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Scott Johnson

Mr. Quick

English 319

11 March 2017

Works Cited

Kutner, Lawrence, and Cheryl Olson. Grand Theft Childhood: the Surprising Truth about

Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do. New York, Simon & Schuster, 2011.

Grand Theft Childhood is a novel about video games, and how they affect our

minds psychologically. The focus is children in this novel, but ultimately, the goal is to

dispel any false accusations placed on video games. The book frequently argues against

common misconceptions of the “violent videogames” discussion, and uses psychological

studies to do so. It’s stated that the way one interacts with a video game is no different

than the way one person is to interact with any other form of media, and we are all

exposed to it frequently. The entire book takes a positive outlook on the idea of gaming

as a whole in the hopes to change people’s perspectives to see how gaming isn’t an

absolutely vile item to behold, but one that is still beneficial.

Cheryl K Olson and Lawrence Kutner are both psychologists with their own

specializations. Kutner is a child psychologist, and an author of numerous books

revolving around the inner workings of a child’s mind. Olson is an internationally known

expert who’s focus is the ability to change behavior through media. She has taken part in

groundbreaking studies about teens and video games that has shed light on the discussion
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of violent video games. This book is filled with counterarguments, and counters to those

counterarguments that anyone has the ability to utilize themselves. This book covers the

topic of video game violence, but narrows it down to psychological studies, somewhat

briefly touch upon items such as spatial presence and other items that go under the

umbrella of immersion. The lasting effects that these immersive atmospheres leave on a

person could also be an excellent topic to explore.

Isbister, Katherine. How Games Move Us: Emotion by Design. Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press,

2016

This book centralizes around the idea that video games with good design have the

power to completely move us emotionally. Isbister argues that games can play a

powerful role in creating empathy, as well as other emotional experiences. An observer

of one in the act of playing may not develop enough mastery to completely be immersed

into the emotional aspects of games. Choice and flow are factors of games that

developers use to evoke more emotion and interaction from a player. Isbister hopes that

people can continue to look at video games the same way we can view a film that has

obtained critical acclaim.

Katherine Isbister is a Human Computer Interaction and Games researcher who

creates and studies games, as well as other computer-supported experiences. She and her

lab group have been cited in Wired, Scientific American, and NPR for their work on

establishing the connections between games, emotions, and social connections. She has a

Ph.D. from Stanford University for Communication and Human-Computer interaction.

Immersion contains the ability for a game to evoke emotion and actions from the player

in the real world. Isbister’s primary focus is this direct emotional connection, and it
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would be perfect to help embellish on how games can truly make us have real world

interactions with a virtual world.

McGonigal, Jane. Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change

the World. London, Vintage, 2012

To Jane McGonigal, reality is slowly starting to lose its edge when competed

against video games. She argues that the audience who plays video games is rapidly

expanding, and for a multitude of reasons. The primary focus is how gamers are

immersed into games, and have been spending massive amounts of time engaged in them.

McGonigal describes gaming as an atmospheric experience, one that takes gamers away

from the reality they choose to ignore, or simply escape for a short amount ot fime. As

this line between reality and virtual worlds becomes slimmer, she shows how gaming’s

immersive elements can absolutely take a person in psychologically.

Jane McGonigal is a world-renowned designer of games designed to improve

lives and resolve real world problems. Reality is Broken is her book that brought her to

the New York Times bestselling list. McGonigal is the Director of Games Research &

Development at the Institute for the Future, a founder of Gameful, and a speaker with

numerous TED talks with her name. She has earned multiple awards, including the

“Entertainment Breakthrough of the Year” award from the World Technology Forum.

Her insight on the idea that the main appeal of video games is the immersive experience

it provides would be extremely beneficial to my paper. It’s a given that games can be

immersive, but McGonigal digs into how it changes us as people, and even how the

influence of these games are continuing to spread all over the world.
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Wirth, W., Ryffel, F., von Pape, T., & Karnowski, V. (in press). The development of video game

enjoyment in a role playing game. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.

Using “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,” the journal argues how different

environmental factors contribute to a positive gaming experience. Based on the

experiment run, it is argued that items such as Exploratory Behavior is an item that

influences enjoyment – when gamers explore their virtual environment to gain

information, they tend to learn more and find themselves having a more positive

experience. Spatial presence is explored, showing that gamers given more time to

engross themselves and almost feel as if they’re in a state in which they perceive

themselves in this mediated environment, their enjoyment spikes. Though virtual factors

are positive, it is also argued that when there is a glitch or minor problem with hardware

as one is playing their game, the effects of spatial presence is negated, and one’s fluency

is stuttered, shattering their enjoyable experience.

