WWE Shad Gaspard in the Running for Conan Movie

WWE Superstar Shad Gaspard (the big guy in Cryme Tyme) is one of the finalists for the role of Ukafa in the upcoming Conan movie. According to WorstPreviews:

Gaspard has now updated his blog again, this time stating that he has passed the first part of casting and that the role is now down to him and only a few other actors. If he ends up getting hired he will star in the movie opposite Jason Momoa (“Stargate: Atlantis”), who has already been cast as Conan.

Gaspard is a huge man, but he’s also a huge nerd. When I met him at WWE SummerSlam 2009, he told me that he enjoyed comics as a kid, but the comic-book club wouldn’t let him join because he was a jock. He totally nerded out at San Diego Comic-Con 2009 too! On behalf of WWE fans and nerds around the world, I hope Shad gets the role.

Source vis N8R

Analyzing the WWE Elimination Chamber PPV

Yesterday I was still recovering from DICE and having visitors over the weekend, which made me completely forget about the WWE Elimination Chamer pay-per-view. Thankfully, N8R reminded me about it. Let’s take a look at the booking and talk about it.

WWE Championship — John Cena Wins: I hate saying this because John Cena is a really nice guy and he works extremely hard, but I hate watching him wrestle. He is my second-least favorite “top guy” in WWE. I was extremely annoyed that he was booked to win the WWE strap at this PPV. I couldn’t think of anything worse until….

Batista Beats Cena for the WWE Championship: Mr. McMahon made Cena defend the belt right after the first elimination chamber match ended. Batista beat him for it. Ugh. Batista is awful. I want to like him because he’s half Filipino and his book was a 9.5 on the unintentional comedy scale, but he just sucks. He can’t wrestle. He gasses on the way to the ring because he suffers from asthma and his second wind lasts about 90 seconds. Unlike Cena, “Big Dave” doesn’t work hard and is, by most accounts, a dick. I was hoping it would be Batista/McMahon vs. Cena/Hart at WrestleMania, with no championships on the line, but it doesn’t look that way.

Chris Jericho Wins the World Championship: This was great booking. The world championship match came down to Jericho and The Undertaker. ‘Taker was about to win when Shawn Michaels appeared and gave him “sweet chin music”. This sets up Jericho vs. Edge and HBK vs. ‘Taker at WrestleMania. The mic work leading up to Jericho/Edge will be fantastic, while HBK and Taker will probably steal the show again.

And the Rest: That was a Gilligan’s Island reference. It worked (really). The rest of the PPV looked crappy on paper. The one highlight was The Miz talking about mentoring Bryan Danielson (now Daniel Bryan in WWE) on NXT. The Miz said something like, “Bryan may be an Internet legend, but when I look at him I see the first guy in line at a Star Wars convention.” Danielson is a damn genius in the ring, but he definitely needs help on the mic. The Miz should help him get over in a big way.

DICE 2010 in Pictures II: Writers, Business Peeps, and Adam Sessler

Yes, I used Adam Sessler’s name in the title to try to pick up some cheap SEO traffic. Sorry (but not). Ha! Anyway, here are some photos of other game writers, some journalists that moved to the business side of gaming, and two sexy girl gamers.

Wired’s Chris Kohler and Electric Playground’s Enzo Zanatta Are Handsome Men

Journos Turned Biz People: Ignition’s Shane Bettenhausen and High Road’s Darren Gladstone

GirlGamer Founder & CEO Mike Prasad and IGN’s Fran Mirabella III

New EGM Brady Fiechter and Former EGM Shane Bettenhausen

I Look Terrible (Drunk) in This Photo, But GirlGamer’s Rachel Horton Looks Lovely

Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo and Rogers & Cowan’s Marina Beck Before the Awards Show

The Excellent People at 1UP: David Ellis and Mr. (Sam) Kennedy…Kennedy

Alex Pham From the L.A. Times Looking Lovely as Always

Adam Sessler and I Have No Idea Why We Aren’t Male Models


DICE 2010 in Pictures: Cool Developers and an Awards Show

Here are some photos I snapped during DICE 2010. You’ll see some of gaming’s top talent, a sexy Italian cameraman, a tap gaming analyst, and a great comedian in this set. Enjoy!

Mark Cerny Was Inducted Into the AIAS Hall of Fame Because He’s Awesome

EAT Sleep Play’s David Jaffe Says “Egg”, I Say “Chicken”

Electric Playground’s Enzo Zanatta and the Legendary Designer/Producer Don Daglow

EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich Was Great to Chat with — I Hope Bsukenyan Enjoys the Interview!

I Want This Flower Art!!!

Epic’s Dr. Mike Capps Didn’t Drunkenly Renew My Unreal Engine License This Year

Jay Mohr Rocked It (Again) As the Host of the Interactive Achievement Awards

Here’s a Shot of Jay From the Screen

Here’s What the Awards Show Looked Like From the Last (Troublemaker) Table

Attack of the Giant Interactive Achievement Award!!!


