selectparks - medi@terra 06 call for games and papers

medi@terra 06 gaming realities
international art + technology festival

September 27 - October 1, 2006

The key points of discussion for computer games, which multiply more and more in our days, are not new; they are only augmented and presented in a new digital form which acts as a response to the digital society producing them. As, ultimately, the main hero of these games stays always the player, who is, at the same time, the persecutor and the victim, the hero and the spectator, the mas ter of the game but also its prisoner.

Game is part of our lives; it is actually our first contact, after our birth, with the world outside. It is the first step of â€œeducationâ€ for a new member of a group. The game is not a human feature only. A cat before eating its prey, a half dead animal, plays with it or offers it to her children to play in order to train them in hunting.

No other medium could better describe the phase that this new century is going through, other than video and computer games.

Read below and think of the incidents of the last five years: Innumerous short links define the rules of the games that change as a rolling mass. Unexpected events change the flow of defined incidents. Anyone can become a hero; he/she does not need to be intelligent, he/she just needs to know the operation or, simply, just to hold the joystick. The rest is only a matter of time.

Game then becomes a serious issue. Who faces better the current conditions, a trained kid that knows how to fly with a Boeing 747, to dive with a bathyscaph or to change the outcome of the battle of Marathon, or the terrified parent who, although does not let the child play his/her favorite games, asks for his/her help to set up his mobile?

Today's games encompass all newly acquired knowl edge and technical aptitude: from the developed interactive interfaces and 3D animations of mobile gaming to the use of smart agents and artificial intelligence in games. Anyway, modern mathematics was developed by studying games [Game Theory]. By examining games, we face the reality, we imagine the future, we resist.

medi@terra06 is seriously concerned with games and pays attention to those who play with reality and those who examine games seriously. We wish to make this new art known to the level that it should, and to promote the creators and protagonists in the area. We present and evaluate the new artistic trends and aesthetics.

Perhaps one of the most difficult times in our lives is when a game stops being the most serious occupation and the education of the language takes its place; possibly the most difficult task as from the minute we learn well its codes, we realise that some people "play" with us.

Resist to reality when th ey play with you Resist to the game that resembles reality

Create your own game and send it to us to present it. Get in touch with other people with the same concerns. Present your point of view. Explore your creativity and your imagination. Play with reality with no borders. Send your ideas to the festival.

For the Fournos team Manthos Santorineos Artistic Director of medi@terra Festival

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PRESENTATIONS

Gaming Realities: the Challenge of Digital Culture Conference

The Conference 'Gaming Realities: the Challenge of Digital Culture' focuses on four Subject Areas covering a wide range of crucial issues and questions concerning Games and their position in Digital Culture, studied from the Observersâ€™ as well as from the Playersâ€™ point of view: in Subj ect Area Α the Socio-Political, Psychological, Cognitive and Philosophical aspects of Game are analysed; in Subject Area B the influences of Game in Art and the Game as 21st centuryâ€™s New Art are studied; in Subject Area C Technologies and Techniques that develop or are developed by the Game are presented; and finally Subject Area D concerns the emergence and growth of the New Economy of Games defining its impact in Art and Society of the 21st century.

The subject areas that constitute the four basic axes of the Conference are described by indicative topics around which the speakers are invited to communicate.

A. The borders between Games and Reality (when Games influence Reality)

a. the World of Game _ Real Games â€“ Virtual Life _ Net-Games and Virtual Communities: a utopian space _ Social and Anti-Social games _ MUDs and Net-Individualism _ Game and Communicati on Utopia _ Collective and Individual representation of the World through the Game

b. the Identity of the Player â€“ the Identity of the Digital World Citizen _ The Embodiment and Dis-Embodiment of the Player and the Game _ Virtual Bodies, Games and Gender _ What avatars do we choose and what avatars do we create (or they create for us) _ Games and Identity _ The Essence of Play and the Psychology of the Player

c. Serious Games _ Game Politics and politic propaganda in Games _ Simulation and Game environments for learning and training _ Scientific and Military Games _ Freedom, Choice and Censorship in Games _ Games and Cognitive Sciences

B. Game in Art and Art of Game (Game as 21st centuryâ€™s New Art)

a. Game as a new field for artistic expression _ Game based artworks _ Art criticizing Games _ The Integration of Game in Art _ The Aesthetics of the New Media and â€œart gamesâ€ _ 'Commercial' Game as Art

b. Interactive Narratives and Multi-scenarios: the New Storytelling _ Audiovisual and Narrative aspects of Games _ Linear and non-linear narratives in art games, and in commercial Games _ Multi-scenario strategies _ From image to text and from text to image _ Responsive Play Environments

c. Game Aesthetics: the emergence of a New Art _ Game as a New Form of Art and the new Aesthetics of Digital Games _ Artistic expression through Game _ Aesthetics of New Interactive Media _ Aesthetics of Multi-centric Narratives

C. Game Technologies (Game Evolution through Technology and Technology Evolution through Game)

a. History and Evolution of Game Technologies _ Game and 'traditional' audiovisual media _ From 2D to 3D Game _ Mobile gaming: mobile phones and the evolution of Games _ Artificial Intelligence Techniques and Intelligent Games _ Integration of New Technologies in Game _ New Technologies development for Game

b. 'Building' a Game: Design and Game Development _ From conception to production _ Creating a Game scenario: narrative techniques for multimedia/hypermedia _ Aesthetics and Techniques for the creation of Virtual Worlds _ 3D Game in the Web _ Architecture and Game Design _ 'Serious' games techniques _ Sound and Graphics in Game _ Designing the Interface: the contact with the Player _ Games dramaturgy _ Designing virtual actors

c. Game-Engines VS PC _ Evolution of Game-Engines _ Game-Engines and PC evolution _ The Future of Game-Engines

d. Innovative and Experimental Game Techniques, T echnologies and Interfaces _ Innovative interactive techniques for Games _ Innovative and Experimental Game Interfaces _ Special programs, software and programming for Games _ New audiovisual techniques and original applications in Games _ Original Game Design _ Original use of the New Media in Games

