Xbox Avatar Use, E10+ Games Only
My general reaction with the announcement of Xbox Avatars at E3 this year was mixed. However, since then I don’t know if there’s a feature I’m more excited about than this. I’m really looking forward to making the coolest virtual Deacon possible. Somehow, someway I will either be in full Star Wars Jedi clothing or pimped out in Dragonball Z attire. Details on what you’ll be able to do with your Avatar have been minimal, but that has changed with a bit of news on the game content in which these Avatars will be used initially.
Xbox LIVE General Manger, Eric Kilgore, explained at Microsoft’s Gamefest 2008 that Xbox Avatars will only be featured in ESRB E10+ rated games. “We are still developing the final policies,” he said, adding that “The final guide we have this year is to think of them in an ‘E10’ context. That doesn’t mean it won’t change – but this Fall they won’t be able to blow each other’s heads off.” This of course is initially so perhaps at some point T-M rated titles will be allowed.
If you’re like me and totally clueless to what people could do with Nintendo’s Mii, then this isn’t a problem. But apparently some thought that these Avatars would allow you to blow them up or use them in titles like Gears of War 2 etc. Who would want to do that? I only anticipate using my Avatar in the Dashboard. I had no idea that they fully intended for these to be used across games. More on what was said about Xbox Avatars can be read here.
What say you? I couldn’t care less really because all I want my Xbox Avatar to do is look awesome when I visit the Dashboard. I’m not at all interested in carrying it with me in a game of Gears of War 2 or Dead Space.
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well i feel noobish lol
August 5th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Hi, Deacon. As they advertised on the E3 presentation, we did see the integration with the avatars and the new xbox primetime, so I was also asking myself if new upcoming games would also include this functuonality.
I do agree that they better leave this for the family titles. I will not like my avatar being assaulted by the Flood or robing cars on a future GTA game.
August 5th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
lol. true indeed Tyrone.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
ehh seems cool. i would like to see my mii come out of no where and shoot at me if i was playing hoarde in GOW2. or maybe have a berserker dressed in my mii costume or sumthing lol
August 5th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
= More casual/kiddy games coming from Microsoft in the future.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
some sort of family friendly team battle game (nerf wars or something) using your avatar and using your friends list as your AI team mates with all their avatars (so the more people you have on your friends list, the more troops you have) might be a chuckle
August 5th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
As a “hardcore” gamer, I’m just interested in my Avatar being in the Dashboard. I have no interest in playing a game as my Avatar.
However, I can see the appeal for casual gamers and children playing games as an Avatar. I think Microsoft is making the right move here in making the Avatars mandatory only in the family games.
I am excited for the new xbox experience and all that it contains. I can’t wait for my Robocop Avatar to hang out in an 8 way chat with my U360 crew.
August 5th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
“= More casual/kiddy games coming from Microsoft in the future.”
I don’t see this as a bad thing, (not implying you do: just IMHO) it’s getting my wife more and more intrested in gamming which is something that I honestly never thought would happen. I think that for MS to grow they need to be as diverse as possible.
August 5th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
the 1st title to integrate avatars into the game is the new Scene It … the g/f and I are looking forward to it … I think she is gonna make me set up her own gold account so she can have a GT and her own avatar …
August 5th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
I call em …Xiis
August 5th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Well that sucks! Most of my games are rated T and M. I didn’t know you could move your avatar around unless they made it a feat. Besides I wouldn’t tell my avatar to pimp slap some one unless they act like a jack @$$… If they did I hope you can choose the type of slap you want. It would be the Rick James slap acourse LOL!! R.I.P. Rick James.
August 5th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
cut the crap and go away with the damned kiddy stolen mii’s.
August 5th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
lol … hey Pimp … what did the five fingers say to the face?
August 5th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Hmm, I rather like Goon360’s naming of the avatars
I thought of them also as Dashboard specific, so having them in casual/family games sounds good to me. I think it would be funny as heck to see a larger-scale version of your avatar in a Gears multiplayer session. But as family-specific avatars, I don’t really care that they won’t go above the E10+ rating
August 5th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
What about a giant version of your avatar replacing Mr Staypuft in the Ghostbusters game?
August 5th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
staypuft ftw lol
August 6th, 2008 at 8:03 am
Ummm…can I blow my friend’s avatar’s head off PLEASE?! I really want to.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I respect M$ for capitalizing on an opportunity to rake in more dough in an economic slump by pumping out some cross-core materials, but to make something like this mandatory(!?), from the standpoint of a casual and somewhat h/c gamer, a little funky groovy dude lookin’ at me just doesn’t say “let’s chainsaw some mofos today!!” no… it says “o hai! i can has GoW2?” no thanks, M$!!
August 6th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
on another note, being able to literally “see” your friends who are online at the same time as you are may inspire more multi-player centered activities instead of just going solo … touche!
August 8th, 2008 at 12:22 am
I like the idea of avatars for the dashboard, but I hope they aren’t actually used in many games. I’d like to keep the cartoonish characters out of my FPSs.