#dan ryckert

[ijustthinkevilunoisneat]

[blazehedgehog]

What's a Sonic game you just want people to stop talking about and bringing up all the time?

When GiantBomb started playing the Xbox 360 version of Sonic 06, I audibly groaned. Especially given Jeff Grubb was involved. Grubb's been kind of an asshole about Sonic games (and Sonic fans) in the past in that really dated, annoying way.

I have been told by a friend who watches it that "it's really not that bad" but they haven't finished the game yet, either.

Maybe it's just the fact that Giantbomb is doing it at all bugs me. RetroPals also did Sonic 06 for the first time last year and I didn't mind it then. But an outlet with the sway of Giantbomb putting Sonic 06 on a pedestal in 2023 feels really outdated and tired.

[uprightbat]

Beyond excited about all the Giant Bomb news. The site has gone through so many changes over the past couple years and the news of Gerstmann’s departure was a heavy blow. Even if all they announced was “so long Jeff, we wish you the best of luck” I would have happily kept listening, but Lucy, Tam, Grubb, and Dan will be a huge shot in the arm for the site. And I’m happy to see that a lot of the new shows that started over the past year will be sticking around. I know they weren’t for everybody, but I’ve really enjoyed them. Here’s to a new era 👍

[breakingarrows]

Games Media in Review: Giant Bomb

I don’t have as long a history with Giant Bomb as I do IGN or Kinda Funny but the love and enjoyment from when I was a fan is definitely equal to those two. I have strong memories of listening to the Giant Bomb Game of the Year discussions in 2014 while pushing shopping carts around outside the Wal-Mart I worked at. I was a premium subscriber from June 2016 until I let it expire in March 2022. About a year ago I sat down to try and narrow down what my personal “golden age” of Giant Bomb was by counting the various shows or highlights put out in each year, this narrowed it down to the 2017-2019 period as being the strongest. Drew Scanlon’s departure was softened by the hiring of Abby Russell and Ben Pack, later joined by Jan Ochoa. Abby and Ben’s later departure, the COVID pandemic making in-person recordings no longer possible, and the later departures of Vinny Caravella, Alex Navarro, and Brad Shoemaker pretty much killed any and all enthusiasm I had for the site. Jeff Gerstmann’s firing (still such a strange warped reflection of his firing from GameSpot due to external ad-pressure which led to founding Giant Bomb, now being fired from that website) didn’t help any interest that may have remained, especially given the site’s response following his sudden departure.

Watching and listening to the current Giant Bomb for these past two weeks has been the most disappointing experience of this series so far. Kinda Funny may not have very strong critical bones, and I can’t say Giant Bomb really does either, both are more to provide entertainment than thoughtful critiques, but only one of them ever provided any laughs: Kinda Funny. I know some of this has to do with finding Dan Ryckert more obnoxious than funny, but also just the overall content I watched (34 videos checking over my YouTube history) wasn’t very fun to watch along with.

When discussing Kinda Funny I mentioned their adherence to enthusiast press talk of excitement and positivity above all else, and while I don’t think that is true of Giant Bomb, I did find their critical talk similarly lacking. Most of it I can attribute to the shadow Dan Ryckert casts over the site. Dan loves wrestling, and specifically loves reenacting the role of the “heel” from wrestling in his work life, a term referring to someone who plays the bad guy who is supposed to make the audience and other cast members mad at them for their behavior. Dan finds this funny, I find it obnoxious. At least during his previous employment at Giant Bomb he had Jeff Gerstmann, Vinny Caravella, and his fellow GameInformer coworker turned Giant Bomb staff Jason Oestreicher to somewhat counter his heel tendencies. All of them are gone now and it shows. During the Giant Bombcast 808 Dan explains why he didn’t like Red Dead Redemption 2 or The Lord of the Rings around 1:42:37, and it was at an early point in my watching that I began to question whether or not I really wanted to continue. It isn’t that I disagree with the opinion being expressed, that either can be/is “boring,” but it is the way this thought is explained that irritates me. This feeling is expressed by others as well. This has always been an issue with people when watching Dan, as I remember my wife never liked him once he started showing up in Giant Bomb east videos with Abby. To me, I’ve always found his critical thought skills severely lacking, and am still surprised he was a writer at GameInformer and for several years and was contributing his voice to the greater critical volume.

