So, nekoflux, do you agree or disagree? It seems like you''ve simply stated the contrapositive. For what it''s worth, though, I agree with you.

Having a character on-screen amplifies its "otherness"; it makes me think that it''s somebody other than me. For a game like Max Payne, where Max''s story is not my story, and I don''t even fully understand it until the end of the game, this is appropriate. Max is a full, rounded character, and his facial expressions, body language, and overall appearance are being presented to me by the game designers. 3rd person is appropriate there.

On the other hand, if I''m playing Halo, I AM the Master Chief, and the few little things he says are usually pretty generic. It''s easy to imagine myself in that green armor, and looking through the visor makes it easier still. For a game like Halo, which is gameplay-based more than story-based, I''m inclined to see it as a 1st-person affair.

So at the end of the day I affirm Ketchaval''s assertion: Third-person views allow the designer(s) to take more control over the central figure in the game, and makes the story and action seem self-encapsulated and external to the player, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on the intent of said designer(s).