The Death of Physical Media, Red Rising Review & Mermaid Horror Comics | Taps & Takes

In this episode of Taps & Takes, we’re joined by Royce King of Grogs Traditional Irish Pub for a full-on nerd session covering books, comics, gaming, and the future of physical media.We break down Red Rising by Pierce Brown, debate The Wake and whether it’s brilliant sci-fi horror or “mermaid smut,” and talk about why comic book storytelling can get away with the kind of wild swings movies can’t. Then we shift into gaming and business, discussing Xbox’s struggles, PlayStation moving away from physical games, the rise of digital ownership, and whether gamers should actually be worried about the death of physical media.We also talk about:Why Red Rising hooks you after the first 10 chaptersThe split reaction to The WakeWhether comic books are the best medium for big sci-fi ideasXbox layoffs, Game Pass, and the future of console strategyWhy physical media is disappearingWhether piracy and emulation are the inevitable responseRoyce’s recommendation for Interview with the VampireIf you’re into sci-fi books, comic books, gaming culture, PlayStation, Xbox, and nerd debates, this episode is for you.Chapters00:00 Intro / Friday morning at Grogs 00:25 Royce King joins the show 01:12 “Nerd Training with Royce” begins 02:08 Reviewing The Wake 02:41 Why they started calling it “mermaid porn” 04:04 The weird structure of The Wake 05:18 Royce’s full review: Part 1 vs Part 2 08:37 Why comics are such a hard sell to people 09:50 Image Comics, Spawn, and weird comic book storytelling 10:31 Drew pitches East of West 11:34 Bad adaptations and the disaster of The Dark Tower 13:17 Drew reviews Red Rising 15:52 Breaking down the caste system in Red Rising 17:21 Revenge, infiltration, and the long-game story setup 18:09 Why the Gold hierarchy is so compelling 19:26 The “gay Red Rising illustrations” conversation 20:21 Books vs movies: which should come first? 23:04 Golden Son and why Drew’s all in on the series 24:38 Final verdict: read Red Rising 26:08 The death of physical media 28:10 Xbox’s struggles and why the next generation matters 29:48 PlayStation moving away from physical games 31:37 Royce’s take: physical media is already dead 34:48 Xbox’s constant identity crisis 36:24 Why digital ownership is the future 38:14 Will old games still be playable in the future? 39:41 “Your video game maker is now your utility provider” 41:12 Wrapping up the nerd conversation 41:37 Royce’s recommendation: Interview with the Vampire 43:15 Why the AMC adaptation is so good 44:18 Outro#TapsAndTakes #DoOverPodcast #PodcastClips #GamingPodcast #BookTok #SciFiBooks #FantasyBooks #ComicBooks #GeekCulture #NerdCulture #RedRising #PierceBrown #TheWake #PhysicalMedia #PlayStation #Xbox #GamingNews #BookReview #SciFiPodcast #PopCulturePodcast