immersion fail. and future submersion?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R1_YOU_z9s

okay, so i wanted to just talk about how total immersion one second, or sometimes delight at having owned the game for a round or a level, can result in accidents. and that video was the perfect intro.

to be able to be so immersed in a game that you forget your surroundings, or become a part of a game for a short period of time, would be what i consider total immersion. similar to extreme sports at the apex of a risk-heavy trick or being completely engaged by a book or movie. i define it as when nothing else matters for that moment but the world you're lost in.

but we all know this. what, in particular, i wanted to share my opinion with, was the surroundings of the playing space...focusing on the wii, of course. i don't own a wii, but i have played it a few times at different friends' houses. and one of my most entertaining experiences involving the wii was just watching two of my mates playing tennis and consistently coming within mere centimetres of bruising each other. it became more watchable than the actual game they were playing and another friend watching started taking bets as to who would get hit first, and how.

personally, i like the idea of defining a wide open playing space in each wii arena before engaging the game. it's just something i think should happen. and with more and more technically-advanced features coming out, i don't think we're far from things interfaces like what they had in 'district 9' when vickus piloted the alien ship, maybe mixed with 'virtiosity' (denzel washington, russel crowe) so that we will have to fully submersed our bodies in some liquid that can handle our avatar movements at the speed of thought, or...at least the speed of bodily instinctual reaction.

just my two cents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDQCn4QENxc

Benjamin Teh.