[game_edu] Meaningful Play 2008 call for submissions deadline is July 13, 2008

[Brian Winn]

Meaningful Play 2008
October 9 - 11, 2008
East Lansing, MI, USA
http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu

Meaningful Play 2008 call for submissions deadline is July 13, 2008

Whether designed to entertain or for more "serious" purposes, games  
have the potential to impact players’ beliefs, knowledge, attitudes,  
emotions, cognitive abilities, and behavior.

Meaningful Play 2008 is an interdisciplinary academic conference that  
explores the potential of games to entertain, inform, educate, and  
persuade in meaningful ways. The conference includes thought-provoking  
keynotes from leaders in academia and industry, peer-reviewed paper  
presentations, panel sessions (including academic and industry  
discussions), innovative workshops, roundtable discussions, and  
exhibitions of games.

Submissions are sought from both researchers and practitioners in  
academia and industry. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students  
are also encouraged to submit either jointly with an academic/member  
of industry or alone.

While any topic related to games for entertainment and learning is  
appropriate to submit to Meaningful Play 2008, topics of particular  
interest include:

1) Exploring meaningful applications of games

* Games to change attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors (including social  
impact games and personal health games)
* Games to stimulate creativity or innovation
* Games to build social skills
* Games to advertise (advergames) and persuade
* Games to exercise specific cognitive functions
* Games to explore personal beliefs and help make decisions
* Games to build knowledge and skills (games for learning)
* Serious games for history and cultural heritage learning

2) Issues in designing meaningful play

* Game design for specific audience segments
* Player types and play styles
* Story and storytelling in games
* Competitve and cooperative play (single player, multiplayer and  
massively multiplayer)
* Balancing entertainment and serious goals
* Repurposing entertainment games for serious purposes
* Unintended and unexpected effects of games
* Using psychology and neuroscience to design and understand games
* Evaluation and assessment of game impacts
* Barriers to the adoption of serious game

Submission deadline is July 13, 2008.

Complete details on Meaningful Play 2008 are available at:
http://meaningfulplay.msu.edu