“We need first to acknowledge that today’s players are aware of the magic circle – they are often willfully and happily partially within it and playing conceptually with their sense of presence therein at any given moment, regardless of how immersive the game is. Second, we need to offer them more than the mere ability to enter and exit that circle. We need to let them touch it, manipulate it, and explore and test its limits.” I object to some of the stereotypes in this essay, and have trouble grasping what is meant by the term “immersive sim”. But I can only agree with the point that anything of importance in a game should be in something a player can act on. The rest, frankly, is dressing.
