You haven't heard of Radnerd.com yet?! Well, it's only one of the coolest sites on the web that covers everything from gaming, to gadgets, to other random geekiness found on the net. You have probably seen these guys doing the post-show over on theStream.tv for Coin-Op TV Live and the pre-show for The Game Show, they are Beau Ryan and Leo Zombie. They are both good friends of ours here at GameGirl and probably two of the coolest nerds we have met.
First, let me introduce you to the guys:
Beau Ryan:
Co-founder of Radnerd.com, student, actor, and nerd. People know him as the guy in the Sony and Best Buy commercials. He is married to actress Traycee King, has 3 cats, shops at Trader Joes, loves Morrissey, Wu-Tang, Wes Anderson and Spike Jonze films...and Carne Asada Fries. He feeds off the latest buzz in the tech/gaming world and thrives to see what he will discover at the next convention. Beau loves blowing all his money on gadgets and media, stays connected, and comes equipped with character, charisma, and own quirky style on and off camera.
Leo Zombie:
Leo is a full blown pop culture and video game enthusiast who started his passion for all things nerdy from day one. Growing up as a child of the 80's Leo eventually took this love of the retro and formed a video game a-capella cover band called "Push Start". From there he went on to appear as a guest on Coin-Op TV and Game Music Radio. Thriving off the latest and greatest in video game news and pop media culture, he is always on the lookout for the next game tourney or convention. You can be sure he will not only cover these events but is an avid participant as well. Leo is armed with a full arsenal of whit, charm and gusto with +5 added to his base stat of awesome.
I was able to the guys to take a few moments out of their busy schedules to do a quick interview for me and I hope they had as much fun answering the questions as I did reading them.
1. What is Radnerd?
Beau: RadNerd.com is made up of 2 dudes with witty, unpredictable talent and natural game. We want to deliver nerdalisim our way, cover what we want, and how we want.
Leo: A better question would be “What isn’t RadNerd?” We like to consider ourselves the center of the nerdiverse. We cover anything having to do with nerd culture and we approach it from different angles but always with a sense of humor.
2. How was Radnerd.com started?
Beau: Some internet casting pyramid scheme contest is how myself and my smart, handsome, funny and charming co-host Leo Zombie crossed cyber-paths. Then we officially shook hands at Wizard World where he was cosplaying as Jack Sparrow. I rudely continued with my texting after he formally introduced himself to me, as he still stood there in front of me I thought to myself “so this poor creature defeated me, huh?” we have been inseparable ever since. We are now taking over the nets.
Leo: Many millennia ago, there was once a war between the god’s of knowledge and awesomeness. It was a long and mighty battle but in the end the earth was left ravaged and the people were left to struggle. This was uncool so the gods decided to settle there differences and create 2 men who would unite the forces of Nerdom and being Rad. They would walk the earth, hang out with people, geek out, and tell great stories at parties. They came to be known as “the Radnerds”. The series premieres on NBC sometime this fall.
3. What was your first game/or system that got you hooked?
Beau: Half-Life (PC), all up-hill from there, I never played a game where I didn’t mind not sleeping at all and going straight to work in the morning.
Leo: For me, it is without a doubt the NES. I’m an only child, so Super Mario was like a surrogate brother to me. Not to mention that it’s probably the single greatest babysitter ever created.
4. What were your top 3 favorite games available for demo at E3?
Beau: Battlefield 1943, Left 4 Dead 2 -- who cares if it’s too soon, it will rule -- and Wet. The Bethesda booth sucked but games were rad.
Leo: Muramas was right up there because I’m a very traditional retro gamer. I love the idea of an epic 2D side-scroller adventure. That and it looks frackin’ beautiful.
Brutal Legend was another game that seems to be overshadowed by all the other huge titles. I don’t think it will be anything that changes the face of gaming but it looks to be a fun game with face melting rock n’ roll and that’s all I really care about anyways.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Look, I know it’s a decade old but it was technically demo-able at E3 and I’m a totally fanboy who can’t stop pitching a tent over how excited I am over the re-release. I failed a semester of college because of this game being in the student lounge.
5. Top 5 favorite games of all time?
Beau: Half Life, COD4, Counter Strike Source, Battlefield 2, and Doom 3. Yes, I am that “FPS/likes to spend a few grand on a rig” type of gamer.
Leo: Ah, the dreaded question. So many to choose from! I’ve tried over the years to compose this list and it’s changed over time but as it stands now I think these are my top 5. No particular order.
Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Street Fighter 2, Tetris, Final Fantasy 7.
Runner-ups: Chrono Trigger, Half Life, CoD4, Mario Paint, Super Mario 3, Golden Eye 64, Resident Evil 2
6. What is one game you regret ever buying?
Beau: Halo, its so effin cliché and safe, un-rad. It’s the game you see in movies where the “douche-bag sofa jock gamer” is talking smack to some kid over XBL.
Leo: Gears of War 2. Campaign was cool with a friend, but I could’ve rented that experience. The multi-player is what made me love the first one and the sequel completely destroyed the online experience for me. Horde was the only cool feature but the match-making system was crap, especially when you have amazing set ups like CoD4’s match-making. /takes deep breath. Oh and to make matters worse I got the Collectors Edition which came with a whole lot of extra NOTHING. Oh, sorry, a collectors tin. Woot.
