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Ryan Zhaolloween

@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 Zhaolloween @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 Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 6h

I make pretty heavy use of Notion in my research, and it's disappointing that it becomes more and more broken with every update. I wish I could just roll it back 5 or 6 versions and just host a version for my own database, but that's the downside of cloud software.

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 17h

"I'm Royally, the King Sprite!"

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

Castlevania Legends🟩
Really straining to come up with anything to say about this one. Slight nonlinearity of the levels is nice; it's very readable on a small screen... Faint praise. The music remixes don't sound particularly stellar by CV standards and gameplay is quite stiff. Unremarkable 'vania.

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

I want more movies that inspire strongly-felt, divisive opinions and that make people want to discuss their most secretive plot elements!

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

The ideal Letterboxd movie. The top three reviews are all discussing spoilers. Two are 5 stars, one is 1.5 stars.

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Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 1d

I love when video game subtitles do this.

Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf
Jungle Strike: The Sequel to Desert Strike
Urban Strike: The Sequel to Jungle Strike
Soviet Strike: From the Creators of the Desert Strike Trilogy
Nuclear Strike: The Sequel to Soviet Strike

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 2d

Must have been someone playing a joke in the Wikipedia page. A little bit too bad that they didn't the up deciding to go with the worst possible title.

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 2d

Is this true? I can't seem to find any evidence of it being called Yogi Bear in Yogi Bear's Goldrush in Europe.

Reposted by Ryan Zhaolloween

👁🌻🦊⚙️⚓ Bob, Engineer, Pusher of Paper @navmecheng.bsky.social · 3d

> It is 2025 BC. I am a soldier from one of the outlying provinces called to defend the pyramid in Memphis

> It is 2025 AD. I am a soldier from one of the outlying provinces called to defend the pyramid in Memphis

Soldiers at the Bass Pro Shops pyramid in Memphis, TN.

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Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 4d

Prepare to see threats of tariffs on Hollywood if a certain someone doesn't get the role.

DiscussingFilm @discussingfilm.net · 4d

Jim Caveizal will no longer return as Jesus in ‘THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST’ sequels.

They are currently looking for someone to fill the role.

(Source: pagesix.com/2025/10/09/e...)

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 4d

Teen Witch, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters, Shoes, From Up on Poppy Hill
#LastFourWatched
letterboxd.com/InsrtCoins/

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 5d

I had heard of Monkey Kombat and was expecting the worst, but I actually didn't mind it. I enjoyed filling out the chart of stance transitions and what beats what, and I appreciate that it wasn't in real-time. Not especially funny, but I enjoyed the simple note-taking puzzle.

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 5d

Escape from Monkey Island🟩
I knew this game only by its poor reputation but I'm so glad I finally played it. I found it to be really funny and a memorable adventure! The tank controls are uniquely bad, but the script is sharp, with some very satisfying payoffs of earlier entries. I enjoyed it! 🐵🐵🐵

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Reposted by Ryan Zhaolloween

phylan @phylan.website · 6d

I don't think they should be allowed to do that

Rob Friedman @pitchingninja.com · 6d

All 8 of the Blue Jays Pitchers from Yesterday (overlay)

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Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 5d

Gravity Circuit is a wonderful action platformer with a surprising amount of character customization that allows you to build the game to play however you want.

Wario64 @wario64.bsky.social · 5d

Gravity Circuit is free on Epic Games Store. Amnesia: The Bunker, Samorost 3 are the next free titles buff.ly/3Y5zGHT

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 6d

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

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 6d

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 · 6d

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 Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 7d

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 Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 7d

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

DiscussingFilm @discussingfilm.net · 7d

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

Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 7d

If I may

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Ryan Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 7d

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 Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 7d

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 Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 7d

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 Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 7d

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 Zhaolloween @insrtcoins.bsky.social · 7d

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.