All by Himself | Why James Rolfe never gave Mike Matei enough credit for the Angry Videogame Nerd
866A few weeks ago I came across an odd interview that James Rolfe gave to a tiny YouTube channel called the Gaming History Club. For like an hour, James Rolfe talked about his extensive legacy as a film maker, but as usual, he failed to give any substantial credit to the MANY important collaborators that made his content so good over the years. Most painfully absent, as always, was his close friend and Cinemassacre co-owner Mike Matei.
Around the same time I stumbled upon this interview, I also watched an incredibly illuminating video by Makihara wherein he edited together various clips from Mike Matei’s livestreams over the years in which Mike commented on his role in the production of the Angry Video Game Nerd. While his role has always been downplayed, the more you hear Mike Matei speak for himself, and the more you watch James’s behind the scenes videos, the more you realize how incredibly instrumental the guy really was to the success of the Angry Video Game Nerd, to Cinemassacre, to James Rolfe’s fame, to all of it! Mike Matei was instrumental every step of the way!
So why wouldn’t James Rolfe talk more about that? Why doesn’t he acknowledge it? Is he a glory hog? Personally, I don’t think James has ever realized how badly he’s downplayed his friends over the years. And I think I know what’s actually going on here. Once you realize that Jame’s Rolfe doesn’t look at his videos, or the creative process, in the same way other people do, I think it becomes clear why he isn’t worried about giving credit.
In brief, most people think of a video as a product. The product is measured in terms of its quality and success as a form of mass entertainment. Did people watch it? Did people like it? People who want to make videos want to make videos in order to garner success and notoriety, as a film makers. But Jame’s is not about that. Once you realize that he’s driven by “process” and the satisfaction derived from trouble shooting a difficult production, then you realize how and why James would fail to even notice that he’s sold people short over the years.
We hope you enjoy.
And no disrespect to James Rolfe. He’s awesome!
CCP Management