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Ryan Zhao

@insrtcoins.bsky.social

240 followers 230 following 1.5K posts

Author: The Fundamentals of Video Game Literacy (coming April). Podcast host for Play;Write, Cane and Rinse, and Sound of Play. Marketing for Xbox Game Pass, prev. Nintendo. https://letterboxd.com/InsrtCoins/

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · Apr 16

My book, The Fundamentals of Video Game Literacy, is available TODAY. It's a framework for understanding the unique ways in which games create meaning in the interaction b/t design and player agency. A great place to start if you have curiosity about games academia.
www.routledge.com/9781032869278

The Fundamentals of Video Game Literacy: Theory, Practice, and Aesthetics

This book posits a novel framework for sense‑making and meaning‑making in the play of video games. Extending a modern, process‑oriented, audience‑inclusive philosophy of artistic meaning generation, t...

www.routledge.com

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 14h

Moves of the Diamond Hand
Voxelgram 2
ENA: Dream BBQ
Find 100 Ducks and Blast Them!
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders
Poco
BLUEJEWELED

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 15h

Portland is one of the chillest hang-out spots in the country. This is like the president trying to convince people that Bob Ross was the Zodiac Killer.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16h

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

For sure. I've tried to not get caught up in the spectacle of catching-him-out, which can be amusing but not a healthy recreation 😄 To your point, for all of the "it could happen to any author" sentiment, we all have the choice to at least behave ourselves in such a way that does not invite it.

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

Atreides' new signature Marty Supreme hoodie is in harsh contention with Frank Herbert's original vision.

DiscussingFilm @discussingfilm.net · 1d

Timothée Chalamet teases his buzzcut look for Paul Atreides in ‘DUNE: PART 3’

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

If I may

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

It's an unfortunate situation -- one in which everyone "loses" to some extent. A choice was made in extending the agreement a long time ago without proper background research, and now the chickens have come home to roost. Unfortunate. Big Bitmap Books fan otherwise; hoping this is a one-time problem

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

So the pile-on does have its positive function. Bad information getting past editors and into published works can continue to infect further work in a way that's hard to counteract -- publishing (especially by a respected publisher) gives the air of legitimacy; it becomes a "primary source".

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

Seeing an impostor caught and his book systematically pulled apart on social media gives me that second-hand feeling of anxiety. It's the nightmare that every author hopes to avoid.

But, at the same time, it's useful to widely let people know "this is not an actual resource. Do not cite this".

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

My book was extensively researched and deliberately cited, but it still introduces new ideas and offers perspectives that feel risky, so I had anxiety about it being picked apart by smarter and more experienced academics. That's just a part of publishing.

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

To extend a bit of empathy, it's scary to publish a book -- to spend years working on something and then have to release it into the world. I published my first academic book earlier this year and felt a tremendous amount of impostor syndrome. But you grit your teeth and hope for the best.

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

It's not a memoir, so one's own experience should be a lens pointing outwards.
But that's just a quibble based stylistic preference for the kind of text that I find most useful in my research.
Of course, the contextual problems (expressed beliefs of the author) are a bigger *actual* problem.

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

Though I *prefer* the more academic style, I'm not against books that are personal accounts of playing games. They can be (collectively) useful recollections of gaming culture. But, again, those should be pointing towards the broader cultural experience rather than dwelling so heavily on the self.

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

As for the quality and style of the writing, setting the context briefly to the side, it doesn't seem like the kind of thing that would be useful to me -- I prefer books to either be more academic and researched more rigorously, or (if a personal account) have more of an interesting personal angle.

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

Going back the next day and saying "nah, turns out you people were pretty rude to me, so actually I'm NOT sorry" comes across as very childish and needless. The "side" in the culture war he's trying to appease was already appeased in the first scenario -- the book was published.

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

Quick thoughts on the Bitmap Books controversy: the whole "going back on your apology" thing seems like a massive mistake. The original apology felt reasonable -- the author still benefits from having the work published, but Dyer publicly acknowledges the problem respectfully.
🧵

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

Everyone has to set limits on the amount of time any project is going to take, but a year feels like an arbitrary limit and on the low side for a book like this. I spent three years on my book, but I had a day job the entire time so the opp-cost wasn't an issue. Just feels like a weird justification

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

I published my first book earlier this year and had a huge amount of impostor syndrome anxiety. I tried to be very thorough in my research and citations, but you never know how well anything is going to be received until it's out there. Feeling second-hand anxiety seeing an impostor being dragged.

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

Imagining going through grad school just citing the journal; no year, no article title, no volume, no issue, no page numbers, no doi...

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Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 3d

I love revisiting agreement announcements.

hazzadorgamin.bsky.social @hazzadorgamin.bsky.social · 3d

Microsoft responds to Xbox Hardware cancellation rumors

"We are actively investing in our future first-party consoles and devices designed, engineered and built by Xbox. For more details, the community can revisit our agreement announcement with AMD."

www.windowscentral.com/gaming/no-xb...

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 3d

Every time I see that trailer for Good Fortune -- it seems like a fine film -- but god; Aziz just gives some of the most "high school drama class" line reads I've ever seen.

Reposted by Ryan Zhao

Kiyone @kiyonescarlet.bsky.social · 4d

lol

33 1.3K 4.3K

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 5d

I love both, but
Games with stylized retro graphics < games with stylized retro file size

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 5d

Word Play🟩
A really good word game! Though there are so many letter tiles in our bag that tile modifiers (granted at the end of some rounds) are not seen frequently enough to make a *significant* difference in play. Runs feel too short and tiles too plentiful to see truly interesting synergies.

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 5d

And, once you beat the game, it turns into Banjo-Kazooie with its excellent green star challenges; stars hidden around its levels that usually require some creative platforming and level consideration to find and collect.

Pick up this masterpiece and have a great time!

Ryan Zhao @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 5d

Now that the game has been properly remastered and made available again, I just want to formally recommend: Super Mario Galaxy 2 is, imo, the best that Mario has ever been and maybe the best game Nintendo has ever produced. I can't recommend it highly enough. Every level is absolutely joyous.