Case study: My Dad

With immersion on my mind I began thinking back to games I have played (which are very few) and whether or not I could say that I was either diegetically or intradiegetically immersed. Then I saw my dad playing Escape to Wolfenstein Castle. Although he has been playing the game for a few years now it has not been until now that I have started to watch him with interest. From watching him play I know that he is both diegetically and intradiegetically immersed in the game. While playing he is totally oblivious to the world around him, he has also told me about having dreams being in the game itself... (I think his 'world of concern' is actually starting to become a concern.)
He is not very successful at this game, having been playing it for a few years and never finishing it makes me wonder why? Surely the time spent on playing the game would have built up his skill level. Then I began to think maybe its the fact that it's a first person point-of-view style game that is hindering his progress. According to Taylor, 'Part of the trouble with first person point-of-view is that it isolates one dimension of spatial experience.' Maybe if the game had a third person point-of-view option he may be more successful at sensing oncoming enemies. Handy this option may be to dad I think it would detach his sense of embodiment in the character. His embodiment in the character is invested in the fact that it is a first person point-of-view. This begins me to think would other games function if the point-of-view was changed? Take for example SimCity, the game is played with a God view to help conjure the fact you are a power and force upon the game. If this point-of-view was changed to say third person you would lose this sense of power and force because of he connotations attached to an unseen power or force coming from somewhere above. You would still be able to function to a degree if point-of-view was changed but the way you are immersed in the game would change. This would counteract the game's intention on the player and the player's personal experience. The terms point-of-view, immersion and embodiment all overlap to create one's experience with a video game.
Please correct me if I am wrong, having little experience actually playing video games!
In the meantime dad will continue to be a spy escaping from the enemy for an hour each day, unbeknown to him while being my case study.

Must start essay.

Candace. W