Darrick Davis

NOLA Born. Gamer. Information Technology Specialist. He/Him. PSN ID: ddavis504 🤷🏾‍♂️ ⚜️🎮🧑🏾‍💻

[Darrick Davis @ddavis504]

19. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC (PC)

[Darrick Davis @ddavis504]

Games I finished in 2026:
1. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment (S2)

[Darrick Davis @ddavis504]

18. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced (PS5)

[Nikolas Draper-Ivey @NikDraperIvey]

Make the thing. Even there’s something out there similar, no one is gonna do it like you’ll do it. Believe in yourself. Fucking try.

[Thobinho 🪮���🇼 @Thobirama_]

Sup? Struggle is up brotha!!! Oppression is up brotha!!! Salami eggs and bacon

[Jay  @Jayzus_]

Megumi behind a bush somewhere laughin his ass off

[Darrick Davis @ddavis504]

@videogamedeals

[Katsuhiro Harada @Harada_TEKKEN]

For me, this is already a story from a career that spans the past 31 years.

I’m probably one of the people in the game industry who has traveled to the largest number of countries and actually met local fan communities in person. So honestly, I’ve been influenced by people and cultures from all over the world. More than race itself, I think I’ve always been influenced by “regional culture” and “organizational culture.”

One of the most fascinating moments involving your culture happened in 2019, when I revealed Leroy Smith. (The visual design wasn’t mine, but the original character concept was.)

Right after the reveal, I received this message from the American fan community:

“Can we… can we invite you to the cookout for making an awesome character like this?”

Now, as someone from my generation in Japan, I was actually considered relatively good at reading and writing English. By then I’d already been to North America over 50 times, had maintained the English I learned for university entrance exams, and had been communicating with people on Twitter in English long before translation apps became useful, let alone AI translation.

But honestly… when I saw that sentence, I had absolutely no idea what it meant.

In fact, my very first reaction was:

“Oh no… I’m finished.”

Here’s why.

Back then I was frequently arguing against articles spreading hate toward video games, and I kept seeing people replying with the word “cooked.”

As you know, “cooked” can mean you’re done, finished, or completely destroyed. I also often saw “roasted.” Because of that, I honestly assumed “cookout” was just an even stronger version of “cooked.”

So for one terrifying moment, I read it as:

“Hey… we… we… can invite you to a party where we’re going to beat you up and roast you?”

Even though I thought I knew America pretty well, I genuinely wondered if I’d somehow pressed some invisible cultural button that I wasn’t supposed to touch.

Later, I had another misunderstanding. People kept calling me:

“You are the fxxking GOAT.”

And for about two or three years I honestly thought,

“Damn… here’s another guy calling me ‘a fxxking goat… this animal bastard.’ Better ignore the bait.”

Some people even replied with 🐐 emojis, so I genuinely believed they were insulting me by calling me an animal.

Because of misunderstandings like that, I seriously thought:

“Man… getting our characters accepted by Americans is really difficult. They might actually be even more sensitive than Japanese people in many ways. We need to study their culture much more.”

Anyway, back to the cookout story.

Eventually someone explained that a “cookout” in the African American community is actually one of the highest compliments possible—basically saying:

“You’re someone we’d trust enough to invite to our close-knit family BBQ, where only real friends and loved ones are welcome.”

That explanation was a huge relief.

Then they started showing me BBQ equipment and ingredients…

…and I was absolutely shocked that everything was several times bigger than what we have in Japan.

Sure, I expected the smoker grills to be huge. But even the tongs and spatulas were enormous, and the meat looked like something I’d only ever seen as loot in an MMORPG.

Looking back now, I honestly regret not immediately flying to the U.S. and accepting an invitation to one of those community cookouts.

That really was the perfect opportunity.

Anyway… I’ve wandered way off topic.

Of course I can’t claim that I fully understand what you call Black culture. But if we’re talking about the parts that have genuinely influenced me, the cookout story is certainly one of them.

And the people in these photos have also had a significant influence on me. (I’d like to include many more, but I’ll limit it to four photos.)

[Darrick Davis @ddavis504]

Need this

[HOUSE PORN @HOUSEPORN___]

this man is not gaming, he's operating 😭

[Photomode.enjoyer @photomodenjoyer]

Pirates🔥🏴‍☠️
Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced PS5

[Darrick Davis @ddavis504]

@DigitalTrends

[Darrick Davis @ddavis504]

@GaijinGoombah Then that company uses their third party companies to verify your info. This is crazy.

[Marques Brownlee @MKBHD]

Instagram decided to roll out a new “Muse AI” feature, that lets users create AI images based on people’s Instagram photos.

Then they opted in EVERYONE with a public account

To opt out:
Click your profile picture
3 bars in the top right
scroll down to "Sharing and reuse"
Toggle off for both Posts and for Reels

[Kevín @KevOnStage]

I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT IN SEEING! EGYPT IS THE ATLANTA FALCONS!

[Darrick Davis @ddavis504]

Day One 🔥🛘🍃💧

[Paramount+ @paramountplus]

The Legacy Reawakens.

Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, coming to Paramount+ July 25

[Jehtt @TurboJehtt]

I love how they expanded on the story in this game.

[Stealth @Stealth40k]

Katsuhiro Harada's impression of Masahiro Sakurai:

"If you ask me, he’s basically:

‘A Saiyan who genuinely believes he’s just another ordinary human.’

Every now and then, when the rest of us are struggling with some problem, he’ll say something that sounds exactly like Goku saying, ‘Well… why don’t you just fly?’

And I’ll reply, ‘Because we humans can’t use Flight Technique.’

Then he just stares at me with a completely puzzled look.

To put it in terms of Demon Slayer, I’d describe him as: ‘Like Muzan Kibutsuji casually showing up at a drinking party where all the Hashira have gathered, genuinely believing he's just another ordinary guest’.

That’s the kind of person he is."

Source: @Harada_TEKKEN

[Tom Henderson @_Tom_Henderson_]

End of an era.

[Darrick Davis @ddavis504]

@cliff_eastwood I really liked it. Best 007 game I played since GoldenEye