The Experience of Space

The Nintendo Wii allows for the player to feel literally embodied in a virtual space; physical movement that parallels and influences a character’s movement in the game world undoubtedly draws the player into experiential space. Yet other video games that do not incorporate physical simulation into the player’s interaction with the game world are still highly immersive. Regardless of the degree of physical interaction with a game, players will undoubtedly experience the space through situated immersion. As Laurie Taylor states, this component of immersion is unique to games in that as opposed to other media types, they allow a person to become deeply involved in the game world as an experiential space. In many ways, Wii is less immersive than other gaming technologies precisely because the physical experience reminds the player of themselves as situated in the real world; movement causes the body to become tired and puffed, and therefore the player breaks their immersion in the fantasy world because their attention becomes somewhat (if not entirely) focused on reality. Other computer or console games without this physical interaction are arguably more immersive because the player’s body is rendered motionless aside from hand movements, and so they are able to subconsciously numb themselves from the real world in order to become transfixed in the game.

It is interesting that in a Wii game of tennis, the player will eventually get exhausted as though she or he were in fact playing a real game of tennis, yet it does not truly feel like they are immersed in the game as a believable round of tennis. This is most likely due to the fact that the physical interaction is too ‘real’ for the tiny virtual court in front of the player on the screen. The simulated racket movements are designed to replicate what usually occurs in a large outdoor space, and the player in a real game of tennis is meant to feel the tennis ball hit the racket; the tiny court on the television screen simply does not match up to the actions of the player, and it is this imbalance that breaks immersion. The controller as substitute for the tennis racket furthermore emphasises that the player’s interaction with the game is a mediated one. Yet if the screen was to be enlarged significantly, one could be led to wonder if an experience with this type of game would become more believable and absorbing; if it were to be played on a cinema screen, the tennis court would be larger and therefore more convincing as a sporting space that would allow the physical actions of the player to feel more natural.