Monday, October 13, 2014

Nostalgia Critic vs. Angry Video Game Nerd

*Originally published on 2/16/09



An epic fake nerd rivalry has emerged between two passionate internet characters. Recently, Doug Walker, also known as The Nostalgia Critic (who from here on in will be referred to as NC for convenience), challenged the Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) to a series of challenges. From the get go, he egged AVGN on, saying that he was the superior talent. From that a bitter rivalry was formed tearing the internet asunder in this war of words.

It's all staged of course, but for amusement purposes I'm going to play it straight. As I said before, NC declared himself the superior talent. He was right.

I have seen all of the reviews by both men, and I find AVGN highly enjoyable, make no mistake. There are times where his work is quite brilliant and if you can stand the foul language you might get a kick out of his righteous fury.

The AVGN's greatest strength is also his greatest weakness. All he has is profanity. Aside from bestial and scatological references, there isn't much else. I give him points for creativity in mixing all the same elements in different ways but that doesn't change the fact that his humor relies on cursing a lot.

AVGN is also at a distinct disadvantage as there is only so much to complain about when it comes to video games. You'll notice that a lot of the flaws in the games he reviews are the same (stiff controls, time limit, dying too quickly etc). To his credit, he does manage to make each video distinct and funny to watch. You never feel like one video is just a rehash of another.

While NC does have more room to work with, he also takes his humor higher then AVGN. Yes, he curses from time to time but he isn't so reliant on it. When he does curse, it's glorious. Just watch his Wizard rant, that is epic win right there. Nothing AVGN has said can or will come close to that crowning moment of awesome.

Even as far as sites go, NC is the winner. AVGN's site is fine. It has some movies he's made, all of his video game and movie reviews and there is some extra stuff. NC however has those reviews, bum reviews, an "ask that guy with the glasses" segment not to mention other contributors like Linkara or Nostalgia Chick. That's another thing, with a cute, snarky, movie geek girl as a contributor, Doug has widened the gap between his site and AVGN's.

One thing I don't like about AVGN's site is that you have to enter your date of birth before every video. I'd understand if it was one time only (after all, as I said his videos do contain a lot of profanity) but putting it before every video is just a nuisance.

A part of it may just be that I'm more a movie geek then I am a gamer geek. I'm sure that bias is somehow a factor, either way both guys are quite funny and creative. The videos depicting their so called feud are highly entertaining. I recommend both sites if you're looking for something entertaining to watch. NC is the superior talent though.

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