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Avatars receive questionable 'rave' fashion options
Get ready for your Xbox Avatar to rock the latest fashion trends when you dress it in ... "Day-glo Zebra Print Pumps?!" Major Nelson posts that the new Avatar clothing options are free, which we guess is good. But it means we might actually see our Xbox friends wearing them -- that's bad. Check out this list: For the boys: Pixel Art Hoodie Rave Baseball Cap Dark Purple Jeans Green Skinny Fit Jeans Pink Sweat Bands For the girls: Green Chunky Ring Red Chunky Ring Yellow Fingerless Gloves Blue Fingerless Gloves Chunky Beaded Bracelet Day-glo Zebra Print Pumps Rave Baseball Cap We can't decide if the choices are '80s or '90s rave clothing. We'd ask someone on staff who attended a rave, but if they remember it, we'll know they did it wrong.
Drown your Xbox Live friends with holiday spirit
If you generally disapprove of heinous acts of torture in video games, we'd suggest shying away from the Spotlight channel on Xbox Live until after the holidays have passed. Recently added to said channel is a page which shows several of your Xbox Live friends' avatars encapsulated in an airtight, liquid-filled glass orb. As you watch the life ebb from your friends and family, you can add to their suffering by pressing the A button to violently shake their aquatic prison. You can also asphyxiate a new group of acquaintances by pressing the X button. The horror! The yuletide horror!
Rare's Christmas card lacking Killer Instinct ... or is it?
click to embiggen the holiday cheer Rare sent over this Christmas card wishing the staff a happy holidays. Unlike last time, there's no Killer Instinct hint to be found. What gives, Rare? No Glacius The Snowkiller? Oh, wait, what's this ...%Gallery-39099%
Avatars vs. Miis vs. Home people ... FIGHT!
In the battle of video game customizable character thingymabobs, there can be only one winner. Now, with Sony's release of Home and its unique inhabitants, we have a battle between the big three and only one victor can be crowned. Gamesradar set up a battle between Xbox 360's Avatars versus the Nintendo's Miis and the Playstation 3's Home characters in a console avatar showdown by comparing each console's rendition of various people's likenesses. And after comparing to see which console is best at remaking said person, a victor is chosen. It's definitely a judgment based war, so we'll go ahead and award our console likeness creating winner to be the 360's Avatars. Not because we're Xbox 360 fanboys, but because ... well, actually, that's exactly why.
Ski and snow Avatar items now available [update]
Update: Microsoft just released the new Avatar Winter apparel which is now available via the Avatar customizer. Original blog listed below.As promised, it looks like new Avatar clothing will be making its way to the Avatar customizer in the near future as an ad on the Xbox 360 dashboard's "Spotlight" channel advertises fresh duds.The Spotlight ad (photo above) promotes new ski and snowboard apparel stating that the content is "available now", though the items aren't available quite yet. Once clicked, the ad brings you to the Avatar customizer where, sadly, no new snowy clothes are to be found. Keep your eyes peeled though, we expect the new (and free) winter apparel to go live rather soon. [Thanks, Sgt Quackers]
The Daily Grind: Do you think of your avatar in the first person?
A recent post over at the Terra Nova blog is the inspiration for today's The Daily Grind. In that post, Rutgers Law Professor Greg Lastowka observes that some MMO players and virtual world residents refer to their avatar as "I", while others refer to it as a he, she, or even it. Many people form some degree of attachment to their digital personas. For some it's through customizing the look of a character, while for others it might be creating the perfect class build or acquiring pets. Given all the time you spend in MMOs and virtual worlds with your characters, is your avatar something you associate with yourself in some way, thus causing you to refer to it in the first person? Or do you view your avatar as something 'other' that you puppeteer... something separate from you, making the avatar a thing you refer to in the third person?
Pirates of the Burning Sea's new NPC archetypes revealed
The latest Pirates of the Burning Sea developer blog focuses on the title's avatar combat revamp, which we've discussed a bit at Massively in the past. "AvCom Revamp: NPC Archetypes" is written by PotBS Content Designer Bryan Yarrow, aka 'HighLevelMob?'. In it, he introduces the NPC archetypes and the moves and abilities they can employ. "Now, NPCs will debuff you, combo you, set up big finishers, support their allies, and do a lot of other cool stuff as well," Yarrow writes. While the developers didn't want to mire the game in too much complexity, they settled on placing all but two kinds of NPCs into one of six archetypes, with several sub-archetypes within. The differing sub-archetypes represent the specific abilities each NPC uses to fulfill his or her role in that archetype. Yarrow broke the NPC archetype list down as: Defenders: largely focused on the parry stat, but with less ability to dodge. Damagers: high offensive stats allow them to deal out damage, at the cost of less defense. Duelists: high parry and increased offense, but they lack the specialization of either a Defender or a Damager. Duelists possess special abilities, such as a riposte attack combined with a parry. Supporters: alternately strengthen allies or weaken enemies. Brutes: soak up damage, but are easier targets coupled with a reduced parry. Gunners: ranged attackers, with low defense against melee attacks. See Yarrow's "AvCom Revamp: NPC Archetypes" for the full details on how they're changing NPCs in Pirates of the Burning Sea, and more info on roles the various sub-archetypes of NPCs can fulfill.
