Author Archives: FenixShadow

Immersion vs. Addiction

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So many important points were brought up regarding immersion and addiction in the comments to my previous post, “Immersion: Good to Great,” that I felt it was worth writing another post that addresses this issue specifically.

First, I need to thank Pasduil for bringing up this point, which I completely neglected in my previous post. There is definitely such a thing as addicting stories. The aspect I was trying to describe is different, but the line between them can be very thin in places. We certainly don’t want to make addicting stories or games, especially if there is little value in them. Immersion doesn’t create the value for our games, either, but it can help take them a step further in engaging our audience. A game needs to be worth our time before we try to make it something people can be immersed in.

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Immersion: Good to Great

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Think of a game you played or a book you read in which you got completely caught up in the world the designer/author had created. You found yourself playing or reading practically straight through from start to finish with few breaks. For my part, as each of the Harry Potter books came out I would stay up progressively later to finish it. When I read the seventh book, I read all through the night, kept reading until about two in the afternoon, took a nap for a few hours, and then continued reading until I finished it late in the evening. Don’t worry, that’s not a normal occurrence with me. I do sleep on occasion.

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Visions for the Future

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In The Leadership Challenge, Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner propose that a good vision is one that’s shaped along the way by everyone who is involved in completing it.  Anyone who reads and comments on this blog or who assists in developing the ODIN Project is helping to shape the vision of what games can be even as we make it a reality.  Because of that, I thought it was fitting to start a discussion on the potential future of video games by posting about my personal vision for them and asking you where you would like to see them going in the future.

As for me, my vision of games is to be something more than mere entertainment.  Not only can a well-written story combined with a well-designed game be a lot of fun, it can inspire us, help us learn, and bring a deeper satisfaction to our lives.  Those kinds of games can have a powerful impact, just as excellent books, movies, and art can.  I envision exceptional games achieving this potential by doing these three “E”s:

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