Alright! New AVGN... oh wait, it's just a clip collection.

No doubt what some AVGN fans (want to) believe James Rolfe thinks of them.
See? I can do stupid meme images too.

I think the comments on the YouTube video in question - another one of "those arguments" see - is what inspired this post... and mind you, it's something that's been on the back of my mind in case this particular brand of video rears its ugly head again... but in any event...

Yeah... for those wanting a new AVGN episode for whatever reason, you'll have to settle for another lazily put together Top 10 list. Cryptic gaming moments is the theme this time around and... it's an AVGN Clip Collection video. Lazily put together to appease those wanting new AVGN and forcing to settle for something that takes even less time to put together than an Irate Gamer video about Skylanders. Sure, nobody wants to see endless videos about Skylanders from a guy with a somewhat spotty and dubious YouTube career... but even those videos have more effort put into it than these Clip Collections do.

I've got two takes on this.

First off, Nerd episodes take time to put together, whether it'd be due to scripting, research, or whatever. They take time to produce and right now, James Rolfe has a lot of plates on his table, be it family, be it other commitments, be it whatever. He simply cannot perform and produce at the same level he did years ago.

I, myself, would love to see him churn out more short films on a variety of things aside from his two or three main franchises like he used to do way back when, but that simply isn't going to happen given the amount of time required to get stuff like that together. That's why you have things like James & Mike Mondays and Bootsy Beats shot out on a semi-regular basis because those are easy to produce and shoot out on a regular basis for the purposes of maintaining the ad revenue or whatever the case may be.

So kids complaining about the lack of new Nerd episodes, calm down. Those things take time to make and you know when Rolfe puts out a new Nerd episode... say what you will about the content because I can quite a bit about the quality of the content as of late, but you know it's going to look good, done with the utmost care and effort, and will be presumably something you might enjoy. It's safe to say that the argument could made that Rolfe would prefer producing quality episodes of AVGN over a sizable quantity of episodes in a short span.

Mind you, some would argue that just the idea that Rolfe having to struggle for good ideas on potential AVGN episodes might be a sign that he should probably retire the gimmick before it gets dragged through the mud - and some would argue it already has - but that's another story entirely that is not pertinent to this discussion.

Now, here's the other take... these AVGN Clip Collections are worthless. They're lazy, they're uninteresting, they're fluff pieces, and they're a gigantic tease for those wanting new Nerd stuff, but instead are told by the so-called "loyal fans" that they should be happy they're getting anything Nerd related at all. Mind you, these are the same loyal fans that are easily impressed by anything Rolfe tosses at them, if it's something that's not worth the praise... like that Nerd movie that came out a year or so ago, which just so happen to depict the kind of fanbase the Nerd has in a rather unflattering light, parody or otherwise.

But while the Nerd movie was pretty terrible (almost on par with the latest cinematic affront to retro gaming, Pixels), at least there was some effort and soul put into it that you could appreciate the work behind it if nothing else. The same cannot and will not be said for these inane Clip Collections, which are simply an excuse to have SOME semblance of AVGN-esque content on the channel, since AVGN is still a somewhat viable brand for the Cinemassacre group. There's no point for these things to exist otherwise. Even the short clips of AVGN episodes covering specific games uploaded on the Cinemassacre Extras channel have more of a reason to exist than the Clip Collections do.

Yes, fans anxiously awaiting new Nerd episodes should be more patient because they take time to produce and time is a luxury that Rolfe spends on other things, but at the same time, fans shouldn't be accepting of whatever scraps they're given and chide others for not treating scraps like the Holy Grail. It's okay to be a fan of someone and NOT like everything they do. It's okay to like James & Mike Mondays, but not like anything Mike Matei puts out on his own (especially anything related to Elmo). It's okay to like AVGN, but not like certain episodes. And as such, it's okay to look forward to new AVGN stuff and not liking to get teased with these Clip Collection videos.

To sum things up, proper Nerd episodes take time; time that Rolfe uses for other things in his life and thus while waits between Nerd episodes might be long and agonizing for some, I'm sure that when Rolfe does put out a new Nerd episode, it'll be worth the wait for some. That said, there's no need for these worthless Clip Collections to start becoming a thing again, since Cinemassacre has a number of ongoing bits to fill the void... and there sure as hell isn't a need for these fucking things to occupy a DVD in a set people pay money for... because once was bad enough.

So that's my five cents on the matter... for the moment.