AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

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VideoGameCritic
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AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby VideoGameCritic » June 30th, 2018, 9:41 pm

I've always been a big fan of the Angry Video Game Nerd. I think we both have similar sensibilities and both can appreciate games in their historical context.

His movie was kind of a snore but I love to collect his DVDs and now, Blu-Rays. The re-playability of these things is off the charts. I never get tired of watching them.

I recently ordered AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge from Amazon for $29 (!) and watched it the other night - with some difficulty.

First I tried to play it on my PS3. It's my Blu Ray player of choice because I have a nice remote for it. Anyway when I played the disc it said "Need to perform system update to get new encryption key" or something like that. This had me fuming. The whole point of buying physical media is to avoid the headaches of going online! Can someone explain what is going on??

Next I popped the disc in my Xbox One. Trying to figure out how to play a Blu Ray in this machine is an exercise in futility. I don't know who at Microsoft designed the user interface, but I suspect it was a high school workstudy smoking weed during his breaks. I had to give up on this.

Next I tried my PS4 next and it actually worked. I don't like using the controller as a remote, but it works in a pinch.

There are only a few reviews on this disc but they tend to be pretty long and involved. I think the nerd finds himself evolving with deeper and more elaborate reviews. I can relate, because you don't want to rehash the same stuff over and over. Then again, some of these review stray a little too far away from the subject matter (see Berenstain Bears).

I believe these were the first reviews produced in HD, starting with Beavis and Butthead. These reviews look more polished and professional, but that really don't play to the Nerd's strengths. His reviews are known for seeming informal and off the cuff. Still, I enjoyed most of the reviews and laughed out loud several times. Sonic 06 is a highlight.

There's some extra content (like commentary) but I have to admit $29 is kind of steep. Still, as a fan so I'll gladly pony up for the next set of reviews, which will hopefully be available soon.

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astrodomekid
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Re: AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby astrodomekid » July 1st, 2018, 5:11 pm

Call me crazy, but I wish we would have limited edition VHS releases. As someone who actually prefers it over DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming, I would love to see that happen. I’m sure it won’t, but still.

CharlieR
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Re: AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby CharlieR » July 1st, 2018, 9:14 pm

astrodomekid wrote:Call me crazy, but I wish we would have limited edition VHS releases. As someone who actually prefers it over DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming, I would love to see that happen.


Dude! I love vhs. I've actually bought dvd box sets of favorite shows, (Seinfeld, King Of Queens) hooked up my ps2 to my vcr and recorded the dvd's to vhs. Something about having them on vhs where I can have a marathon without having to deal with getting up to change the disc. Dvd's can skip, streaming can have loading issues... I guess vhs tapes can wear out, but I have Simpsons tapes that are 25+ years old that work fine.

Another unpopular opinion is that I prefer fullscreen over widescreen. I don't care if there is a wider viewing space, I don't need to watch a show with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen!

Speaking of marathons, I've been watching AVGN since the beginning, and it is great to marathon. Especially the 2009 episodes with godzilla, transformers, xmen, castlevania halloween special. Then 2010 with action 52, glitch gremlin, pong consoles

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velcrozombie
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Re: AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby velcrozombie » July 2nd, 2018, 12:33 am

James Rolfe seems like a good guy. I admire his work ethic and the fact that he (with Youtube's help and a bit of luck) built an entire industry around his persona, and I also think that he's done a lot to interest his younger fans in classic films. The only real problem I have with him is that I don't find him funny. I've watched probably all the Nerd stuff up through the end of 2013 and I've only laughed maybe three times. I think I've laughed more at almost any single episode from the first two or three years of Zero Punctuation (another series I gave up on years ago) than I have at all the AVGN I've seen put together. I DO think there's charm and care put into the Nerd videos (I can't really speak about the other material he's made over the years) and the Nerd character is surprisingly endearing - compare him with most of his copycats and you can see that what he does isn't as easy as it looks. I even bought the movie a few years ago (albeit as a digital download from GOG.com for like $3) but I still haven't watched it yet.

[quote="CharlieR"]
Another unpopular opinion is that I prefer fullscreen over widescreen. I don't care if there is a wider viewing space, I don't need to watch a show with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen!
/quote]

Yeah, I definitely don't agree - while I'll admit that it kinda sucked back in the 4:3 CRT days, widescreen is awesome on a big HD flatscreen and (as a picky film fan) it's the closest thing outside of a theater to what the director intended.

