Articles related to the topic 2

“As we can see in the quotations at the beginning of this essay, immersion means the player is caught up in the world of the game’s story (the diegetic level), but it also refers to the player’s love of the game and the strategy that goes into it (the non-diegetic level). It seems clear that if we are talking about immersion in video games at the diegetic level and immersion at the non-diegetic level, then we are talking about two different things, with possibly conflicting sets of aesthetic conventions. No specific terminology has yet been proposed to clarify those issues. In addition, humanities scholars have started to pick up, from scientific literature on virtual reality, the term presence, defined loosely as “the feeling of being there.” The terms immersion and presence are seen together more and more often, although both have been so loosely defined as to be interchangeable— which they often are.” (Alison McMahan, 2003)

This week, I read the article named ” Immersion, engagement, and presence” the 67-86 and the chapter 3 of ” The Video game theory reader” written by Alison McMahan. This article is also about how to define immersion. Alison McMahan brings up the word immersion and mentions engagement and presence, which are three words that are often confusing. Alison McMahan also said the best definition of immersion is described by Janet Murray.

“A stirring narrative in any medium can be experienced as a virtual reality because our brains are programmed to tune into stories with an intensity that can obliterate the world around us…. The experience of being transported to an elaborately simulated place is pleasurable in itself, regardless of the fantasy content. We refer to this experience as immersion. Immersion is a metaphorical term derived from the physical experience of being submerged in water. We seek the same feeling from a psychologically immersive experience that we do from a plunge in the ocean or swimming pool: the sensation of being surrounded by a completely other reality, as different as water is from the air, that takes over all of our attention, our whole perceptual apparatus… in a participatory medium, immersion implies learning to swim, to do the things that the new environment makes possible… the enjoyment of immersion as a participatory activity.” (Alison McMahan, 2003)

Immersion is related to our perception and it is a total engagement and concentration. And when defining engagement, Alison McMahan uses words like deep play and high stakes, where the player enters the game in an irrational state. “Having come together in search of pleasure [both participants] have entered into a relationship which will bring the participants, considered collectively, net pain rather than net pleasures.” (Clifford Geertz, [1972] 1973) How about presence, a word that Alison McMahan believes applies to Virtual Reality Environments (VREs).

Immersion is an important word that comes up when wanting to talk about topics related to gaming and will be covered in my article. This article gives me a clearer idea of what immersion in games is and what I want to talk about in terms of immersion.