FUTURE OF NEW MEDIA, TOWARDS THE ULTIMATE MEDIUM: PRESENCE, IMMERSION and MMORPGs

Revolutionary developments in communication and information technologies, coupled with the transition from traditional media into new media, create new mediums of the information age which are capable of offering interactive user participation in communication processes. Frontiers of these new mediums are virtual reality technologies which can be considered as the ultimate form of interaction between humans and machines, and sometimes even considered as the first step towards the ultimate communication medium. The most important characteristics that differentiate virtual environments from other types of media are presence and immersion. This study focuses on the dimensions of presence, the determinants of immersion and the degree of presence experienced in different media types. Special emphasis is given to Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games which are a new phenomenon in electronic game industry that have recently drawn the attention of media studies since they are actually virtual communities capable of creating a stronger sense of presence. This study also aims to emphasize the importance of MMORPGs as a communication medium, claiming that they are strong candidates for being the ultimate medium of information age. FUTURE OF NEW MEDIA, TOWARDS THE ULTIMATE MEDIUM: PRESENCE, IMMERSION and MMORPGs 1. NEW MEDIA: CHARACTERISTICS The concept of new media emerged as a result of the technological developments in traditional media such as video, CD, DVD, mobile networks, Internet, wireless systems, teletext and online databases. These concepts appeared around 1980ʹs and changed the meaning of the word: communication. Among these developments, Internet is the one that affects the revolution of the media most. The arrival of Internet changed the way people communicate with each other