As someone who has never been able to play first person games they have always fascinated me and have made me wonder; in what way does the players perception change with the medium? First person games feature a visual perspective as if the player was physically doing the actions; these are particularly popular in shooting games. Third person on the other hand displays a character completely and as such the player is viewing their actions as they would view another person's. This perspective can be seen in various puzzle games such as any Mario or Zelda game. How does the perspective that the player is shown influence the perception of the player? Would Mario be as entertaining if it was in the first person? Or is there something unique about a genre that leads its games to be in a certain perspective?
This COULD be a very interesting topic, but you need to explain what you mean by "first person" or "third person" in relation to video games. It will be hard to expand this topic into a full-length post unless you explain it a bit more. Also, "mario" should be capitalized and "In" should be lowercase. – Dominic Sceski9 years ago
I made some adjustments! Hopefully that helps clarify the question and expand upon its meaning. – jonavitua9 years ago
Games like Skyrim and Fallout (I'm specifically thinking 3 and New Vegas as they're the two I've played) should be mentioned, because at the press of a button you can change from that first person perspective to third person. i think this may actually be true of GTA V too and is definitely true of driving games.
First person I think is meant to immerse yourself into that game, or in other words, the gamer and the character are one. These games also probably give the gamer more options with dialogue and actions.
Third person as you already said gives you a complete display of a character and I would say this is used with more fleshed out characters and a strict narrative structure. – Jamie White9 years ago
Like Jamie said, first person is a lot more personal in that YOU are the player/character, whereas in third person you simply operate the character. However, I would also argue that it goes even deeper than that. Either first- or third-person can be even more unique. In the Bioshock series, for example, you play as Jack in the first Bioshock game and the only time he speaks is in the opening cutscene. In Bioshock: Infinite, however, Booker regularly speaks, either to other people or aloud to himself. I think that dynamic can alter the way a player experiences the game. – Christina9 years ago
I don't know if this will be a worthwhile notation, but I experience a frequent physical limitation to first person games, and I'm not the only one. A number of us have to take motion sickness pills or sit down with a bottle of Ginger Ale anytime a video game (or movie) is in this form. Could that be creating a barrier for consumers? – Piper CJ9 years ago