CALL FOR PAPERS

THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF DIGITALGAMES (FDG 09)
April 26th to 30th, 2009
On-board the Disney Wonder cruise ship, departing from Port Canaveral,FL, USA
http://www.foundationsofdigitalgames.org

Corporate Sponsors: Microsoft Research, Electronic Arts

FDG
?09, the International Conference on the Foundations of DigitalGames,
is a focal point for academic efforts in all areas of researchand
education involving computer and console games, game technologies,game
play and game design. Previously known as Academic Days on
GameDevelopment in Computer Science Education (GDCSE 08), this
year'sconference expands its scope to encompass all aspects of
ComputerScience focused game research, along with game-oriented
educationresearch, and game studies and game design research. The goal
of theconference is the advancement of the science of digital
games,including new game technologies, capabilities, designs,
applications, educational uses, and modes of play.

The
conference will be held aboard the Disney Wonder cruise ship,departing
from and returning to Port Canaveral, FL with port calls inthe Bahamas
and at Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. FDG 2009will include
presentation of peer-reviewed papers, invited talks byhigh-profile
industry and academic leaders, hands-on tutorials andtopical panels on
a range of subjects related to games research andeducation. We invite
researchers and educators to share insights andcutting-edge results
relating to game technologies and their use.

SPEAKERS AND PANELS

Confirmed keynote speakers for FDG 2009 include:

Chris Satchell, Chief Technology Officer, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft

Matthew MacLaurin, Microsoft Research

Confirmed invited speakers include:

Yasmin Kafai, University of Pennsylvania

Panels at FDG 2009 will cover the following topics:

The
Games Funding Landscape, including representatives from a number of
private and governmental funding agencies leading the sponsorship of
games research.

Designing and Managing a Successful Games
Education Program, including faculty from a range of colleges and
universities that have built successful programs teaching the process
of game creation

Industry/Academic Collaboration, including
faculty and industry leaders active in the process work working
together on joint research projects

Building the Games Research
Community, including academic leaders working to create a scholarly
community around the multi-disciplinary efforts in games research

SUBMISSIONS

FDG
2009 will accept both full paper and poster submissions (thedetails of
each are described below). To encourage submissions acrossa range of
topics, this year's program includes six distinct themeareas. Authors
may choose to submit their papers to the generalconference or to a
specific theme area of particular relevance. Theconference themes are
a) artificial intelligence, b) computer scienceand games education, c)
databases, d) game studies/game design, e)graphics and interfaces and
f) networking and security. Papers thatfall outside these topic areas
are strongly encouraged and should besubmitted to the general track.
All submissions will be rigorouslypeer reviewed for their technical
merit, significance, clarity andrelevance to the advancement of the
sciences of games. All full papers must describe a completed unit of
work and show rigorous andcompelling evaluation of the ideas they
present. Poster submissionsshould describe novel work in progress that
is not at the same levelof research maturity as a full submission.

PAPERS AND POSTERS

All
accepted paper and poster submissions will be published in
theconference proceedings, which will be available on a USB drive. For
apaper or poster to appear in the proceedings, at least one author
mustregister for the conference by the deadline for camera-ready
copysubmission. One author of each accepted submission will be
providedwith a special registration package that allows them to
register atthe early registration rate. Papers from previous years'
conferenceshave been included in the ACM Digital Library and we
anticipate thatall paper, poster, and doctoral consortium publications
from thisyear's conference will appear there as well. Conference
organizers areworking with the ACM to obtain in-cooperation
sponsorship status, andanticipate approval in September 2008.

Electronic
paper and poster submission is required. Authors shouldsubmit their
papers at the conference submission site,
http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icfdg2009. Both paper and
poster authors must submit their papers by 11PMPacific time on
December 19, 2008. Papers must not exceed eight pagesand poster
submissions must not exceed two pages. All submissionsmust comply
with the official ACM proceedings format using one of thetemplates
provided at http://www.acm.org/sigs/pubs/proceed/template.html. FDG
2009 will not accept any paper that, at the time ofsubmission, is
under review for or has already been published oraccepted for
publication in a journal or another conference. Thisrestriction does
not apply to submissions for workshops and othervenues with a limited
audience.

THEME AREA TOPICS

Authors whose papers align
with a particular theme area should chooseto submit their paper under
that theme. Theme areas for FDG 2009 aredefined broadly and include
Artificial Intelligence, Computer Scienceand Games Education,
Databases, Game Studies | Game Design, Graphicsand Interfaces and
Networks and Security. For more details about thespecific tracks,
please see the conference website
(http://www.foundationsofdigitalgames.org).

