Fun and Games: Second International Conference, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, October 20-21, 2008, Proceedings (Lecture Notes in Computer Science/Programming and Software Engineering)

The use of computing technology for entertainment purposes is not a recent p- nomenon. Video game consoles, home computers and other entertainment media have been used widely for more than three decades, and people of all ages are spe- ing an increasing amount of time and money on these technologies. More recent is the rise of a vibrant research community focusing on gaming and entertainment applications. Driven by the growth and the coming of age of the g- ing industry, and by its increasing recognition in the media and the minds of the broader public, the study of computer games, game development and experiences is attracting the interest of researchers from very diverse fields: social sciences, comp- ing, electrical engineering, design, etc. Research of this kind looks to extend the boundaries of gaming technologies. In a relentless drive for innovation, it looks to create and understand an ever increasing range of experiences, and examine how games can provide value for educational, therapeutic and other ‘serious’ purposes. These themes were reflected in the call for participation and eventually the papers accepted for presentation. The Fun n’ Games conference was the second event of a bi-annual series of c- ferences. The first event of the series was held in Preston in 2006 organized by the University of Central Lancashire. Following the success of this event it was decided to run a follow up.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Conference on Fun and Games, held in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, in October 2008.

The 17 revised full papers, presented together with 2 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected from a total of 36 submissions. The papers encompass the study of computer games, game development and experiences by researchers from social sciences, computing, electrical engineering, design, etc. Main focus is given to topics such as tightly-coupled embodied control of movement-sensitive mobile devices, hypercomputation and cultural computing, emerging gaming paradigms, concepts and platforms to support gaming, affective aspects of gaming, and finally to the notion of serious games to help provide cognitive or physiological training.