This journal is by Werner Wirth; Fabian Ryffel; Thilo von Pape, and Veronika

Karnowski. All of whom are experts in their field of study, which is either psychology,

or electronic sciences. For example, Werner Wirth has studied Communication

Psychology, Statistics, Sociology and Informatics – and is currently a full professor at the

University of Zurich, Institute of Mass Communication and Psychology and Media

Effects. Though none of them directly show their voice in the journal, the experiment is

clearly done with extreme care and knowledge on the topic beforehand – allowing nearly

every hypothesis to be completely correct by the end of the experiment. The overall

study depicted in the journal expands upon the variables that improve upon a positive

gaming environment – most of which that can be fit in the frame of “immersion.” Spatial
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presence is a strong binary state that has been mentioned by other sources on the same

topic, and this study only further credits it. It goes on to show how the way a player

interacts with a game truly defines their experience.

Jennings, Lane. "Worlds to conquer online: multiplayer gaming comes of age; Imaginary worlds

enable billions to act out their dreams, and computerized fantasies offer opportunities to

make real money." The Futurist, July-Aug. 2006, p. 60+. Student Resources in Context,

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A147620411/SUIC?u=pala82631&xid=f07e972a. Accessed

11 Mar. 2017.

Edward Castronova states that “The line between games and real life has been

blurred.” The journal illustrates the ideal that online gaming is proceeding to be

populated more, and the interactions made in these virtual realms can be just as

captivating as those in the real world. Castronova shows how in-game economies with

their own currencies have branched into the real world, with people spending real money

to get “pretend” gear in this entirely fictional world to online players. With the

popularity of MMORPGs on the rise, friends, and even entire families go online to play

in the same online world – possibly to escape real-world problems. It’s argued that

online games can offer much greater personal satisfaction at an extremely low social cost.

Edward Castronova is an economist and professor of telecommunications at

Indiana University. He is famous for his works based on the economics of virtual realms.

Castronova has spent years monitoring the rise and spread of MMORPGs. An author of

works that explore the ideas of virtual currencies, and how they manage to protrude into

the real world – his expertise can provide me with more ways that virtual worlds are

slowly becoming more and more real, particularly in ones involving multiplayer
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engagement. Seeing how we as gamers are willing to shell out money or simply just get

engrossed towards an entirely fake economy is intriguing, and Castronova has spent a

massive amount of time studying just this phenomenon. Showing how we as consumers,

or simply gamers, contribute to virtual economies with real world value.

Felton, Derek S. "'Been there,' learned that: education through identity, presence, and narrative in

shared virtual worlds." The Proceedings of the Laurel Highlands Communications

Conference, 2014, p. 18+. Student Resources in Context,

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A429632593/SUIC?u=pala82631&xid=5756689b.

Accessed 11 Mar. 2017..

In this communications conference, it is said that an avatar is a proxy, an agent

acting on behalf other person controlling it. We embody the characters we play as, and

more so when they’re characters we create. To us, reality is easy to comprehend;

however, when we consider that our virtual avatar is in their “real world,” we as people

who play these games are invested as we project ourselves onto these characters. It is

argued that the virtual environment begins to feel real to any person who interacts with it,

which is the primary goal of any world designer in a game development company. This

journal mentions educational implications, involving games such as Second Life, in

which a person can create their own avatar and walk around in a completely malleable

virtual world that someone can alter – a teacher, or anyone with access to it. Learning

software has evolved to become more “gamified,” but would completely fail if there were

no contributing factors such as integrating identity, storytelling, and other important

factors of immersion in gaming.

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The Laurel Highlands Communications Conference was established in 2009 to

encourage research and scholarship in communications, media, and other related fields.

The conference is open for faculty, graduate, and undergrad students of the Indiana

University of Pennsylvania to submit proposals for their own presentations based on a

topic of their choice. This presentation by Derek S Felton has his focus on how we as

people connect our real selves to virtual environments. In this, he references a multitude

of direct sources from research on gamification, and the identity theory. This central idea

of one’s identity, virtually and in reality, is just what I need for a discussion on how our

own personalities allow a projection of ourselves into virtual realms to be immersed in.

His vast source library will also allow me more points to turn to, if I require more

information on this topic.

Manjoo, Farhad “If You Like Immersion, You’ll Love This Reality,” New York Times, April 02,

2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/technology/personaltech/virtual-reality-

perfect-for-an-immersive-society.html.

This article in the New York Times shows how virtual reality, both in gaming and

simply the experience itself, is becoming more and more relevant. With Mark

Zuckerberg investing into virtual reality, he comments on an experience – one that agrees

with the idea that virtual reality is becoming more and more real. Virtual reality still has

improvements to be made upon it, but it is currently an extremely compelling experience

that transports any user to a realm in which they will be completely immersed into.

Virtual reality allows one’s experience in a virtual space to have a powerful human

connection, allowing the triggering of physical responses when certain events are to
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happen. It goes on to speak of the inevitable rise of virtual reality due to the immersive

qualities it produces.

Farhad Manjoo is as technology columnist with the New York Times. He has had

previous writing experience on the topic of technology with Slate and the Wall Street

Journal. This article takes information directly from Dr. Jeremy Bailenson, a virtual

reality researcher who directs Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction lab.

Through Bailenson’s insight, it’s easy to see the way that virtual reality is effective in

taking one person into an entirely different world. The only way that any of these tools

would work would be by a person allowing them to be completely immersed into it.