Real celebrities get Avatar'ed
Unlike the list of rich and famous Avatars we already shared with you where most (all the Joystiq network bloggers) weren't really celebrities, GamesRadar has a listing of really real Hollywood, gaming and political celebrity Avatars. Of course, Chuck Norris is included. Make the jump to view all five pages of celebrity Avatars including gaming legends like Mario, Zelda and Kratos from God of War. If Hollywood celebs are your cup of tea, they've done up Paris Hilton, Michael Jackson and Stephen Colbert in Avatar form. There's even a Bush, Obama and a really accurate looking Palin Avatar. If only someone could make one look like Cliff Bleszinski ...[Via Game Stooge]
Xbox 360 Fanboy presents stupid Avatar tricks
You've had the New Xbox Experience for less than a week now, but we know how you operate. We know that most of you are like sharks who must constantly move towards the next tech stimulation to avoid dying. Luckily, Xbox 360 Fanboy has your back, providing fun tricks you and your avatar can do together.So, if you want to teach the miniature version of yourself to spin wildly, you're only one click away. If you need to learn how to spin wildly yourself, you're probably reading the wrong blog.
Learn how to make your Avatar frown, laugh and burp the alphabet
After a few days of messing with the New Xbox Experience Avatars, we have come across a few hidden (and not so hidden) Avatar moves that'll make him (or her) do various expressive feats. You know, certain button presses that'll make your Avatar burp, laugh, get angry and even smack his head on your screen. Don't worry though, Avatar heads are jelly-like and shouldn't crack your television's screen. var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/xbox/Learn_how_to_make_your_NXE_Avatar_do_various_feats'; Our compiled list of Avatar moves is posted after the break and is broken into two different lists. One for Avatar fun you while in the customizer and one for the 360's dashboard. (Avatars tend to act differently in various surroundings.) We believe our list is rather comprehensive, but we're sure there are other goodies yet to be discovered. Think new hair colors. If you believe you've discovered an Avatar move that isn't listed, please, feel free to share.
Crazy colored Avatar hair discovered!
We were under the impression that every feature in the New Xbox Experience and (specifically) Avatars was discovered, but we're learning that there are more eggs to be found.Hidden within' the Avatar customizer is an option for colored Avatar hair. Colored hair including favs like purple, blue, red, pink, green, etc. Simply follow the steps below to "unlock" the anime'riffic Avatar hair colors and instantly be the cool kid on the block. Or at least the cool kid in your Avatar village. Go to the "Change My Features" section of the Avatar customizer. Highlight (don't click) the "Hairstyles" tile in the "My Features" area. Patiently wait. After one minute the "Hairstyles" tile will spin. That's it, hair colors unlocked! Choose your hairstyle and the new hair colors will be available. [Via Kotaku, Thanks red son rising]
EVE Online's Senior Producer on expansion plans
Some new directions for EVE Online were announced at Fanfest 2008 earlier this month. Torfi Frans Olafsson is the Senior Producer for EVE Online, who presented many of these new features. Eurogamer's Oli Welsh recently spoke with Torfi Frans about the Fanfest announcements and how they'll impact the game as it moves forward. The interview focuses heavily on the Walking in Stations expansion, which -- despite no small amount of negative sentiment from some of the playerbase -- has the potential to expand the limits of gameplay in New Eden. "The expansion is about growing EVE Online as the general-purpose science fiction simulator out there... the whole idea is just to deepen the experience," Torfi Frans tells Welsh.