Blight Club is their “playing through a bad game” show, but since bad games are so different from bad movies, especially given the time required and the lack of any editing on the backend (which is completely understandable from a production standpoint), it never reaches the sort of fever pitch of RedLetterMedia’s Best of the Worst series revolving around watching bad movies together. I also just don’t find the concept of dressing up in cheap halloween costumes that amusing. Additionally, they’re never together; they're always on video calls with each other, something which really killed a lot of game coverage/channels for me when COVID hit. No more Business Dave Top 10’s on UPF as everyone was working from home now. This has led to some hijinks, such as Dan using layers to replay video during livestreams to the bewilderment of the participants. Again, the specter of his character casts a shadow that makes it something I find mildly amusing instead of laugh out loud funny. Zoom/Discord video chat recordings just do not have the same energy as being in the room together. It is unfortunate because I do support remote work but there is just something magical lost when you transition from doing UPF in the same room together to doing it over a video chat service. This is primarily why I never kept up with Nextlander despite consisting of the Giant Bomb members I’ve followed the longest, and would likely kill Jeff Gerstmann’s channel for me if he ever ends up expanding beyond being a solo show.

The Bombcast continues to be their general gaming podcast of “whatcha been playing?+news+reader emails”, Voicemail Dumptruck is an extension of reader emails in voicemail form. Quick Looks remain a varying-in-length playthrough of recent releases. Unprofessional Fridays are still mostly a grab bag of cooperative games to play together. Game Mess Mornings is the newest show to me, but is basically a version of Kinda Funny Games Daily, itself a version of many familiar morning shows viewed everywhere that runs through the news, now with commentary from Jeff Grubb and a guest. Demo Derby returned recently though with Dan at the wheel it went about as well as I thought it would, that is: he called Final Fantasy X [ten] “Final Fantasy X [x]”  and called Final Fantasy X-2 “Final Fantasy Twelve” to annoy Mike Minotti and beat it into the ground by the end of the demo.

In addition to the standard shows they also have Mortal Kombat playthroughs, and miscellaneous streams such as F-Zero 99 and Counter Strike 2. Checking the video feed from even just a year ago and I was wishing I had done this then instead of now as my perspective would probably be much more popular. They had these shows plus Albummer and Arcade Pit. Two years ago they didn’t have Arcade Pit but did have Bak 2 Skool, VoidBurgers Hot Takeouts, and the Very Online Show. Not only was the video feed more varied but the community was more populated. Comparing the most commented video for the last couple of weeks in September from 2013-2023 paints a pretty bad picture.

Essentially the trend has been ever downwards for the community participation on the site. I previously used comment counts to gauge the audience size of IGN versus GameSpot, and here on Giant Bomb comments on their main site are even more valuable due to their premium subscription. Prior to June 2022 when all premium shows were made free and premium subscription was changed to give you behind the scenes stuff and discord access (though knowing how discord works for large communities this is not a benefit for all but the terminally online), premium would get you exclusive shows like Unprofessional Fridays (where the crew would each bring a game of their choosing to play and show off for the others or for entertainment), Metal Gear Scanlon, Playdates, Game Tapes, Demo Derby, Mario Party Party, and many more. It is important to note in the chart above that prior to the change, five of the nine top commented videos were premium videos, meaning you also needed a subscription in order to comment.

A lot of Giant Bomb’s best content was on these premium shows, but now with premium no longer having any exclusive content, at least none that appear on the site’s premium feed, there doesn’t appear to be much draw to give them money. This conduit of funding was previously what set Giant Bomb apart from most other games media sites before the advent of Patreon, as their fan’s directly helped fund them meaning they could rely on more than just click-through rates to earn them money. Nowadays, with dwindling community engagement, I’m not so sure they have solid footing, especially given the ownership changes and layoffs. CBS sold off Gamespot, Giant Bomb, and CNET to Red Ventures in September 2020. Red Ventures then turned around and sold off everyone but CNET to Fandom in October 2022. Despite promises to keep things as they were, Fandom laid off around 40-50 people in January 2023, including Jess O’Brien and Jason Oestreicher of Giant Bomb.

Other signs of diminished community are that qlcrew has essentially stopped updating its member tags, instead pretty much serving as an RSS feed for the new content but still remains a great filter for older content based on timestamps and tags. Best of Giant Bomb stopped uploading in mid-2021 and has returned for monthly installments for the back half of 2022 and only three videos for 2023 as of this writing. The subreddit is clogged with posts from Jeff Gerstmann and Nextlander, speculation about potential drama and collaboration between those two new channels, and the usual doom-posting about the site you often find on dedicated subreddits. Some of that doom is warranted, however, not only by the comment metrics but also the YouTube views. Out of IGN, GameSpot, Kinda Funny, and Kinda Funny Games for the past four weeks of uploads (discluding trailers), Giant Bomb is at the bottom with an average of 6.68k and GameSpot surprisingly at the top with 257k average view, mostly thanks to their “ALL Fatalities - Mortal Kombat 1 4K Gameplay” video hitting 5.7 million views. Kinda Funny with 12.65k average, nearly twice as many as Giant Bomb, is the second-to-last ranking.

