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RPadTV 3000 Episode 10: Austin Aries

It was excellent catching up with my friend, pro-wrestler, and greatest man that ever lived, Austin Aries. He’s one of those guys that makes you go, “Damn. We’ve known each other way longer than I thought!” One of my goals with RPadTV 3000 is to introduce you guys and gals to some cool people and I absolutely did that with this conversation. I love that the podcast had very little to do with pro-wrestling and gave you some insight into the man behind the gimmick.

Some of the topics Austin Aries and I chatted about in RPadTV 3000 episode 10 included:

Peacemaker Season 1 Review and Discussion

After a hilarious debut in The Suicide Squad (the good James Gunn one, not the pile of garbage starring Will Smith), John Cena returns as Peacemaker on HBO Max. While the character was great as a supporting player in a movie, could he work as a lead in a prestige series? The answer was a resounding yes! To review and discuss Peacemaker season 1, I asked Tal Blevins (former IGN editor) and Paul Semel (former Maxim, Bikini) to join me for a very special episode of RPadTV 3000.

Tal Blevins, Paul Semel, and I talk about our favorite characters, scenes, music, and aspects of Peacemaker season 1. While we all loved the series and were floored by John Cena’s performance, we had different takes on it. For example, Paul and Tal believe that this was a star-making performance for Jennifer Holland. While I enjoyed what she did in the series, I wasn’t as impressed by her as my two esteemed (and smarter) colleagues were.

As for John Cena…

The Book of Boba Fett Review and Discussion

This might come as a shock, but many of my friends are Star Wars nerds. Two of the biggest Star Wars fans I know are veteran videogame journalist Paul Semel and former videogame journalist Chris Baker (Official PlayStation Magazine). When I thought about dedicating an episode of RPadTV 3000 to the first season of The Book of Boba Fett, they were there first people I thought of for guests. Thankfully, they agreed to swing by!

The Book of Boba Fett has been getting rave reviews and venomous criticism in the corner of the Internet that I hang out in. Some fans love it for adding more high-quality Star Wars content to Disney+. Others hate it for fleshing out Boba Fett’s story and taking away from the mystique that made him so cool in The Empire Strikes Back.

Now here’s the part where I warn you that there will be spoilers ahead. Now turn on your spoiler shields and lock your S-foils in attack positions!

RPadTV 3000 Episode 7: Jon Radoff

Beamable CEO Jon Radoff is one of the smartest people I’ve met in the videogame business. I remember meeting him in San Francisco at my favorite coffeehouse (shout out to Farley’s!) and enjoying his company while also feeling kind of dumb (in a good way). He’s one of those guys that has a deep understanding of many interesting subjects. One of those subjects is the metaverse.

Technologists, nerds, futurists, and geeks are all talking up the metaverse and how it’s the “next big thing” for the Internet. While the technology is exciting and potentially very cool, it’s also confusing and intimidating. There are many definitions of what the metaverse is and while some of them are from people that genuinely understand it, there are some people pushing dishonest definition of what the metaverse is for self-serving reasons. This makes the very concept of the metaverse difficult to comprehend for “normal” people.

With that in mind, I wanted to have a conversation with someone that’s highly intelligent, good at communicating heady concepts in terms that most people can understand, and heavily involved in the metaverse. Jon Radoff was the first person that popped into my head.

In the latest episode of RPadTV 3000, Jon Radoff talks about what the metaverse is and why it’s important. Some of the points we chatted about include:

RPadTV 3000 Episode 6: John Foster and Jon Robinson

John Foster was a longtime PR executive for Bender Helper Impact, one of the most respect agencies in the business. He started as an account executive and finished his career at Bender as vice president. He moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in writing, but got sidetracked by the wonderful and wacky world of videogames.

Jon Robinson was a longtime editor for numerous videogame publications. Many GamePro fans know him as “Jonny Ballgame,” while many IGN fans know him as the editor for IGN Sports.

Both of these guys have become award-winning authors.

