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How a nod to Nietzsche in Soma got me thinking twice about that suffocating buzzword, immersion
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a34f14547787822f71eb77d026e68155
link
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/how-a-nod-to-nietzsche-in-soma-got-me-thinking-twice-about-that-suffocating-buzzword-immersion
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description
I can't remember the first time I felt "immersed" in a videogame, but I can remember the first time I got stuck under a swimming pool float as a kid, scratching at a scabby foam ceiling roamed by mocking silver jellyfish of air. I can remember the first few times I drowned in videogames, fighting the waterlogged handling in Sonic's Labyrinth Zone, or operating the agile sarcophagus that is Lara Croft in Aztec print grottos of antiseptic blue.
I find the continuing use of "immersive" to describe believable videogame worlds weird and a bit alarming. Partial immersion would be one thing - the videogame as nice hot bath at the end of the day, the videogame as splashing around in a stream of thought, the videogame as a kind of apple-bobbing. The "immersion" of the "immersive sim" is a different matter entirely: it's a box of clockwork you're invited to tease apart, not some hyperreal enclosure. But the "full" or "total" sensory immersion repeatedly offered by big-budget, photoreal 3D games seems a lot like suffocation.
content_html
I can't remember the first time I felt "immersed" in a videogame, but I can remember the first time I got stuck under a swimming pool float as a kid, scratching at a scabby foam ceiling roamed by mocking silver jellyfish of air. I can remember the first few times I drowned in videogames, fighting the waterlogged handling in Sonic's Labyrinth Zone, or operating the agile sarcophagus that is Lara Croft in Aztec print grottos of antiseptic blue.
I find the continuing use of "immersive" to describe believable videogame worlds weird and a bit alarming. Partial immersion would be one thing - the videogame as nice hot bath at the end of the day, the videogame as splashing around in a stream of thought, the videogame as a kind of apple-bobbing. The "immersion" of the "immersive sim" is a different matter entirely: it's a box of clockwork you're invited to tease apart, not some hyperreal enclosure. But the "full" or "total" sensory immersion repeatedly offered by big-budget, photoreal 3D games seems a lot like suffocation.
content_text
I can't remember the first time I felt "immersed" in a videogame, but I can remember the first time I got stuck under a swimming pool float as a kid, scratching at a scabby foam ceiling roamed by mocking silver jellyfish of air. I can remember the first few times I drowned in videogames, fighting the waterlogged handling in Sonic's Labyrinth Zone, or operating the agile sarcophagus that is Lara Croft in Aztec print grottos of antiseptic blue. I find the continuing use of "immersive" to describe believable videogame worlds weird and a bit alarming. Partial immersion would be one thing - the videogame as nice hot bath at the end of the day, the videogame as splashing around in a stream of thought, the videogame as a kind of apple-bobbing. The "immersion" of the "immersive sim" is a different matter entirely: it's a box of clockwork you're invited to tease apart, not some hyperreal enclosure. But the "full" or "total" sensory immersion repeatedly offered by big-budget, photoreal 3D games seems a lot like suffocation. Read more
pub_date
15 October 2025, 4:52 pm
guid
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/how-a-nod-to-nietzsche-in-soma-got-me-thinking-twice-about-that-suffocating-buzzword-immersion
creator
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
processed
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id: 84871
uid: Q1vHP
insdate: 2025-10-15 16:30:01
title: How a nod to Nietzsche in Soma got me thinking twice about that suffocating buzzword, immersion
additional:
category: Rock Paper Shotgun
md5: a34f14547787822f71eb77d026e68155
link: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/how-a-nod-to-nietzsche-in-soma-got-me-thinking-twice-about-that-suffocating-buzzword-immersion
image: https://assetsio.gnwcdn.com/header_XvapHT7.jpg?width=690&quality=85&format=jpg&auto=webp
image_imgur:
description:
I can't remember the first time I felt "immersed" in a videogame, but I can remember the first time I got stuck under a swimming pool float as a kid, scratching at a scabby foam ceiling roamed by mocking silver jellyfish of air. I can remember the first few times I drowned in videogames, fighting the waterlogged handling in Sonic's Labyrinth Zone, or operating the agile sarcophagus that is Lara Croft in Aztec print grottos of antiseptic blue.
I find the continuing use of "immersive" to describe believable videogame worlds weird and a bit alarming. Partial immersion would be one thing - the videogame as nice hot bath at the end of the day, the videogame as splashing around in a stream of thought, the videogame as a kind of apple-bobbing. The "immersion" of the "immersive sim" is a different matter entirely: it's a box of clockwork you're invited to tease apart, not some hyperreal enclosure. But the "full" or "total" sensory immersion repeatedly offered by big-budget, photoreal 3D games seems a lot like suffocation.
content_html:
I can't remember the first time I felt "immersed" in a videogame, but I can remember the first time I got stuck under a swimming pool float as a kid, scratching at a scabby foam ceiling roamed by mocking silver jellyfish of air. I can remember the first few times I drowned in videogames, fighting the waterlogged handling in Sonic's Labyrinth Zone, or operating the agile sarcophagus that is Lara Croft in Aztec print grottos of antiseptic blue.
I find the continuing use of "immersive" to describe believable videogame worlds weird and a bit alarming. Partial immersion would be one thing - the videogame as nice hot bath at the end of the day, the videogame as splashing around in a stream of thought, the videogame as a kind of apple-bobbing. The "immersion" of the "immersive sim" is a different matter entirely: it's a box of clockwork you're invited to tease apart, not some hyperreal enclosure. But the "full" or "total" sensory immersion repeatedly offered by big-budget, photoreal 3D games seems a lot like suffocation.
content_text: I can't remember the first time I felt "immersed" in a videogame, but I can remember the first time I got stuck under a swimming pool float as a kid, scratching at a scabby foam ceiling roamed by mocking silver jellyfish of air. I can remember the first few times I drowned in videogames, fighting the waterlogged handling in Sonic's Labyrinth Zone, or operating the agile sarcophagus that is Lara Croft in Aztec print grottos of antiseptic blue. I find the continuing use of "immersive" to describe believable videogame worlds weird and a bit alarming. Partial immersion would be one thing - the videogame as nice hot bath at the end of the day, the videogame as splashing around in a stream of thought, the videogame as a kind of apple-bobbing. The "immersion" of the "immersive sim" is a different matter entirely: it's a box of clockwork you're invited to tease apart, not some hyperreal enclosure. But the "full" or "total" sensory immersion repeatedly offered by big-budget, photoreal 3D games seems a lot like suffocation. Read more
pub_date: 15 October 2025, 4:52 pm
guid: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/how-a-nod-to-nietzsche-in-soma-got-me-thinking-twice-about-that-suffocating-buzzword-immersion
creator: Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
related_games:
processed: TRUE