The Videogame Cultures Project: 7th Global Meeting
Friday 11th September – Sunday 13th September 2015
Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom
Call for Presentations:
Videogames have probably become one of the most progressive mediums in the 21st century. The videogame genres and sub-genres are rapidly diverging and many concepts are merging with those from other media and even with the environment of the ‘real’ world (alternate reality games). Consequently the scope of the project is not limited to videogame studies only, but many other disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, sociology, economics, information science, criminology, military studies or ethology, to name but a few. All have found play, game, game-model, player behaviour, game design and players’ relation to the virtual environment as a high priority within their own fields of research. The result of all these influences is that the discourse on videogame cultures is constantly evolving giving it an ever wider range of influence and an increasingly a inter-, multi-, and trans-disciplinary character.
This year’s Videogame Cultures will be devoted to exploring the various ways in which videogame culture and genres develop within the framework of five thematic tracks. Because of the complexity and variety of videogame culture and the overlapping of issues across themes, we are inviting participants of various and all backgrounds (academic, developer, producer, player, etc.) to submit proposals on several topics of interest to them. Presenters are additionally encouraged to think broadly within and across thematic tracks; we encourage submissions addressing research questions such as (though not limited to) those listed here below.
1) Videogames and their Players:
Gender and Gameplay: How are changing the players demographies? How to solve the situation of gender inequality and sexual harassment in the videogaming environments (Gamer Gate controversy). To what extent is it really possible to study videogame fan cultures? What ethical issues are related to the study of videogame culture?
2) Serious Games and Simulations:
New technologies developed for a future generation of virtual environments as Oculus Rift and Sony Project Morpheus are about to hit the market. Game developers and experience designers are currently developing new forms of gameplay. What principles do govern current game design? What strategies exist for creating believable simulations? What services to be established with virtual reality reborn technology? What visual formats will bring the post-photorealistic era?
3) Gamification/Ludification:
Models of play have an impact in the research areas beyond videogame studies. Playful elements and functional models are built in many applications in economics and social sciences. We would like to explore how playful elements have changed the interaction between the user and applications. What trends in a gamified application design are emerging in mobile and online banking, tele-sports or tele-health?
Other topics with these areas include:
Videogames and Gaming:
- Theories and Concepts of Gaming. Videogames as Text.
- Videogames as Interactive Media.
- Space of Videogames.
- Multidisciplinary Approaches to Videogame Analysis.
Videogame Cultures:
- Usage Trends and Emerging Practices in Online and Offline Gaming.
- Games as Cultural Artefacts.
- Pervasive Gaming.
- Studying Fan Cultures.
Games and Society:
- Ethical Issues in Videogames.
- Videogame Controversy
- Gender Equality.
- Rating, Violence, Sex, Morality. Censorship.
Immersion and Embodiment:
- New Forms of Interaction.
- Immersion and Collaboration in Videogames.
- Sound, Music, Touch, and Game Space
- Evolution of Gaming.
- The Role of Innovative Interfaces
- Virtual Reality reborn (Oculus Rift, Sony Project Morpheus).
Games with Meaning?:
- Gamification.
- The Relationship between Game and Gamer.
- Social Impact Simulations
- Games and Virtual Reality as Experience.
- Serious Games and Simulations.
Subsequently we encourage submission of proposals for short workshops, practitioner-based activities, best practice showcases, how-to sessions, live demonstrations, performances, and pre-formed panels. We particularly welcome short film screenings; photographic essays; installations; interactive talks and alternative presentation styles that encourage engagement.
What to Send:
300 word proposals should be submitted by Friday 1st May 2015. All submissions are at least double blind peer reviewed. Proposals should be submitted simultaneously to the Organising Chairs; abstracts may be in Word or RTF formats with the following information and in this order:
a) author(s), b) affiliation as you would like it to appear in programme, c) email address, d) title of proposal, e) body of proposal, f) up to 10 keywords.
E-mails should be entitled: VG7 Proposal Submission.
All abstracts will be at least double blind peer reviewed. Please use plain text (Times Roman 12) and abstain from using footnotes and any special formatting, characters or emphasis (such as bold, italics or underline). We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to look for an alternative electronic route or resend.
Organising Chairs:
Daniel Riha: rihad@inter-disciplinary.net
Rob Fisher: vg7@inter-disciplinary.net
The conference is part of the ‘Critical Issues’ series of research projects run by Inter-Disciplinary.Net. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and challenging. All papers accepted for and presented at the conference must be in English and will be eligible for publication in an ISBN eBook. Selected papers may be developed for publication in a themed hard copy volume(s). All publications from the conference will require editors, to be chosen from interested delegates from the conference.