Meet the Writers

Nerd Bacon was founded in August of 2013 by David “Nerdberry” and Patrick “The Cubist,” a couple of highschool friends who may or may not be brothers-in-law. In early 2016, ownership transferred around and it is currently owned by longtime NB author theWatchman, longtime NB tech nerd Variand, and Nerdberry.

We’ve got a great team of writers behind us who are showcasing their expertise in various areas, and here is where you can get to know them a little better.

Nerdberry

Home: Clayton, North Carolina

David B. AKA “Nerdberry” is the founder, co-owner, and CEO of Nerd Bacon. As an avid retro-game enthusiast and collector, Nerd Bacon was founded as an outlet and avenue for his and then-partner Cubist’s nerdy lifestyles. Originally it focused almost exclusively on retro game reviews before the inevitable growth led to modern day games, news, and other nerdy ventures. Nerdberry owns a commercial and residential power washing business with his wife in Raleigh North Carolina while dreaming of eventually one day owning a Nintendo Switch and actually having the time to play it!

Although finding time to play games is hard to come by these days, Nerdberry identifies as a Sega nerd and considers himself well-versed in classic Sega history. Some of his all-time favorites (not just from Sega) include Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Donkey Kong Country series, Super Mario World, Portal 2, Smash Bros Melee, Star Fox 64, Jet Moto series, and much more. Pretty much anything from the 1990s and a few awesome games from the 2000s to today.

theWatchman

Home: Des Moines, Iowa

Coming Soon!

Variand

Home: Tampa, Florida

Coming Soon!

Rhutsczar

Home: Vacaville, California

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Oh no, it’s this guy. A workaholic by nature, Brandon goes by many names across social media. You may find him as Brandon, Senor con Queso (Most social media), or Rhutsczar (just Rhuts for short is fine). A TRPG and tabletop fanatic, Brandon has been a long time member of the Bacon for three years (wow!) and has even started his own column dedicated to board games over in our Beyond Bacon section (click here). Always looking for that next oddball game, Rhuts goes out of his way to intentionally dive into some pretty off-the-wall games in order to create some more colorful content.

When he is not playing games, which is a shame as he needs to make time to play most of the time, Brandon runs a small media news/reviews company called Media in Review. While initially covering all kinds of media (i.e. video games, anime, films, TV, music), he since dropped video game coverage and nestled into a home with Nerd Bacon for that content. With plenty of projects in the queue, it is a bit ridiculous how Brandon can actually cover everything. He even runs two YouTube channels for MiR and Senor Con Queso, providing music and a variety of other content. So if you want more of this oaf’s opinion, find him and Media in Review on social media.

Nips

Home: Raleigh, North Carolina

Nips, known otherwise as Garrett Zafuto, was born in the cold town of Buffalo, NY in the year of 1992. When he was almost too young to remember, his family opted for the warmer climes of Raleigh, NC, and he can say with certainty that the cardinal state is his true home. He is a graduate of NC State University with a degree in Spanish and finds work as a translator and part-time tutor, though his true passion is fast becoming the art of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing music, appreciating film, and, above all, VIDEO GAMES!

At a young age, Garrett was introduced to the Nintendo 64. Games like Mario Party, Banjo Kazooie, and Diddy Kong Racing opened his imagination to the infinite realm of possibilities offered by video games. Since then, he has developed a love for all things experimental and novel, reveling in titles from Shadow of the Colossus and The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker to more eclectic games such as Katamari Damacy and The Witness.

Passionate about all his hobbies, Garrett is on the constant search for new vocabulary and concepts with which he can explore the world of video gaming, consuming content as well as producing some of his own in the form of reviews for Nerd Bacon. In his work, he strives for professionalism, offering readers the most accurate picture of a given title that he can muster, all the while analyzing it with an unwavering scrutiny that seeks to explore how we can make our favorite pastime even better.

Kikopaff

Home: Sydney, Australia

Noelle “Kikopaff” Reyes was born in Laguna, Philippines and moved to the Land Down Under when she was seven years old. She now calls Sydney, Australia home but occasionally misses Shakey’s back in the motherland.

Kikopaff started playing video games when she entered Sydney and discovered the beauty of the original Xbox and GameBoy Advance. Her first video games were Pokemon Sapphire, Crash Twinsanity, Crash Tag Team Racing, Halo, Blinx The Time Sweeper, and Quantum Redshift. Since then, she’s proud to be identified as a gamer/nerd and enjoys playing a range of games including World of Warcraft, Sid Meier’s Civilization series and a bunch of indie titles. When she’s not writing about games or playing games, she’s also an editorial contributor at Supanova, Australia’s largest pop culture expo. She also loves reading, is a comics enthusiast, and enjoys cooking. Her favorite food includes ramen, Italian cuisine, and grilled cheese sandwiches. She graduated from university with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Journalism) and loves the art of storytelling. When she’s not writing game reviews or gaming content, she writes poetry and short stories to fuel all her creativity. She also performs spoken word poetry and can break a dance move or two.

