Any 2nd person games

[Ragsnstitches]

If anyone can remember that point in MGS 3 where you are looking through a scope at snake (the scope is controlled by The END) that is a 2nd person view point. The person looking at you.

Yahtzee once suggested the idea of a game in a 2nd person perspective. In it you are a person who is trying desperately not to get shot, all the while you see the game through the perspective of the shooter.

 

[Soxafloppin]

I think the Overworld hub in Rayman is techincally second person, As Mr. Dark or whatever hes called is watching Rayman through his Binoculars.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I'm preeeetty certain that technically all games are "second-person" from a narrative perspective. As far as second-person from a camera perspective, I can't think of that many games. There are segments in lots of games. Usually insidiously frustrating.

But yeah, someone did an article on how what we call "third-person" is technically second-person. You are this character. You control the levers in his head. This is you. Sort of the same with first-person games, but most leave you to infer I am this character; or, in the case of RPGs, "I am me." As in, you play as you, not specifically as character.

It's all a bit archaic and arbitrary, the gaming definitions of first-, second- and third- person. I mean, in a story, "you are the protagonist. You walk into the room to find a pistol. You pick it up," that's second-person. In gaming, it could be first- or third-person.

 

[Thaliur]

I'm just goint to say it right now. LifeLine on the PS2. You are controling electronics onboard a space station in an emergency situation helping an undercover waiter escape. It's also voiced control mostly but it was slammed hard for poor voice recognition.

Here's a snippit:
Cut for space reasons

If this kind of game counts, I guess Experience112 would be a good example:

The indirect controls make it extremely challenging occasionally. It's really well done though, and definitely not an everyday adventure game.

 

[Aerosteam]

Maybe a game where you play as multiple people?

At some points in the CoD series does it count? Like the astronaut in MW2 and the father in MW3, you are looking through the perspective of a nameless person, no one important.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Isn't 2nd person a kind of over-the shoulder view, when you can see your gun, and your arm and shoulder?

 

[saintdane05]

[double post due to server error.]

 

[saintdane05]

Corruption of Champions is a pretty fun one. Its free, to!

(Just make sure you're over 18)

 

[HellRaid]

I've played first and third person games; but I've never played or even heard of a 2nd person game. Do they even exist? And what exactly is 2nd person?

Superbrother's Sword and Sworcery EP is not only a fantastic game, but also told in third person.

 

[White-Death]

''Experience 112'' is based around the same mechanics as LifeLine,you simply assist the main character survive in a crashed ship.

 

[Aprilgold]

"You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike."

Usually followed by "You have just been eaten by a Grue"

"The Grue is a G"

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There was a indie game that attempted this. You were viewing what you were shooting from the perspective of your enemies. Essentially you would have to turn yourself using the mouse and shoot at them with FPS controls, but you did not have your own camera, making this much more difficult.

The game was free and only on PC for the obvious reason that this guy made it out of experimental reasons.

It was weird but compelling and fun.

While here, I'd like to point out that third person is novels is things like "Him, her, it." So when we use the term third person in video-games it would be like Resident Evil 4, which is actually first person because your only seeing Leon's side of the story until the Ashley bit then your seeing it from hers, however since the camera is behind your shoulder your actually playing it with a thirdperson camera view.

 

[Artemicion]

2nd person games don't really exist because the second person perspective is a literary device that can't be translated into the gaming medium. If you are looking at your character through the eyes of another character, that is still third person. Many have pointed out that text-based games can be in 2nd person, and that's the closest you'll get - but they're 2nd person in context, not "camera" style. There is no such thing as a 2nd person camera. Either you're looking at your character (3rd) or you're playing your character (1st).

An example of a 2nd person book would be a "choose your own adventure" type deal.
What do you do next?

 

[Fiad]

Text based games are going to be the only ones you see 2nd person in.

"The room is dark, you are likely to be eaten by a Grue."
>Walk into room
"You walk into the room. A Grue has eaten you."

 

[The Last Parade]

I think that Yahtzee mentioned one, forget what it was called. It was some sort of horror game.

Siren Blood Chronicles

First Person - Through the eyes of the character
Third Person - a separate entity that is viewing the evens
Second Person - You see through the eyes of your enemies

This was in ENN for anyone who remembers it

 

[dessertmonkeyjk]

''Experience 112'' is based around the same mechanics as LifeLine,you simply assist the main character survive in a crashed ship.

Yeah, and the voice acting is terrible... then again I don't care! I want it!

Seriously, I had no idea this existed at all.

 

[Chknboy]

I was just thinking about this question while eating today and it finally came to me. Lemmings! Also the Majesty games, you can't control the "main characters" but you can entice them or guide them through different means.

 

[Whoatemysupper]

Ratchet & Clank: UYA has a boss fight where the camera occasionally switches to the enemy's perspective as it shoots rockets at you.

 

[Grygor]

Do you mean in terms of camera viewpoints?

Because I don't think a '2nd person camera' is actually possible.

You would be totally correct.

---

In this context, "person" is a term borrowed from grammar/linguistics by way of narrative theory, but it's an imperfect fit, because the grammatical and narrative definitions don't map perfectly onto the "camera perspective"/"viewpoint" domain.

Grammatically, "first-person" indicates word forms that refer to the speaker, "second-person" to the hearer, and "third-person" to those not part of the conversation.

These terms get extended to narrative on the basis of the pronouns used to refer to the main character, and thus relate to the role the main character takes in the "conversation" with the viewpoint "character" as the speaker. Thus in "first-person narrative" the main character is the speaker, and therefore also the viewpoint character; in "second-person narrative" the main character is the hearer, and in "third-person narrative" the main character is neither the speaker nor the hearer.

Now let's look at the case of camera perspective, which is to say viewpoint. If you notice in the section above, there are only two relationships between "viewpoint character" and "main character" - either they are the same person, or they are not. In other words, second-person and third-person viewpoints are the same thing. The difference between second- and third- persons is a matter of who the narrative is being told to, not who's doing the telling.

In other words, if you're seeing the game through the player character's eyes, it's first person, but if you're actually seeing the player character it's third-person - and it's still third-person even if you are looking at the player character through someone else's eyes.

 

[Mimssy]

Best example for second person I can think of? Psychonauts! The clairvoyance power literally lets you watch yourself through the eyes of another game character.

Seeing yourself running from Linda in the underwater sequence is also 2nd person.