with Prof. Masayuki Uemura, original creator of the Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicon.
First time eating canned Reindeer. Thanks to my Finnish friend Jaarko Hyry
"Everyone knows what a game is. The only people who don't are the people researching them."
My name is Christopher Michael Yap. I'm originally from Hawaii, and I research Interactive and Emergent Narrative in Videogames.
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I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in December 2002, and my Master of Engineering degree from the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in March 2014.
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I am currently a Japan-government-funded scholar on schedule to obtain my PhD (September 2016) in Narrative Game Studies at the Nara Institute of Science and Technology in Nara Prefecture, Japan.
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Concurrently, I am the founder and chief moderator of the Game Studies Open Forum, a network of Game Studies researchers and game developers. I am a creator and co-host of a monthly 60-minute podcast about Game Studies issues called "Games, Seriously."
I'm pretty enthusiastic about keeping busy with all of these things.
However, in particular, I am enthusiastic about collaborating with any professionals or academics who are involved with Game Studies or Game Design curricula. I hope to act as a liaison between the Western Game academics/industry professionals and their counterparts in Japan.
I'm also quite partial to Thrash Metal, Karaoke, electric guitar, electric bass, piano, and Dungeons & Dragons.
If you're at all interested in talking further about any of the above, I definitely welcome you to contact me at any time.