ZB

Home: Atlanta, GA

ZB, alternatively known as Sam, is currently a 28 (and counting) year old writer and photoshop tech. Earthworm Jim is a game that Sam holds particularly close; he discovered it at a young age but gained an entirely new and different appreciation for it as he’s grown and matured, a process that many of us have gone through and can relate to. When asked about living inside of a video game, he gives us a very specific scenario: the Mushroom Kingdom or South Island (from Sonic) due to their relative peacefulness, with himself as the giant ape from Rampage to really shake things up. The cherry on top? When night falls, the air is filled with Music C from the NES release of Tetris.

For the time being, Sam considers The Ren and Stimpy Show Buckaroo$ as his least favorite game (and Nester’s Funky Bowling as the most offensive). His boxed NES Deluxe Set might possibly be his most valuable gaming possession, though he should really take inventory of his collection to be certain. Apparently, he also has a pretty sad story behind his possession of Bonk’s Adventure for a weekend.

Sam gives us a little more insight into his gaming proclivities: “I have been a video game owner since I was four years old. I grew up on a steady diet of NES and Genesis with the oddest assortment of games either console had to offer. I was aware of Zelda and I had a friend who would bring over Sonic 1-3, but aside from that I had never played Castlevania, Megaman, Punchout, Metroid, or any other staple franchises. Instead, I had games like Wolverine, Back to the Future, Jimmy Connor’s Tennis, so on and so forth (I exclude Sega mainly because my games weren’t as obscure for that console that I can remember). I began collecting around 2003 when flea markets were still flourishing with gaming paraphernalia. Since the pool has dried up over the years I find myself clamoring to grab anything I can at prices I would have once scoffed at.

Sarus Vakarian

Home: Detroit, Michigan

“I don’t sit on your lap because it’s comfortable. I sit on your lap, because I like the way your thighs feel on my butt.” -Micheal Scott

Sarus Vakarian is a horror nerd and bookworm from Detroit, Michigan. Closest to her heart is the original Tomb Raider, which her dad introduced her to at the age of 7. Having always been drawn towards strong female characters, Sarus was instantly on board with Lara Croft’s character. Her dad even fashioned guns out of cardboard so that she could play as Croft both on and off screen. The Mass Effect franchise really kickstarted Sarus’s love for storytelling within gaming and also serves as her choice of games to live in, namely as an Asari alien. Who doesn’t want to have a tentacle-head and live for a thousand years?

Although Sarus has experience in the poetry and non-fiction genres, her #1 passion is video game storytelling and journalism: “I feel exceptionally blessed to be a part of the Nerd Bacon family because it allows me the chance to do what I love and it just doesn’t get any better than that.”

Sarus is also a shameless animal freak, owning two dogs, two cats, and has consistently rescued wildlife including rabbits, birds, and even bees (pun intended).

Check out her Instagram, there’s cosplay and nerdy doodles! : @sarusvakarian

Justicescooby

Home: Dutchess County, New York

Shane Gallo, better known as Justicescooby online, is a lifelong gamer residing in Dutchess County, New York and has been part of Nerd Bacon since very early 2014. Currently the age of 19, he received his first computer at only 3 years old, and also had a Nintendo 64 and PlayStation as a child. Nowadays, Justicescooby has a huge collection of gaming consoles ranging from the NES to the PS4 Pro, but uses his PC as his primary gaming machine.

Video games have always meant a lot to Justicescooby as they have been with him through everything and have always offered a much needed escape. Aside from being a gamer, Justicescooby also considers himself a tech enthusiast (being an early adopter of virtual reality and 4K technology), a political junkie, and a collector of all things collectible. Justicescooby is working on getting a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism, and plans on going further to get a joint-degree in Law and Masters of Public Administration.

Poseidon

Home: Raleigh, North Carolina

Zack AKA “Posedon”is a 2o-something year old student in Raleigh, NC. He works a lot, but makes time for his favorite pastime: video games!

Zack is an absent-minded daydreamer of a man who is always thinking of some crazy invention he hopes to create some day. Perpetual energy anyone? With his absent mindedness comes a lax outlook on life, and a friendly demeanor. Apart from sitting at a computer desk working, he can be found exploring the world with his beautiful girlfriend (picture: left) and his Pit/Dalmatian mix, Corvo. Zack has been busy working towards his career goal of engineering aircrafts that can hopefully take humanity to the final frontier: space.

When Zack isn’t dreaming about shaking hands with aliens, he’s blasting them away in video games. He fondly remembers Spyro the Dragon games as his first true love and Pokemon shortly after. As he grew older, he became obsessed with FPS’s enjoying games like Call of Duty, Halo, and Battlefield the most. Fortunately, he’s into all kinds of games and can be found in the PSN ether playing some interesting new titles, or the occasional sleeper/indie hit.

InfiniteKnife

Home: Reno, Nevada

Coming Soon!

Space Invader

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