Sensation

Sensation is the perception of stimuli through the senses. In video games it's about the stimulation through the senses of sight and hearing. Many video games today focus on visual effects more than other aspects and key components of a game. One well-known example of a game that uses senses such as sight and hearing would be Red Dead Redemption 2. The game has exceptionally stunning visual effects and falls strongly under the example of a sensational game, the game was created by Ubisoft whom are known to produce visually appealing and high-rated games.

Many would argue older games that were made at least a decade ago are more attractive because they focus on the basics. They do not have fancy visual and hearing effects, but it's hard to deny the power of great visual effects, the immersive fantasy world made possible with modern technology. For example, majority of people who played Fallout New Vegas (a game created in 2010) enjoyed it and provided high ratings, but the most sold Fallout game from its series is Fallout 4 (a game created in 2015), and it also held the longest total player play time because of the immersive sensation despite it's much less desirable characters, story, and dialogue choices.

Music also plays a huge part in a player's video game experience. Not only do music-based games focus on making great music, but almost all games have some sort of music in them. Even when horror games create intentional silent moments, we can still think of it as a different kind of hearing sensation because it helps create a frightful atmosphere which may ready a cutscene such as a jump scare for better player experience. Music in video games are great for immersive experience, and creating a specific mood for a moment. An example would be overtime music in Overwatch which is very intense, and another example would be the exploration theme music in Fallout which is relaxing and calm. Within the Fallout series, Fallout 3 and games after have a feature to listen to radio stations within the game, some discoverable and some already accessible in the beginning of the game. This music helps create a atmosphere preferred by the player, whether it be calming, jolly, or even intense music.