The Angry Video Game Nerd (abbreviated as AVGN) is a comedy web series created by and starring James Rolfe. He reviews retro video games as "The Nerd", a character known for having a short-temper and a colorful language consisting of lots of profanity while playing games of poor quality.
The list below does not include game cartridges seen in shots of his collection, clips used in the show intro or montages, or references in fan art shown. All airdates are of the original premiere, be it on GameTrailers, ScrewAttack, YouTube, Amazon, or elsewhere. Dates and season info provided by Wikipedia and are assumed to be correct.
Season 2[]
- Episode 21: "Ghostbusters" (February 27, 2007) - The Nerd starts by giving a brief overview of the Ghostbusters franchise in the 1980s. This includes him showing off and playing with the Kenner Real Ghostbusters toys in his collection. Finally, Ghostbusters on the Nintendo Entertainment System is reviewed. (Watch Edited Episode) (Watch Edited Episode in Higher Quality) (Episode Transcript)
- The version of this episode released on home video (DVD and Blu-ray), as well as on the official Cinemassacre YouTube channel, has been altered from the original version. Clips from the Ghostbusters movies and The Real Ghostbusters have been replaced with new still images. (The original versions of episodes 21, 22, and 23 can be viewed here, here, here, here, and here.)
- Episode 22: "Ghostbusters: Follow-Up" (March 20, 2007) - Starts with a top five list of things that should be improved in Ghostbusters on the Nintendo Entertainment System, followed by a review of Ghostbusters on the Atari 2600, and Ghostbusters on the Sega Master System. (Watch Edited Episode) (Episode Transcript)
- The version of this episode released on home video (DVD and Blu-ray), as well as on the official Cinemassacre YouTube channel, has been altered from the original version. The movie clips from Ghostbusters have been replaced with artwork by Mike Matei. (The original versions of episodes 21, 22, and 23 can be viewed here, here, here, here, and here.)
- Episode 23: "Ghostbusters: Conclusion" (April 3, 2007) - The look at Ghostbusters games concludes with reviews of Ghostbusters II on the Nintendo Entertainment System and Ghostbusters on the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive. When The Nerd is seen talking to the camera, he is flanked by the Kenner Firehouse playset and Ecto-1 toys, both seen in Part 1. (Watch Edited Episode) (Episode Transcript)
- The version of this episode released on home video (DVD and Blu-ray), as well as on the official Cinemassacre YouTube channel, has been altered from the original version. Ray Parker Jr.'s Ghostbusters song has been replaced with a cover version, and the Ghostbusters movie clips were replaced with still images. (The original versions of episodes 21, 22, and 23 can be viewed here, here, here, here, and here.)
- Episode 33: "Nintendo Power" (September 4, 2007) - A preview/blurb of Ghostbusters on the Nintendo Entertainment System in an issue of Nintendo Power magazine is shown. (timecode: web 4:00, blu-ray 3:51) (Watch Video)
Season 3[]
- Episode 44: "Double Vision: Part 1" (March 25, 2008) - When reviewing He-Man on the Intellivision, The Nerd channels the birthday party children in Ghostbusters II when he says, "Awww, man. I thought it was gonna be He-Man." (timecode: web 4:54, blu-ray 4:47) (Watch Video)
- Episode 58: "Frankenstein" (October 29, 2008) - A character in the game Frankenstein on the Super Nintendo is named "Gatekeeper". So, The Nerd asks, "What's the hand's name? The Keymaster?" (timecode: web 8:55, blu-ray 8:52) (Watch Video)
Season 4[]
- Episode 72: "Transformers" (June 17, 2009) - When the usage of the Decepticon logo as a boss appears in a Transformers game, The Nerd sarcastically remarks how creative it is by comparing it to the use of the Ghostbusters logo as the player character in the Ghostbusters NES game. (timecode: web/blu-ray 7:49) (Watch Video)
