Friday, November 30, 2007

Second Life: arriva La Gazzetta dello Sport

Da Spot and Web
Web Communication Magazine
http://www.spotandweb.it/archivio/2007/11/205_07.pdf
Anno 3 - numero 205
venerdì 30 novembre 2007 - pag. 22

Second Life: arriva La Gazzetta dello Sport

Il prossimo 2 dicembre anche i meno sportivi potranno partecipare in modo del tutto originale alla Milano City Marathon. All’interno del village che La Gazzetta dello Sport allestirà in Piazza Duomo in occasione dell’importante evento sportivo m i l a n e s e , verrà dedicato uno spazio in cui tutti i visitatori potranno cimentarsi virtualmente in una nuova e divertente esperienza sportiva: la City Marathon ospitata nell’isola di Bollywood nel mondo di Second Life. Un circuito appositamente creato nel mondo virtuale, permetterà a tutti i curiosi e appassionati di sport di utilizzare uno degli avatar (l’alter ego virtuale dell’uomo) messi a disposizione da La Gazzetta dello Sport, e, guidati dalle indicazioni dello staff, proveranno l’ebbrezza di gareggiare e di superare tutte le insidie della maratona.
Oltre alla maratona si potranno praticare altri sport, come calcio e salto in alto. L’edizione 2007 della Milano City Marathon rappresenta così lo sbarco di La Gazzetta dello Sport nel mondo di Second Life, grazie alla collaborazione con l’agenzia di pubblicità milanese Comunicattore, la prima in Italia ad avere avuto l’intuizione nell’ottobre del 2006 dell’importanza che avrebbe raggiunto nel tempo una “realtà” come quella di Second Life, soprattutto come strumento dedicato alla comunicazione di eventi speciali.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

ISN Virtual Worlds: Evento in Second Life

Da Spot and Web
Web Communication Magazine
http://www.spotandweb.it/archivio/2007/11/204_07.pdf
Anno 3 - numero 204
giovedì 29 novembre 2007 - pag. 10

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Evento in Second Life

Oggi nel metaverso di Second Life faranno il loro ingresso le prime ufficiali Orientation Islands Italiane: il luogo dove tutti i neofiti del mondo virtuale Second Life potranno essere guidati da Avatar esperti e conoscere tutti i meccanismi, i segreti e le attività che vengono quotidianamente realizzati all’interno di questa realtà 3D. L’accesso alle Italy Orientation Islands avviene, per i nuovi Avatar, dal portale www.isnsecondlife.com. Le isole guidano i nuovi arrivati ad imparare l’utilizzo di SL ed ai servizi offerti dalla community italiana di Prometeo, il primo continente virtuale italiano, fondato da Mattia Crespi, con ISN Virtual Worlds. La community di Prometeo, grazie a ISN Virtual Worlds è anche la prima community italiana di Second Life ad avere la propria pagina sul sito ufficiale di Linden Lab (www.secondlife.com online a breve), cosicché anche gli account registrati a livello internazionale o dal portale www.secondlife.com avranno la possibilità di accedere a Second Life, attraverso le isole di orientamento della comunità italiana Prometeo, gestite da ISN Virtual Worlds, che offrono ora un suo spazio nella community internazionale di Second Life.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Call for Papers


The Philosophy of Computer Games Conference 2008


We hereby invite scholars in any field who take a professional interest in the phenomenon of computer games to submit papers to the international conference "The Philosophy of Computer Games 2008", to be held in Potsdam, Germany, on May 8-10, 2008.

Accepted papers will have a clear focus on philosophy and philosophical issues in relation to computer games. They will also attempt to use specific examples rather than merely invoke "computer games" in general terms. We invite submissions focusing on, but not limited to, the following three headings:

Action|Space
Papers submitted under this heading should address issues relating to the experiential, interactional and cognitive dimensions of computer game play. What is the nature of perceptual experience in game space? How should we understand the relationship between action, interaction and space in computer game environments? How should we think about players' aesthetic, emotive and(/or) rational responses to what goes on inside the game space?

Ethics / Politics
What are the ethical responsibilities of game-makers in exerting influence on individual gamers and society in general? What role, if any, can games serve as a critical cultural corrective in relation to traditional forms of media and communicative practices, for example in economy and politics? Also: what is the nature of the ethical norms that apply within the gaming context, and what are the factors that allow or delimit philosophical justifications of their application there or elsewhere?

The Magic Circle
Terms such as "fictionality", "virtuality", "simulation" or "representation" are often used to indicate specific functions of objects in games. But what is the nature of the phenomena these terms refer to in the interactive field of game play? And what is the structure of gaming-processes? What is the mediality of digital games? We are especially interested in discussions that aim at how the notion of a self-contained "magic circle" – representing an imagined border between play and reality, or the internal and external limits of game-programs – is being challenged by forms of individual action and social inter action which tend to transcend such limits.

Your paper should not exceed 25 000 characters (excluding blanks) and be accompanied by an abstract of 300 words. Please specify the primary focus (topic) of your submission.

Deadline for submissions is February 15, 2008. Send your paper and abstract to submissions@gamephilosophy.org.

All submitted papers will be subject to double blind peer review, and the program committee will make a final selection of papers for the conference on the basis of this.

Notification of accepted papers will be sent out by March 12, 2008.
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Dieter Mersch
Olav Asheim
Patrick Coppock
Espen Aarseth
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The conference is a collaboration between the following institutions:

* Institute for Arts and Media, European Media Studies at the University of Potsdam, Germany
* Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas at the University of Oslo, Norway
* Department of Social, Cognitive and Quantitative Science at the University of Modena & Reggio Emilia, Italy
* Center for Computer Games Research at the IT-University of Copenhagen, Denmark
* Philosophical Project Centre (FPS), Oslo, Norway
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For more information, visit gamephilosophy.org

Download this Call for Papers as PDF