Subject: [ippm] Springer's MMSJ - Special Issue on Network and Systems Support for Games

From: "Maha Abdallah" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2013 05:53:04 +0100

Springer’s Multimedia Systems Journal (MMSJ)
       Special Issue on Network and Systems Support for Games
                http://netgames2012.lip6.fr/MMSJ-SI
======================================================================

The market for networked video games is now worth more than $1 billion in
western countries. The inherent social and community-building aspects of
networked video games are widening the sector's influence on other
markets, making their worldwide potential growth tremendous. Virtual
economies are also exploding and becoming a growing economic force to be
reckoned with. We are already seeing evidence that virtual and real world
economies are starting to merge, where users/avatars can exchange real
goods along with virtual goods in virtual market places.

Another important facet of networked games’ success is that they are
allowing not only economic factors to seep through, but social and
cultural ones as well. Significant efforts are put into leveraging
networked games technologies beyond entertainment, and toward educational,
cultural, social, environmental, humanitarian, or learning and training
ends.  Serious games applications in these domains will clearly continue
to grow. This growth clearly poses new challenges on the underlying
network and system architectures, and introduces new research questions
that require synthesis of a variety of research areas.

This special issue focuses on network and systems aspects of games, and
covers research and engineering topics that help understand networked
games of today and enable the next generation of future networked games.
Submissions are solicited on all aspects of networked games, including
(but not limited to):

    - Novel system architectures for networked games (e.g., P2P, cloud
gaming)
    - Efficient message distribution and network protocol design
    - State synchronization and lag compensation techniques
    - Network traffic modeling, measurement, and impact on network
infrastructure
    - System benchmarking, performance evaluation, and provisioning
    - Operating system enhancements, service platforms, and middleware
    - Scalability issues for massively multiplayer online games (MMOG)
    - Multiplayer usability and user behavior studies
    - Personal communications and conferencing in games
    - Games on mobile devices and other resource-constrained systems
    - Networks of sensors and actuators, networked haptics
    - Quality of service and quality of experience
    - Dynamic and user-generated content authoring, management and adaptation
    - Content creation: non-linear storytelling, object capturing,
algorithmic creation
    - Security, authentication, accounting and digital rights management
    - Cheat detection and prevention
    - Social networking in multiplayer games
    - Collaborative learning and training in multiplayer serious games

IMPORTANT DATES
================
Submission Deadline:	     March 31, 2013 (23:59 EDT)
First Round Notification:    May 20, 2013
Revised Paper Due:           July 15, 2013
Final Decision:              August 26, 2013

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
========================
Prospective authors should prepare their manuscripts in accordance with
the formatting and submission instructions of Springer’s Multimedia
Systems Journal. Detailed submission instructions can be found at
http://netgames2012.lip6.fr/MMSJ-SI

Submitted articles should report original research results, and must not
be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submissions that are
extended versions of previously published conference/workshop papers must
technically extend the published version by at least 30%, must explain in
the accompanying cover letter the novel and significant contribution of
the extended work, and must explicitly cite the published
conference/workshop version.

GUEST EDITORS
==============
Maha Abdallah, Pierre and Marie Curie University, France
Khaled Boussetta, University of Paris 13, France
Wei Tsang Ooi, National University of Singapore, Singapore