I’m just not sure what you can do with Giant Bomb at this point. I’m sure the backlog of premium content doesn't help with server costs, and with a low view count on YouTube and a guaranteed lower premium subscriber base than ever before I’m just not sure how long you can expect them around, especially given how much they rely on outside staff to help pump up the staff count and variety on their content. It’s sad to see how far the site has fallen. Despite my complaints I think Dan Ryckert is a capable production lead, some of the shows he created for old Giant Bomb were among the best (Burgle my Bananas and Mario Party Party), and I don’t have any ill will or blame for the individuals currently working there. It just is sad to be so disappointed returning to a channel that was once so beloved, and to see that this sentiment appears to be the prevailing one amongst the, admittedly, minority of online forum posters.

[worstvideogamesong-poll]

Worst Video Game Song Tournament - Round 3 Match 16

Title Screen - Ballz 3D (SNES)

VERSUS

Imp's Song - DOOM

FIGHT!

I would recommend listening to as much as you can of each song before voting, but how you choose is up to you! Remember to be civil in the tags and replies!

Propaganda under cut:

Ballz 3D Title Screen:

(none included)

Imp's Song:

"'This sounds like a smoke detector going off while a car sits outside with its bass turned up too high.' - Dan Ryckert, Game Informer. Listen from 1:12 for the jackhammer starting."

"john carmack had no idea how to program the genesis sound chip and it shows"

Feel free to add more propaganda in the tags and replies, or send it to me in the ask box and I'll try to share it as soon as I can!

[beesmygod]

what do you think would be better: Dan Ryckert as a contestant on a Gaki type show or, considering all the shit he pulls on his dad, Dan Ryckert designing a Gaki No Laugh challenge

dan as contestant but it needs to be designed by jerma and wayne with unlimited budget

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

Thanks to a Polygon article many people think Miyamoto claimed the Mario cast is a troop of actors, and that it confirms the belief that it's all a stage play. However, this is incorrect and primarily out of context in that original Gameinformer article. In the article Mario's Creators Answer Burning Questions About The Series by Dan Ryckert Miyamoto talks about how depending on the situation similar to the Popeye cast, the Mario cast will take on different roles. From there he states that "it's more LIKE they're one big family, or maybe a troupe of actors." For those who forgot this is a simile. Using Merriam Webster's a simile is "a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as." In other words the Mario cast is like a troop of actors, it's not claimed that they are a troop of actors.

[reblip-reblog]

The Evolution of Link by Dan Ryckert

Scan of pages 38-39 from Game Informer Issue 222: The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

‎

Transcript & Close-Ups:

‎

The Evolution of Link by Dan Ryckert

‎

The Legend of Zelda (1987)

Link's debut introduced many of his trade-marks — a green tunic, his silent manner, and iconic items like the boomerang, bombs, and bow. When gamers saw him in-game, many wondered what the odd green pixels above his eyes were. We still don't know for sure.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1988)

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link shifted our view of the hero thanks to its sidescrolling nature. We saw him from the top-down on the over-world map, but most of our time with him was running from left to right in XP grinding runs.

A Link to the Past (1992)

With Link to the Past, the Christian cross imagery was replaced with the iconic Triforce and other designs. While the character's art has almost always portrayed him with blond/brown hair, his in-game sprite appeared to have pink hair.

‎

Link's Awakening (1993) • Oracle of Ages / Oracle of Seasons (2001)

Link's three installments on the Game Boy didn't take the look of the character in any unexpected directions. With the system's limited screen resolution, Nintendo developers didn't have much room to work with when it came to the character's in-game model.

Ocarina of Time (1998)

In previous titles, Link's age was never clearly defined. With his 3D debut, we got to see two distinct versions of the hero — Young Link and Adult Link. The latter is the model that became most recognizable, serving as the basis for his appearances in Soul Calibur II and Super Smash Bros.

Majora's Mask (2000)

Majora's Mask may have featured gameplay mechanics based on time, but Link remained young throughout. This disappointed some who enjoyed the more mature Link from Ocarina of Time, but the 24 masks in the game guaranteed he'd have more abilities than ever before.

‎

Majora's Mask (2000)

Other masks in the game granted him new abilities, but the Deku, Goron, and Zora masks turned Link into new creatures entirely. These allowed him to navigate around Termina differently, and even changed the instrument he played.

Majora's Mask (2000)

Once all the other masks were collected, Link could turn into his most intimidating form ever — Fierce Deity Link. This form was only available during boss fights, and allowed Link to shoot beams out of his curving sword.

Wind Waker (2003)

With his GameCube debut, Link was reintroduced in his most controversial form yet. Thanks to the cel-shaded style of Wind Waker, Link appeared more child-like and cartoonish than ever. While some gamers cried foul over this new direction, the game and art design are generally looked back upon fondly.

