Angry Video Game Nerd vs. Nostalgia Critic

About

Angry Video Game Nerd vs. Nostalgia Critic or AVGN and Nostalgia Critic Feud refers to a satirical beef between the Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN), aka James Rolfe and the Nostalgia Critic, aka Doug Walker, which resulted in a viral photograph of the two meeting face-to-face in a video game store in New Jersey in 2008, becoming the subject of memes over the next decade-plus. The feud began that year when Walker called out the Nerd's fanbase for calling him a copycat, resulting in back-and-forth videos between the two insulting one another and a challenge for Walker to review a bad game and Rolfe to review a bad movie, essentially swapping roles. The image of Walker and Rolfe facing off in the game store gained renewed prominence online as a meme throughout the 2020s, often in posts expressing nostalgia for the feud.

Origin

On March 12th, 2008, the Nostalgia Critic uploaded a video online in which he called the Nerd's fans out for leaving comments under his videos comparing the two. Both creators are known for angrily and comedically reviewing bad retro media, the Nostalgia Critic reviewing bad nostalgic movies and TV shows and the Nerd reviewing bad retro video games. He also calls out the Nerd as being the lesser talent and tells him to keep his fans under control (reupload shown below, left).^[1]

On March 31st, the Critic uploaded a video in which he reads off a response left by the Nerd on the Screwattack forums where the Nerd compliments the Critic. The Critic searches for a hidden meaning in the comment and decides it translated to "lick my shit nostalgia critic" (reupload shown below, right).^[2]

On April 22nd, 2008, AVGN reviewed the movie The Wizard.^[3] On April 27th, the Nostalgia Critic posted a video criticizing The Nerd for reviewing the film, claiming he had just launched his new website, ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com, where he announced he'd be reviewing the same film, accusing the Nerd of stealing the idea and the editing style for the review's trailer (reupload shown below, left).^[4]

On June 12th, AVGN then uploaded a video officially responding to Nostalgia Critic, peppering text throughout letting viewers know the feud is satirical. In the video, AVGN calls Nostalgia Critic a "poopyhead," which would later see memetic use online. The video gained over 1.6 million views in 16 years (shown below, right).^[5]

After this video, the Nostalgia Critic responded by challenging the Nerd to review the worst nostalgic movie he could find. On June 28th, 2008, the Nostalgia Critic showed up at Digital Press Video Games in New Jersey, where the Nerd was signing autographs, to criticize him in person and reiterate the challenge to him. The Nerd challenged the Critic to review a bad video game. The pair ended up stepping outside to have a mock fight, agreeing to the review challenges (reupload shown below).^[6]

That day, an image taken at Digital Press Video Games showing the Nerd coming face-to-face with the Critic was posted by Flickr^[7] user Rob DiCaterino (shown below). The Nerd and the Critic took up each other's ends of the challenge, with AVGN uploading a review of the movie Ricky 1 on July 28th, 2008, and the Critic uploading a review of Bebe's Kids on September 17th.^[8][9]

The Nostalgia Critic posted a video challenging the Nerd to a final battle, which culminated in the release of the AVGN video "Angry Video Game Nerd VS. Nostalgia Critic," released on Rolfe's channel that year and reuploaded to the Cinemassacre YouTube^[10] channel in 2016 (shown below).

Spread

The photograph of the Nerd facing off against Nostalgia Critic saw a resurgence in popularity throughout the 2020s and became the subject of memes, often expressing nostalgia for the era during which it was taken.

For example, on May 23rd, 2020, the photo was posted to the subreddit /r/AccidentalRenaissance,^[11] garnering over 15,000 upvotes in four years. On December 10th, 2021, X^[12] user @Silvanatorr20 posted the photo, writing, "A local game store in 2008. We used to be a country. A proper country," garnering over 46,000 likes in three years (shown below).

On May 31st, 2023, X^[13] user @LookAtMyMeat1 posted the photo, garnering over 27,000 likes in a year. On June 2nd, X^[14] user @itsDanielPika quote-reposted the photo, writing, "'The Nerd' is a title James Rolfe can take off and leave at any point. Nostalgia Critic is the living tomb in which Doug Walker's remaining existence is trapped in," garnering over 30,000 likes in a year (shown below). A screenshot of the post was reposted to /r/196^[15] on June 4th, garnering over 5,700 upvotes in the same span of time.

On August 19th, X^[16] user @ChrisRGun posted the photo, writing, "kids today will never understand," garnering over 3,700 likes in nine months.

On May 6th, 2024, X^[17] user @selectwario posted the photo along with a caption referencing the Kendrick vs. Drake beef, writing, "Drake and Kendrick beef wishes it had even a 10th of this intensity," garnering over 18,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References