2022 WWE Royal Rumble Review

The dashing Jose “Fubar” Sanchez from Electric Playground joined me on RPadTV 3000 to talk about the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble. This year’s edition was a bit strange. People love the Royal Rumble for the surprise entrants, but WWE revealed many of the “surprises” beforehand. Additionally, the dirt sheets did a great job of revealing the returning talent, so many hardcore fans weren’t surprised at all.

Internet fans seem to be down on the 2022 WWE Royal Rumble, calling it predictable and boring. Personally, I didn’t think it was as bad as many people on Twitter have said. I enjoyed five of the six matches. That said, it certainly wasn’t as good as recent Royal Rumbles and there were certain “Superstars” that should never be in a WWE ring again (Shane McMahon, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, etc.).

For people that just want the results, here you go:

RPadTV 3000 Episode 4: Chris Cross

Chris Cross has been working in videogame development since the mid-90s. He started off in QA at Blizzard, gained notoriety for his work on the critically acclaimed Medal of Honor series, and has led development teams at independent studios and large publishers. From big budget AAA games , to iOS games made by a team of four, to reimagining Pac-Man for Google Stadia, Cross has done it all.

I’ve interviewed Cross several times for various magazines and websites, but those pieces never showed how imaginative, interesting, and fun hanging out with him can be. I think this episode of RPadTV 3000 gets all of that across. Check out the video above to watch Chris Cross and I talk about:

Coffee Talk #678: In Defense of Joe Rogan

Joe Rogan has been getting slaughtered in the mainstream media for his views on treating ~~BOSH-19~~ COVID-19. Certainly some of what he said is misguided and considering that The Joe Rogan Experience is the most popular podcast in the world, spreading bad information or misinformation can be extremely dangerous. That said, I believe that he’s been getting more heat than he deserves and a lot of what he said has been taken out of context. More importantly, the media has manipulated many people into believing that he’s a malicious person.

Some of the opinions on Rogan have surprised me. Several people that I like and respect have been lashing out at him as if he were vile and the only thing that he’s done in his life is say controversial things about coronavirus treatments. The reality is that Joe Rogan has had a long and successful career that predates the success of his podcast. Some of his accomplishments include:

Acting (NewsRadio)
Hosting (Fear Factor)
MMA Commentary (UFC)
Stand-Up Comedy

That last point can’t be emphasized enough. Rogan is an absolute legend in the comedy world. As a fan of the Los Angeles stand-up scene, I have tremendous respect for his contributions to comedy. Whether it’s his own stand-up which dates back to the late ‘80s, providing a tremendous platform for incredibly talented comics, or calling out Carlos Mencia for stealing jokes, he is greatly respected by many comedians.

Despite his success in many areas of entertainment, some people believe that Rogan is just an evil guy with a humongous podcast. Don’t get me wrong; I disagree with some of what he’s said about COVID-19 vaccines and treatment, but I also see that some of his comments have been twisted and misrepresented by various news outlets. Check out the Russell Brand video below for an examination of why Joe Rogan has been vilified by the mainstream press.

RPadTV 3000 Episode 3: Karen Chu and Chris Kohler

Good Job Brain showrunner Karen Chu and co-host Chris Kohler are the latest guests on RPadTV 3000! I was lucky enough to know these cats when I lived in San Francisco and we were all part of the games media. At the time, Karen was at 1Up and Chris was at Wired. I respected them as peers and enjoyed their company as friends. One of their favorite leisure activities was pub trivia and they were able to parlay their love of trivia into the ultra-successful podcast Good Job Brain.

In addition to sharing the story of Good Job Brain and how the podcast has evolved, Karen Chu and Chris Kohler talk to me about:

I Tried KFC Beyond Nuggets So You Don’t Have To

KFC has started offering KFC Beyond Nuggets at most locations in Canada and the United States. These plant-based nuggets made in conjunction with Beyond Meat add a vegetarian option to the menu, similar to Beyond Burgers and Impossible Burgers offered by numerous hamburger chains. For people concerned about the environmental impact of meat or for families that love KFC but have a vegetarian in the household, it’s a nice option to have. Unfortunately, the inconsistency and cost of these faux chicken nuggets will limit their popularity.

Here’s my breakdown of Colonel Sanders’ foray into plant-based chicken.