Ryu_Niiyama

Ryu_Niiyama

Astrophysics. Perfume. Taiko. =Life

Comments 177

Re: ToeJam & Earl Creator Greg Johnson Needs Your Help To Rebuild His Home

Ryu_Niiyama

@ferryb001 just one person. I’d rather donate to help everyone.

@Porco Insurance isn’t going to fully cover rebuilding. Especially since many homes of the locals were very old, and the lots have to be cleared of debris, many need basic aid immediately (food, water , shelter, clothes) because they lost everything, building materials and labor costs will out pace what they get from insurance and it will take time to get the money and many people have to now plan multiple funerals on top of that. Also many lost their place of business so no way to generate income right now. Plus tourists are taking up space /clogging the area as well. Insurance is only a bandaid. And that of course is if they even get paid and the insurance companies don’t require additional clauses for fire. Which many residents may not have gotten because it wasn’t a common issue.

I’ve lived through a few hurricanes (my family was fortunate no no significant damage) but others even with home insurance were financially wiped out. Happens all the time sadly.

Re: The Making Of: Barbie (1991), The Doll's Debut On Nintendo Consoles

Ryu_Niiyama

For me the Barbie games were such a mixed bag. I had barbies (or rather Christies as those were the Black models in the Barbie line up) and other brands when I couldn’t find a Christie and I respect that they (eventually) represent so many different girls/women and different interests (I had all the doctor/skateboarder accessories ) but at the same time that representation was uneven in other media so all you got was regular Barbie. Granted that is why people are freaking out about the Barbie movie because they think it’s one thing (from the 1950’s) and that’s it. Most girls that grew up in the 80’s and 90’s and actually played with them knows that the Barbie range is way more varied (and arguably feminist). But games were so far behind the actual toy line. Which was off putting as heck if that wasn’t the Barbie you grew up with and if you didn’t like a color used for stomach medication (pepto bismal). Yet it got real boring real fast either playing as dudes all the time or darn near every game making a woman kidnap or cutscene death fodder. So as always I respect the influence Barbie games had, especially for the girls that had more restrictive childhoods than I did or that honestly just love Barbie and pink. I do think they have improved in some ways but haven’t been elevated out of the pink ghetto. Barbie has literally had every job. There should be more genres with her doing stuff. Where is my trauma center game licensed by Mattel? Where is my tomb raider expy game? For the love off all that is good can I get a ninja game with Barbie (or any woman really that isn’t a DOA spin off)?

Personally I was grateful for the sailor moon licensed games as they covered a large swath of genres and due to the nature of the franchise had different archetypes for female characters so you could play the character that interested or inspired you most.

Re: Poll: Should Japanese-Made Role-Playing Games Still Be Called JRPGs?

Ryu_Niiyama

I get both sides of the argument but for me and some others in my age group JRPG meant a genre to look for and it was a style that only the Japanese could make because it went through their cultural lens. I grew up on JRPGs and hate seeing western or non Japanese made rpgs given the moniker because they might be turned based or something. Because there is a certain identity and essence that an actual JRPG has that no matter who tries to mimic it, imo they can’t. RPG for me is the overall genre but subgenres are used to help people find what they are looking for specifically and that imo should never go away. It’s no different than searching for a book in a library. You go to the history section but if you don’t know the subgenre you will be there all day. JRPG has always been positive for me but it sucks that small minded people tried to use the nationality and cultural viewpoints of the devs as a negative.

Re: Upset By Zelda Being $70? We've Arguably Never Had It So Good

Ryu_Niiyama

90's kid. I always felt like a crook asking for a new system or game and while I didn't have a lot, my parents did what they could to accommodate my big requests (and took me to blockbuster for what they couldn't afford). I used to walk into k-mart and just stare at the games shocked at the prices or just look at neogeo ads because I wouldn't dare put that kind of guilt on my folks. Even with inflation I make more than both of my parents combined (not as much of a gap as I would like but still) and they had good, stable jobs, and people have to also know that just like games, utilities weren't flat across the board. My city gouged residents in heating and electric bills so my folks were paying 300-500 a month in utilities and it wasn't until a lawsuit a few years ago that such prices lessened but the damage was done. People didn't necessarily have more disposable income back then and for some that already high price of a luxury was way worse. So yeah buying power was greater but that didn't mean disposable income was higher for all.

