My Personal Blog

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...

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...