History Main / DeepImmersionGaming

* ''SouthPark'' did this with the actual game of ''WorldOfWarcraft''. As they used machinma footage from the real game, they couldn't put the character's heads on the in-game characters, but the characters still looked similar: Stan and Kyle wore clothing the same color as their hats, Cartman was a short, fat Dwarf in red, and Kenny wore orange.

* Two Drama CDs of ''AxisPowersHetalia'', called Hetalia Fantasia, has an MMORPG made by America and Japan that several characters join in.

* {{adventure time}} did this

%%Image decided on this thread:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=9mqhhyjayy8v32t6mi4su6jf

[[caption-width-right:350:Sometimes it's so deep, it comes with an ArtShift.]]

Any discussion the players have will be seen taking place between the characters. The characters will nearly always facially resemble the players, although they will often be altered to take on aspects of the character. This can be done with the [[RuleOfFunny intention of looking silly]], such as the 7-foot-tall barbarian wearing his geeky player's signature NerdGlasses or a male player shown crossdressing as his female character. A different [[ArtShift art style]] may be used to show the gameworld; video game worlds may have something of a pixellated or [[CelShading cel-shaded]] appearance.

[[quoteright:341:[[VGCats http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_vg_cats_2_8870.gif]]]]
[[caption-width-right:341:Even cats love ''TheLegendOfZelda''.]]

* A Drama CD of ''AxisPowersHetalia'', called Hetalia Fantasia, has an MMORPG made by America and Japan that several characters join in.

* ''Interstellar Pig'' snaps into and out of this whenever combat starts and ends. The game's actual mechanics for resolving battle are never revealed, but if the presentation of the fights is any indication, they're somewhat like [[TheCatapultTurtleFlyingCastleGambit the battle mechanics in the anime of]] ''{{Yugioh}}''.

(Not to be confused with "immersion gaming," a form of live-action roleplay that a) lasts for more than 24 hours, b) takes place in and interacts with the real world, or c) both.)

[[quoteright:341:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_vg_cats_2_8870.gif]]
[[caption-width-right:341:VGCats shows us how it's done]]

* The RPGEpisode in ''WelcomeToTheNHK'' has satou deeply immersed in an MMORPG. He also meets a CatGirl healer, who he falls in love with, who [[spoiler:turns out to be [[{{GIRL}} his friend and next door neighbour]], out to teach him a lesson]].

* An Episode of ''{{Welcome to the NHK}}'', the main character and his friends appear in ''FinalFantasyXI'' as their characters.

** Note, however, that the appearances of the game characters do not correlate with those of the "real world" versions - characters of the same class and in-game gender look very similar. (E.g. Bear and Orca, Elk and Tsukasa, BlackRose and Mimiru, Suburu and another Heavy-Axe User, etc.)
*** this doesn't stop players from making it this way though. Kite is known to look a lot like his avatar while Orca, who is in school with kite, looks like a muscular male with little in the way of clothing. Other examples examples of the first type include Haseo and the second include Wiseman, who is a young boy despite being an old man in game.

* The amateur production ''TheGamers'' portrays a TabletopRPG session this way, to hilarious effect. Done again in the sequel.

* ''TheGamers'' plays this for comedy, switching between scenes of the roleplayers sitting at a table and the fantasy world inhabited by the characters they roleplay as.

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* Games in Iain M Banks' ''[[TheCulture Culture]]'' novels ''actually work this way''. You can have them in your dreams, too.
** As does the Better Than Life game in ''RedDwarf''.

* Happened once on ''HowIMetYourMother'', showing Ted meeting "Blahblah" (by the time of the retelling he has forgotten her name) in ''WorldOfWarcraft''. They use actual game animation, though, so it gets funny for the non-gamers out there when you find out that Ted is playing the female human and Blahblah is the huge male draenei. Because that never happens in real life.

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* It is for this reason that this troper and his cousin believe that the Create-A-Skater in the ''TonyHawk'' line of video games has gone so far downhill. We theorized that basically it comes down to the developers not realizing some people (namely us) would want to make actual ''characters'' (from other games and shows and stuff). They figure that everyone is just going to make themselves, an average-looking guy in a T-Shirt and jeans, so they have that make up most of the CAS options.
** Going so far as to remove the ability to create female skaters. Because apparently [[MostGamersAreMale All Gamers Are Male]].

* Happened in a few ''{{Megatokyo}}'' strips, some ''Real Life'' strips too.

* ''TheUnspeakableVaultOfDoom'' is weird about this. Almost all the time, the events of the strip are presented "as-is"--Cthulhu eats someone, for instance, and we have to take it for granted that such is a canonical occurrence. Every once in a while, an event involving supernatural investigators turns out to be an example of this trope, usually right after [[TotalPartyKill everyone's character gets eaten]]. And on one occasion, the roleplayers ''themselves'' got eaten by Cthulhu.