Avatar: (according to Webster's New Collegiate dictionary)
1: the incarnation of a Hundu deity (as Vishnu)
2: a: an incarnation in human form b: an embodiment (as of a concept or philosophy) usually in a person
3: a variant phase or version of a continuing basic entity.
So you're right.. That hero you play is just a 'variant version' of YOU! Perhaps it's the real you and the smiling 68 year old is the variant version... perhaps?