I have just moved into the M Lab, I think I was the first one, but now I see Dr. Consalvo’s computer sitting comfortably in the corner. I am surrounded by thousands of dollars in PC video gaming equipment and feeling jealous of the Critical Hit Incubator’s resources. Having just returned from the Japan Game Studies Conference and the Canadian Game Studies Conference, I have been sizing up my duties as a PhD student. As it stands, I have come to terms with the fact that I need to represent myself better (detailed and frequent), which is why I have assented to this intriguing weeknote format. Hopefully I will be able to structure a coherent self over the next 208 weeks of my doctorate with these blog entries aiding my identity formation. That said, I want to talk about all the amazing people I have been hanging out with who are about to be heavily involved with video game research at Concordia.

Yesterday, I bumped into an old friend and long time board gaming partner Rainforest Scully Baker, who tells me he has won an undergraduate research assistantship and is working with Mia on speed running culture all summer. I sat and watched him play Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast for an hour as he repeatedly failed to beat his previous best times. Hopefully he will come do a game studies M.A. in Fall 2014.

Speaking of game studies M.A.s, two days ago I met up with Pierson Browne, who is coming to do his M.A. in the Fall. We both audited Pippin Barr’s course on game design, where Pippin told us about his attempts to publish a new iPhone game which subverts control schemes to make people look ridiculous while playing on metro. Pierson is going to be working on representations of nuclear arms in games with Mia.

Six days ago, I hung out with Skot Deeming in Victoria. He presented after me on his curatorial practice in Toronto. We talked about Queer Arcade and getting my work “Get’s It Better: Poor, Ugly, Gay, Stupid, Sick” through the challenges of being a board game in a museum space (possibly the worst way to exhibit board games to be honest). He’s coming to do his Doctorate in game studies in the Fall.

So yeah, needless to say, I am extremely hyped for whats to come with all the awesome people getting involved in games at Concordia.