MobiGames 2016 - MOBILE GAMING IN ASIA: POLITICS, CULTURE AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Chapter proposals needed for “Mobile Gaming in Asia: Politics, Culture and Emerging Technologies” edited by Dal Yong Jin, Ph.D., Simon Fraser University. To be published by Springer in October 2016.
The dramatic improvement of mobile phones, tablets, and game consoles has fundamentally changed our daily lives. While the bite-sized software programs people loaded onto their mobile phones seemed to be frivolous games until several years ago, smartphones and their applications have recently created new capital for information and communication technology corporations and changed the way people communicate. While many countries have invested in mobile industries since the early 21st century, several Asian countries have become some of the centers for mobile technologies and culture with their global smartphone manufacturers, such as Samsung and LG in Korea, HTC in Taiwan, Huawei and Lenovo in China. Although these countries were once lagging behind in the penetration of mobile phones, Asia exists as an interesting test-bed for the future of mobile technology and culture because several Asian countries advance several new mobile games based on their smartphones and application. The recent emergence of the smartphone industry and mobile gaming in Asia can be attributed to favorable information technology policies, severe competition among IT corporations, and enthusiastic mobile game users in the region. Equally important is the role of local smartphone applications, which have provided convenient smartphone platforms for local game users. Asians’ engagement with smartphones and related mobile apps suggest that the smartphone becomes a symbolic and material resource for people’s mobile game lifestyle.
SCOPE
Despite the significance of smartphones and mobile gaming in both digital economy and youth culture across the globe, there has been a lack of academic literature exploring how mobile phones are integrated into the socio-economic and cultural landscapes of a particular local game context, and how smartphone users engage in the process. This volume looks into a hitherto neglected focus of inquiry, a localized mobile landscape emerging with the smartphone and its apps, with particular reference to Asians’ engagement with mobile gaming. This edited volume focuses on not only the celebratory achievement of local mobile games, but also the significance of the social milieu in the development of Asian mobile gaming culture. It also investigates several dimensions in the growth of mobile game technologies and culture, including government policy through the lens of globalization theory. Although it seeks to identify factors for the growth of local mobile games, it will also critically examine significant conflicts between global and the local forces. Given that users are the primary actors propelling the smartphone era forward, the volume analyzes how smartphones have taken shape within the context of Asia’s particular mobile culture.
We welcome research by emerging Asia-focused or Asian-based scholars whose work has not been published in English.
Possible topics for submissions include but are not limited to:
*History of the growth of mobile gaming as a regional/global industry, discourse, and media product
*Critical interpretation of emerging local game industries in Asia
*Comparative mobile game studies
*Mobile games and globalization/regionalization
*Convergent technologies and the impact on established modes of mobile/social game play
*Government regulations and types of mobile game play
*Mobile game fandom and free labor
*Mobile gaming as social technology/media
*A culturally specific aesthetic to the production and consumption of mobile games
*New media and experimental mobile gaming
*Gendered consumption and production of mobile games
*Mobile gaming and the role of apps
*Moral panics about mobile gaming (especially among religious communities)
*Concerns about mobile gaming addiction and consequent policy changes
*Traditional dominance of the market by Asian developers
*Unique ways in which specific Asian countries have adopted mobile devices
*Intellectual property issues particular to the region
*Tendency for big developers to look to Asia for outsourcing and localization
*Case studies to gaming in places such as Korea (PC Bangs/StarCraft tournaments etc.)
SUBMISSION
Please submit proposals of up to 800 words, and a brief (300-word) author bio in an e-mail attachment by 30 May, 2015, to Dal Yong Jin (yongjin23-AT-gmail.com). Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by 15 July, 2015, and invited to submit a full paper by 15 October, 2015. Manuscripts should be no more than 8,000 words, including notes and references, and conform to APA style. All chapters will be subjected to anonymous peer review following submission.