Is "Immersion" really a thing?

[Lightknight]

It is really a thing. People have just started to use it in nonsensical ways.

Immersion is basically just supposed to be a term describing you forgetting about your immediate surroundings and being absorbed into the world and story presented in front of you.

Just because people wave their hands and say "immersive" in weird ways to sell a game does not take away from the fact that the word has an actual meaning that can be applied intellectually.

For example, the Oculus Rift supposedly increases immersion in the game world by the nature of how VR works. An intriguing story that draws you in and keeps you entertained is more immersive then a hammed up story that merely serves as a mechanic to have action.

 

[doxydejour]

It's definitely an advertising buzzword, and it's definitely also a real thing. (A marketing tool that is also an actual thing? Preposterous!)

For me, it's the slight feeling of unreality you get when you finally manage to put down the controller/handheld. Yesterday I played six hours straight of Pokemon Soulsilver and my head was buzzing afterwards.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Well, like most things related to video games, yes it is a buzzword. It's used cheaply and stupidly.

It is, however, a very real thing.

I can only vouch personally and anecdotally, but what I experienced while playing Skyrim with Frostfall or Fallout 3 can only be described as immersion. I think the key is when you start thinking of things that aren't even mechanics. When you go inside from the freezing blizzard and seeing the tavern fire gives you a familiar, homelike feeling and you just sit by it listening to the bards.

I would say it's less about time spent playing and more feeling that the world you're in is real.

It's one of those things like people who have a sexual fetish for women with horse penises. Or liking movie series that others despise. Or despising movie series that others enjoy. Or the horse penises.
You can't know the other side and it seems incomprehensible. You just have to trust that's how other people feel.

 

[mitchell271]

-snip snip snippity-

Immersion in most games is just another word for investment now. The only times I can think were immersion is really immersion, would be with the Occulus Rift, Omni Treadmill, Playstation Move and one of those shock feedback vests. Imagine playing Fallout 3/NV or Skyrim with one of those!

Also, what guitar do you play? Just wondering from one guitarist to another.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Immersion exists. It's just achieved differently for different people. Sound is a big factor for me. Not necessarily good music (orchestral tends to remind me I'm playing a game), but atmospheric. Having little screen clutter and no outside distractions helps, but the most important thing would be getting the player interested enough in the game's action or plot that they forget where they are.

The quota I've always said is that if a game tricks my body into believing that my actual life is at stake (sweaty hands despite a lack of heat, shaking, paranoia, crying out when surprise attacked or killed), then it has managed complete immersion. This doesn't happen often, but when it does I am shocked at myself and at the game for pulling it off.

It's probably easier to do with people who are younger or have less experience with games. The first time I can recall really losing myself to a game that way was encountering Nightmare in Kirby's Adventure way back on the NES. He's just another final boss fight now, but 5-year old me was transfixed by his graceful flight, fwooshy cape, teleport spam, diabolical grin, music and just looking cooler than anything before him. Until he was defeated, nothing else existed for me.

 

[Glongpre]

You know when you are playing a game, and you get so focused on what is happening, that when a jump scare happens or something in the room you are playing in makes a loud noise or whatever, and you just about shit yourself?

Immersion.

 

[Conner42]

If you don't find your state of mind particularly altered or engaged in what you're doing, you either distancing yourself from things (which is a practical ability) or you're simply not enjoying yourself that much and are probably just procrastinating

My brother once called me emotionally autistic. At the time, he meant that there was something wrong with me, even if I think emotionally distancing yourself from other people can be an advantage. I picked this up from a friend, even if wasn't really a sociopath or somebody who just refused to show any kind of empathy, he certainly came off as one to me. I was jealous of his ability to be able to just...well, go with the flow.

I have to say, though, I sort of raise an eyebrow when some people say they play the games for the story, and then they start listing the games they like that are just...lacking in story...sort of(somebody mentioned liking Beyond: Two Souls, and I was thinking "shit, now I've gotta play the game so I actually have a right to complain about than just going off of what other people said). Also, I remember a lot of critics talking about how good the story was in Arkham Origins, calling it the game's strong point...well, I'm not going to say that the story was particularly...bad, in fact, there were some good things about it, but, my god, was it a damn drag to get through. I felt the first two games ended before I even knew it and this game just couldn't be over fast enough, even though all of the games were roughly about the same length. I think the reason why I liked Bioshock Infinite so much was because its story was so bizarre(even if you could point out every plot hole in the game because so many people have had me believe that the plot twist just sucked...I'll never understand why) and the fact that it had a lot of blood action.

Also, there are a lot of times when I'm out at the movies with my family or friends. The two examples I can think of where the people I knew who were just so engaged by The Dark Knigh Rises to the point to where they were like "OH MY GOD! THAT WAS AMAZING" and even my Dad who seems to find problems with nearly every new movie we see to where he goes, by the end of Elysium, "Now THAT was a good movie. Both of these movies just had me shrugging my shoulders in the end, even though I did like Elysium because of how intensely violent it was. I think it's gotten to the point to where I just don't watch movies or play games for stories anymore. A lot of them try to tell the same story and I could care less for a lot of the characters(the only character I really liked in Mass Effect was Mordin because I just admired his intelligence so much). I'm starting to realize the past movies I've really liked were the ones that pretty much were reminding me that I'm watching a movie. The LEGO Movie, anything by Wes Anderson or Tarantino.

