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I began my second playthrough of BioShock Infinite last night, and it ended up making me think a lot about immersiveness in video games. I was both looking forward to it and dreading it for around a year now. It’s rare for the second time through with something to have the same magic as the first time, since there are fewer surprises. So I was surprised to find that the game has much the same effect on me so far this time. I have the same sense I did before of being transported from my mundane life, and really being in this other place and time, immersed in this different atmosphere. The sense of place there remains unique. Having played BioShock 1 and 2 now, I have to say those are also very atmospheric games—but not quite on the same level for me. And now I think I can list factors which play into why BioShock Infinite seems to have this uniquely immersive pull on me: It’s in first person. Third-person is too detached and limiting, which is why this game beats TLOU for immersion to me—even though TLOU is very immersive. You have time to stop and look around, and are in fact encouraged to do so. BioShocks 1 and 2 spawn too many continuous enemies to do this conveniently. The soundtracking is often minimal, with the ambient sounds of the city in the foreground. This is more like “real life” than continuous soundtracking. There are often things going on in your environment, many of them unique events. These are timed with your movements so that they seem spontaneous, both drawing you forward and encouraging you to stop and pause and pay attention. In short, the game is paced for you to explore and savour. This is entirely subjective, but I find Booker very easy to relate to. We have a lot of the same reactions to what we see, so it is easy to be immersed both in the world and in his mind. From your experiences gaming, what factors do you think help make a game immersive to the point where you truly feel like you’ve left the room and travelled to the game world? @DylanC @killamch89 @kingpotato @The Blackangel @Alyxx @Aerielle del Rosario @Executor Akamia @skyfire

For those who are old enough to remember the DOS era on PC, what were your favorite DOS games? A couple I remember fondly are Return to Zork and Heaven and Earth. @DylanC @killamch89 @kingpotato @The Blackangel @Alyxx @Aerielle del Rosario @Executor Akamia @skyfire

@kingpotato and I were talking about followers in Fallout: New Vegas, and he mentioned that he has a preference for going it alone in games in general. So I thought I’d ask everyone here: Do you prefer to travel with or without followers, and why? I originally thought when I first started playing open world games that I’d find followers annoying, but I now usually trail as many around with me as I can. I suppose I just like the “being in a party” vibe, and I also like that sometimes they make interesting comments, have quests (i.e. New Vegas), and so on. Plus, they are fun to dress up in nice armour (i.e. the Daedric armour in Skyrim). Mind you, I hate when they get stuck in Skyrim—what a pain. But in NV, this seems to happen less often, and they also tend to be more helpful in combat (especially Boone). @kingpotato @DylanC

All of us have been through some pretty crazy encounters that have created a lasting memory. For instance, back in 2014, I came face to face with a 700 lb tiger at Zoo Miami when one of the caretakers accidentally left one of the tiger's enclosure open and he naturally took advantage of it. I was walking a bit ahead of my brother when we spotted the tiger and vice versa - I told my brother to back away slowly as the tiger approached me. I had learned from my many encounters running into stray/wild animals to keep absolutely calm and the most incredible thing happened - He started sniffed for about a minute and then yawned and fell asleep on my foot. I didn't want to make any sudden moves because it could have startled him. Luckily, the staff had realized the tiger had been missing and had already been on the lookout for him so one of them showed up with a tranquilizer. They successfully tranquilized him and then 3 others came to help get his heavy head off my foot. They strapped him up to some kind of pulley and put him in the back of a small truck and carried him back to his area. Somehow, throughout the whole ordeal, I was for the most part pretty calm about everything and I even had a laugh with some of the staff afterwards. I also learned that the caretaker who forgot to lock his area had fed him during that time so he wasn't hungry at all so that may have also contributed to his non-aggressive behavior towards me. It was a crazy encounter for sure! What are the craziest encounters you've ever had?

If I had been able to think at the time instead of scared almost to the point of pissing myself, I probably would have. I actually intended to shoot him in the body, but squeezed the trigger too soon. When he dropped that was all I needed to get myself the hell out of there. That was a .380 that I shot him with. Now I carry a .45 loaded with hollow points. I’m not fucking around. If this kind of shit happens again, I’ll most likely be facing manslaughter charges. But I don’t care. If I get you in the leg, I will then walk up to you and get you in the head.

I think the issue is these days parents being millennial and letting things happen. Things for next few generations would be difficult for sure.

Being forced into carrying on a mile long conversation with NPC's drives me insane. Also there's a special trick that FF8 likes as part of the story. When Ellone jumps you back into Laguna's era. I don't give a shit what Laguna was doing 17 years ago. I got shit to take care of in the present. Fuck Laguna. He's the president of Esthar now. Ok. Good for him. Now back to kicking someone's ass, getting that last fucking GF, then heading to cactuar island to learn abilities quickly.

Similar to Alyxx above, I have all my physical copies in stacks on a shelf. I really like having them in their original cases as I quite like the artwork and looking at the names on the side of the boxes.

Makes sense. There are some hassles with followers, especially in Skyrim.

Exactly. Because they can.

I was a hunter when I was a kid, and we always ate everything we killed. That was our main reason for hunting. Food. And we hunted almost every game animal available in Missouri. But even then, I didn't like the idea of trophy hunting. It just didn't make sense to me. It still doesn't. I lost interest in hunting years ago, and actually sold my deer rifle and shotgun recently. I think I kinda got ripped off, but if I was stupid enough to let that happen then I deserved it. But even if I wanted to go hunting I couldn't because I'm in a wheelchair now. The closest I go to hunting now is trying to find the right shoes when I have to go out.

My favorite comment on the video on Youtube: "Yeah, see, I see that you chainsawed that man in half, but it didn’t feel like you MEANT it" They really missed a lot of small details that made the early games great, Gears 5 looks beautiful, but its the small details that make a game the best.

Animal testing should totally be banned. However, the remark on the wilderness is a bit of hypocrisy - cause you're just asking others to kill for you (grocery store consumer) - assuming you're not vegetarian.

I think weathers affecting terrain would be welcome change. It's like map making things open or chaotic would be a nice change to see.

In my view, It disgusts me because they are living beings like us with feelings, emotions and just trying to find their way through life like us. Hunting them to feed yourself out of necessity is understandable in the case of a dire situation like stranded out in the wilderness because some animals would do the same to us. Killing animals for our own twisted amusement is absolute cruelty.