Journal Week 4 - Sensation

After reading the material given for the sensation journal it made me think about how the games I play allow me to enjoy the game through a visual and audio experience. A good example of a game that I can think of is Jedi Outcast where you can maneuver the player much like in Mario 64. There's obvious points in the storyline that you have to achieve, such as finding Desann and retrieving your lightsaber, but the majority of the game is doing force moves and wielding weapons. There's also the sounds of the player walking across metal, opening doors or swimming through lakes.

I think a good game allows a player to feel as though they are a part of the game. Games that have background music that reflects the current location of a player such as in clubs or outside, or games that allow you to interact with objects in the virtual world help to achieve this effect. In Max Payne the player is able to use the vending machine or the TVs and can open lockers as well as doors. There's also sound effects from the TV as the player changes channels.

In terms of visuals I think games which have more realistic graphical work are more immersive than abstract or retro games. Playing a real-looking person in a first person shooter makes it easier to relate to the character than if you played Pacman, for example. A game with good physics is also enjoyable and immersive, as we cansee with Mario 64 where you're able to run and jump and slide down inclines. Swimming is also done well in Mario 64 where you can appear to swim upwards rather than the character just magically moving up. This is something to think about if I have a game involving a player character interacting with its surroundings.