- Episode 83: "Little Red Hood" (December 3, 2009) - The Nerd comments about the random nature of the Little Red Hood NES game by saying that he feels like a guinea pig in a negative reinforcement experiment. He then states that if his experimenters want to know what the effect of their test is on him, "I'll tell you the effect: It's f**king pissing me off!" Of course, this paraphrases what the male student said to Peter Venkman in regards to his "negative enforcement on ESP ability" test. (timecode: web 11:52, blu-ray 11:00) (Watch Video)
- Episode 84: "Winter Games" (December 23, 2009) - The Nerd compares Winter Games' horrible controls to the horrible controls in the stairwell sequence in Ghostbusters on the NES. (timecode: web 5:40, blu-ray 4:45) (Watch Video)
Season 5[]
- Episode 99: "Star Wars" (February 3, 2011) - The Nerd compares the digitized speech in a Star Wars NES game to that on the title screen in Ghostbusters on the NES. (timecode: web 16:23, blu-ray 16:21) (Watch Video)
- Episode 100: "R.O.B. the Robot" (March 3, 2011) - A clip from the Ghostbusters episode is shown when bad games are eliminated by R.O.B. (timecode: web/blu-ray 16:44) (Watch Video)
Season 6[]
- Episode 102: "The Making of an Angry Video Game Nerd Episode" (July 7, 2011) - A clip of Ghostbusters on the NES is shown at timecode 8:28. Later, at timecode 9:40, an autographed photo of Ernie Hudson as Winston in Ghostbusters can be seen on James' office wall in the background. (Watch Episode)
Season 7[]
- Episode 108: "Ghosts n' Goblins" (October 24, 2012) - At a point in the game where you have to reobtain the knife, the only way to do it is to go "ghostbusting" by killing ghosts until one of them drops the needed weapon. (timecode: web 12:21, blu-ray 12:25) (Watch Video)
- Episode 112: "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" (June 30, 2013) - "The stairs in Ghostbusters" (NES) is among the "most annoying things in video gaming history" that The Nerd compares "not being able to walk on the grass" in the Bill & Ted NES game to. (timecode: web 7:56, blu-ray 8:00) (Watch Video)
- Episode 115: "AVGN Games!" (November 20, 2013) - The Nerd "busting" the Sega Ghostbusters in the NES Ghostbusters game is a part of an AVGN game that is shown in a montage of scenes from AVGN games. (timecode: web/blu-ray 8:06) (Watch Video)
- Episode 116: "Wish List: Part 1" (December 17, 2013) - The Nerd takes a break from reviewing bad video games to look through various department store "Wish List" catalog books from the 1980s and 1990s. Many instances of The Real Ghostbusters merchandise and toys is shown in various pages of various books. Toys appear at 1:11, 1:19, and 2:15 - the latter timecode also includes a look at Filmation toys. More Kenner toys are seen at 2:22, at 2:43 while flipping through a book, and at 2:47. A Real Ghostbusters dome tent is shown at 3:01, and a sleeping bag can be spied at 3:11 in the lower right corner. The Ghostbusters Sega Master System game is advertised with a retail price of $33.77 at the 3:46 timecode. Finally, at 11:29, The Nerd reviews Shadow the Hedgehog on the Nintendo GameCube. He remarks, "A Sega game on a Nintendo console?!? Cats and dogs living together! Mass Hysteria!" (Watch Episode)
- Episode 117: "Wish List: Part 2" (December 19, 2013) - The Nerd plays The Three Stooges on NES, so of course, we get to see the game's fake Ghostbusters II intro. (timecode: web/blu-ray 1:23) (Watch Video)
The Movie[]
- Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (July 21, 2014) - Contains the following Ghostbusters references:
- At the 1:24:55 mark, the alien, who is voiced by Robbie Rist, comments on The Nerd's marksmanship by saying, "Whoa, nice shootin', Tex!" This is the same exact comment Peter made about Egon's firing skills in the ballroom. (Watch Video Clip)
- At the 1:37:16 mark, one of The Nerd's fans holds up sign that reads, "You Prooved Your Nerdiness". This is a reference to The Nerd's review of Ghostbusters on the NES in Episode #22 and its botched English end screen. The Nerd rewrote the original's "...and prooved the justice of our culture" with "You proved your nerdiness". The fan's sign retains the spelling error, even though The Nerd's rewrite did not.
