The word “immersion” gets used a lot in the games industry but it’s still somewhat rare for a studio to really strive to achieve it with their game. Fight Night Round 3 and Call of Cthulhu have ditched the HUD entirely, something we’ll probably see more of now characters are so detailed you can simply see how hurt they are. Thief: Deadly Shadows also let you see your body from first person instead of just your hands. It’s all just a start though, so where next?

How about ditching the entire menu system - drop someone right inside the game world the moment the game loads. Ask them to look up to work out if they want things inverted or not (as just one example of interactive control setup) then let them play the game. Flash the publisher logos by on billboards as they’re sitting in a car instead of wasting time with logo movies. Maybe instead of a HUD in an FPS have the redout on the gun, or ever-shifting magical tatoos on their arm if you’re feeling really experimental. The more there is to remind you you’re playing a game the harder it is to get truly involved.

Any ideas of your own for dragging a player further into the game? Pop them in the comments system, I’d be interested to hear them.