Giving into the simulation and having technology growing to accommodate this type of

experience only further proves how in gaming and other media – immersion is key.

Stuart, Keith. "What do we mean when we call a game 'immersive'?" Guardian Games blog.

Guardian News and Media, 11 Aug. 2010. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.

<https://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2010/aug/10/games-science-of-

immersion>..

Ways a gamer is immersed is the subject of this article in theguardian. Keith

Stuart states how the importance of set dressing is a massive part of game creation. By

removing arbitrary spaces and fleshing out the environment one person explores in a

game, it becomes more like an actual living location someone could visit in real life. It’s

argued that making more correlations to virtual and real world emotions also manages to

pull the gamer into the midst of a game they’re playing. Allowing events like a romantic

dialogue, or even simple social conversations allows a person playing a game to become

attached, and thusly, immersed.

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Keith Stuart is popular news source theguardian’s games editor. With over 20

years of experience, Keith Stuart has prowess in writing on video games, technology, and

digital media. Stuart has also written for large gaming culture publications such as PC

Gamer and The Official PlayStation Magazine. As a gamer himself, he has firsthand

experience as to what makes games truly immersive. With these direct examples, I can

further embellish upon items such as set dressing and direct emotional connections that

people have with the games they play. It’s often forgotten how people’s personalities and

their personal thoughts play a major role in how they are affected when they play a game

– and whether they lose track of time or not. This article by Stuart talks about this in a

sense that gaming is an imaginative experience that anyone can feel for themselves.

Mahar, Ian. "The Two Ways You Become Immersed in Video Games." Kotaku. Kotaku.com, 08

Oct. 2012. Web. 11 Mar. 2017. <http://kotaku.com/5949897/the-two-ways-you-become-

immersed-in-video-games>.

This article by neuroscientist Ian Mahar talks about how something as simple as

text has the ability to alter a person’s cognition to the extent that they place themselves

into a scene, and even how they identify themselves in this scene. This of course, is

simply what people call “immersion.” He argues that video games take the most crucial

aspects of immersion and meld them together into something amazing, such as a game’s

story, music, characters, and general environments. Mahar states that immersion isn’t

necessary for all games, as puzzle games like Tetris may not necessarily be immersive,

but is still engaging. Immersion is said not to be in just one form. There is “impersonal

immersion,” where you relate yourself to a character in a game, or “personal immersion,”

in which you directly put yourself in a game, your thoughts, and your appearance,
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whatever the game world may allow you to do. Both allow you to be engrossed in a

game, but personal immersion seems to be more enticing, as it is a lot closer to connect

with because rather than putting yourself in another character’s shoes, it’s more like

you’re just putting on your own in a virtual world.

Ian Mahar is a neuroscience expert who has earned the Grad Excellence Award in

Neurology & Neurosurgery from McGill University. His primary focus has been the

neurobiology of psychiatric conditions, be it emotional modulation and suicide, or

chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Mahar’s extensive knowledge on the human brain,

and the psychological effects that can be connected to it, adds a voice to the conversation

of gaming immersion that can easily be taken as truth by anyone who reads it. Knowing

how we project ourselves onto our own virtual avatars is a huge part of being sucked into

a game that one is playing. By putting your entire mental capacity into playing a video

game, your brain begins to take you into a world that is still entirely fictional, and yet,

very real emotions are triggered – just like watching a movie or reading a novel. This

insight on the neuroscience of immersion is something I hope to embellish upon.

BioWare, Mass Effect Trilogy. EA International, 2003-2008. Computer Software.

This video game trilogy is still one of my favorite experiences I have ever had

with gaming. Period. Mass Effect 1-3 is a series of games following the journey of

Commander Shepard. A playable character you get to customize, and completely choose

the destiny of. With every encounter allowing you to select from several dialogue

options, a player is given the ability to tailor their story and create their own individual

experience. The central focus of this game was not only the exciting gameplay, but the

immersive storytelling that BioWare had hoped to create. With a vast amount of codex
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entries, and side missions to flesh out the characters you met on your ship, the game is a

role-playing game at its core - a role-playing game with the intention to pull a player into

an entirely different reality, one that the player controls in a variety of different ways.

Through numerous conferences, including ones regarding the newest installment’s

release, BioWare continues to comment on how immersion has been what allows games

like theirs to reach the top.

Mass Effect is a game developed BioWare, a company with the tagline of “Rich

Stories, Unforgettable Characters, and Vast Worlds.” BioWare has had numerous

successes with their critically acclaimed titles, including the Mass Effect series (one of

the highest rated game series of all time), Dragon Age, and even Star Wars: Knights of

the Old Republic. Their focus is to deliver the most emotionally engaging games

possible, and their expertise in the realm of immersing a player in their games has come

to fruition in the past several years. Mass Effect in particular is a game that is near and

dear to my heart just because of the immersion it provides. Using it as a point of

reference, one could easily point out elements that have been mentioned in other

scientific studies. Set dressing and vivid storytelling are just a couple of parts of

BioWare’s formula, and the Mass Effect series has been a prime example of what an

immersive game can be at its peak.

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