I was talking about this with my brother, and he finds this kind of weird about me. Like, how I had to watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier twice in order to figure out that "Huh? There was actually a plot?" I mean, it made sense the first time watching it, but my mind was a lot more focused on how they edited the movie, especially all of the action scenes, because a lot of the choices that were made were making me scratch my head. The second time, I paid more attention to the plot and figured out that "Huh, there actually was a pretty good plot in the movie."

Sorry for the giant stream of consciousness I just gave you, but the discussions here are making me think about a lot of things. I mean, a lot of these things that people talk about here sound really cool and I feel bad for not really getting to experience these things.

 

[Conner42]

*snip*

Snip

Thanks for your input. I don't think I have Aspergers, though, to be honest, it seems like having that kind of "disorder" just sounds like an outright super power to me. I worship people like Sherlock Holmes, someone who seems to have the same syndrome as well. I have to say, not really feeling any sort of "highs" or "lows" sounds kind of awesome as I've been recently diagnosed with depression and get pretty sick of just feeling like crap most of the time.

It's not that I don't understand why people feel happy or sad or why they have the emotions they do, it's just that I don't really like having to "share" their emotions. I remember this hilarious line from Malcolm in the Middle that does make sense to me in a way when Hal explained to Reese what empathy was "Putting yourself in the shoes of someone is hurting so you'll share their pain" only to get the reply of "So, why would anyone use empathy?" I mean, yeah, Reese is an incredibly big idiot, but when you put something in that way...I mean, yeah, it kind of doesn't make sense to empathize with people. Of course, there are completely rational reasons why you would empathize with others, I just can't bring myself to do this in a lot of cases.

I also remember this one Korean TV show I was watching where this guy(who happens to be an alien) was saying that altruism is kind of a serious brain disorder. I'm pretty sure I was supposed to think "Oh my, this guy is so hardened and cynical, he needs to learn how to have human emotions" but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't agree with him. I mean, not to the extreme attitude that the character has but it's something that I find interesting.

I'm just someone who has a great admiration for logic, and I do wish, a lot of times in fact, that I could remove my emotions. But, then I guess I'd be missing a lot of things that I actually enjoy. There might be an answer to this, but I've always wondered how Vulcans actually experience story telling. Are they cautionary tales of what happens when someone lets their emotions get the best of them?

Oh, I watched the Shandification video. It was pretty awesome! I may not get fully engaged by stories, but I do like talking about how they work. It's why I'm not immediately writing off Skyrim as a bad game, because, well, there are quite a few things I admire about that game. Just a lot more that also frustrates me as well.

And I have watched quite a bit of teens react, and they do fascinate me, if only because I'm interested to get a glimpse on how "normal" people think. Some of these kids actually have some interesting things to say. Also, kids react is pretty cool too. I mean, kids are dumbasses, but they can surprise me every once in a while. I think Maxim is quite a special and unique kid who's going to grow up to be a genius.

Anyways, wasn't this thread about immersion once upon a time?

Seriously, though, I do appreciate your input.

 

[Remus]

Immersion is when you're so absorbed by a game's setting that it becomes nearly indistinguishable from real life. Setting, graphic fidelity, realistic physics, and character interactions help a ton in this regard. Horror games pretty much bank on the idea that you can get so enamored by the game that it can genuinely scare you. So your Silent Hill games, especially 2-4, Resident Evils, the early ones, Condemned, Doom 3, Outlast, heck even The Suffering, can be some of the most immersive gameplay experiences you'll ever encounter. If you can get motion sickness from watching Faith jump building to building in Mirror's Edge, congratulations, you've just experienced immersion.

 

[Syntax Error]

The only time you can tell a game is "immersive" is after the fact. When, long after you've beaten it, the experience lingers in the mind. THAT is immersion.

 

[Gankytim]

Immersion is a thing, without a doubt. When I'm playing a game like S.T.A.L.K.E.R, I'm in it for one thing. That hopeless and foreboding atmosphere, the silent horrific realization that what you're looking at in the game is what the end of the world looks like, the standing hairs on the back of your neck as you hear the haggard breathing of those invisible bloodsuckers in the distance, realizing all too late that you're under attack from some bandit group and paying a horrible price to get out with your life, those few moments of respite where you can lay next to a campfire through the long cold night with another fellow Stalker playing those sweet tunes on his guitar.
This, to me is immersion. A very well done atmosphere, when it comes to immersing yourself in a game atmosphere is everything, if there's a feeling to it, a real emotion given off by the setting, it's much easier to throw yourself into the game and become fully immersed.

If you want to understand immersion and you're willing to deal with a fucking STEEP difficulty curve I reccomend any game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series (Shadow of Chernobyl, then Clear Skies, then Call of Pripyat if you want the story order.) if these games do one thing right it's immersion.