More immersion stuff

Evidently immersion is the hot topic on the blog, so I thought I would used my weekly post to discuss perhaps the game that has had me more immersed than any other I have played (including WoW)

The game in question is the NHL series from EA Sports, for those who don't know NHL stands for National Hockey League, aka the professional Ice Hockey competition in America and Canada. Most people will have an idea of what your traditional sports video game is like, you control one team, the cpu or a friend controls the other team etc etc but in NHL 09 and subsequently NHL 10 (EA sports cranks the same cash cow year after year) they released a new game mode called EASHL - EA Sports Hockey League.

In the EASHL, players create their player/avatar and play as an individual rather than controlling the entire sports team. Ice Hockey features six players per team on the ice at one time and in the EASHL each one of those spots is generally controlled by another human opponent or team mate. Players can decide on their characters name/d.o.b/physical attributes etc and then team up with friends to form a team. That team is also custom created, designing uniforms etc to create a real team identity, then you simply log on together and "hit the ice" against another bunch of people doing the same thing. If you want to become a good team, you will need to operate as a team, you need to learn plays together, you need to learn how your teammates play the game, much the same as when you play a real sport, team chemistry is vital and selfish players will hurt the team. Again like real sport, if you want to move up into the higher talent teams, you will need to prove yourself, you will need to trial in order to make the squad. NHL 10 involves monthly "seasons" including statistic tracking, standings etc everything you would expect from a professional league. You effectively are an athlete, playing for a team, with REAL people in a REAL competition. The big indicator of how immersed I have become at times with this game is when expressing my displeasure of a teammates performance, no longer do you say to yourself "the stupid computer (aka the AI) messed it up), instead it's "stupid [insert gamertag here] messed it up". The feeling of defeat feels much more real also, when you lose to the computer, at least for me, the feelings are either of frustration or thinking about how the game cheats to make it harder for you. But when losing to real players, real teams, the defeat feels much more real, you look at that closing score thinking about the talent your opposition displayed, you feel respect when you lose to a talented player, you get that "good game" mentality that we are all taught as young sports players.

The game has soared in popularity and the EASHL has proven to be a very popular feature. EA sports hosted four of the best EASHL teams, two finalist for the PS3 and two for 360, to compete in the first official EASHL championships prior to the release of NHL 10. Members were flown to EA Canada's office in Vancouver to play for the title of being the best virtual hockey team in the world. http://insideblog.easports.com/archive/2009/07/17/videos-of-eashl-console-finals.aspx Features video of the matches.

At times it seems the most immersing experiences are too often about finding your inner mage or warrior and slaying evil orcs, I think what EA are doing with EASHL (and they are starting similar features on other sports games also) is often overlooked as becoming a pioneering force in the path to immersion, to blurring that line between gaming and real life.

James W