In Medias Resolution

'Twas a place of fiction, music, and solace. From April 1st to the 11th I returned to Hawaii, where I grew up and where my family lives, for both research purposes and for a little R&R/personal reflection. On the business end of things, I was here to see what kind of cross-institutional connections I could establish between NAIST and my old alma mater, the University of Hawaii. Of course, trips back home are rarely ever as simple as one might want. After all I'd gone through

Left the lab today at about 6pm. When I reached the top of the small hill behind the Information Science Building, out of curiosity, I turned around to look at the building to see how many lights were still on; how many people may still be mulling about the labs. Being that it's New Year's Eve here in Japan, I had a hunch there wouldn't be many. As it turned out, there was only one set of lights I could see: 3rd floor, A Bldg--my lab. #gradschoollife #institution #naist #musi

Accepted for presentation at the DiGRA Japan Conference to be held in Kyushu in March. This time around, my focus is frame narrative in Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War. What this means is that I will finally have the chance to try Hakata Ramen. #acecombatzero #accepted #conference #digrajapan #gradschoollife #institution #japangamestudies #masters #paper #research #researchers

Talking at length with the Associate Professor of our lab last night became a great wellspring of awesome, crazy, yet equally legitimate ideas. One idea in particular came together through this discussion which, if I am able to pull off with any workable degree of finesse, will be simultaneously the most audacious and effective thing I have ever produced academically. Yes, I am dying to tell you about it, but I'd rather show everyone once it is finished. And in stating as muc

How does one know when their work has been cited by others? Not that that is happening any time soon. The thought had occurred to me amidst drowning in theses (a phonetically wonderful sound, indeed). #gradschoollife #institution #masters #musings #criticalquestions #quote #research

学生製作、道徳的「Don't Kill the Cow!」(牛を殺すな)というゲームである。目的はそのままである。ただ、7分間で牛を殺せず。だが、ちゃんと牛を無視したら、妹がなくなる。プレーヤーにとって、どちらのほうが大事: 条件を満たすことか妹を救うことか？ Student-produced game entitled "Don't Kill the Cow." All you have to do is not kill the cow for 7 minutes. If you do, however, your little sister will starve to death. So what is more important to the player: fulfilling the game goals or saving your kid sister? #game #studentgame #indiegame #conference #ethics #fun #gamedesign #gamedevelopment #gr

http://flickr.com/meaningfullyplay Meaningful Play 2012の参加者や発表者の写真でござる。われわれは最後らへんにある。 The Flickr account of the presenters and attendees at Meaningful Play 2012. I'm towards the end. Meaningful Play 2012、２日目終了。また、様々なプレゼンに見に行って、いっぱい勉強できたと考える。今日、もう一人の日本から来た発表者の東京大学の博士と一緒に晩ご飯し、たくさん興味深かかった相談・話があってよかった。やはり、日本にMeaningful Playのような研究会がほとんどなくて、必要である。なぜ、日本ではゲーム研究が行われてないのかな。 Meaningful Play 2012, Day #2 complete. Again, I was able to attend many interesting lectures and I think I learne

Meaningful Play 2012の１日目終了でござる。様々、非常に面白いゲーム研究者出会った。それぞれの皆さまは、ゲームの分析方法・観点とかは極めて多様である。自分の発表もう終了でござる。それを通して、自分の実験的なゲーム分析方法は正しくやっているのがわかった。（写真はAnn DeMarle氏のKeynoteの「Can Games Create Real World Champions?」のプレゼンより） Meaningful Play 2012, Day #1 completed. Met a lot of wonderful, interesting people. Saw that EVERYONE is attempting to crack the meaning out of games in an extremely wide range of ways. My presentation is done and done. What I learned is that I'm doing it correctly.　(Pho

Donald Brinkman of Microsoft's games and learning R&D and his phenomenal mention of Rainbow-puking Pandas at his keynote presentation to kick off the Meaningful Play 2012 conference. Awesome. #trip #conference #institution #masters #meaningfulplay #seriousgames #keynote

Professor Aarseth on the use of cheating in games (for the purposes of conducting research): "It is with great and increasing regret that one reads papers on game analysis where the author unashamedly admits that yes, I used a cheat code, or yes, I consulted a walk-through. In other fields this behavior seems impossible, at least to admit openly. Imagine a professor of renaissance studies admitting to have used a Cliff or York Notes guide? While it is understandable that acad