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.
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 Eos in Final Fantasy XV …
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 course of my nearly two …
I wanted to provide a rationale for writing “Winning Through Deception: A Pedagogical Case Study on Using Social Deception Games to Teach Small Group Communication Theory” for SAGE Open.
“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 a cook and explain the …
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 player all of the shrines …
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 century. Goffman (1985) developed the …
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 world of “Minecraft.” Unlike …
A person dealing with the spectrum of various emotions and affects often needs a good model for processing this information. Examining “Breath of the Wild” and the relationship between the main character (Link) & his ability to navigate a foreign terrain can help create this model.
Those lucky individuals who owned a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and had a subscription to Nintendo Power at the end of 1989 were rewarded with both the game “Dragon Warrior” and a guide to help play “Dragon Warrior.” (Oxford, 2018). This rare moment of generosity by Nintendo promoted not only the role-playing genre on the …
News and media organizations have been attempting to figure out their futures since the beginning of mass-produced journalism. One such example of sensing where the trends are going can be found in Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson’s 2004 video entitled, “EPIC 2014.” “EPIC 2014” (and the follow-up video “EPIC 2015”) tried to anticipate how markets …