ABSTRACT
Video games are remarkable new forms of entertainment. Video games import and customize many different forms of entertainment, from games related to jigsaw puzzles and chess simulations to games related to novels or to action films. Video games provide simulations of a series of aspects of reality, like racing, flying, or playing soccer, or simulations of complex social developments, from urban development to the evolution of civilization. The hallmark of most video games is that they transform these traditional forms of entertainment into an interactive form that enables the player actively to participate in shaping the games. Films or videos enable their viewers to interact only passively, by following the narrative and predicting possible outcomes, whereas video games provide the player with interactive means to change the course of the narrative. The interaction with such possible audiovisual worlds provides the player with an experience of being immersed in a "virtual reality," because our experience of reality is linked not only to the possible salience of what we see and hear, but is also centrally linked to whether we are able to interact with such perceptions. A key to explaining why video games have become very popular forms of entertainment is to explore those gratifications that are linked to the interactive form.
