Just found this great page of games resources on the ACMI webpage.
I’m going to use information from their pages on games genres as well as an excellent essay by Matthew Sakey on ‘understanding character in videogames‘. Here is an extract:
The protagonist, however richly conceived, is ultimately a cipher for the player. The less we know about the character we play, the more possible it becomes for us to project our own personality onto them. Developers are reluctant to force a persona onto the player, but they do also want to accomplish their creative goals. The challenge of interactivity lies in encouraging players to take control while still experiencing the story that the game developers want to tell.
Kelli McGraw 