There seem to be two schools of thought when it comes to immersion in gaming. The first is about the experience in the game. The second boils down to "don't remind us this is a video game". You know, the people who hate seeing any kind of HUD (if the HUD makes it hard to see some things, that is a different matter), or any mention of buttons, or anything that even reminds them of the fourth wall.

I personally support the first, and think the second is, frankly, ridiculous. What's so bad about knowing the video game you are playing is in fact a video game?

I can be perfectly aware that I'm playing a video game when I am wrapped up in it. Super Mario 64 can give me vertigo in some of the really high up areas, even though the graphics are not photo realistic. Plenty of RPGs can get me emotionally invovled in the character, even when I'm reading text instead of hearing voices (I've seen threads on boards bitching about Zelda not using voice acting yet). I can still cringe seeing a gory death in RE4, even though I know it's a bunch of polygons, textures, shading, and bump mapping.

But at the risk of seeing opinions that don't agree with me, what do you think of what immersion should be?

It's the level of experiencing the game. No matter how much you're into it, it's impossible to forget that it's actually a game. That is until video games reach the level of virtual reality with those futuristic helmets. But like that's every going to happen...

*maybe I'll get jinxed in a few years*

The rule of thumb for any medium, up to and including video games, is to make people experience the piece first, and not think about the medium itself. If I write a book, I want to make people forget that they are reading a book.

In Shadow of the Colossus, I forgot that I was playing a game - not consciously, but on some level. I liked it more for that.

"The rule of thumb for any medium, up to and including video games, is to make people experience the piece first, and not think about the medium itself. If I write a book, I want to make people forget that they are reading a book."

How is that? I think you're confusing imagination connection with forgetting. I can picture a book in my mind as I read, but I'm still holding onto it and turning the pages.