There were VHS tapes I had as a child filled with holiday specials that I watched a million times and would love to have for emotional reasons. Speaking from personal experience, get those irreplaceable homemade tapes converted into a digital format as soon as you can - you never know when you'll lose them or when they will simply stop working. You can make endless copies of a digital format without degrading it.

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Stalvern
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Re: AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby Stalvern » July 2nd, 2018, 1:12 am

CharlieR wrote:Another unpopular opinion is that I prefer fullscreen over widescreen. I don't care if there is a wider viewing space, I don't need to watch a show with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen!

Reading this made my skin crawl right off my body.

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scotland
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Re: AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby scotland » July 2nd, 2018, 8:27 am

velcrozombie wrote:There were VHS tapes I had as a child filled with holiday specials that I watched a million times and would love to have for emotional reasons. Speaking from personal experience, get those irreplaceable homemade tapes converted into a digital format as soon as you can - you never know when you'll lose them or when they will simply stop working. You can make endless copies of a digital format without degrading it.


By all means, convert old formats over. We converted our parents' 8mm film into VHS years ago. I later converted the VHS to digital, and then recorded my parents commentary track to it, as well as edited in title cards to add date and location information. The originals still exist, but the digital formats (either DVD or mp4) are wonderful to have, are in multiple locations by being digital, can be edited or cleaned up, etc.

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Re: AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby Steve » July 2nd, 2018, 11:58 am

Next I popped the disc in my Xbox One. Trying to figure out how to play a Blu Ray in this machine is an exercise in futility. I don't know who at Microsoft designed the user interface, but I suspect it was a high school workstudy smoking weed during his breaks. I had to give up on this.


I don't understand this. When I put a Blu-ray (or a standard DVD), the application launches and after a few seconds, the menu for the movie comes up. I use the controller to choose the option I want (Play Movie, Extras, etc.) and press "A" to execute it - fairly straightforward. In reality, I find this slightly easier than using a standalone device since I don't have to change the input. I do have my console online 100% of the time so I would imagine I have the latest updates however, I've never had a problem. I wonder if there is a setting to play a disc upon inserting it although I certainly haven't changed anything from the default.

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Rev
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Re: AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby Rev » July 2nd, 2018, 7:19 pm

thanks for the review of this. I have been a fan of the AVGN for over a decade now and have been subscribed to him for what seems like forever. While I prefer his older reviews he still knows how to make some great content.

I think the biggest difference between his old and new stuff is that I feel like his old videos were 80% genuine/20% fake, where the actual words said was real stuff that he said when playing the game (like "seriously", "wth" "this game is...") peppered in with fake AVGN phrases like "I'd rather eat poop from a giraffe then play this game" or whatever he says.

Nowadays I feel like he is a much calmer person but still feels obliged to throw in those AVGN phrases because it is what he is known for. Since he is so much calmer, those phrases come off as fake or like he is trying too hard. I wish he would almost mix it up a bit and try something new since I feel like he is no longer the same person he used to be (he's married, has a kid, etc). Regardless, I love his videos and will continue to support him. His recent Earthbound video played to his strengths and I thought it was excellent.

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ActRaiser
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Re: AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby ActRaiser » July 2nd, 2018, 7:46 pm

VideoGameCritic wrote:Next I popped the disc in my Xbox One. Trying to figure out how to play a Blu Ray in this machine is an exercise in futility.


LOL

Think of the Xbox like your phone.

There's an app for it.

Seriously, once you download the player, it works flawlessly. It's the player we use in our house for all movies.

Try an audio cd. Same problem. Same goofy solution.

Voor
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Re: AVGN: Ready 4 Revenge (Blu Ray)

Postby Voor » July 2nd, 2018, 7:57 pm

Big AVGN fan here. What’s interesting is that if you watch any of his behind the scenes stuff or older bio-documentaries, you realize that he’s super laid back and just loves making movies. He likes movies more than video games, but AVGN became his avenue for being able to make videos for a living.

Yes, older reviews are better, but you can tell he’s kind of tired of the character. Not that I blame him. But every now and then, his newest stuff is great. Check out his Earthbound review, for example. 40 minutes long....whew.

Oh, and if you’re not familiar with Board James, check that out. Starts off as goofy board game reviews , and over time, turns into a psycho-thriller.

Also, James and Mike. Also hit and miss, and seems to depend how “into” the games they are. A lot of the older reviews for Atari, etc are great.


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