Angry Video Game Nerd is Getting His Own NES Game

Summary

The Angry Video Game Nerd is launching a new game on a physical Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge, allowing classic-style gameplay on real hardware.
Titled The Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit, the game features typical NES-era challenges and nods to frustrating reviews.
The side-scrolling shooter/platformer will be available digitally and on various modern consoles in addition to the NES.

The Angry Video Game Nerd, a popular web-based gaming influencer who specializes in showing frustration over excessively difficult or poorly designed old-school games, is getting his own video game on a real cartridge that will work on classic NES systems. The YouTube-based game reviewer has announced The Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit, which is also planned for release on modern consoles and PC.

Starting his internet-based review series in 2006, the foul-mouthed Nerd – real name James Rolfe – has produced more than 220 episodes, which can be found on his Cinemassacre YouTube channel. The latest of these episodes was released in December 2024 and takes a humorous look at glitches in more modern games than his usual fare, including Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and the 2002 Rocky boxing game. His channel boasts 3.88 million subscribers, and in 2014, an Angry Video Game Nerd movie hit select theaters in the United States.

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By Marco D'Alelio

Now Rolfe is reaching out in a new direction with the announcement of his first physical video game, which is being developed by Mega Cat Studios and published by Retroware. While there are several Angry Video Game Nerd games available on Steam, this new game designed to mimic the look and feel of classic NES games is the first one capable of running on real NES hardware. Featuring intentionally generic tropes like disappearing platforms and zombie and skeleton enemies, Rolfe also indicates in a trailer for the game that some enemies are designed after frustrating encounters he has reviewed in his web series. "Yeah, coming back to haunt me," he remarks. "This is personal."

Angry Video Game Nerd Getting Game on a Real NES Cartridge

From a look at the trailer, The Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit will be a classic side-scrolling shooter/platformer, as a version of the Nerd with diminutive proportions fights off enemies with the orange version of what appears to be the classic NES Zapper light gun used in games like Duck Hunt and Hogan's Alley. In terms of gameplay, it looks like the Nerd will be able to jump, slide, and even make use of a jetpack to traverse levels. In addition to the physical cartridge, the game is also planned for digital release on Nintendo Switch, PC via Steam, and PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

The move for new physical games that run on classic NES systems seems to be a growing trend. Last September, The MIX Games released the first Rugrats game in 19 years, titled Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland. With a fourth-wall-breaking story that sees the babies imagining themselves inside a video game, Adventures in Gameland's digital version features a choice of modern and 8-bit graphics, though the publisher also released a physical cartridge that contains just the 8-bit version and runs on NES systems.

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