Season 12[]
- Episode 156: "EarthBound" (April 17, 2018) - The Ghostbusters NES digitized sound clip is heard and the game stairwell is seen in the background while The Nerd is in the land of his memories. (timecode: web/blu-ray 25:46) (Watch Video)
- Episode 158: "Drake of the 99 Dragons" (September 5, 2018) - When fighting the final boss in the game, The Nerd says, "I love this plan. See you on the other side." (timecode: web 12:05, blu-ray 12:30) (Watch Video)
- Episode 164: "Home Alone Games" (December 14, 2018) - When Macaulay Culkin sees floating trash can lids in Home Alone on SNES, he remarks, "What? Does this take place in the Ghostbusters universe?" (timecode: web/blu-ray 12:07) (Watch Video)
Season 15[]
- Episode 199: "Freddy & Jason (Commodore 64)" (October 27, 2021) - The Ghostbusters Commodore 64 game is briefly reviewed at the 3:57 mark. It is immediately followed by a mini-review of a game named "Slimer" that is unrelated to Ghostbusters, but does feature a green floating ghost with food flying towards him. (Watch Video)
Season 16[]
- Episode 206: Garfield (December 22, 2022) - While reviewing Garfield's Labyrinth for the Gameboy, The Nerd says, "Yes, it's true. This cat has a dick". This leads into a discussion of the game being made into The Real Ghostbusters for the North American region. That then spirals into a discussion of the roles of Garfield and Peter Venkman both being played by Lorenzo Music and Bill Murray. At the end of the episode, when The Nerd is decapitating Bugs Bunny, one of Bugs' new heads is Egon Spengler from The Real Ghostbusters (via the Ben Cooper Halloween mask), who proclaims that he collects spores, molds, and fungus. (Watch Video, Watch Video of Egon Ending)
Season 17[]
- Episode 208: Earthworm Jim Trilogy (April 28, 2023) - While reviewing Earthworm Jim 3D for the Nintendo 64, The Nerd comments on the appearance of a "ghost vacuum" in the game, comparing it to the Ghost Vacuum from the NES Ghostbusters game. (Watch Video)
- Episode 209: Indiana Jones: Crystal Skull + More (June 30, 2023) - At 8:07, The Nerd drinks from a bottle of Dan Aykroyd's Crystal Head vodka after reviewing a video game of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and then says, "Nice going, Ray", in reference to Dan's character in Ghostbusters. (Watch Video)
- Episode 210: A Boy and His Blob (August 24, 2023) - At 2:25, The Nerd refers to Blobert as a "white Slimer-looking blob dude". At 4:14, he calls him "White Slimer". Finally, at 16:00, The Nerd comments that a character in the game looks like Stay Puft. (Watch Video)
- Episode 211: Beating Jekyll and Hyde (October 27, 2023) - 43-Year-Old Nerd says, "You're gonna endanger us." The 80-Year-Old Nerd replies, "Not necessarily. There's actually a very small chance we'll survive". This paraphrases an exchange between Peter and Egon atop the roof at the end of Ghostbusters. (Watch Video Clip)
- Episode 212: Final Fantasy 6 (December 23, 2023) - While seeing a massive amount of stairs in the game, The Nerd has a flashback to the Ghostbusters NES game. He responds by quoting the movie, "When we get to 20, tell me, I'm gonna throw up." (Watch Video)
Trivia[]
- James Rolfe appeared in character as The Nerd in the fan film Return of the Ghostbusters (2007).
- There was a minor controversy in 2016 when James Rolfe posted a video stating that he would not review Ghostbusters (2016). [1]
External Links[]
References[]
Gallery[]
Episode 21[]
Episode 22[]
Episode 23[]
Other Episodes[]
Episode #33: "Nintendo Power"
Episode #58: "Frankenstein"
Episode #58: "Frankenstein"
Episode #102: "Making Of..."
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1" (collage)
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1"
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1" (collage)
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1"
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1"
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1" (collage)
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1"
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1"
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1"
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1"
Episode #116: "Wish List, Part 1"
Episode #206: "Garfield"
The Movie[]
