Book part:

Computerspiel und Immersion: Eckpunkte eines Verständnisrahmens

Computer games are held to be immersive. Still, a convincing framework that reflects their specific impact is missing. Interactivity seems to be a key feature that computer games share with a lot of other games. But interactivity is neither a requirement that immersive media such as movies meet nor is it reducible to that kind of immersion that is mediated by perception, narration, or cognitive involvement. Therefore, one can argue that interactivity sets free a genuine power of immersion. Of course, this power is reinforced by the rules of the game, by narration etc. However, the main point is the systematic and recursive integration of the user in the ongoing series of input/output loops. Without this integration there would be no game, no interactivity, and no immersion at all