The gaming experience | bodily immersion | sensation

Since the introduction of video games in society there have been phases and crazes which follow involving continuous hours of play in many different ways. Whether games are experienced alone in the privacy of one’s bedroom or together with fellow gamers at a LAN, there is always a degree of bodily immersion. The degree of bodily immersion may be directly correlated to the success of the game itself (Morris 2002 : 86). The design of a game may challenge, not only fine motor control of fingers for mastering a console but explores all senses bringing forth interactivity and enhancing the bodily experience. In many games, this is achieved though the concept of the avatar (Dovey & Kennedy 2006) where 3D realism assists this process but isn’t integral to the embodied experience.

The gamer experience constitutes of engagement, immersion and flow which together form a virtual world (Whalen 2004). Whalen describes engagement to be an objective awareness of the surrounds and what one partakes in, therefore this is conscious. Immersion on the other hand, is subconscious being completely absorbed into the game’s textual richness. Flow is the combination of the two, resulting in the gamer being disconnected with their physical environment as the passing of time is no longer of any significance. Dovey and Kennedy also acknowledge that the player and game are essentially “inseparable” stressing the concept of re-embodiment into this virtual world as “cybernetic” (2006 : 108). There is always feedback between observation of the game events, intervention and player behavior forming a continuous cycle (Moulthrop 2004:64). As one gets completely involved Dovey and Kennedy described the emergent physiological state as “cyborgian”, a “fusion of […] wires, machines, code and flesh” (2006 : 109). The intermediate that facilitates this natural transition from player to cyborgian is the avatar. Identity within the game realm is established and through an avatar one may manipulate and explore game objects and space. It is the avatar dependency relationship that allows the player to feel apart and virtually ‘in the game’. Usually the avatar won’t move (plot progression being delayed) unless the player moves too. Information is relayed through the avatar and since one is ‘embodied’, this essentially becomes a “sensorial experience” (2006 : 107-108).

Bodily senses are all incorporated into the game play experience. To explain this it is easier to visualize a war scene of an action game. Our eyes are constantly focusing and re-focusing on visual stimuli allocating attention to what we think is important for survival in game. This requires both cerebral hemispheres of the brain to interpret motion and objects followed by planned motor responses. (Calvert 2005 : 126). These responses are relayed though the console to pull the avatar/our embodied-self away from danger. Often, our bodies respond naturally to avoid objects or when taking sharp turns whilst driving a car in the game. Not only does the player manipulate the controller but the “body may tilt and lean as they swerve to avoid projectiles or turn corners” (Morris 2002 : 87) despite their understand that this doesn’t help onscreen movement in anyway (Calvert 2005 : 127). Visuals direct a player’s movement e.g. flashing objects in background indicate it may be interactive and added to one’s inventory. Blurs of movement or shadows could suggest the presence of enemy characters and one re-adjusts the avatar’s position to fire in that direction or investigate.

Once, the avatar has been struck in crossfire, game designs are often configured to replicate bodily sensation. Examples are present in Crysis (2007) and X111 (2003) where the player is wounded. One’s sense of vision, hearing and touch are incorporated to provide realism of the situation. Just the rumble feature of the XBOX controller can give away that the player has been hit. This coupled with the loudness of the explosion assures it. The visual onscreen also tilts towards the sky as the avatar receives the impact of the blow before coming back down to earth to represent falling and loss of balance. In both games the surroundings gradually become heavily blurred fading to red then black to indicate as a ‘cyborgian’ you are losing consciousness. Simultaneously the sound originating from the environment becomes a less audible murmur (Dovey & Kennedy 2006 : 112). This is one of the few stages of game play where one is disconnected and no longer immersed, as your character; theoretically speaking ‘you’, died. The other stage being the very beginning of a game where the player is getting accustomed to the feel of the texture of the controller or the pattern of keystrokes but after this is overcome, processing is “internalised, to the point at which individual moves are not carried out consciously [but rather…] muscle memory” (Morris 2002 : 87).

With technological advancement, games accentuate the idea of the physique of the ‘cyborgian’. This may be seen in a 2D projection of themselves onto the screen in Eye Toy: Play (2003) where they’re required to move their arms to direct objects into baskets or chop wood blocks.Dance Dance Revolution (1998) and Wii Fit (2007) are similarly designed to be active.

The ability to complete levels depends on the player’s physical limits, endurance, as well as mental determination. DDR (1998) requires one to integrate visual and audio input to respond with rhythmic accuracy in coordinated fashions. The player’s sense of “equilibrium” is constantly active maintaining balance and knowledge of the location of where their feet and game platform interact (Silverthorn 2007 : 355). The whole body is at play. Their reward and satisfaction is in unlocking new stages/challengers which further drive their competitive nature to advance to the next level. Mueller & Agamanolis argue that there is great potential for physical intensity to:

“...contribute to general fitness, weight loss and stress relief at the same time it allows you to socialise and create new friendships over a distance in a fun way” (2008 : 19).

