In Medias Resolution

I was recently interviewed by Alessandro Arena-DeRosa of The Rule of the Games, check out the article write up and/or full audio of the interview in the links below. Thanks Alessandro for being uber professional and keeping my tangents to a minimum! Article: http://theruleofthegames.tumblr.com/post/101312310722/the-frontier-of-video-game-research-an-interview-with Full audio via Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-rule-of-the-games/the-frontier-of-video-game-research-an-in

In a recent interview, Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata has stated that he is delighted with the memes that are coming out about Final Fantasy XV. As a result, he has provided the internetizens with high-quality png files and encouraged the internet to produce more of these memes. Here are the goods he provided: So, as today was my day off, I took a shortcut through the seedier part of Osaka and took some photos which I used to I make a few FFXV memes of my own: #japan

The Tokyo Game Show 2014 took place at Makuhari-Messe In Chiba, Japan from September 18th~21st. This is technically my fifth TGS since I first came to Japan in 2003, but this is the first time I have attended as a Games Researcher. In the photo above, I'm with the one and only Mr. Kaiji Inafune, character designer of the original Mega Man and creator of Mighty No. 9. He's also the man of international fame/infamy when he was reported by the media at large to have said that th

CEDEC 2014 (Computer Entertainment Developers Conference) took place in Yokohama, Japan from September 2st~4th, and as always, more than anything, it was a true test of just how my current level of Japanese listening/reading/speaking is going. In summary, I only understood about 50% of everything I saw/heard, which is down from last year's comprehension rate of ~70% In other words, I need to get on it with Japanese. Seriously. However, one of the most refreshing things that h

As the Metal Gear Series' narrative edges chronologically closer to the point of origin (the original Metal Gear on the MSX and the canonical debut of Solid Snake), this latest E3 trailer for MGSV: The Phantom Pain has stirred within me some hunches and gut-feelings. Hideo Kojima is conspicuously, yet tactfully, credited at the bottom of this trailer for the directing and editing of this trailer, and the visceral scenes and haunting melody all work together to lead me to a wh

Ryan Payton氏（MGS4, Halo 4等）は、CEDEC 2011で「日本の有名なゲームクリエイターが最新のゲームをやっているとは到底思えない」という発表で： 日本のゲームにはすごく深い物語がありますけれど、やはりゲーム自体が面白くないと良くないと。ゲームをしたいからそのゲームを買うのであって、ストーリーを聞かせられるためにゲームを買うのではありません。 って言った。まぁ、それはそうけど、僕はゲームにおける深い物語は特に日本ゲームの良いところと思っている。もちろん、ゲームで物語を語る最も良い方法はクリエイターらにとって非常に重要であることは当然だが（つまり、ゲームデザイン・開発において、ゲームと物語の「形」および進み方等は基本的に異なり、お互いに邪魔になる際が多いと考えられる）、僕は日本ゲームの物語を語る方法・スタイルを守りたいと思っている。 本研究をとおして、どうやっていくかな http://gigazine.net/news/20110909_foreign_game_cedec2011/ #japangamestudies #j

Currently playing through Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 on the PS2 for the first time. Still very early on in the game for me. Early impressions: *As the male protagonist, you begin life (and the game) as a new student at a new school. After the first day of class, two attractive female (and also main) characters volunteer to accompany you home. Damn, that has never happened to me in real life. *The inclusion of the Japanese honorifics key/legend/glossary thingy (ie, a defini

There is a lot going on in this photo. 1) Japanese military otaku taking glorious and disturbing ownership of a Playstation 4. 2) Jesse Pinkman look-alike to his left, clapping and (I assume) also whispering, "Congratulations, bitch." 3) Guy in the shadows on the far left who looks bitter and jealous as hell. shared プレイステーション ／ PlayStation（Japan）'s photo. #japanesegameindustry

Just now in a session about how popular Japanese game culture is in France: (Hasty paraphrasing in English) Florent: Final Fantasy VII is really popular in France. Endo (creator of Xevious): I don't think it's as popular in Japan. (To audience) How many of you like FFVII? (Some people raise their hands) Florent: And how about Final Fantasy VIII? Endo: Come on, nobody likes that one... #japanesegameindustry #conference #trip

#acecombatzero #conference #digrajapan #game #gamedesign #gamedevelopment #gamestudiescurrently #gradschoollife #japangamestudies #japanese #japanesegameindustry #masters #paper #research #researchers #trip