A Grounded Investigation of Game Immersion

Emily Brown; Paul Cairns
2004
Porto Interactive Center
24 Maio 2012
A Grounded
Investigation of
Game Immersion
[
What is
]
 Mainly used in qualitative research
[
What is
]
1 – Data collection
2 – Codes  concepts  categories
3 – Theory
(developed by two sociologists, Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, 1967)
This Study shows…
There is a shared
concept of
immersion
Can gamers feel
immersion?
How?
A Grounded Investigation
of Game Immersion
Results
The first stage of immersion is
1
ENGAGEMENT
Barriers:
-
Access
Time investment
Effort = expected rewards
1
ENGAGEMENT
“[I have been playing this game] for
fifteen years and I’ve never seen
what’s at the end of this proxy game...I
want to know what’s so special about
getting to the end.”
A Grounded Investigation of Game Immersion, Brown and Cairns, 2004
The 2nd stage of immersion is
2
ENGROSSMENT
The gamer’s emotions are directly
affected by the game.
 Good visuals
 Interesting tasks
 Interesting plot
“They’ve spent a lot of time creating the little worlds. Making it
look kind of sumptuous and realistic, I enjoy that.”
The 2nd stage of immersion is
2
ENGROSSMENT
This investment makes people want to keep
playing and can lead to people feeling
“emotionally drained” when they stop playing.
“A Zen-like state where your hands just seem to know
what to do, and your mind just carries on with the story.”
1
Total
IMMERSION
 Presence:
“You feel like you’re there”
1
Total
IMMERSION
Barriers:
- Empathy
- Atmosphere
Total
IMMERSION
Discussion and
future work
- Invisibility of the controls for total
immersion to take place.
- Attention and flow are needed for
total immersion.
- manipulating interfaces for
empathy and atmosphere
Further reading &
references
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=986048
Douglas Y., Hargadon A. The Pleasure Principle:
Immersion, Engagement and Flow. ACM 153-160,2000
Norman D.A. Emotions and Design: Attractive Things Work
Better. Interactions July and Aug, 36-42, 2002
Taylor J. Review of Circle of Blood
http://www.gamesdomain.co.uk/gdreview/zones/revie
ws/pc/jun97/cob.html