iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Ricciardi

@johntv.bsky.social

5.8K followers 556 following 2K posts

ハチノヨンとスパデラのジョンです。Tokyo-based game lover/gatherer and 8-4 & SDX co-founder. EGM alum. 集まり屋。(He/Him) くわしいことは本をみて下さい。

Posts Replies Media

Reposted by John Ricciardi

Basement Brothers @basementbrothers.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

The fan favorite of the Brandish series was released on the PC-98 in 1994, and that's where it has stayed since. It may be getting an English patch in the future, but as of now this game has always been one of the best kept Falcom secrets on the PC-98. youtu.be/bA7K046_QUc

Brandish 3 - How the Best Brandish Game Got Left Behind on Japanese PCs (PC-98 Paradise)

YouTube video by Basement Brothers

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Control Resonant is stellar. Been playing about 50 hours now and finally going to head for the last boss but man what an inventive, fun, well-written and just overall well-made game. Definitely a GOTY contender for me

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

No, thanks for the heads up!

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John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

We were just talking about how cool pigeons are last night. There were a few hanging around outside the movie theater on the way in to see RE. Growing up in Staten Island everyone hated pigeons, and knowing what I know now about SI and about pigeons, I choose the pigeons

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Oh man, nice!

Reposted by John Ricciardi

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 09/10/2026

I am angry tonight. Because tonight ICE shot a New Yorker. They shot a New Yorker while his five year old child was in the car. ICE makes this city less safe. We want them out. Now.

Reposted by John Ricciardi

Kevin Edwards ( Retro game developer ) @kevedwardsretro.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

NES Wizards and Warriors was originally titled 'The Tale'. I took this screengrab from an early build of the game from Paul Proctor's original development disk which I was preserving.

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I was not aware that is a thing mad orchestras do!

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

I heard you liked Nutella so we put nut in yo nut so you can…wait, probably shouldn’t bring this to its conclusion

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Finally got around to trying this sinful stuff @shanewatch.bsky.social brought me over TGS. Good lord. Dangerous

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I think that might be what’s happening? Only thing that would make sense.

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Reposted by John Ricciardi

James Mielke @milkman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Josh & Mollie and the EGM team have sent out an update about the EGM Compendium. Like anything in the production end of things—whether it’s music, print, game publishing—these things take time and often encounter some bumps along the way. www.kickstarter.com/projects/egm...

kickstarter.com

Update 55: EGM COMPENDIUM UPDATE · The Electronic Gaming Monthly Compendium

First and foremost, we want to apologize for the lack of communication over the past weeks.  We have been working to resolve problems with wrapping up this project and wanted to wait until we kne...

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Really enjoyed Well Dweller from @kylethompsondev.bsky.social. We talked about it on 8-4 Play this week but it feels good, looks good, sounds good, is very charming and doesn’t overstay its welcome. A few odd bugs (for example it didn’t take me 237 hours to beat, lol), but definitely recommended.

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Online shopping in Japan is such a miserable, miserable experience

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Typos are unacceptable IMO

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Yeah the writing is so-so for sure. The VO performances so far are good and I think that helps it. Will see how the full game is but at least the demo left me wanting to play more

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Castlevania demo was a good time but I hope the finished version had a copy edit. Spotted several typos or instances where text didn't match voice in the 45 mins I played Feels like QA these days is really suffering

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Did they fix any of the text jank?

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John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Funny timing to notice this sitting next to my desk

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

You know it

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Yeah but beef is delicious and AI is gonna kill us all #teambeef

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

It’s kinda funny how they actually put 94Mhz on the box as if that meant anything to anyone. Pentiums were already approaching 200Mhz by this point. And “CD quality sound” was a lie, but they needed the word “CD” on there because of it being a cart machine in an increasingly CD-ROM world

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Likewise whoever came up with “The Fun Machine” was clearly having an off year

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Oh right, N64 came out this week in the US, huh? Still have my original (Japan one too) plus the weird certificate they gave you at EB if you got it on day one

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Girvin kept Givin

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Yeah that take is adorable lol

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Crazy to think it’s been a year already!

