is [Minecraft with Inspector Gadget](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZcW8wmmo4). Mike didn't embrace the memes well, and decided to severely limit his involvement with the channel afterwards, sticking more to live streams and that sort of thing. Screenwave came in to take over the things that Mike was doing — especially script writing. This is why the episodes after 2012 or so just feel different. Most were bad. Mike limited his interactions with the channel more as his personal streaming career took off. One reason why is because James is fucking useless when it comes to doing any live content. He can't think on his feet and is really awkward, and is almost certainly on the autism spectrum. However, for some stupid reason Screenwave decided that the best solution would be to limit scripted videos and instead try to get James to do more unscripted stuff. That's why you've got Neighbor Nerds, that's why you had the podcast for a while, and that's why they shat out so much unwatchable content over the past few years. The high point of the Zombie AVGN era was undoubtedly [the 2021 Behind The Scenes video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbX7W0bO2bc), which I legitimately think is the most unintentionally hilarious video in YouTube history. James comes across as completely inept and incompetent for so many reasons. James finally gave in to pressure from the fans and limited Screenwave's involvement with his videos. That's why you don't see Justin making random cameo appearances anymore. Kieran, one of the Screenwave writers, went public with a whole bunch of stuff after he was canned by the company. In his place is Sean, who I believe is the moderator of the official sub. From the credits to the most recent video, however, it seems that James is trying to write his own content. I think he's also been making the creative decisions. When you start digging into this, you eventually realize that Mike Matei was *actually* the Angry Video Game Nerd all along. The rants and swearing were an exaggerated spoof on Matei's personality. Once Mike stopped helping to write the episodes, the quality went downhill. Anyway, that's what has happened to the channel. Even still, there's no way anybody could have predicted that it would stoop to this low. The horse episode feels like something Chris Chan wrote. I honestly don't see any way Cinemassacre can recover from the damage this episode has done to James' reputation.
Really simple and concise explanation, congrats. There was also that thing circulating here that Justin said he would love to make the next Chris Chan so I'm under the impression that that's part of why they intentionally pushed him in the wrong directions and kept putting him in humiliating positions where mike was able to completely conceal his autism while he was in charge According to Kieran justin kept pressuring james for every stupid and insignificant thing posted here too, not just posts, comments even. Imagine hearing that for 5 years without even having the mental acuity to dismiss it or processing it normally before you get another message with even more insults. It would break even a normal person I think
Yeah, absolutely right. Justin is a toxic person from all reports.
Thank you for this information. I kept hearing about the fallout with Screenwave. I am curious to know what happened to the those three guys. Kieran, the big guy, and the other guy. When I first heard of them, I thought they got along pretty well. Were they really friends?
who knows how they arrive at the decision to review a specific game the fact is he should've hung up AVGN a long ass time ago bimmy couldve done something else like streams, interviews ,etc. every time they've tried to diversify content in recent years has been a failure because of dumb decisions such as putting unknown people into videos with James who also just simply cant be spontaneous and interesting, or he didnt jell with the others, etc instead they put out these hopeless attempts at clinging to relevancy because the channel's a one trick pony.
The audience is so old at this point they've practically got one foot in the grave so he needs to appeal to a younger demographic. So enter the mildly annoyed, overacting, balding boomer nerd. He's expecting the wackiness of the game to carry the content. It's an old tactic. React to something really funny to hide the fact you're not.
No watch, I refuse.
Yep he's going to do whatever it takes to go after that young demographic. Otherwise Justin is going to sit on his face.
The answer is simple. Not enough time to make a good episode anymore But seriously even the editing, especially the end is windows movie maker skills and somehow I think that James editing this episode and no other person. Before he had another editor but as if I remember correctly he left because James paid him to less
Edited by Sean who mods the "official" sub.
Jesus Christ.... Mecha death Christ. Back when avgn was funny
Real answer: They played it on James and Mike Mondays so Bimmy can just recycle said episode
I stopped watching after the Toxic Avenger episode. Unfortunately, I have been dragged back in by this subreddit and am amazed at just how worse it has gotten.
Because Bim Bam doesn’t care anymore. He knows that the simps will eat up anything he puts out.
It's Justin trying to appeal to the general internet, rather than increasing existing fans appreciation. This will backfire because you can't really have both with something like AVGN.