D. the Real Virtual Economy of Games

a. the emergence of a New Economy _ Net-Economy and Games _ The relation of the Games with the Cinema Industry _ Virtual and Real Game Products

b. the Geography of the Game Economy _ Games and New Markets _ Games in the East and the West _ the New Internet Geography and the Game Markets

c. the Future of the Game Economy _ Virtual Commerce and its Future _ The Future of the Game as a Product _ Legislation, Rights and Copyrights in Web-Games

< br /> Important Dates Participation deadline (abstract submission): March 10, 2006 Notification of acceptance by the Scientific Committee: May 8, 2006 Deadline for full paper submission (3500-5000 words): June 12, 2006

please visit www.mediaterra.org for the online submission of your abstract

For any questions or more information please contact Nefeli Dimitriadi or call at +30 210 64 20 451

CALL FOR GAMES

medi@terra 06 aims with this call for game projects to offer the opportunity to artists, independent creators, programmers and theorists from the field to show their work and at the same time to create a forum of communication, discussion and collaboration.

The projects to be submitted may be - Standalone Offline Applications - Online Appl ications, Applets (eg Flash, Shockwave, Java) - Mods & Patches / modifications and enhancements of well known games (Quake, Unreal, Half-Life, Torque) - Machinima / films made with the use of computer games - Mobile Phone Games

The games to be submitted must be either hosted in a web server or sent in a CD/ DVD, PC or Mac compatible. Playable demos of games are also accepted.

Criteria for the selection of the games will be - Innovation in terms of development and application - Originality of content - New approaches introduced - Aesthetic/artistic features - Theoretical approach

A special interest will be shown to games with socio-political content as well as to games that constitute tools for education and other scientific fields.

All games submitted must have an English version available.

The games selected will be hosted in the exhibition of medi @terra 06 festival.

Important Dates Submission deadline: April 28, 2006 Notification of the results: June 9, 2006

Please visit www.mediaterra.org for the online submission of your project

For any questions or more information please contact Daphne Dragona or call at +30 210 64 20 451

FESTIVAL COMMITTEES FOR 2006

Organizing Committee

* Dodo Santorineos, Director of Fournos Center and medi@terra Festival * Manthos Santorineos, Artistic Director of Fournos Center and medi@terra Festival, Assistant Professor in the Athens School of Fine Arts * Daphne Dragona, Coordinator for Fournos Center and medi@terra Festival * Nefeli Dimitriadi, Researcher and New Media Artist * Maria Roussou, Researcher, mak ebelieve experience design and consulting * Nikos Bubaris, Lecturer, Dpt. οf Cultural Technology and Communication, University of the Aegean * Dimitris Charitos, Lecturer, Dpt of Communication and Media Studies National and Kapodistrian university of Athens * Dimitris Delinikolas, New Media Artist, Filmmaker * Panagiotis Delinikolas, New Media Musician, MMORPG-OD * Fotis Hadginikos, Ph.D Computer Science, Programmer * Yiannis Konstantinou, New Media Artist * Maria Pesli, New Media Artist * Alexandros Spiropoulos, Researcher, New Media artist, Member of the Personal Cinema collective * Panagiotis Stathopoulos, Ph.D Computer Engineer * Konstantinos Tiligadis, New Media Artist * Stavroula Zoi, Ph.D Informatics, Research & Teaching Associate at the Athens School of Fine Arts

Programme Committee

* Prof Esp en Aarseth, Associate Professor and Principal Researcher at the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT-University of Copenhagen, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Gamestudies.org * Dr Dimitris Charitos, Lecturer, Dpt of Communication and Media Studies National and Kapodistrian university of Athens * Prof Adrian David Cheok, Director of the Mixed Reality Lab, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Associate Professor in the Schools of Computer Engineering and Art, Design, and Media * Gonzalo Frasca, Academic and Professional Game Designer, Editor of www.ludology.org, and co-editor of www.gamestudies.org and www.watercoolergames.org, PhD programme in the Computer Game Research at the IT University of Copenhagen * Dr Kenji Ito, Research Associate, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo, Japan * Prof John Kontos, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Department of Methodology, His tory and Theory of Science, University of Athens * Kristian Lukic, Writer, artist, cultural and game researcher, Founder of Eastwood - Real Time Strategy Group * Dr Frans MÃ¤yrÃ¤, DIGRA president, Research Director, Hypermedia Laboratory, University of Tampere * Julian Oliver, Free-software developer, composer and media-theorist. Founder of www.selectparks.net * Prof Narcis Pares, Assistant professor of the Technology Department of the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Researcher in the group for Experimentation on Interactive Communication of the Audio-visual Institute at the UPF * Maria Roussou, Researcher, Co-Founder of makebelieve experience design and consulting. * Manthos Santorineos, Artistic Director of Fournos Center and medi@terra Festival, Assistant Professor in the Athens School of Fine Arts * Dr Christa Sommerer, New media artist, Professor for Interface Culture, Institute for Media, Uni versity of Art and Design Linz, International Co-editor of the Leonardo Journal * David Surman, Lecturer in Computer Games Design at the Newport School of Art, Media and Design, Co-editor of Games and Culture, and Animation: an Interdisciplinary Journal * Eric Zimmerman, Game Designer, CEO and Co-Founder of gameLab