Cliff Bleszinski: Avatars are Miis

By Tom Bramwell Published 16 July, 2008

But he likes them and the dash revamp.

It might not be the party line, but Gears of War 2 design director Cliff Bleszinski said what everyone was thinking at E3 yesterday when he told us Microsoft's new avatars are basically just Miis for Xbox 360.

"They're Miis, but that's fine," Bleszinski told Eurogamer. "They look like they have a lot more functionality, and it's bringing the console full circle from a hardcore gaming box to an entertainment-friendly family box and it's cool."

Bleszinski is also a fan of the new dashboard interface, admitting that he finds the current one a bit confusing. "Between you, me and wall frankly I can't find s*** in the current interface," he said. "The blades come up and my frame-rate goes to a crawl and I'm like 'Argh! Argh!'"

We also asked if Microsoft had approached him about doing downloadable premium avatar skins - perhaps a Locust or some COG armour - since it's easy to see that stuff heading down a path like that. "We've talked a little bit about it," he confirmed, "but we're at a point where Gears 2 is coming in with however many days left, and while we think it's cool we don't have a lot of time to fit it with Gears."

Finally, since Bleszinski's had the ability to play with the new dashboard for a while, we asked about his avatar. "I haven't had the chance to build one yet," he told us, "but he'd have larger biceps."

"A little more chiselled jaw too."

Check out our Gears of War 2 hands-on preview today to see what Bleszinski has been up to.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (25) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Zomoniac #1 4 years ago

    Well at least someone isn't in denial.

  • asphaltcowboy #2 4 years ago

    That's fair enough. I think there's actually space for MS to use them more effectively than Nintendo have (how many games actually use Miis?). There's definitely space similar to LBP with regards to character customisation and new game-related outfits and accessories. Regardless, can't wait for the new dash, looks ace!

  • Widge #3 4 years ago

    For some reason, he reminds me of FPS Dave

  • neilka #4 4 years ago

    He's so dreamy!

  • Widge #5 4 years ago

    I'd like it if I could sneak up on another Mii and BOOM HEADSHOT!

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #6 4 years ago

    Cliffy B is like the videogame equivalant of that DJ Westwood fella.

    In that he's essentially an exaggerated self-parody.

    Except that Westwood's a cunt, and I quite like Cliffy B :-)

  • Xerx3s #7 4 years ago

    Just give my avatar a chainsaw. That's all I ask.

    /gives chainsaw to avatar
    /sets avatar loose on other emo avatars

  • Weezer #8 4 years ago

    Should call 'em Mii-2

  • IneptPercy #9 4 years ago

    'Should call 'em Mii-2 '

    how about: Mii60

  • bonker #10 4 years ago

    Who is Wall?

  • Darren #11 4 years ago

    Bleszinski is also a fan of the new dashboard interface, admitting that he finds the current one a bit confusing. "Between you, me and wall frankly I can't find s*** in the current interface," he said. "The blades come up and my frame-rate goes to a crawl and I'm like 'Argh! Argh!'"

    +1

    You know I'm really starting to like this guy! LOL

    The current dashboard is, IMO, clunky and ugly. Sure it does the job but it's workmanlike and finding some options is initially confusing. It's overcomplicated if you like and I much prefer Sony's own XMB that has everything accessible from one page. The new 360 dashboard looks more inline with what you'd expect a 21st century UI to look like. The proof is seeing how well it actually runs on our 360s this autumn obviously but so long as it runs faster than the occasionally sluggish one we have now then I'll be delighted. The Guide in particular is frequently slow for me, often pausing for seconds at a time while it does whatever it does.

  • Doctor_What #12 4 years ago

    Xbox360 In Copying Good Ideas Shocker! Gawd bless Cliffy B for talking a bit of sense in amongst all the usual tripe at E3.

    I fully expect next year's MicroSoft E3 presentation to featue cute fabric-looking creatures that jump around a 2D platformy world with lots of user generated content. It'll be called SmallLargePlanet and will in absolutely no way be related to anything that has come out on any other consoles.

    In other news, Lips is on the way, and Scene It is now available.

  • Retroid #13 4 years ago

    Blades = fine
    Way they have things organised on those blades = poor

  • RazorObsession #14 4 years ago

    @DoctorWhat

    Coz Sony never copied a successful idea in their life. perish the thought.

    /looks at 2nd life, motion sensing controls, online, current generation rumble, SNES CD drive concept...

  • hoos30 #15 4 years ago

    If my avatar can have a gun with a chainsaw bayonet, I'm sold!

  • robg #16 4 years ago

    "it's bringing the console full circle from a hardcore gaming box to an entertainment-friendly family box and it's cool."

    If you come full circle, don't you get back to where you started?

  • Feanor #17 4 years ago

    People just use full-circle at random now.

  • penhalion #18 4 years ago

    "At last the circle is complete...now I am the master" *fissssssssssssss*

  • Junglist95 #19 4 years ago

    RazorObsession +1 - SNES CD drive concept... lets all remember that without the SNES CD drive concept there would be no playstation ;-)

  • Tyedyed #20 4 years ago

    /looks at 2nd life, motion sensing controls, online, current generation rumble, SNES CD drive concept...

    Online? lol, yeh fuck you sony for copying the american military defence network!
    And you do realise that they made, not copied the SNES CD drive till nintendo spotted the fine print in the contract?

    Besides, copying GOOD ideas is great, I personally think the new MS dashboard looks rather nice :)

  • Rodney #21 4 years ago

    who cares about whether its copying or not. Do you think each new console reinvents the computer? of course not, it looks at what went before and improves upon it.

    Why would a company not want to 'copy' the succesfull product of another company.

    As a 360 owner I would love a 'copy' or an MS equivlant of littlebigplanet.

    If Ps3 owners got a 'copy' or an equivlant of Gears of War, I really wouldnt give a fuck.

  • RazorObsession #22 4 years ago

    @tyedyed

    You reckon Sony would have had a clue about how to make a compatible Nintendo drive if Nintendo hadn't given them all their secrets? what are they psychic or something?

    come on, sony did the james bond super spy thing, looked at all the secret plans and suddenly decided that they would go it alone and just so happen to create a super console...

  • Tyedyed #23 4 years ago

    Razor> Umm no, you need to look into the history of the snes CD addon, nothing like you imagine although its still an interesting tale of intrigue and skullduggery!

  • paketep #24 4 years ago

    CliffyB is a Mii

  • sneetch #25 4 years ago

    @Retroid
    "Blades = fine
    Way they have things organised on those blades = poor "

    I like the XBox guide they showed at the end of their demo (not the main E3 conference one, another one on Gametrailers) which was a mini version of the current blades but better organised, it looked great, very quick access to the important bits.

    Looking forward to the update.
    Edited by sneetch at 18/07/08 @ 10:53