Now my gaming library is like 1000% bigger than what I had growing up including saving up during my broke college years. While nobody likes price increases, you can't stop inflation (and deflation is not really good for the economy...you don't want hyper inflation which is what has been going on either) and we have been fortunate that gaming has been stable in a way that most other things (especially wants not needs) are not. Especially after the 90's when there were less games with outlier prices and more of a flat price rate. At the end of the day this is a luxury hobby. And it's one with multiple price points and sales. Companies have to maintain profitability to invest in new projects and maintain investor confidence. Stock Market may be a casino but companies use that valuation to function. It is a permanent tug of war because both sides want the same thing. More money. Consumers want more product for less money and companies want to have less costs with higher profit.

I bought the CE of TotK without blinking. Can't wait!!!

Re: Gallery: Let's Look At Your Gaming Photos From The Past

Ryu_Niiyama

As annoying as having a camera on your person at all times (and as beneficial) can be I sometimes wish I grew up when cameras were more common as I have very few pictures of my childhood. Which is sorta saddening to me as I a had a pretty good one. Would love to have a pic of me opening my buzz lightyear or my N64 captured for all time. Because I remember losing my mind.

Re: The Worst SNES Games Of All Time

Ryu_Niiyama

I clicked looking for rise of the robots...was not disappointed. Thank you!

I didn't know there was an SNES version of Home Alone...only played the genesis version which still holds up today. Will have to watch a let's play of the SNES version.

Wait there was a Bebe's kids game? I wonder how much that costs CIB...

Re: Flashback: Remembering The Glory Days Of Wii-Exclusive Ports

Ryu_Niiyama

I miss Nintendo Exclusive versions personally and have said so numerous times. I grew up in the 90s and remember when popular games were on everything. You knew that meant that you might not have the best game graphically but you had the option of being able to play. Don't get me wrong if a game can be ported...port it and port it well. However if not, don't just snub the system, retool the game, pick up those cut ideas and make a side game...something. For me if you ignore my primary system I (usually, obviously baring exclusives) ignore you even if I have the systems that can otherwise play your game. To me those system version games function just as much as advertising as ads do. Wanna get my mind on your franchise? Give me something to play. EA brought me back (before I left again) to the fold with their wii exclusive games.

Re: The Making Of: Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft's Original Open-World Epic

Ryu_Niiyama

@Damo it is unfortunate that Ubisoft likes to pretend this game doesn’t exist when they have ported most of the rest of the series (barring some spinoffs). Revelations was the closest we have gotten to an updated AC1 so far.

(I disagree on the “fun” part as I found both 2 and 4- to be the least fun entries for me. In particular due to game mechanics changes (I loathe the ships in 4, so, soooooo much- odyssey is the first time I didn’t hate sailing) and in part due to me finding the protags insufferable (ezio at least improved somewhat). But I am well aware that my opinion isn’t the norm. )

Re: The Making Of: Assassin's Creed, Ubisoft's Original Open-World Epic

Ryu_Niiyama

AC 1 is still my favorite AC game so far. It had a firm identity and a really cool meta story (“making the game they wanted to make” indeed) that unfortunately was strangled in later games for popular appeal. Used to love the cut scene glitches and the implications that neither side was truly good or bad, just committed to their convictions. All the various histories (the Isu, the present day, the past-even the impact of the bleeding effect was so cool ) and realizing that no part gave you the truth and that you had to knit it together and sift out the lies made this game so great. Plus planning the assassinations by learning guard routes was fun. They respawned too quickly in later games for my taste. Surprisingly making the later games feel more like a “game” and less like probable strategy/simulation. That was a step back for me.

The current psuedo rpg format is a miss for me except it allows for playing female assassins (and not be a side game or shared with a male protag- so that excludes liberation and syndicate even though I enjoyed them for what they are). As I have said before they are fun open world games but not good AC games.

Re: Random: Is Arnold Schwarzenegger The Centre of The Gaming Universe?

Ryu_Niiyama

It’s more the games were influenced by movies and arnie was the big name at the time. Box art was the sink or swim moment for many games so copying popular movies ensures that potential buyers would subconsciously connect the two. Plus they were less likely to get sued then. Try that now and it could destroy the game instead of help.