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Defining and Measuring Player Immersion

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In the video game industry, the word “immersion” is constantly tossed around when describing how “realistic”, or “engaging” a game is. It’s easy to tell when you become “immersed” in a video game, as “the hours fly by” and suddenly your decision to “only play an hour” can quickly turn into several hours. Despite players “knowing” when they are immersed in a game, there is little clarity on exactly how players become immersed in a video game. In this article, I will be presenting a condensed version of my master’s thesis literature review where I explored this topic and developed a set of 8 characteristics in games that lead to player immersion. If you would like to view the full master's thesis version, click here .  What is Immersion?             There are numerous terms and concepts related to immersion like flow, spatial presence, cognitive absorption, cognitive engagement just to name a few. However, for the sake o...
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Immersive Design in Arcade Games: Luigi's Mansion Arcade

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Probably my second favorite game, behind Star Wars Battle Pod , I played at Dave and Buster’s was Luigi’s Mansion Arcade , an arcade version of the GameCube classic of the same name. The Interior of the Booth / Specifications The booth, which can seat two players, has a 55” LED screen. The booth contains 4.1 surround sound, as well as various color changing LED lights that are synchronized with gameplay. All around the interior of the booth is artwork and decorations made to look like you are inside the mansion. Controls The light gun controller, which is shaped like Luigi’s Poltergust 5000 vacuum. Near the “mouth” of the vacuum is the “Strobulb” charge button, and near the handle of the controller is a trigger button used to suck up enemy ghosts and objects. The start button, which is located on the dashboard, also functions as the “Strobomb” launcher which launches a grenade that stuns all enemies in the room. The Poltergust 5000 controllers and Strobomb bu...
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Immersive Design in Arcade Games: Walking Dead Arcade

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Walking Dead Arcade Another game I played while at Dave and Buster's was  Walking Dead Arcade,  which as you probably guessed, is based off of AMC's The Walking Dead TV series. There were a few features which really drew me to this game, most notably the crossbow controller, and overhead light. The Interior of the Booth / Specifications The booth, which can seat two players, has a 55" 1080p screen that supports 60 frames per second. The game features the "Thrill-D Sound System" allowing for "pumping sound" during play. What this "Thrill-D" sound system actually features remains to be seen, but it seems like it has 5.1 surround sound as there are speakers throughout the cabinet. Lastly, there is the "'Ambient Lig hting'  system [which] dynamically changes the lighting within the game cabinet to simulate events such as going outdoors from a dark space". Controls The game is controlled via mounted crossbow cont...
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Immersive Design in Arcade Games: Star Wars Battle Pod

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So my friends and I went to Dave and Buster's a few days ago as we wanted to get together and do something despite the rainy weather. I actually had not been to Dave and Buster’s for many, many years, so I was reluctant to go at first, thinking the games there would be the same carnival-style ticket games and mediocre racing games that I remembered. Oh how wrong I was. Upon entering the game floor, I noticed the Star Wars Battle Pod . Intrigued by what this was, I walked over and was completely blown away. It was a single-player closed booth game with a dome screen that filled your entire vision. Naturally the line for this game was quite long so I decided to do a quick walk around to see what else was around, and to my surprise there were quite a few attractive booth style games such as: Walking Dead Arcade , Luigi’s Mansion Arcade , Dark Escape 4D , Dream Raiders , and the classic Jurassic Park Arcade that I so fondly remembered from my childhood. After a fun-filled day of ...
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