AUDIT – Laser Tag
Laser tag can be a highly immersive game and relies heavily on its surrounding environment to stimulate and enhance the users experience. I audited Laser tag in three different locations and found that while there were different degrees of immersion, the physical exercise was enough to bring myself into the world of the game. This tactical immersion of having to react within split seconds to other players means our “higher brain functions are largely shut down” as we make movement for movement decisions that are “physical and immediate” (Gamasutra 2004). Immersion in laser tag can be heightened further by intense stimuli within the arena. For my audit I attended three vastly different spaces; Cousins house, Sidetracked (with friends) and Strike bowling (class mates).
I remembered as a child my cousins had a Halo laser tag set which lead to some intense standoffs and sessions lasting hours. So I thought it would be interesting playing this many years later and then analyzing this to more stimuli heavy environments.
My understanding of immersion is when you focus your attention towards a specific task and as a result, are so engaged that the environment around you shrinks. For it to be an immersive experience it needs to stimulate and redirect our attention on our major senses (Anon eReserve 2017). So the flashy lights, dark environment and windy paths are just a few things which adds to our perception in the game and away from the outside world. Laser tag becomes a very engrossing game because of this and is the reason why its still popular because it offers something cinema and VR cannot do.
Laser tag is a basic game heightened by various stimuli. Players compete in teams by using infrared beams fired from guns to hit infrared targets on other players vests. The two teams battle for the win, giving purpose to the action with outcomes such as the players kill/death ratio and accuracy of shooting. Players drive engagement but only if they are willing to suspend belief.
The target market for laser tag would be Males aged 10-15. At Strike bowling their laser tag had a very different crowd; an older age range mainly 18+ attracting people having a night out catching up with friends. Having a higher age group dictated the way the game was played. At Strike with a more laidback manner with less dedication to take it seriously. Laser tag at Sidetracked was taken more seriously by the younger crowd and consequently we became more competitive because of the hype. Another thing made players at LaserForce try harder to win was that they not only had a scoreboard but also a system where players could use personal accounts. This means that every time you come to play you are upgrading and levelling up you character. The player is now devoted and attached emotionally to get the best score each time, further immersing them into the world of the game as there are actual accomplishments to reach instead of single game wins.
Strikes simplistic arena was smaller than Laserforce which meant it was easier to see where the opposition were and gave the player an idea of the scale of it, lessening the immersion to stimuli. If they were to improve the space they could put mirrors along all the walls.giving a sense of infinity and further pushing the sci-fi themes of the venue. Laserforce’s multi-levels and intricate maze design meant we could play the game multiple times without easily navigating the arena. This brought about a freshness that strike lost after a few games. Strike felt more like a room they had somehow squeezed in rather than a stand alone arena. The prop design at strike also made the experience more exhilarating and interesting because they put in old sci-fi objects from old films. Some of these like the terminator robot also interacted with the game by becoming targets to shoot or actually becoming enemies which can shoot you. This interactivity and intricacy made LaserForce much more immersive than Strike especially after a couple of rounds.
The lighting in both venues was very dim using UV lights and smoke machines enhancing the texture of the light and overall ambience of the experience. This forced the player to stay alert and ready at all times. These uneasy environments was further heightened by the sound effects which darted around the room from the vests, phasers and targets. Music played a massive role in the arena as the “soundscape contributes to a sense of presence by creating an illusion of the game world as an actual space” (Xiaoqing 2015). The 90’s techno/anthem soundtracks also sped the play which made them seem very fast despite it being 10 minute games. When the fast passed music and the intensive activity of running, ducking and shooting are combined, it’s easier for the individual to find time suddenly alters its perceived speed (Xiaoqing 2015). So the environments created in these laser tag arenas are both engaging because time feels faster but because some aesthetic aspects of Strikes set up isn’t completely right, it is not fully immersive when compared to LaserForce.
What Laser tag is trying to do is create an environment which is unlike anything we are used to. It is an “experience that cannot exists in reality” therefore to a degree we can suspend disbelief and “side-track our senses” to view the environment as a novelty but still forget that we are not in our normal world (eReserve 2017). I believe the reason why Strikes Laser Tag fails at immersing the participants fully is because of its small size and simplicity.
While all three experiences differ greatly from one another they were all immersive in different ways. Laser tag at my cousins house had low immersion but because it was still energetic and competitive there was a high level of engagement. There was a level of temporal dissociation in the surroundings because of this high involvement (Jennett C 2008). None of the audited places had as much immersion as LaserForce where there was a narrative connection when your individual character levels up. The huge size also made LaserForce more believable allowing the players to have a deeper psychological experience with the surrounding stimulus. The music and sound effects is vital to the speed of the game which in turn enhances immersion with dramatic stimuli.
List of stimuli
Arena Layout
- Strike was very small and had little height variation in the arena
- Sidetracks Laserforce had multileveled platforms and walkways
- Cousins house was in daylight in an outdoor setting
On-body
- Gun attached to vest with audio speakers and LED flashing lights
- Vest and gun lights strobe when shot or firing
- Speakers play count down audio, power up sound effects and vocal instructions
Environmental
- Targets built to shoot at or have the ability to shoot
- Soundtrack playing though entire arena
- Winding corridors, Large Fans, Set deign from 90’s Sci-fi films, cover from fire
- Smoke machine haze, UV paint, laser lights, UV lights and LED for ambience
Outer arena
- Objective to win the game and add points to personal account (only at LaserForce)
- Game briefing video and arena entrance room
- Leaderboard with kill/death rate, player level and accuracy
References:
Anon, Immersion. Immersion, p.eReserve.
< https://equella.rmit.edu.au/rmit/items/8fb639f7-c616-4657-b988-3a196fa09e4c/1/
[Accessed 2 Sep. 2017].
Gamasutra, E. (2004). Postmodernism and the Three Types of Immersion. [online] Designersnotebook.com. Available at: http://designersnotebook.com/Columns/063_Postmodernism/063_postmodernism.htm
[Accessed 2 Sep. 2017].
Jennett C, Cox AL, Cairns P, Dhoparee S, Epps A, et al. (2008) Measuring and defining the experience of immersion in games. International journal of human- computer studies 66: 641-661.
Xiaoqing Fu, J.Z., 2015. The Influence of Background Music of Video Games on Immersion. Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy, 05(04), pp.Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy, 2015, Vol.05(04).
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