7. How do feel about the more casual turn that gaming has taken in the more recent years?
Leo: From a marketing stand point, I completely get the approach to casual gamers. I think it’s fine but I also know that a simple game can be complex. Street Fighter 4 is a good example because everyone enjoys it but some people enjoy it to levels no human should. It’s not about creating simple games, it’s about creating games with depth and creativity instead of all this rushed out tripe we’ve been seeing in recent gaming trends so that casual and hardcore gamers alike can enjoy them. I won’t name mention any names but Prototype is a good example. /devilish grin.
8. If you could go back in time and tell a game developer or game company something, what would it be?
Beau: "Hey Duck Hunt designers, I hate your dog."
9. With these new peripherals such as the new Wii Vitality Monitor, and the new PS3 motion-sensing camera do you think these are great new breakthroughs in technology to enhance our gaming or do you see them as gimmicky accessories that are great in theory but maybe not to great in practice?
Beau: Great for rehabilitation centers and assistant living centers, but the average gamer would rather buy more games on their wishlist then unfulfilling tech.
10. Which is creepier: befriending a pre-pubescent boy on a child’s playground in the Xbox 360’s Project Natal or holding a conversation with a talking fish in the Dreamcast’s Seaman?
Leo: Is this like one of those “Dateline: To Catch a Predator” type questions? Obviously talking to a fish is both less creepy and really freakin’ cool. I don’t want to talk to a pre-pubescent boy EVER. Let alone in a video game environment. I don’t even like it when they join my lobby on Xbox LIVE. Thank god for the mute option.
11. You can have either a Wookie for a pet or an Ewok, which one would you prefer and why?
Beau: Wookie’s make the best bff’s, Ewoks are better as pets because those little rascals can hunt and build traps for you if you get the munchies, but if you upset them they may throw a stick or a stone at you. A Wookie will just rip your arms out of your sockets, can’t tame those big guys.
Leo: Wookies make way better pets. Ewoks aren’t known for ripping people’s arms of their sockets when they lose. Plus you can hang out with a Wookie and fly spaceships with them. PUNCH IT CHEWIE!
12. There is an epic battle to the death between Transformers and G.I. Joes. Who wins and why?
Leo: Liam Neeson. That guy kills everybody.
13. If you could only play one video game for the rest of your life, which game would it be and why?
Beau: LittleBigPlanet, have you even played that high yet, man?
Leo: Probably Tetris. That’s one of those games you can never really get tired of. You can turn it on, start playing, blink and before you know it 3 hours have passed. Plus that theme has been encoded into my DNA at this point.
14. You’re dead. With technology that only our government knows about, we can bring you back to life but you can only be resurrected as a video game character. Who would you want to come back to life as and why?
Beau: Gordon Freeman (Half-Life 2), he’s smarter and tougher than me, an appropriate upgrade in my opinion.
Leo: I would totally want to be raised from the dead as Mega Man. I mean that’s kind of his story anyway. He was an ordinary helper and then Dr. Light reconstructed him to be an ass kicking machine of destruction. I’d like to do that. Save the world, have an awesome arm cannon, cool ass weapons, a robot dog that turns into a jet… Sounds fun. Sign me up!
15. If you were trapped in another dimension and you were stuck in a video game for the rest of your life…what game would you want to be stuck in and why?
Beau: LittleBigPlanet, have you even played that high yet, man?
Leo: Is it odd that I’ve thought about this scenario a million times before? I think that if I were going to be stuck in a video game world for the rest of my days, it would have to be Azeroth. I mean, World of Warcraft is literally an entire world only instead of cars you can ride on tigers and other cool shit. You’ve got zombies, pirates, hot half-naked blood elf chicks running around… I mean, what’s NOT to like? You can even get drunk and that’s awesome.
16. There is a fight to the death between Kratos, Marcus Fenix and Pyramid Head. Who wins and why?
Leo: Kratos wins because he’s pretty much unkillable. I mean, even hell couldn’t hold him down. Marcus is a bad ass but doesn’t stand a chance against these two supernatural killers. Pyramid Head is my boy though, and I think he’d give Kratos a decent fight for about 20 to 30 seconds but in the end Kratos is THE GOD OF WAR. Kinda unfair.
17. If you had to be stuck in handcuffs with a video character of your choice for a day, who would it be and why?
Beau: Alyx Vance (Half-Life 2)! Well 1.) She is hawt and 2.) She is a skilled hacker, adept at infiltrating combine computer systems and reprogramming them. She also possesses a multi-purpose tool that uses an electric charge in order to bypass security, open locked doors, and re-program rollermines and automated turrets to attack enemies. Yeah boo has my back yo!
Leo: Zoey from Left 4 Dead…yum. There is something about the girl next-door smashing zombie skulls that just tickles my fancy.
For more Radnerd.com, you can follow the guys on Twitter @RadNerd or check them out every Thursday on theStream.tv for the Coin-Op TV Live post-show at 9pm PST/12pm EST and on Fridays for the The Game Show pre-show starting at 7:30pm PST/ 10:30pm EST.
Look for Raychul, Chaunteuse, Nikole, Janessa, Jess, Heather and Rini in the Radnerd E3 bumper reel:
Photos by BlankLogo Photography.
