The most widely-used, interactive and fully-immersive experience of virtual worlds is in video game play. Needless to say, video game play has left the sofa in the basement where a teen boy sat, and is now front and center in the family living room. Gaming has crossed all demographics; indeed, the most rapidly growing market is the casual gaming genre, played by middle-aged women. This engagement in interactive virtual worlds is not only limited to video game play, as life online takes various forms. But common to all these are increasing, and at times problematic, play patterns. The idea that such pervasive and ever-growing immersion in virtual play affects consciousness seems obvious and is the focus of this book.
The most widely-used, interactive and fully-immersive experience of virtual worlds is in video game play. Needless to say, video game play has left the sofa in the basement where a teen boy sat, and is now front and center in the family living room. Gaming has crossed all demographics; indeed, the most rapidly growing market is the casual gaming genre, played by middle-aged women. This engagement in interactive virtual worlds is not only limited to video game play, as life online takes various forms. But common to all these are increasing, and at times problematic, play patterns. The idea that such pervasive and ever-growing immersion in virtual play affects consciousness seems obvious and is the focus of this book.
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