In Medias Resolution

This year for whatever reason both GDC and PAX East were at opposite ends of the same week. This was particularly problematic for publishers, devs, and (I guess) researchers like myself for whom it is important to attend both. Perhaps because of that, I didn't go at GDC or PAX East with my usual vigor, but despite that, there were still a great deal of memorable occurences at both events. I was able to meet up with some of my State-side family while I was in San Francisco. An

"Your game practically changed my life... It was the most fun I had with him since he had been diagnosed... My father passed in the spring of 2012, only a few months after his diagnosis. Weeks after his death, I could finally return myself to playing video games. I tried to play Journey, and I could barely get past the title screen without breaking down into tears. In my dad's and in my own experience with Journey, it was about him, and his journey to the ultimate end, and I

D'OH! My submission for GDC 2015's Advocacy Track didn't get in this time. Oh well, gotta try again next time. It's something I will do before I die--speak at GDC. But not yet. #gdc

Two noteworthy things: 1) Submitted an upgraded Mythology in and of Games talk proposal to the GDC 2015 Advocacy track. Let's rock. 2) Had profanely delicious ramen for lunch today at こらぼるたBASIC ( http://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270202/27068949/ ). Highly recommended. I'll be adding it to the official Osaka Fun Map which can be found here: https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=202134392424424466393.0004dad5522528a558345&msa=0 #gdc

As ever, this recap will be a vignette-ish panoply of my thoughts and insights at GDC 2014. Readers beware. Early registration and conference pass pick up before the week begins in earnest. They are blasting 80s music in here, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Men at Work, etc. Nice musicality "The things you do matter. The stories in your games go out into the world and help players with their lives." -Kim Shashoua, "Video Game Rx: Narrative as Therapy" I guess if this were a more pu

サンフランシスコまで無事に到着した。下記の写真で、ゴールデンゲート橋を左下のところでちょっと見える。現在、２０℃で結構晴れているよ。３月なのに、春じゃなくて、夏ポイ。ホテルの周り、有名な「Blondie's Pizza」屋さんがあるので、今から食いに行く。 Made it to San Francisco without incident. You can sort of see the Golden Gate Bridge in the photo below in the lower left. Right now it's a sunny 20℃. Despite being March, it really doesn't feel like Spring, more like Summer. There's a Blondie's Pizza by the hotel, (very nostalgic--I used to hunt for CDs at Amoeba Music and then eat at Blondie's in

Well, I came to the conclusion yesterday that I've been far too busy for my own limits, and that my trip to GDC 2014 on Sunday will likely constitute the only sort of "break" I can get this month. As such, I concluded that I need to take it easy at GDC this year. Last year my brain almost exploded from attending as many awesome sessions as possible. In preparation for this year, I started planning my agenda using their convenient mobile app. Then I realized, that thing about

This post shall be re-constructed in no particular order from my half-notes and reveried insights... March 26th: 1) Small insight: No matter how often I hear it or it occurs to me, I am always surprised at how multi-form, ephemeral, and subjective the entire process of game design is. At DiGRA, this notion came up a lot whenever people compared the number and variety of game design curricula. At one point the conclusion was that game industry folks know how to make games but

#trip #gdc

Am currently at a cafe in 学園前駅, waiting for the airport bus. Two senior citizens, both sitting in different places and not acquaintances of each other (apparently), are conjecturing aloud to themselves. The one to my right raises a bit of a fuss because there is lettuce in her sandwich. As the staff apologize to her and take away the faulty sandwich, she mutters to herself that 1) it's like that everyday and 2) muses aloud to herself that "oh, they didn't put the lettuce in t