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NXE how-to: Avatars in XBLA games
Now that your NXE Avatar is dressed and ready for ... Hey, yeah! Just what is an Avatar for? Well, if you're not ready to drop 800 on A Kingdom for Keflings, we're afraid your options are seriously limited. What you can play with are several older Xbox Live Arcade games, which should be updated with limited Avatar support. Specifically, Uno, Bomberman Live, Hardwood Hearts, and Hardwood Spades -- disc-based Scene It? Box Office Smash is also due to receive an update enabling Avatar support today.The Uno update will install itself just as any other XBLA title update has in the past (and we can confirm this), but the other three games require additional attention. Gamerscore Blog has laid out the process in a simple 1-2-3 and 4-step guide. We attempted to update Bomberman Live earlier today, however, and were not prompted for the initial update. We can only assume that the update's absence is linked to the current condition of Xbox Live Marketplace (read: wonky). We got hit with the "8000ffff" error -- that's Xbox's way of saying: Try again later. Curious about the New Xbox Experience? Check out our ridiculously informative nine-video feature, covering everything from Avatar creation, Netflix integration, and the 8-player party system to installing games to the hard drive, the new Marketplace, the Blade-like "Guide" interface, and more!
NXE Avatars coming to (some) older XBLA titles
In its latest video exposé on the New Xbox Experience, the Gamerscore Blog has teamed with Major Nelson and a few project insiders to show off how Avatars will work in several older XBLA titles. Specifically, Uno, Bomberman Blast, Hardwood Hearts, and Hardwood Spades will all incorporate the virtual "yous" in various ways. In the case of these games, player Avatars will be visible on-screen – you can't actually play as your Avatar in Bomberman, sadly. The video does show that players will be able to be ... themselves in the upcoming Ninjabee town building game, A Kingdom for Keflings. (This is likely the new title the Gamerscore crew refer to in their blog update.) A title update for Scene It? Box Office Smash will roll out on Nov. 19 to enable in-game player Avatars (looks like the game didn't ship ready for NXE after all.) Check out the full video below the break.