Avatar ninja-wear not included with Ninja Blade theme [update]
Update: We may have run into a mis-mistranslated problem. According to new reports, the Ninja Blade premium theme DOES NOT come with ninja Avatar clothing options. Insert sad face here:(original blog below)Even though we'll be receiving some free Avatar apparel in the weeks to come, we've always been keen to Microsoft's plan to monetize Avatars. Now, thanks to a lil' ninja game by the name of Ninja Blade, we finally have our first set of paid Avatar duds. Purchasable for 250 Microsoft points, the Ninja Blade (premium) theme can be purchased and not only comes with theme wallpapers and sets, but also five pieces of ninja clothing for your Avatar. That's right, you can dress your mini-me Avatar to look like a ninja or as we call 'em, a Ninjatar. Pro-tip: Don't expect priced Avatar goods to go away.
First wave of new Avatar clothing will be free
You can calm your "will new Avatar clothes cost me Microsoft points?" worries, because Microsoft is committed to offering the upcoming Avatar fashion choices for free ... for now. Talking to German website dreisechzig.net, Boris Schneider-Johne (Microsoft's Xbox product manager in Germany) confirmed that the first few weeks of new Avatar clothes will be available for free, but doesn't go as far to say that all Avatar clothing in the future will be available for no charge. "More costumes will be made available for free in the next weeks" says Schneider-Johne, adding "what's going to happen as of spring is yet to be announced." So, feel free t put those Microsoft points back in your pocket ... for now.
The 'Rich and Famous' list of celeb Avatars
Our Joystiq counterparts put together a photo gallery of New Xbox Experience Avatar awesomeness. It's a photo gallery of the the gaming community's (rich and famous) elite, side by side with their custom Avatars. Go ahead, take a browse for yourself. You'll spot Xbox celebs like Major Nelson and the entire GSB crew as well as N'Gai, Godfree, CheapyD, FourZeroTwo and many more. Also, please excuse the numerous Joystiq and X3F blogger pics, because we're neither rich or famous. But we have to fuel our own personal egos somehow ... right?Ed. Note: Xav has been added. Rest easy, kids. Gallery: NXE Avatars of the Rich and Famous
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!
The New Xbox Experienced
Protip: Click on a phrase in the image above to view the related video. Did ya hear? NXE is out today! And we wanna know how it's treatin' you! Take our poll, and then take a gander at our extensive video preview after the break (use the image above for easy navigation). %Poll-22648% *Not just plain old boring "love" -- we're talkin' the "you love your Avatar enough to wish Mini-Me jokes were still funny" kinda love.
New Avatar fashions planned every two weeks for six months
An Avatar ad on the NXE states that new fashions will be added every two weeks and will be noted by a gold star. Xbox Live Product Unit Manager Jerry Johnson confirms that new accessories will be added for at least the next half a year.According to Johnson, the new fashions will be implemented in packs. We've already noticed that some clothing options have been taken away, like the "wife-beater" (no, it wasn't called that on the NXE). No word yet if these packs will cost anything, but we do know that Microsoft is considering it. What, you don't think the virtual Louis Vuitton bag or Marc Jacobs outfit (not the game designer) will be free, do you?Source - Avatar theme packs confirmed for next six months [VG247]Source - Avatar fashion selection to double in next six months [X3F] 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!
Avatar fashion selection to double in a few months [update]
Update: VG247 is reporting that Microsoft plans on releasing new fashion items every two weeks for 6 months! That's a lot of clothes.If you've started the Avatar creation process and found the clothing options in your Avatar Closet to be lacking in terms of variety, know that more apparel is headed your way in the weeks to come. We just came across an Avatar ad on the New Xbox Experience's Spotlight section (viewable above) that informs us that every two weeks new Avatar clothing will be available, which will double the current fashion selection over the next few months. And to keep everyone informed on the new goods, all new apparel will be marked with a yellow star when it's released. We should also mention that we are not sure if the the upcoming fashion choices will be free or paid content (please be free) as we've heard Microsoft express their willingness to monetize Avatars in the future. We'll just have to wait and see.
DS releases for the week of November 10th
Lots of games out this week that may have dropped off your radar, like Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff and Populous DS. If you like a wide variety of games, this one may be tough for you: there's a lot of different things out this week, and unfortunately, they all cost money. That one always gets us in the end.Europe is just now getting Dementium: The Ward? We'd feel bad, but you guys also have Flower, Sun, and Rain this week, so mainly, we're just jealous. Amazing Adventures: The Forgotten Ruins Avatar - The Last Airbender: Into the Inferno Call of Duty: World at War futureU: The Prep Game for SAT Guinness World Records: The Videogame Hello Kitty Daily My Stop Smoking Coach with Allen Carr National Geographic Panda Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia Pony Friends: Mini Breeds Edition Populous DS Sally's Salon Six Flags Fun Park Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff TrackMania DS Winx Club: Mission Enchantix WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals
