Ryan Davis, 1979 - 2013

Its been nearly a year. I was so sad when I first heard Ryan had passed away, as so many other people were as well. I even tried to avoid content with Ryan in it because it was so damn sad to see or hear him. But lately I have been consuming gb content with Ryan in it again, mostly old bombcasts. It is great to hear it again now, laughing at the jokes and such, he has such life to him, just reminds me how entertaining he is.

I truly hope you are in a better place Ryan. Everybody still misses you.

Damn it, I miss you Duder.

Thursday is gonna be a huge bummer for me, already decided to skip my classes and just watch/listen to a bunch of my favorite moments of Ryan. Miss that man so much.

Miss him every week on the Bombcast. It still isn't the same and it seems like all the joy for the hobby has gone out of Jeff.

RIP, Ryan.

I started thinking about it again this week and it hit me how its almost a year in 3 days and it still feels unreal. I still feel upset and sad about it. The happiest videogames website in the world didnt deserve to lose such a fun guy.

@tavistavistavis: I had to avoid content with him for a while, but listening to the old Bombcasts again (for like the third time) it's comforting knowing the joy of Ryan Davis is eternal.

I had a dream featuring him the other night - it was bittersweet, but it's good to know that laugh is permanently engraved in my brain.

Gonna be a sad day on Thursday.

So here's what I propose for Thursday:

I wanted to write this to the Bombcast, but I was too busy at work to remember.

On Thursday, at my lunch break (12pm E.S.T.) I'm going to raise my glass and say "Fuck, Ryan Davis" in salute to Ryan. If you happen to think about it, feel free to join me. I'll have the luxury of being alone in my car. Godspeed if you're in a crowded office somewhere.

I discovered GiantBomb about an year ago from one of the youtubers who express his feelings about Ryan's passing >_< I was so touched that I started using the site everyday and became such a huge fan that started listening the giantbombcasts at work from the first one in 2008 when it was arrowpoingingdown podcast and I wanted to know who that person was who passed away. Since then I am listening to the podcasts and with each and every one I feel Ryan and the other guys more and more like friends and the more this date comes near I feel really bad and sad.

Rest in Peace dear Ryan! And guys keep up the good work. >_<

I found my way to GiantBomb shortly before Ryan passed on, and was very shocked to hear of his passing. Over the past year I've had a chance to go and listen to a lot of the archived Bombcasts from the past. There's no way to make up for the loss of such a quality, amazing person, but it speaks volumes that the joy and happiness he exuded daily gets to live on in hundreds of hours of videos, podcasts, and writing that has been preserved by technology.

Rest in Peace Ryan, you left way too soon but you are far from forgotten.

Just wanted to take a second and say with the odd stuff going on... We miss you Ryan. Beers on me.

I'm going to have a little Twilight Zone marathon and some Bourbon in my dear friend's honor every year, I've decided.

Does anyone know which Game Room has Jeff tricking Ryan into thinking it was a different quicklook? That is probably my favorite game room QL and I really want to revisit it.

Haha! Oh you piece of shit!

http://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-game-room-for-091510/2300-3229/

This Thursday's gonna hurt.

I still watch the Ryan BM reel that @drewbert made once a week.

Visiting the site daily there have been countless moments that I wish Ryan could have been present for. Without a doubt those close to him miss that dude far greater. I think he'd be pleased to know the site is still trucking and hasn't stopped for nothin'. The guys have been doing well with the site, hell even Brad of all people hosted a Bombcast and nailed it. I still remember the best showman, Ryan Davis.

I know I speak for everyone when I say I miss you, Ryan. The Bomb Squad has worked admirably to keep everything fun and fresh, but it's still not the same without you.

My only interaction with him was a quick question/answer about the Bombcast (he really did read every e-mail, like he said) but he and the squad made my life a lot happier than it would have been otherwise.

I agree, kinda. I dont think all the joy has left Jeff but he needs his wingman to be able to bring it all out and no one has filled that place. Yet.

I remember where i was then i read about Ryans passing. I was in a hotel room in Brussels, Belgium. Of all places. I had just arrived and was chilling on the bed when i saw the news article. Later i listened to the tribute podcast and i felt awful. The whole next day was just a blur and no one that i was with could understand how it could affect me so much.

The only contact I ever had with Ryan was when he read my e-mail on an old, old Bombcast episode (the intern abuse episode). Still miss ya, buddy.

I once sent the duders a package full of salty Norwegian sweets and candy made from bugs, which Ryan prompty put in the communal office plate. Hell of a guy, truly inspirational. It's been a year but here I am, tearing up again.

still missing ya

WE LOVE YOU RYAN

Eagle Rare in memory of Ryan tomorrow. Raise a glass and think of the good times.

Sadly, I cannot indulge in bourbon or the like to honor the man. So instead I'm going to stream a bunch of Saints Row IV over parts of Friday here at +2 GMT. If anyone wants to watch, the twitch stream I plan on using is twitch.tv/criticalpathplays

I just feel like the perfect way to honor the man is by having some good dumb fun.