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

The commute to the office may be a bit pricey

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Cabel delivering the goods as always - turns out Girvin was the designer of many of NOA’s iconic package designs from the 80s and 90s (I did not know this) They’re almost all bangers. As with anything like this I’m sure it was a collaborative effort, but still, these guys did amazing work

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Wow, many of my favorites in here. Amazing

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Legend

Reposted by John Ricciardi

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 26/09/2026

Tim Girvin!! www.timeextension.com/features/bes...

timeextension.com

Best Of 2025: "This Is Where The Game Truly Begins" - The Secret Weapon Behind Nintendo's Most Iconic Box Art

How a Seattle-based designer levelled up Nintendo's packaging in the '80s & '90s

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Does Kevin Feige come onscreen to apologize for the last seven years

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Was just chatting about how this packaging was so iconic back when it first dropped. Certainly less visually descriptive than the Japanese art but there’s no denying it was attention-grabbing. Whoever made it knew what they were doing

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Speaking of which, 8-4 likely to be looking for contract help soon (local). Will post about it whenever I have more info.

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Pre-ordered that too…

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John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Oh damn, nice. Gotta try and catch it

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John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I have so much work to do but I want to play Control…and Well Dweller…and Townfall…and Onimusha…and ahhhhh

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

What does secret endings mean? Like it’s random?

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In actuality, nobody had ever heard the word “ocarina” before 1998. True story.

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Howard Lincoln himself introducing it as “oh”-carina at E3 1998 (clip courtesy of @parisi2274.bsky.social)

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Yeah I tried saying it without thinking and i noticed I default to “oh”

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This got me thinking about how ppl pronounce “ocarina” - I often switch between “ah” and “oh” myself because in Japanese, it’s “oh” but in the US it’s “ah”. In Japan ppl shorten it to 時オカ (toki-oka), which of course likewise carries the long ‘o’ sound

Reposted by John Ricciardi

Nathan Grayson @nathangrayson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

in a week that saw microsoft give activision the reins to halo and bungie pivot back to destiny, one thing has become abundantly clear: the people in charge do not have a long-term, overriding plan. they’re just reacting. the result, when times are bad, is chaos

"Things are still very chaotic," a current id Software employee who was granted anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly told Aftermath. "While there has been an attempt to communicate to the studios, it is still entirely in bullshit corporate speak. I still don't believe they have a clear vision for the future. The only concrete thing they have communicated is they want higher profits, and they want it now. Aggressive goals are being set that would have been unrealistic even before the layoffs. ... To say the workers within Xbox have a dim view of the future is putting it mildly. We keep thinking morale can't sink lower but the obvious incompetence of Xbox management somehow keeps driving it down worse."
This mirrors shifts in strategy that have come to dominate the still-new Sharma era, including others outlined Tuesday. Rare is joining Activision, Turn 10 and Playground are fusing, and—most gallingly, considering their history—Obsidian is being folded into Bethesda to work on Fallout instead of its own original series. As with the previous round of layoffs, details betray Microsoft's haphazard approach: A Halo developer got promoted and laid off in the same week. Gears of War: E-Day's story director is out of a job days after celebrating that the game had gone gold. Hellblade developer Ninja Theory, now without a buyer after a brief glimmer of hope, is once again on the chopping block.
All of this betrays a simplistic mindset that does not accurately reflect the reality of game development: People are disposable, studios are interchangeable, and series can be traded like sports teams. Nothing matters more than franchises and their money-printing prowess. Unless, evidently, you are Hideo Kojima, in which case Microsoft suddenly has money to burn.

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Case in point

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Hooked on Control Resonant. It’s a little tough at the outset but once you start to understand how the game wants you to play and you get into a groove it’s mega addictive. Excellent writing and VO again too, laughed out loud so many times already

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Fraudarico, hoooo

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Digging Well Dweller. Don’t mess with birds yo

Reposted by John Ricciardi

Remedy Entertainment @remedygames.com · 22/09/2026

Thank you for your support and over 2 million wishlists for CONTROL Resonant! Altered Manhattan awaits. Pre-order bonuses are still available! #CONTROLResonant

Thank you for your support and over 2 million wishlists for CONTROL Resonant!

John Ricciardi @johntv.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Yeah the music is honestly a huge part of the experience for me