We wrote about the rumoured Xbox Live avatars on this blog a couple of months ago, when news leaked out onto the web of Microsoft's plans to take on Nintendo's Mii avatars on Wii. Now the news is official though: Microsoft unveiled its avatars last night at its E3 press conference. What's more, they're pretty much exactly as they appeared in those early leaks.
The avatars are the work of Microsoft’s Rare development team, and appear richer than the Miis, allowing users full control over hair, facial features and clothing. They’re not being released in isolation of course: the key will be what you can do with your avatar. With that in mind, Microsoft is revamping its Xbox Live connected gaming service, with something it’s calling the ‘New Xbox Experience’.
It includes something really intriguing called Xbox PrimeTime, which is a kind of TV gameshow service, letting people’s avatars compete against each other for real prizes in ‘shows’ including Deal Or No Deal and 1 vs 100 - those thanks to a deal with Endemol.
Hopefully, the Xbox avatars will also be used in games offered through Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service, as this is one of the most appealing aspects of Nintendo’s Miis. The announcement now means that all three console manufacturers have avatar or virtual world strategies in place - Nintendo with its Miis, Microsoft with its avatars and Xbox PrimeTime, and of course Sony’s Home virtual world for PS3.
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