As of last week, I’m happy to say that I’ve been officially chosen to speak at PAX East.
I’ll be talking about Internet memes, niche video games, and really bad imitations of foreign food in Japan (yep, the last one does tie in). Check out the panel description below.
Memes, Microcultures, and 2D Chicks: Our Future in the Otaku Gamer
Saturday 27 March 2010, 1:30 pm, Wyvern Theatre (Hynes Convention Center, Boston, MA)
A singing idol who doesn’t exist. Perverted text adventures boasting dozens of female prizes. And a popular, anime-tized evolution of the classic Space Invaders shooter that has spawned a global fandom. Japan’s subcultural players are obsessed with games that, well, aren’t actually about the gaming. Alex Leavitt (Comparative Media Studies, MIT) explains how a new generation of entertainment is succeeding in a market which chooses to de-emphasize the games in favor of the characters. And as the Japanese fans influence the industry through their own amateur initiatives, what will the future of American gaming hold when online fandoms adopt similar appetites?
Pingback: PAX East Agenda ... as of right now | My Gadget, Game & Gizmo Obsession