Microsoft Avatars get a makeover

XBLAvatarsBan

Our Xbox 360 dashboard selves will change slightly in the coming months. The cartoonish, squat proportions of the current avatars are not working well with the hand/eye coordination that Kinect will require, so Nick Burton, senior programmer at Rare (avatar creators), says they’re going with a more realistic design with Avatars 2.0.

This isn’t a hardware issue, but rather an issue with player perception in the software. Frankly, that sounds a little strange, but basically it plays out like this: Kinect is having trouble converting our (the human gamer) proportions to the avatars stylized bodies in some games that use on-screen action replications. The end result is seizure-like spazzing avatar parts on the screen and “broken” hand/eye coordination.

The update will most likely come close to, or around, the Kinect release.

[Source: OXM]

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3 Comments

  1. looking forward to a console w real avatars, not some cartoon. Cnt wait for it.

  2. Why does it matter? Because they think the motion controls will function better? How is Kinect going to control the avatar?

    Seriously. If Doom wanted an actual representation of himself, he would post it.

  3. The motion controls in games will function better. Basically, in games that rely heavily on the avatar mimicking you and your actions (like with Wii Sports, those kind) Kinect is having problems making our normal limb proportions fit the avatar’s limbs which results in some major bugs and freezing during game play. This isn’t going to mean you have to make an actual representation of you, it just means Rare is trying to fix a problem between software bugs and Kinect.

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