The campus and community are invited to a symposium entitled “Critical Hits: Asian Creativity in the Global Game Industry,” from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, in McLane Hall (Room 121) at Fresno State.
The free event will feature Hirokazu Yasuhara, an associate professor of media science at Tokyo University of Technology and the creator of the world-famous Sonic the Hedgehog video games in the 1990s.
Yasuhara’s work spans a number of games, including the designs for Sega’s Fatal Labyrinth, after which he moved on to contribute to the Floigan Brothers, the Jak series, and the Uncharted franchise. Most recently, he has worked for Unity Technologies, Nintendo and Namco Bandai Games America.
The symposium, organized by the Asian Faculty and Staff Association in conjunction with the Computer Science Department and History Department at Fresno State, also features a talk by Dr. Lori Clune, Fresno State history professor, and Zac Emerzian, a Fresno State alumnus, UC Santa Cruz lecturer and associate technical designer at Second Dinner game studio.
The event will promote the evolution of video games and cultural impact, the interdisciplinary programming ties between science and technology and careers in the field.
Symposium Schedule:
3:30 p.m. doors open.
4 p.m. opening remarks.
4:15 p.m. lecture: “The History of TV Games and Game Culture” – Dr. Lori Clune and Zac Emerzian.
4:45 p.m. “Fundamentals of Game Design and the Story Behind the Birth of Sonic” – Professor Hirokazu Yasuhara.
5:55-6:55 p.m. discussion & Q&A (Japanese simultaneous translation provided).
A bonus pre-event workshop from 2 to 3 p.m. in Industrial Technology Building (Room 101) will give students a chance to discuss their game design ideas with Yasuhara.
An RSVP is required for all events. Food and refreshments will be provided.
For more information, contact Fresno State faculty and event organizers Dr. Hanayo Oya (oya@mail.fresnostate.edu) or Dr. Danny Kim (danielkim@mail.fresnostate.edu).
Guest presenter Hirokazu Yasuhara (an associate professor of media science at Tokyo University of Technology and the creator of the world-famous Sonic the Hedgehog video games in the 1990s).