I'm not talking about any kind of immersion specifically. I'm saying that things like gameplay, music, art style, level design, competition, challenge, and story are just as important to any kind of immersion as pure graphical power.
"Low level" immersion, as you call it, feeling like you are actually in the game, can be achieved without the latest graphics card or a camera wedged into a character's face. I have genuinely yelled out in terror while playing Resident Evil 4 because I felt like I was in real physical danger. I've run around the Nintendo Land plaza and 'Ooh'd' and 'Ahh'd' at the attractions and props like a small child because I felt like I was really a bright and vibrant theme park. I've paid to go and watch movies in GTA V because I felt like relaxing a while. I held my breath when playing Lylat Wars while I concentrated on not getting shot, like it would actually hurt me in real life if I did. Listening to the sounds of the accordians in any Prof. Layton game transports me into that world, in which Japanese artists seem to confuse an idealised version of England with an idealised version of France for some reason. I've winced with guilt as my men have died in Advance Wars, believing that they'd be alive if I were only better. I've put so much effort into beating people at Street Fighter that I've been physically tired after rounds. And who hasn't tilted their controller to turn in Mario Kart, Ridge Racer, Gran Turismo, or any other racing game?
I've felt like I was actually in more game worlds than I can list, and the majority of them were not first-person and lacked 'cutting-edge' graphics. My point simply is, and always has been, that immersion of any kind, whether it's "low" or "high", can be achieved through things other than graphical output.
