What is a "third-person shooter video game"?

What is a "third-person shooter video game"?

Bill Kunkel (Editor-in-Chief, "Tips & Tricks" Magazine) gives expert video advice on: What are the most influential first-person shooters?; What is one of the best strategy video games available?; What are some of the most influential role-playing video games? and more...

A third-person shooter game is third-person in the sense that it is another person; it's not you literally, it's Lara Croft or whoever. Essentially the mentality behind it is very much the same. The only difference is that, say, you get a character rather than you being you. It's very hard for you to play Duke Nukem or some classic first person shooter, because it's very hard for you to develop who you are as a character, whereas if there's a character on the screen, especially if it's a woman, then that's striking. That's obviously not me, but I'm controlling this character. So a third-person shooter game is a variant, basically, on the first-person shooter.