Concerning the gender/ethnicity aspect: I would go even further than to say it only has an effect on a single individual, since I think this "choice" has no ef

Concerning the gender/ethnicity aspect: I would go even further than to say it only has an effect on a single individual, since I think this "choice" has no effect. You only play a non-male, non-white, homosexual character if you already are open-minded enough. If you aren't, you can just continue to roleplay your stereotypical strong white male. There is no challenge to the preconceptions of the player, simply because he gets to choose what he wants. A book, a movie, a comic, they all pose a challenge by presenting you with characters as is. I fail to see the revolutionary potential here, instead, the player gets to project his already cemented views as well as auto- and hetero-stereotypes onto his character, thus reinforcing his already prevalent world view. I'm not saying new media is inferior per se, but the choice aspect is really the polar opposite of what you want if you want to make people reflect and think.