‎

Four Swords Adventure (2004) • Minish Cap (2005) • Phantom Hourglass (2007) • Spirit Tracks (2009)

After Wind Waker, Link's portable adventures stuck with the Toon Link design. From the size-changing Minish Cap on GBA to his two DS titles, the expressive and simple design worked well on the small screen.

Twilight Princess (2006)

Link's return to form was so well-received that longtime Zelda fans openly wept in the audience when he was shown off at E3 2004. His final GameCube game (and Wii debut) featured the most adult-looking Link to date, as well as an alternate wolf form.

Skyward Sword (2011)

With his newest adventure, Link is looking decidedly classic. No drastic changes have been made to his iconic design, but Hyrule looks different thanks to the game's watercolor-like visuals.

‎

‎

[spritecell-com]

The Shigeru Miyamoto Archive is up to 538 entries with at least some translation. Today I want to talk about the currently “lost” interviews that I know of. The primary source of these is missing and there also doesn't seem to have been any news articles written about them. Official Nintendo Magazine issue 37/Christmas 2008, interview about Wii Music with Chris Scullion. Hyper magazine, unknown issue, with James O’Connor. James is working on getting this to me. There’s a GameSpot interview from E3 2008 about Wii Music that seems to only exist in video form, unfortunately the video no longer plays. It doesn’t seem to be on YouTube. Despite the title there does not seem to be a part 2: https://www.gamespot.com/videos/wii-music-shigeru-miyamoto-e3-2008-interview-1/2300-6194618/ A Game Informer interview with Dan Ryckert from 2010, it looks like it may have been a video interview, and it’s been broken for many years: https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/06/15/miyamoto-interview.aspx

[best2daynews]

Demo Derby: Official Playstation Magazine Issue 73 - trending

Jeff Grubb and Dan Ryckert roll back into the derby to check out the disc for Official Playstation Magazine Issue 73. They discover they love True Crime, snowboarding, and being a GAMER! The past and the present collide as Giant Bomb digs into the dark world of old demo discs. Feb. 28 2023 Cast: Jeff Grubb, Dan Posted by: Jan Source Link

[ijustthinkevilunoisneat]

Just realised that's a Monday here but looking forward to it 💜

[enfotimes]

John Cena told Nintendo reps he would love a new 2D Metroid & once Metroid Dread came out he received a copy, his team emailed back saying “John loves it”

John Cena told Nintendo reps he would love a new 2D Metroid & once Metroid Dread came out he received a copy, his team emailed back saying “John loves it”

Video game journalist Dan Ryckert has tweeted an interesting story about John Cena the professional American wrestler who is a big Nintendo fan. Mr. Cena helped Nintendo of America promote the Nintendo Switch when it launched in 2017 and was involved in a special Nintendo photo shoot. While Mr. Cena was at the photo event he repeatedly told the representatives that he would love a brand new entry…

[saipparn]

Former WWE Producer Recalls Inviting Sycho Sid Onto WWE Podcast

Sycho Sid has been the subject of many interesting wrestling stories and you can add another one into the rotation. Former WWE producer Dan Ryckert played a key role in the podcast department of the company, and he recalls the one time he was tasked with contacting Sid to be a special guest on an episode of “After The Bell” with Corey Graves.

“I called Sid once while he was doing landscaping stuff,” Ryckert said on his Twitch stream. “He was yelling at someone about installing a fence. He said he had a landscaping business, and Sid said he needed a bunch of money to be on the Corey Graves show, and also, he asked me if I’d be his podcast producer and I said no. That’s my Sid story.”

“Bunch of money” be damned, Sid is no stranger to being interviewed or delivering interviews. Back in 2019, the “Ruler of The World” talked with “Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast” and touched upon doing promos in both the scripted and unscripted form.

[micolithe]

DAN MOTHERFUCKING RYCKERT

[simseez]

gonna miss this podcast

[worstvideogamesong-poll]

Worst Video Game Song Tournament - Round 2 Match 32

Emblem Engage! - Fire Emblem: Engage

VERSUS

Imp's Song - DOOM

FIGHT!

I would recommend listening to as much as you can of each song before voting, but how you choose is up to you! Remember to be civil in the tags and replies!

Propaganda under cut:

Emblem Engage!:

"i literally laughed out loud when i opened the game for the first time and this started blaring on the title screen. its so cheesy."

"#the vocals on this engage song are really. something"

Imp's Song:

"'This sounds like a smoke detector going off while a car sits outside with its bass turned up too high.' - Dan Ryckert, Game Informer. Listen from 1:12 for the jackhammer starting."

"john carmack had no idea how to program the genesis sound chip and it shows"

Feel free to add more propaganda in the tags and replies, or send it to me in the ask box and I'll try to share it as soon as I can!