Immersion:Video Games and Other Worlds

Movies and video games have become the primary mediums for immersion in the past 2 decades. From 1993’s Jurassic Park and the 1996 Nintendo 64, to 2015’s The Martian and Fallout 4. Audiences and players have been presented with sources of entertainment that have the ability to enthrall them into fictional worlds and digital characters.

What is ‘immersion’? Immersion is that sensation one feels when they feel like they are in another world, and not sitting on a couch. It occurs whenever someone sheds a tear with the characters on screen or feel a certain sense of wonder at the landscape before them.

Immersion is the feeling of tension as Luke Skywalker flies through the trenches of the Death Star, narrowly escaping lasers and shagged obstacles in his way. It happens when someone first steps out of the woods in Legend of Zelda and they look upon the stretching valleys of Hyrule, wanting to explore and discover this brand new world before them.

Some have felt that immersion may be harmful to America’s society. Although any prolonged exposure to any entertaining activity could be unbeneficial to anyone of any age, enjoying a story isn’t a bad thing.

Those Nintendo 64 kids are now grown up, and though every person can be affected in different ways, the majority of those people are living normal lives. Some even benefited from video games, being able to have better problem solving skills, and a more expansive imagination.

The escapism of a story is something anyone should feel every now and then. If someone wants to be engrossed in a world, they should within moderation. Immersion can take many forms, and can offer people an experience they wouldn’t feel anywhere else.