Hey there Folks,

As you may know, I recently gave a panel at the Screwattack Gaming Convention.

The panel was entitled "Careers in the games industry... Other than design", and was very well received. Thanks again to everyone who took the time to come out, and to stop and talk to me afterward.

The panel dealt with the intersection of passion for various things and passion for games, and how to make a career out of these intersections in a burgeoning industry.

For listening to me rant, I've also included a quick highlights reel after the jump.

Enjoy!

Anthropologists call moments where individuals in a society undergo institutionalized self-discovery or change "rites of passage" - these include, but are obviously not limited to Bar Mitzvahs, Baptisms, Prom, Convocations, and so on.


The rite of passage I speak of today is the "eurotrip" - or the lost tradition of the "backpack across Europe" so many individuals partook of after graduating from college or university some twenty years ago.


The eurotrip of the day was a time of purgation, of relaxation, and of self-discovery. It was a time to rid yourself of caffeine and other addictions, to sleep, to experience the world from outside the walls of your ivory tower, if only for a year.


Blackberry culture has, unfortunately, rendered it nearly impossible for individuals trying to maintain a competitive edge to disappear for a year post university. Couple this with insane student debt, and worldwide economic recession, and it seems like this once cherished experience is about to all but disappear from the face of the Earth.


What I propose herein is a 30 day getaway that might replicate some of the "backpacking across Europe" trip that we might have experienced had we been born but a few years earlier.



30 Days in Japan


According to personal reports, as well as sites like Wikitravel, Japan is still one of the most (potentially) affordable, and safe places to do "unscheduled" traveling. While Europe and indeed the entire world have changed dramatically in the years following 2001, Japan, due to its widespread homogeneity, remains all but virtually untouched by the changing climate of the world.


The Mesopotamia of video games, Japan is the perfect getaway for individuals like us, who are willing to basque in the glory of the radiation emanating from an ATARI 2600 hooked up to a broken CRT until our hair and teeth fall out.


The image below maps out a path of travel for approximately 30 days in Japan.

The following items are listed from BOTTOM LEFT to TOP RIGHT, or Southwest to Northeast for those of you so oriented.


Day 1: Fukuoka, Fukuoka. Visit the Yahoo Dome for baseball.
Day 2: Fukuoka, Fukuoka. Relax on Mumochi Beach, eat at Ichiran, Drink at the Craic and the Porter.
Day 3: Travel to Yamaguchi, Japan.
Day 4: Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi, Visit Rurikoji temple.
Day 5: Travel to Hiroshima.
Day 6: Hiroshima. Visit A-Bomb museums, sites.
Day 7: Hiroshima. Spend the day at ALCOHOLIDAY.
Day 8: Travel to Osaka.
Day 9: Spend the day at UMEDA Joypolis SEGA Theme park.
Day 10: Spend the day travelling to Tokyo!

Days 10 - 20: 10 DAYS in Tokyo! No Shortage of things to do.

Day 21: Travel to Sendai.
Day 22: Visit the dozens of universities in Sendai.
Day 23: Travel to Aomori, Japan.
Day 24: Spend a day in Asamushi Onsen public hot spring.
Day 25: Fish in the Bay, then Boat to Hakodate.
Day 26: Travel to Sapporo, Japan, (Final!)
Day 27: Visit and stay at Otaru Microbrewery.
Day 28: See the mountains, SKI!
Day 29: Relax and Pack.
Day 30: Fly back from Chitose International Airport.


Travelling from place to place in Japan is pretty cheap if you get a rail pass, or are gutsy enough to hitchhike. There's a whole article on that over at wikitravel.


I encourage all gamers to try this out. We might be some of the last people in the world to do it.

I think this is super cool, let me just say.

This is me using the brain controller, called the EPOC from emotiv incorporated (www.emotiv.com). This is so freaking cool I can't even put words to it.

You use different calibrated brain motions, that is to say... thought patterns, to activate the cube on screen. Note that this cube is not a game, but just the SDK. I'm tinkering with the programming here, so to speak.

It's a tech demo more than a game demo.

Anyway check it out.