My experience with computers began in 1985 as I learned the beauty of Logo on a Packard Bell computer at the vocation school and the ability of a turtle to move through an electronic field by giving the turtle directions. I’ve enjoyed writing programs for computers in BASIC, simple JAVA and ActionScript for years. The connection to the world of cyberstudies came from my first experience on a bulletin board system (BBS) during my middle school years. I got to see virtual interactions on a textual level. Little did I know that I would be studying those interactions for my doctorate later in life.
My last post discussed the four journalistic communities and the platforms journalists use to tell audiences the communities' stories. These nexus of platforms formed the foundation of the Journalism Breakdown and developed the techniques that I used to teach journalists how to explain those communities' realities to the broader population....
Those that have been following this website should have noticed that there have been no postings for a year. The reason for the silence from me is due to an opportunity that came up in April 2018. There were several book publishers at the Broadcast Education Association annual conference in...
Square Enix created a series of worlds designed to push the player’s understanding of how social development and interactions could be crafted within the Japanese Role Playing Game genre of video games. The three continents of World A from Final Fantasy I (FF I) to the lonely star known as...
One of the pieces of wisdom that I acquired during grad school was that supposedly a good scholar could explain their research agenda, with clarity and precision, in around 200 words. I could have followed this sage wisdom if my research followed a specific, specialized route. I’ve learned over the...
I am happy to report that SAGE Open has published my presentation from the 2015 National Communication Association Game Studies Pre-Conference ("Introducing Game Studies to the National Communication Association"). “Winning Through Deception: A Pedagogical Case Study on Using Social Deception Games to Teach Small Group Communication Theory” was modified from...
“Without experimentation, a willingness to ask questions and try new things, we shall surely become static, repetitive, and moribund.” ~Anthony Bourdain Anthony Bourdain was an adventurer, creative force, writer, and, most importantly, a chef. It is this last role that he was able to explore cultures through the framing of...
Mapping the vital parts of life, much like mapping out the environment of a video game world, involves having a clear understanding of the terrain that is being mapped out. In "Breath of the Wild," a crafted map that a player can find online can be used to show the...
Another area of theory that can help a person use the knowledge from maps and guides in video games and apply that knowledge towards evaluating real-world emotional experiences comes from an era before mass-produced video games. Erving Goffman was one of the more recognized and well-respected sociologists in the 20th...
A more apt representation and simulation of how to map out the social and cultural terrain using affect theory might be from “Minecraft.” “Minecraft” is a more open-world experience than “Breath of the Wild’ as the player is responsible for maintaining and creating most of the elements that appear within...
The critical component in understanding how maps in video games can help develop a person’s ability to be open to new experiences is by the knowledge that a person is starting somewhere in the development of their self-worth and level of self-awareness. Affect theory is one social psychological theory that...