IMPORTANT DATES

December 19, 2008 Full paper, poster and Doctoral Consortium submission deadline

December 9, 2009 Early registration deadline

January 30, 2009 Paper, poster, and Doctoral Consortium notificationsof acceptance/rejection

February 20, 2009 Camera-ready copy due. Presenting author conferenceregistration deadline

April 26-30, 2009 2009 Int?l Conference on Foundations of Digital Games

April 30, 2009 Doctoral Consortium

FDG DOCTORAL CONSORTIUM

The
FDG Doctoral Consortium provides an opportunity for a limitedgroup of
Ph.D. students to discuss and explore their researchinterests and
career objectives with a panel of established gamesresearchers and
industry professionals. The consortium has thefollowing objectives:
(1) to provide a setting for mutual feedback onparticipants' current
research and guidance on future researchdirections; (2) develop a
supportive community of scholars and aspirit of collaborative
research; (3) support a new generation ofresearchers with information
and advice on academic, research,industrial, and nontraditional career
paths; and (4) contribute to theconference goals through interaction
with other researchers andparticipation in conference events.

The
Doctoral Consortium will be held on April 30th, 2008, the last dayof
the FDG conference, and will be hosted at the Orlando offices
ofElectronic Arts? Tiburon Studios. Attendance will be limited to a)
FDGProgram and Organizing Committees (who will serve as reviewers
anddiscussants for student presentations) and b) graduate students
whoseproposals are accepted for presentation. Students
whosesubmissions to the Doctoral Consortium are accepted for
presentationwill receive complimentary conference registration and a
fixedallowance for travel/housing.

The deadline for application
to the Doctoral Consortium is December 19, 2009. For more details, see
the Doctoral Consortium Call forPapers available on the FDG web site
or contact Ian Horswill, DoctoralConsortium Chair, at
ian@northwestern.edu.

FDG 2009 ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

Conference Chair
Jim Whitehead, Univ. California, Santa Cruz

Program Chair
R. Michael Young, North Carolina State Univ.

Finances Chair
Magy Seif El-Nasr, Simon Fraser Univ.

Local Arrangements Co-Chairs
Kent Foster, Microsoft Corporation
G. Michael Youngblood, Univ. North Carolina, Charlotte

Doctoral Consortium Chair
Ian Horswill, Northwestern Univ.

Webmaster
Bruce Gooch, Univ. of Victoria

FDG 2009 PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Program At-Large Members

Ian Bogost, Georgia Institute of Technology
Pat Langley, Arizona State Univ.
Nick Montfort, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mark Overmars, Utrecht University
Ian Parberry, Univ. of North Texas
Yusuf Pisan, Univ. of Technology Sydney
Zoran Popovic, Univ. of Washington
Walt Scacchi, Univ. of California, Irvine
Gita Reese Sukthankar, Univ. of Central Florida
Bill Swartout, Univ. of Southern California Institute for CreativeTechnologies
R. Michael Young (program chair), North Carolina State Univ.

Program Theme Area Members

Artificial Intelligence
Ian Horswill, Northwestern Univ.
Simon Lucas (theme co-chair), Univ. of Essex
Michael Mateas (theme co-chair), Univ. of California, Santa Cruz
Julian Togelius, IDSIA

Computer Science and Games Education
Tiffany Barnes (theme co-chair), Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte
Wanda Dann, Carnegie-Mellon Univ.
Andrew Phelps, Rochester Institute of Technology
Michael Zyda (theme co-chair), Univ. of Southern California

Databases
Johannes Gerhke (theme chair), Cornell Univ.
Beng Chin Ooi, National Univ. of Singapore
Walker White, Cornell Univ.

Game Studies | Game Design
TL Taylor (theme chair), IT Univ. Copenhagen
Tracy Fullerton, Univ. of Southern California
Doug Thomas, Univ. of Southern California

Graphics and Interfaces
Bruce Gooch, Univ. of Victoria
Jessica Hodgins, Carnegie-Mellon Univ.
Steve Feiner (theme chair), Columbia Univ.

Networking and Security
Mark Claypool, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Wu-Cheng Feng (theme chair), Portland State Univ.
Travis Schluessler, Intel Corporation
FDG STEERING COMMITTEE

John Laird, Univ. of Michigan
Ian Parberry, Univ. of North Texas,
Jim Whitehead, Univ. of California, Santa Cruz
R. Michael Young, North Carolina State Univ.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Please
see www.foundationsofdigitalgames.org for additionalinformation, or
email Jim Whitehead, Conference Chair, at ejw@cs.ucsc.edu.

R. Michael Young
Director, Liquid Narrative Group
Department of Computer Science, NC State University
http://liquidnarrative.csc.ncsu.edu/rmy/