Wii Fanboy interviews The Angry Video Game Nerd (part 2)

The AVGN:

How often do you get recognized at non-gaming events? What are your fans usually like?

I get recognized moderately in public. It always comes unexpected, but at a gaming convention, it's guaranteed to happen all day. The fans are usually very nice.

What's the strangest / creepiest interaction you've ever had with a fan?

Nothing that interesting.

James Rolfe seems to be a pretty laid-back person, whereas the Angry Video Game Nerd is known for acerbic rants and shouting obscenities. Are fans that you meet ever disappointed to discover the difference? Do you ever feel put on the spot to start acting like the AVGN?

People are often surprised. I haven't ever felt forced to be AVGN in public. I tried one interview in the past, in character, but it's not easy without a game in front of me. In a casual interview or meeting with a fan, I can't see how someone can expect me to be that way in real life. It's funny.

Let's say that MTV, SpikeTV, or some other large company offers you a life contract to continuously create AVGN videos. Would you accept, and perhaps stay a few generations behind the current and continue doing "retro" reviews, or do you think that the AVGN has an eventual expiration date?

I see no expiration date, but I also need a break sometime.

There are many videos online that are very similar to yours. Some try to do a parody, while others are nearly identical. How do you usually feel about such videos? Approval? Contempt? Indifference?

I haven't seen a whole lot, but generally, if someone's doing it in my style and is an obvious parody or tribute, I feel flattered.

Cinemassacre / Films:

If you were able to successfully be an independent film maker, would you continue to do so or would you instead actively pursue working with a major studio? What are the benefits of independent film-making?

It's all about creative control. That's why Cinemassacre is independent. If there was a project that could only be done on a monster budget, or if it was a franchise (sequel/remake) that I believed in, I would go with the studio.

Let's say you're given a huge break and one of the major film studios offers you the chance to direct the next installment or a remake of a major Hollywood film franchise. Which would be your dream to direct?

Oh wow, one answer just rolled into the next question. I always dreamed of writing/directing a Universal Studios monster movie, whether it be a spoof or a very outdated followup to the 1930's/40's films starring Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and the Wolf Man.

I watched the Cinemassacre 200 film. Film-making is clearly a huge desire of yours. Are you ever afraid of being boxed in and labeled as the AVGN?

I see the effects it takes, that the majority of internet audience see the Nerd at face value, but it's also gotten a lot of attention to my past work, so it's done no harm.

Many of the videos on your website are retrospectives of movies produced in either the 50s or the 80s. What, in your opinion, was the true "golden age" of film-making in America, and how does the current state of film-making compare?

It's hard to say, but I feel the true golden age is between the 20's and 40's. There was no television, the only way to see a movie was to leave your house. The movies of that era have a timeless quality, the fact that they prevailed through the Great Depression and World War II, makes those movies seem more magical to me. They were about escapism.

As someone who is very familiar with video games and movies, you're likely aware of the atrocities of most video game to film adaptations. Why do you think so many fail, and is there any hope for a good conversion? What game(s) do you think could work?

Movies based on games... I gave up on that a while ago, so to be honest, I haven't kept up with most of the recent ones. I remember going to see Super Mario Brothers: The Movie, and it wasn't anything like the game. Street Fighter and Double Dragon were also ridiculous. But the one that satisfied me was the Mortal Kombat movie, because it had a lot of fighting and it was actually reminiscent of the game, rather than completely straying from the source material. Nowadays, it seems it's all Resident Evil and Tomb Raider, games made after the golden age of gaming, for me personally. I always wanted to see a Zelda movie made in the same style as Willow or Clash of the Titans. I also wanted to see a Metroid movie done in the style of Aliens. But honestly, now it's too late.