Their game Shadowboxing (2008) claims to be more advanced than Wii Fit (2007) as it involves participants to directly hit the interface incorporating brute force.

In addition to the sensory effects one may argue that it’s the 3D realism that completes the bodily immersion experience. Cleary with the examples of Shadowboxing (2008), DDR (1998) and Wiifit (2008) this is not the case. True, 3D realism allows players to be automatically accustomed to the aesthetic of a game environment e.g. hills are steep and the character cannot possibly drive up the terrain, however it is not vital to immersion. Grodal evaluates games with the concept that “a given effect may have different causes” (2003 : 145). For 3D realism this may aid the initial immersion into the game play but it’s important to remember social realism which constitutes a large part of how well a player may relate to the game. Social realism deals with the events, how people and situations are represented, whether or not they are believable. Therefore, animated ‘cartoonish’ games can lack “ […] perceptual realism but [have] a high degree of social realism (McMahan 2003:75).

This is evident in Cooking Mama (2006) where the graphics are highly symbolic however the events which unfold are ‘real’ mimicking cooking and following recipes; onions are diced, meat is sliced and spiced before being placed into the pan etc. Using Grodal’s approach, the added effect is the interactivity generated from the touch screen of a Nintendo DS. Players are at times required to blow into the screen in an attempt to prevent the broth from over cooking.

Instead of placing emphasis on realism, “sound” in games have more varied roles and potentially great effects. This may be best displayed in horror games such as Resident Evil 4 (2005) where the sounds of footsteps, creaks of doors and rustling of wind heighten the eerie atmosphere players are navigating through. These combine to trigger curiosity, fear, elevated heart rate and breathing levels (Whalen 2004).

Diegetic sound also guide players through the space, the softer the sound, the further away it is and vice versa. Whilst non diegetic sounds may act as cues to indicate upcoming danger or save points, thus preparing the gamer’s body and attention in anticipating their next move. This increases players’ awareness and concentration to space, being more cautious to ensure they make it through to the next stage having a sense of guaranteed game/plot advancement. Whalen continues to elaborate on sounds ability to “expand […] the game’s fictional world” (2004) thus puling one into the game. On top of the immediate effects sound may trigger memories in previous game experiences that allow the player to maneuver strategically through the environment (Grodal 2003 : 130).

Ultimately, the gamer experience is more than just pushing a few keys being fixated on a screen not moving from a chair for hours. It is complex and involves the entire body and higher order cognitive functions. Games consist of many different elements (such as visuals, sounds, realism to name a few) which function best once combined. Where some games reveal obvious physical activity, all involve changing sensory input being constantly interpreted and acted upon encapsulated by bodily immersion in this virtual reality space.

RERERENCES:

Agamanolis, Stefan and Mueller, Florian, ‘Remote Impact: Shadowboxing over a distance to support Social Presence’, Keho: the place for Presence research, issue 3, Spring 2008, 19 - 21.

Calvert, Sandra L, 2005. Cognitive Effects of Video Games. In Handbook of Computer Games Studies, ed. J. Raessens and J Goldstein, 125 – 131. London: The MIT Press.

Dovey, Jon and Kennedy, Helen W, 2006. Bodies and machines: cyborg subjectivity and gameplay. In Game cultures: computer games as new media, 104-122. Maidenhead, England : Open University Press.

Grodal, Torben, 2003. Stories for Eye, Ear, and Muscles: Video Games, Media, and Embodied Experiences. In The Video Game Reader, ed. M.Wolf and B. Perron, 129 – 155. London: Routledge.

McMahan, Alison, 2003. Immersion, Engagment, and Presence. In The Video Game Reader, ed. M. Wolf and B. Perron, 67 – 86. London, New York: Routledge.

Morris, Sue, 2002. First Person Shooters – A Game Apparatus. In ScreenPlay: Cinema/Videogames/Interfaces, ed. G. King and T. Krzywinska, 81 – 97. London: Wallflower Press.

Moulthrop, S, 2004. From Work to Play: Molecular Culture in the Time of Deadly Games. In First Person: New Media as Story, Performance and Game, ed. P. Harrigan and N. Wardrip-Fruin, 56 – 70. Cambridge, London: The MIT Press.

Silverthorn, D. 2007. Sensory Physiology. In Human Physiology: an Integrated Approach, ed. N. George-O’Brien and W. Earl, 328 -369. San Francisco: Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company.

Whalen, Zach, 2004. Play Along – an Approach to Videogame Music (online). (Cited 11 September 2008). Avalilable from http://www.gamestudies.org/0401/whalen.

GAMES:

CRYSIS, 2007, CRYTEK
Dance Dance Revolution, 1998, Konami
Eye Toy: Play, 2003, Sony Computer Entertainment
Resident Evil 4, 2005, Capcom
Shadowboxing, 2008, Distance Lab
Wii Fit, 2007, Nintendo
XIII, 2003, Ubisoft

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