Coffee Talk #91: Why Am I Here (Part II)?!?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, U.S.A. trouncing the Royal Kingdom of Canadia in Olympic hockey, Bryan Danielson finally making it to a WWE broadcast show, or the WWE making Bryan Danielson change his name to Daniel Bryan, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Way back when I started this site, I posted an entry called “What Am I Here?!?”. It’s been what? About four months since I started? RPad.tv has definitely had its ups and downs, and lately I’ve been questioning why I’m doing what I do since I’m not making any money and bills are piling up. DICE 2010 was a brilliant reminder of why I love all of this. I’m definitely recharged from DICE and I wanted to use today’s Coffee Talk to tell you why.

First and foremost, I love interacting with you guys and gals (I think RPad.tv has three female readers now). I love talking about games, gadgets, and geek culture with you. I love that I was able to share some of DICE with you. It was like bringing you all to Vegas with me (though you didn’t see me drunk). Talking about OnLive and Bobby Kotick with you was definitely fun. I’m sorry I didn’t get to do more of that during DICE, but you’ll understand why when you read reason #2.

So yeah! The second reason DICE was reinvigorating was that it reminded me of how ridiculously lucky I am. I get to write about one of my favorite hobbies and talk with the people that create the games I play. It was fun catching up with people like BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Gas Powered Games’ Chris Taylor, Insomniac’s Ted Price, and so many others. I feel incredibly honored that these amazing people remember my name — I’m a nobody! To me, it’s the same as writing about movies or sports and getting to hang out with actors or athletes. The one difference is that gaming is still small enough and fun enough that I still get to interact with a lot of these guys on a somewhat social level.

So today’s Coffee Talk is late because I wasn’t sure about sharing all of this because it makes me feel kind of exposed…but then I remembered that you guys are awesome. As always, thanks for visiting!!!

DICE 2010: Richard Lemarchand Talks Uncharted 2

Before Uncharted 2 kicked everyone’s asses at the Interactive Achievement Awards, Naughty Dog co-lead game designer Richard Lemarchand gave a presentation on Uncharted 2. It was called “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves — How To Fly By The Seat Of Your Pants Without Crapping Them” It was a cool presentation and I’m pretty sure you’ll want to work at Naughty Dog after you see it. Check it out!

DICE 2010: Watch Bobby Kotick Be…Kind of Nice

You’ve read my notes on Bobby Kotick’s DICE 2010 presentation, now watch it for yourself! See Activision’s lord and master explain why he doesn’t play games anymore, admit that not buying Harmonix was a mistake, and come off as…kind of fun. After you’ve see Kotick live, I want your opinion on his performance. Half the people I spoke to at DICE thought he was being genuine, while the other half thought his whole schtick was staged. What side are you on?

DICE 2010: OnLive President and CEO Shows Off Streaming Games

OnLive president and CEO Steve Perlman showed off the latest beta of the company’s streaming game service at DICE 2010. Prior to the live demo, Perlman went over where he thinks gaming is going and why OnLive is the next logical step in home entertainment. While some of the content will be old to those of you that have been following the service, some of the performance gains and features are new.

As I mentioned in the comments section of this story, I saw a game of Crysis being observed on an iPhone. It looked great and ran smoothly. While a controlled demo is very different than real-world use, I’m getting more and more interesting in OnLive every time I see it.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Perlman’s demo.

13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards: The Results

As promised, here are the results of the 13th annual Interactive Achievement Awards hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. As expected, Uncharted 2 did ridiculously well. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Scribblenauts did well too. As a huge BioWare fan, I was pleased that Dragon Age: Origins picked up an award (I was teasing BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk that he now has 52 of them).

Anyway, the results are in! Check ’em out and let me know what you think (please)!!!

Game of the Year
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Casual Game of the Year
Flower

Fighting Game of the Year
Street Fighter IV

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dragon Age: Origins

Sports Game of the Year
FIFA Soccer 10

Racing Game of the Year
Forza Motorsport 3

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Batman: Arkham Asylum

Adventure Game of the Year
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Social Networking Game of the Year
Farmville

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Brutal Legend

Action Game of the Year
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Family Game of the Year
The Beatles: Rock Band

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Scribblenauts

Oustanding Achievement in Animation
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Oustanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Outstanding Achievement in Story (Adapted)
Batman: Arkham Asylum

Outstanding Character Performance
Batman: Arkham Asylum — The Joker

Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Oustanding Achievement in Story (Original)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Oustanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Oustanding Achievement in Soundtrack
Brutal Legend

Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Oustanding Achievement in Sound Design
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design
Scribblenauts

Portable Game of the Year
Scribblenauts