So I got Guacamelee! for free on the Xbox One today. You may already know that the game very clearly references Giant Bomb in a poster (vs. Destructoid), but as I was playing today for the first time, I noticed the initials R.D. scratched into the church wall. Does anyone know if its been there from the beginning or maybe patched in since Ryan's passing?

Apologies for the bad phone camera pic...

Love Ryan Davis. We all miss you, duder.

It's already Ryan Davis Day here in the UK.

In his memory, I updated www.batmanbatmanbatman.info and renewed it for another year on top of the time it had remaining.

I shall be getting a drink somewhere in London after work if any UKers want to have a few moments' reflection/drinking.

I hope if the Bombers mention Ryan, it'll be nothing more than something like "fuck you, you loveable piece of shit" and move on with the show. Something short, amusing, and in the right mindset to let everyone know that they still think about him, they still miss him, but they can still move on.

A year today. Will always miss Ryan, but it's good to see that Giant Bomb is still going strong.
(3AM in the UK)

I hated it a year ago, I hate it just as much today. I totally hate that Ryan Davis is not in this world. It just doesn't seem right. It would have been amazing to see him after he became a father. His poor wife and family must be going through hell, and here I am just thinking about how much I miss him.

RIP my friend

Well. Here we are. What a weird last 12 months it has been on this site.

Finding out a year ago was kind of bizarre. Was just flipping through Twitter and saw Jeff's tweet about having something to say later, which didn't actually reference Ryan. This was set right next to a post by Justin McElroy saying he couldn't believe we lost Ryan Davis. For a minute I thought Ryan quit the site or something. In hindsight, I'd find it easier to believe that he died than that he'd just quit the site out of nowhere like that.

I'm not in the boat that some others seem to be in thinking that the podcast (or site) has gone downhill since his passing. After some time had passed, I'd say it's just as good as it has ever been (although Vinny splitting off is admittedly a hell of a blow I'm not used to yet). It is definitely rough sometimes when they discuss / QL / UPF a game that you'd think Ryan would be into.

It's still really bizarre to me that there is video/audio content out there of Ryan discussing the PS4 and XBone. For some reason those new consoles and Ryan's passing seem far, far apart.

Just over a year ago, the podcast was Jeff/Ryan/Vinny/Brad/Patrick. It's Jeff/Brad/Drew/maybe Dan/maybe Jason now. That's a lot of difference in not a long period of time.

Barring some likely staffing up on the east coast, I'm hoping this is going to be the end of change on this site for a while.

-----

My contact with Duder Alpha was pretty limited. The first was when I wrote in to the podcast, responding to something Brad said about how consoles never have good launch games. I went on for too long about Halo and CoD2 both being pretty significant staples that had come out (at the time) within the last 10 years. It was utterly pointless to even write in about, but Ryan wrote a response to it. The response was:

"Okay."

Touche!

Second was when he actually read an email on the podcast a few years back where I wrote in and asked why Nintendo had done a modern reboot of everything in their back catalog except for Pro Wrestling. The question was ignored but it led to Ryan revealing the email had caused him to go buy a copy of Pro Wrestling on Ebay or something. So I guess I'll always have that?

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Thankfully, thanks to countless hours of archives, it still feels like Ryan is just as much a part of the site now as he ever was...and will still be 5 years from now and 10 years from now. Here's to ya, Papa Bear. No one man should have all that power.

I still can't go back and watch any of Ryan's stuff. It hurts too much. Love you Ryan, we all miss you around here.

Oh man, it's already been a year. Still love Ryan Davis.

:'(

After the last couple of days, I miss Ryan even more. As Alex said on twitter, this did not need to be the week for this extra stuff. You're the best Ryan.

Miss you so much duder. Thank you for the wonderful memories.

Ugh a whole year of missing this wonderful man, still hurts :(

RIP Ryan.

Thanks Ryan Davis.

Considering the events over the past 3 days here on Giant Bomb, it would be best if the entire internet in the gaming community stopped flaming just for today, and remembered one of the greatest people ever.

Just looked at my taskbar and noticed the date. Still lovin' you, RTD. I'm gonna sip some bourbon and click my controller extra hard tonight.

Sucks your gone Ryan. You would have fucking loved this new Riff Raff Album. R.I.P

It's insane to think it has been a whole year. I still miss the big guy. His absence this E3 was keenly felt and I hope his family is doing alright.

Over the last year there hasn't been a day that goes by where I don't think of Ryan for some small reason or another. Such a great guy that touched the lives of so many people in a such a meaningful way. Miss you Ryan, may you rest in peace.

This so much.

Hard to believe it's been a year already. One of the very few times someone that I didn't know personally passing has had an impact on me.

Really glad the site is to be finally coming together again, with two new staff members joining the East Coast. Here's to GB's future.

Thanks Ryan.

We miss you.

I was introduced to GB at the PAX East panel in 2013. A good friend dragged me along stating it was worth the 1+ hour wait in line. Ryan drank breast milk, nearly made me piss myself, and I was in. First memories are often the best.

I send my best to his family, friends, and all my fellow duders. Cheers Ryan, from one fat man to another. We all miss you.

Gonna go watch the pie video and listen to a couple of old bombcast episodes today, I still miss that laugh.