Immersion Through Input
Computer games as immersive pieces of software have an obvious limitation, the hardware in which they are displayed on.
Some lackluster attempts at breaking out of the TV have come along. Systems such as the much maligned Nintendo Virtual Boy or the z800, have failed for various reasons such as cost or comfort. …Or health warnings.
These limitations have forced game developers to develop immersion elsewhere. This is when software and hardware (outside of visual hardware) come together. The video game peripheral (an external add on device) breaks out of the framed virtual reality of the screen into your hand.
Peripherals are not a new fad, they have existed since the emergence of the home console. The Nintendo Zapper was released with the original NES and Famicon, and was a “Light-Gun” peripheral. Other peripherals such as Joysticks with throttle and steering wheels with foot pedals have been prevalent for a great number of years in terms of video game history.
This is also the basis of the arcade machine. Motorbikes you sit on, racing games with bucket seats and harnesses with surround sound all around you. House of the Dead 3 provided pump action shotguns as part of the game.
Although these advances do not build an immersive world, it works in making the interaction with the given world more immersive.
