Hi, I’m J.!

Yes, that’s my name. It’s is in my passport. It’s pronounced “Jay.”

The short version:
I’m a writer, Ph.D., Professor of Game Design, and Scientific Advisor/Creative Director. You’ll find my primary blog at between drafts; my secondary blog—mostly about ML/LLM/AI—at just drafts; my creative sf-horror project at Voidpunk; and my primary social network at @gyokusai@mastodon.social, where you’re welcome to join me!

The long version:
I teach game design and design methodologies with a focus on independent and innovative games at the Mediadesign University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf, Germany, with a research focus on motivation, emotion, and memory in game-based learning. I received my M.A. in English & American Studies, Language History & Medieval Literature, and German Philology in 1999 and my Ph.D. in American Studies in 2009, with additional studies in Modern Japan and Philosophy in between. From 2006 to 2010, I co-founded and co-managed the independent game developer studio Linking People Ltd., Hong Kong. I also wrote a few papers—“Learning to Play, Playing to Learn: An Integrated Design Approach for Learning Experiences in Video Games” (ResearchGate, 2018); “Tuning Aristotle: An Applied Model of Emotions for Interactive Dramatic Structures” (ResearchGate, 2017); “Making Sense: Juxtaposing Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic Design Elements to Create Meaning, Reinforce Emotions, and Strengthen Player Memory Formation and Retrieval” (ResearchGate, 2016); and “A Functional Model for Dialogic Speech in Video Game Design” (ResearchGate, 2015). A book contribution on “Shared Realities, Solitary Actions: Media Languages as Agents of Formation, Reinforcement, and Change” as part of the anthology Narratives Crossing Boundaries: Storytelling in a Transmedial and Transdisciplinary Context, ed. Joachim Friedmann, transcript Verlag 2023, is forthcoming.

Finally, I’m available and approachable on a kazillion other media and community sites, all of which you can find at my linktr.ee/gyokusai page!

You can skip Legal, by all means, and go directly to Addenda.