In Medias Resolution: Chris M. Yap Research Blog on Game Narrative

Games, Seriously Podcast Ep. 06 out now!

Reflections on Shadow of the Colossus (PS2; Team ICO, 2005), Pt. 1

Reflections on Carnage Heart (PS1; Artdink, 1997)

Why do I want a PhD in Game Studies?

I had a Highlander-esque Quickening moment this morning while I was ruminating on why I am pursuing a PhD. I'm speaking in somewhat general terms, but I do believe that those invested in a PhD-track program do not enter into this journey lightly, and those who may have done so mistakenly may soon find that it is not for them, which is a completely benign thing so long as said folks can transition successfully into whatever else is best for them. Now, more specifically, for th

"The Metallian"--the mythology of Judas Priest

I found this gem of a description in the wikipedia article on Judas Priest's 1984 album, "Defenders of the Faith," which describes the album cover (pictured below) in the following fashion: "The cover art by Doug Johnson (who also designed the Hellion in Screaming for Vengeance) depicts the Metallian, a ram-horned, tiger-like land assault creature with Gatling guns and tank tracks conceptualized by the band." Dammit, I WANT TO BE A RAM-HORNED, TIGER-LIKE LAND ASSAULT CREATURE

Hello Kittyについて

ぜんぜん重要ではないが、もし時間があれば、日本人の友達の声および意見を聞かせてください：最近（昨日ぐらい？）、日本で人気なアヴリル・ラヴィーンは下記のＰＭをユーチューブでリリース。そのあとすぐに、大勢な欧米人は「日本人に対してレイシズム」の原因ですごく反対していて（コメント、マスコミの議論などで）、ＰＭはすぐに消された。しかし、いらいらな方はほとんど日本人ではなかった。本物の日本人にとってどうかな。予想的に、僕はなんか問題なし程度かな？と思う。どうでしょうか？ #localization #japanese #otaku #subculture #musings

"To those who can hear me I say, 'Do not despair'"

I needed this. From Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" (1940): "You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure." This sentiment, it is not at all where I am right now, today. But it is still true and I still want that for everyone. I needed this. #advocacy #gradschoollife #musings #personal #inspirational

Things learned in the last week

Things I learned in the last week: 1) 上記・下記　（じょうき・かき）-- refers to something directly above/below it, whereas 前述（ぜんじゅつ) could refer to anything that has been mentioned prior, even if on a different page. 上記の通り（じょうきのとおり）is a handy phrase that means, "As mentioned/As it is written above." 2) Watching programmers intelligently bicker about coding conventions is interesting, insightful, and sobering. The sobering part comes from realizing through their discussion just how much I

Don't Lose Perspective in Grad School

"It's easy to lose perspective while in graduate school. You are surrounded by so many other smart, hard working people that it is easy to feel inferior and lose self-esteem and confidence. But without an underlying confidence that you do have what it takes to complete a dissertation, it's too easy to drop out when the going gets tough instead of sticking it through. I found it useful to keep in touch with the "real world," to remind myself that the graduate student populatio

Purloin the Golden Egg

The study I just finished reading concluded that a game became harder when the difficulty level of that game was increased. I am trying to refrain from making my own conclusions that that study was empirically valid but somehow bankrupt of insight. To be fair, I will pore over it again, as I have more than just a sneaking suspicion that it is in fact my mood that is precluding me from the true meat of the article. The question laying heavily on my mind currently is just as ir

What does this icon actually depict?

Plain Box Interactive is participating in the GitHub Game Jam for the month of November. To that end, and to get some ideas, I decided to google "Game Genres" and then I got to the wiki page on game genres, but I suddenly found that the generic logo for "Series on Video Games" is somehow ambiguously vexing. I don't know what is happening here. It almost looks like I am either 1) Controlling an asteroid 2) Controlling an oyster 3) Plugged into a next-next generation console th

On 大恐竜時代(Daikyouryuu Jidai/Era of the Dinosaurs, 1979)

On 大恐竜時代(Daikyouryuu Jidai/Era of the Dinosaurs, 1979): This aired on TV back in the early 80's when I was bout 5 or 6 years old. I remember watching this movie about three kids who are taken by an alien and transported back into the dinosaur era, where they befriend a blue baby Triceratops and run for the lives from a malevolent T-rex. They learn a great deal about the dinosaurs of that time, and somehow are transported to some point during the development of early humans, w

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