III Fun for All: Serious Business
Video Games and Virtual Worlds Translation, Accessibility and Educational Design
13th and 14th March 2014
Transmedia Catalonia Research Group
Centre for Accessibility and Ambient Intelligence in Catalonia
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
CALL FOR PAPERS
We are pleased to invite you to submit a paper to the Fun for All: Serious Business – Video Games and Virtual Worlds Translation, Accessibility and Educational Design to be held by the Transmedia Catalonia Research Group at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in March 2014.
Theme of the conference
In four decades the video game industry has become a worldwide phenomenon, generating millions in revenue every year. Video games are increasingly becoming more elaborate and sophisticated, with advanced graphics and intricate story lines, and developers and publishers need to reach the widest possible audience in order to maximise their return on investment. Translating games into other languages and designing games that can be played for a wide spectrum of players, regardless of their (dis)ability, are two obvious ways to contribute to increasing the audience for the game industry. In addition, games are increasingly being used for “serious” purposes beyond entertainment, such as education, and such games should also be designed inclusively, to facilitate access to them by all types of players.
However, to date, both industry and academia have paid little attention to the emerging fields of game localization and accessibility, as well as accessibility to virtual worlds, also known as metaverses, and the role translation plays in them. Academic studies focusing on game localization and accessibility of games and virtual worlds are few and far between, despite the fact that further research in localization and accessibility is beneficial to all. The industry can benefit by reaching the broadest possible audience, while the audience can benefit from having improved access to games and virtual worlds. A more systematic and interdisciplinary approach bringing together academics from different disciplines with various research backgrounds and methodologies, such as translation studies, media studies, psychology, linguistics, education, usability, human rights, engineering and computing is required to promote further advances in these areas of study.
The successful previous editions of the Fun for All: International Conference on Translation and Accessibility in Video Games and Virtual Worlds, held at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in 2010 and 2012, became a meeting point for academic and professionals working in the game industry and the game localisation industry, as well as students interested in this field. The third edition of the conference, Fun for All: Serious Business Video Games and Virtual Worlds Translation, Accessibility and Educational Design, aims to continue fostering the interdisciplinary debate in these fields, consolidate them as academic areas of research and contribute to the development of best practices.
Key note speakers
Kate Edwards, Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA)
Ian Hamilton, Accessibility expert, author of the Game Accessibility Guidelines.
Suggested topics
The Fun for All: Serious Business Video Games and Virtual Worlds Translation, Accessibility and Educational Design will cover the following topics. Proposals about related topics are also welcome:
Game localisation process
Standardisation and quality issues
Development and use of specialised tools
Cultural adaptation in games
Creativity in games
Humour in games
Dubbing and subtitling for games
Localization of online, mobile phone and tablet games, social games
Video game fan translation
Role of translation in virtual worlds
Video games and Translation Studies
Game localisation best practices
Game accessibility best practices
Game audio design
Design for all
Educational game design
Video games and foreign language teaching
Video games as educational resources
By means of papers and workshops on the featured topics, we hope to foster new perspectives, reflecting and anticipating scientific research in these fields in all its complexity and contributing to the development of best practices in game localization and accessibility.
Abstract proposals and deadlines
Paper and workshop abstract proposals (max. 300 words) should be sent by 20th November 2013 to: VG.VW.translation.accessibility@gmail.com
Date of notification regarding acceptance of abstracts: 20th December 2013.
The abstracts should attached as a WORD document, with the format: authorname.doc
Please indicate ABSTRACT in the subject line in your e-mail.
Conference Language
The language of the conference will be English.
Information and Contact Details
For all correspondence about the conference please use the e-mail address VG.VW.translation.accessibility@gmail.com. Please indicate clearly the subject in the subject line of your e-mail. For example: “GENERAL INFORMATION QUERY”, “REGISTRATION QUERY”, etc.
More information will be available soon from the conference website http://jornades.uab.cat/videogamesaccess/
Conference Fee and Registration
Fees include attendance to the conference, materials and coffee breaks. Attendance to conference dinner is optional (20 Euro). Places are limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment. You can indicate whether you are attending the conference dinner or not in the registration form and add the conference dinner amount to the registration fee when you are doing the payment.
Early-bird registration (before 15th February 2014): 130 Euro.
After 20th February 2014: 150 Euro.
Early-bird registration for members of ATRAE : 110 Euro
Registration for members of ATRAE after 15th February 2014: 130 Euro
Early-bird registration students: 40 Euro
Student registration after 19th February 2014: 60 Euro.
Alumni of the AVT, Tradumàtica and Video Game Design Master’s at UAB: 80 Euro
Alumni of the AVT, Tradumàtica and Video Game Design Master’s at UAB after 15th February: 100 Euro
Conference dinner: 20 Euro
Organising Committee
Alberto Fernández, Universidad de Oviedo
Carme Mangiron, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Anna Matamala, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Pilar Orero, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Scientific Committee
Miguel Bernal, University of Roehampton
José Ramón Belda, Universidad de Alicante
José Ramón Calvo, Universidad de Alicante
David Camacho, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Heather Chandler, Media Sunshine Game Development Studio
Alberto Fernández, Universidad de Oviedo
Dimitris Grammenos, Institute of Computer Science (ICS) Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH)
Carme Mangiron, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona,
Enric Martí, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Pablo Muñoz, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Minako O’Hagan, Dublin City University
Lucía Pérez-Castilla, (Centro Estatal de Autonomía Personal y Ayudas Técnicas, National Centre for Personal Autonomy and Techincal Support)
Javier Torrente, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
