Last night we were playing World of Warcraft at Kevin's place, with his roommate Min Jung (who actually is Jason's old roommate, as Kevin now rents the bedroom Jason once did) and her boyfriend, also named Jason. The four of us sat around the dining room table, questing together and generally being goofy in and out of the game. After several hours, we had really felt the rush of accomplishing things virtually. At one point, Kevin was trying to trade Jason something and cut it off just as Jason managed to make some room in his backpack, and Jason got annoyed and snippy -- a real emotion provoked from a virtual situation.

This is, of course, one of the most popular interactive instances of hyperreality available on the open market, heightened by the fact that the people one interacts with are real and are all invested in the shared hyperreality.

Jason:
I would argue that if it weren't for the other people participating, whether it be in close physical proximity, or over the internet, it wouldn't be compelling for me at all. I've had these shared experiences with people I've already known, have met because of playing, or still haven't met in person, that all involve things we've never really done, but have fooled our brains into thinking we have.