Immersione o emersione? L’attrazione e il superamento dello schermo-soglia, tra cinema e videogame

The essay aims to discuss an effect of videogaming experience: the passage from the idea of immersion in the game world to the illusion of an emersion of elements from the game world into the gamer’s reality. This phenomenon, according to the author, is subordinated to a textual organization; therefore, the essay uses Film Studies side by side to Game Studies, to explore some of the specificities of the analysed experience. In particular, it discusses the porous borders distinguishing the multiple experiences activated by video gaming practices, and, in order to do so, the author relies upon the idea of “attraction”, created for the early cinema, and explored in its effects in contemporary theory and media environments.