I remember a day in 1992 when my buddy and I were flying a long night mission in F-15 Strike Eagle III on networked PCs. He was the PF and I was the Wizzo. Ingress took a long time, I zoned off while scanning for bogeys and then suddenly, morning dawned on the horizon of our 320x200 VGA screens and I still remember the remarkable level of immersion it induced.
Oddly enough, I could never attain full immersion and suspension of disbelief with all the sims that followed, regardless of how much better they looked and sounded.
That is until recently, 30 years later, as I fly MSFS in glorious VR, routinely reaching immersion levels I would not have believed possible.
What an amazing journey us long-term simmers have been on and what amazing fruit it finally bears.