The Third Level of Immersion---- Addictive Immersion

I don’t remember when the first time I touched video game console was, but I do remember it was the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System), the very first memorable gift from my mother, either because I had good grade in my examinations, or because of my birthday. Anyway, I had a very long history in playing video game, and I can say that, I was never addictive, at all, even at early stage of gaming, there was symptoms, such as completely forgot about time, or played a game for full 24 hours. In the lecture, Kevin mentioned the concept of immersion, and how this concept fitting the role of addiction, contrast to my understanding, I found myself stuck between a rock and a hard case; in one hand, immersion is totally innocent, doesn’t matter if it is diegetic immersion or situated immersion, but In other hand, at some level, I do believe the immersion is closely connected to the video game addiction. After a few days of thinking, all in a sudden, there is a strange idea emerging from the bottom of my thoughts; it can be read as a direct argument against Laurie N Taylor‘s assumption of immersion, whom believes that there are only two kinds of immersion, but the truth is, there is the third level of immersion existed, and that is the addictive immersion.

Addictive immersion is both, a combination of diegetic immersion and situated immersion, and to the extended, the affective expression of previous immersions. People, who firstly interact with a video game, cannot immediately become addictive. There is always a process, of interchanging, and, of transforming, from regular participation to obsessive participation. However, we don’t call the gamer who has both diegetic immersion and situated immersion addictive, so I wonder if there is something else existed beside these two immersions; something look similar but different in its nature. I think I found the answer; it is the third level of immersion, the addictive immersion. There is no official word for what it is, but I could not find any other appropriate word describing it. In my understanding, the addictive immersion only happens when the participant has gone too far in his / her act of interactivity. In general understanding, this is where good becomes bad. The diegetic immersion is the entry level of playing, the situated immersion is next, and both of them are still in the range of legitimate and rational playing. What makes the addictive immersion different from others; I personally believe it has something to do with its orientation. Whether you agree with me or not, the diegetic immersion and situated immersion are the act of, under the participant’s own will, immersing individual into the world of game, or into the life of avatar, of course with support of agency, but the addictive immersion is exactly opposite. Doesn’t matter if the participant is physically volunteered or mentally forced, what they do is immersing the world of game into the life of their own as a whole.

I have no idea if I am correct of not, but I do know I am getting somewhere, right?