structural cohesion would be owned by reality in tekken 6.

A few fellow bloggers have boldly claimed that it is easier to be immersed in virtual life than real life. wahooah ! Whether this is a dramatic title or a legitimate belief I'm unsure, but it got me thinking deeper about the terms diegetic immersion and situated immersion.

In tutorials it was kindly clarified that the two terms although different, can work in parallel. Both terms rely on a concentrated focus of the gamer that is unbroken or has no reason to due to the coherency and ease to act within the diegesis created. Where they differ lies in the intensity and familiarity of the world: whether the gamer passively or subconsciously engrossed in the play. To further clarify, both terms imply that sort of magnetism to the game; the 5 second reality lag as the phone rings or someone starts a conversation is an example. However involved one is in game play, my understanding is that situated immersion (as discussed by Laurie Taylor in this week’s reading), involves a physical knowledge of action within the diegesis. In reality, we are familiar with knowing that by taking one’s index finger and placing it upon a doorbell and applying pressure, a noise will be produced inside that should summon an occupier of the desired space. Similar is this situated immersion but through set of physical language that does not make sense when married with that of the real. What I am trying to explore by saying this is that in a game, when one needs to ring a doorbell, this will be achieved through some button mashing and joystick maneuvering – but there is thought about how peculiar and isolated this action is from reality and they are entirely immersed in the situation.

One of my favourite website – NY times has an hilarious clip about variation of immersion in children playing video games.

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/11/21/magazine/1194833565213/immersion.html

My favourite is the boy at 1:48.

I hope my exploration of these terms is somewhere on track. Back to my confusion with virtual world easier to be immersed that reality, I say: LIES. The bloggers commenting on this could be referring to either diegetic OR situated immersion BUT the rudimentary commonality is their reliance on structural coherence – something the real world never has a problem with! An example used in tutorials was how many games used chained fences to represent the geographical boundaries of the diegesis. Kevin put it well by saying that no matter how lazy and unfit one is, given the right timeframe, most people would be able to climb a chained fence. Unless yet again, life gives a hint that I am indeed on the Truman Show – the structural coherence of the world is pretty choice. Yet if this is the largest situated immersion of my life – you guys are doing a pretty good job with your coherency. Keep it up.

Pip Neels