Luke Mazza: Game Theory (530)

Midterm Paper Abstract

Immersion:

Immersion is the be all, end all of game design. You can create a video game with the best graphics, concept, controls, and sound, but without the illusive quality of immersion any player will quickly dismiss the game. But what exactly is immersion if it is not any of the above qualities specifically? Could it be a mixture of all of them? Is it even necessary for a game to have it? Some would argue that immersive games exist which would rank poorly in almost all of those categories, yet some games do it with all of them. Whatever the combination of these attributes, all will agree that immersion is possibly the most important thing a game can exhibit. It is what causes the player to become lost in the world that the game has created, eliminating the 4th wall completely. The question then becomes, how do I control this?

In my this paper I intend to develop some measure of theory concerning the development of levels of immersion in games over the decades, and in turn come up with some ideas as to what can be done to guarantee that a game will involve a user in the world set before them. I will comprehensively list and analyze games which are considered to exhibit this quality, hopefully discerning an overarching principle by which these games were created. The goal of this paper is to provide a tool or a reference for those interested in creating a game of their own which will be immersive.

posted by Unknown @ 5:17 AM