Immersion, IMMERSION, MOTHERFUCKING IMMERSION!!
By trulyalive 9 Comments
Don't get me wrong, 5 months ago when the Dead Space hype machine was just turning it's first gears and we heard about the immersive qualities attributed to the lack of a HUD we all took it in, mostly because we were all sort of preoccupied with the spectacular levels of gore which was naturally coupled by the notion of strategic dismemberment, but now the whole idea is just getting silly.
I suppose it doesn't feel fair to criticize Peter Molyneux and the Fable series for constantly touting the ever increasing realism in the games as an immersive quality, seeing as they've been milking that cashcow forever and there's little likelihood of them ever stopping but it gets to a point where people spending a year telling you how immersive their game is and how you'll be so immersed in the immersibly immersive experience of immersibility that it starts to detract from the actual experience. You pop the game in, play 5 or so humdrum minutes before realising "Hey, what the fuck, I know I'm playing a video game, those fuckers lied to me."
The audience isn't stupid (well, most of the audience isn't stupid) and no matter how well you try to disguise the fact that your video game is in fact just a form of electronic media we're going to pick up on it.
Hell, even Neo the computer spaz from The Matrix picked up on that virtual reality simulator and if he can notice that sort of facade then why do developers constantly think we'll be suckered into believing that we
Fuck the immersion, just let me enjoy the sodding game.
Also, if they think their games are so immersive, what do they expect will happen if you're playing it and the power cuts out? It can't be good, surely...