feauturing article

Mii-like Avatars Coming to Xbox 360

by tank| Published: Monday, June 16 @ 04:29:42 EDT

One of the biggest features of the Xbox 360 Fall Update may have been leaked. Avatars are coming to Xbox 360.

There have been rumors flying around for some time now about some type of Nintendo Mii / Sony Home type equivalent coming to the Xbox 360, but of course Microsoft has been hush hush about any details.

Perhaps the biggest confirmation comes from an online market research firm called Intellisponse who have been around since 1996. In a recent survey there is an image of Mii like characters called Avatars that will replace your gamerpic.

These Avatars according to a Joystiq source “will be a robust service that blends the customization options of Home with the in-game functionality of Miis and will comprise a substantial chunk of the Fall Update”.

This would be good news since Microsoft decided not to publish the traditional Spring Update when there are improvements so desperately needed . Imagine how much sales there would be in Marketplace if you could actually find what you’re looking for? At any rate we expect something official should be announced at E3 if this turns out to be a real .

Analysts expect Microsoft to drop the price of the Xbox360 sometime after E3 or at least by the Holidays. The Core SKU could drop to Wii territory and there are patent documents out there talking about a motion controller rumored to be for the Xbox 360. With the addition of Avatars, maybe someone will finally give the Wii some competition.

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Reader Comments

I'd rather stick with the gamer pics (Score: 1)
Posted By Dawnfades on Monday, June 16 @ 08:21:26 EDT
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I hope you can still use your gamer pic instead of an avatar.

I like changing my gamer picture to relfect what game I'm enjoying or supporting my favorite sports teams.

I don't care that MS makes money off of me selling me gamer pics. I like them and I buy them often. I'm not really interested in Live becoming Second Life or the yet to appear Home.



Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By Caesar on Monday, June 16 @ 09:35:48 EDT
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if they are free ill use them. but i wont buy them



Rolls over and takes a nap (Score: 1)
Posted By DEEP_NNN on Monday, June 16 @ 09:55:14 EDT
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Not something I'm interested in but if it keeps XBLive alive then it's okay by me.

I am not going to have some Donkey's arse for my Avatar though.


Haha! (Score: 1)
Posted By itsbillykiller on Wednesday, June 25 @ 06:36:08 EDT
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*****resisting comment..........donkeys arse.....not gonna say anything........********

:)





Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By Buzz on Monday, June 16 @ 12:37:34 EDT
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It could be cool if done correctly.



Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By ONTHEGAS on Monday, June 16 @ 14:23:53 EDT
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Save me the future Home-like avatars and give me the 4 person chat room with video functions like PSN already has.



Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By hubristes on Monday, June 16 @ 16:15:06 EDT
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Are you kidding me? This is what they're working on instead of clan support? *bangs head on wall*

Sorry, nice write up, Tank. I just don't understand it.



Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By darththorn on Monday, June 16 @ 17:50:11 EDT
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Yeah, this is kind of lame. I would rather have something that is actually useful to my gaming experience, not a ripoff of something that has already been done.



Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By jtgjr007 on Monday, June 16 @ 18:10:57 EDT
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What if I don't want a more lifelike, animated, fully customizable persona to reflect who I am on line?
I sure hope we get something useful too, like why can't we get a 10 second audio byte of songs in the marketplace for Rock Band? More than 1 person in a private chat while playing a game? Better selection and cheaper prices on movies and TV shows in High Def?



Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By V10L3N7_JAY on Monday, June 16 @ 19:30:40 EDT
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Yeah I don't care.
If it was that important to me to have a retarded ass avatar thing I'd go buy a Wii.
If this makes all the gamerpics I've bought over the years obsolete I'll be pissed.



Huh? (Score: 1)
Posted By PeepshowJanitor on Monday, June 16 @ 19:31:30 EDT
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Nice write up Tank, and thanks for the Info! But, WTF? Who the hell really wants this crap? Gotta compete with the Wii I guess, but, stupid Japanimation looking Avatars? This is why I don't want the Wii! Everything is cartoony looking! Jeesh! How bout some decent customer support and a easily navigatable Marketplace! Guess that would be to much!


Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By JonahFalcon on Monday, June 16 @ 21:07:03 EDT
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Actually, Jonathon Howard wrote the article at GS.





Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By JonahFalcon on Monday, June 16 @ 19:32:04 EDT
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I would like to see something a little more accessible to casual players than the current Live setup - which is powerful, but a bit daunting to some.



I'd take Clan Support over Avatars any day (Score: 1)
Posted By TANK on Monday, June 16 @ 20:32:52 EDT
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Ya i gotta agree, i want stuff to make my gaming experience better. Like i also didn't get the whole IM thing that they put considerable resources into bringing to the 360. I've never used it since the first week it came out just to screw around with it. This Avatar thing also seems like a waste when there are gaming type things they should be working on like multi-person chat and dashboard integrated clan support, two things that have been requested since the launch of 360.

I'd take either one of those things over Avatars any day.

ON the flip side though, the casual gamer space is booming . People love creating those stupid Mii things and trading them and using them in games. So if this is what it takes to bring more people to Xbox, it's good for us in a grand picture type of way. But still.... i'm already sold and invested in Xbox, i want my clan support!



Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By SirRoberts on Tuesday, June 17 @ 08:59:04 EDT
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Very interesting update. I guess we will see how it all ends up and if it is worth it or not.



Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By Captiosus on Sunday, June 22 @ 18:03:22 EDT
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Fashionably late on my response, but I want to echo the sentiments of others.

This isn't why I have Live. I don't want "Mii like Avatars". If I did, I'd have a Wii. I don't play Second Life and I stopped playing The Sims years ago. Leave that crap off my console.

What Live needs is a good evaluation overhaul. For example, I absolutely loathe the process by which we have to go through view our friends list while we're in a game. Open blade, click friends icon, look through list. How about something more streamlined? We already know they can make a pop up box as they did for the windows messenger chatpad addon, why not make an xFire-style popup window in the top corner that instantly shows your online friends (and tree them out for FoF). Color them green if they're in a joinable game, red if they're not.

Still only being able to chat to one person at a time unless you're in a "game specific" channel? Could we get party chat at some point in time? Please? And, yes, dashboard clan support. It needs to be there.

All due respect, Tank, I don't think XBL catering to more "casual" gamers is going to do anything in the big picture. The Wii has the stranglehold (no pun intended) on that market. The games library for the 360 is geared more towards higher-than-casual and hardcore players, with the only real library of "casual friendly" games being in XBLA. This is just an example of Microsoft pandering to a market they don't need to be in simply because Nintendo and Sony have similar systems.

Meanwhile, a lot of us who have been with the console since the 180 are still screaming for things that should have been there from the start.



Market Research (Score: 1)
Posted By MayoGT on Monday, June 23 @ 22:31:30 EDT
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I wonder if microsoft did any market research to see if this is (A) what existing xbox live users want, or (B) would sell systems to consumers who do not yet own the system. This doesn't seem like it would affect either of those situations. This is what they've been spending time and money on? ??



Untitled (Score: 1)
Posted By MayoGT on Monday, June 23 @ 22:40:45 EDT
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Does this mean that instead of buying gamerpics, we're going to be buying shirts, shoes, hats, etc for our online avatar? I don't buy clothes for myself. Why would I spend money on clothes that don't get me one less day of doing laundry?



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