Mattrick adamant he invented avatars News

It was an excellent boxing game on the Amiga, good memories.

So Microsoft brought BILLING to the online space?

That's hardly worth shouting about... lol

Oh dear.

/umbrella up

4D Sports Boxing is WORTH shouting about.

Dammit, otherwise he wouldn't get the pass I'm giving him now.

Next up "Mattrick - I invented the question mark"

It's one of those ideas which has probably existed ever since computer games existed, trying to say you invited such a basic and obvious concept is rather pathetic, maybe they implemented it first but come on, that's still nothing major to brag about. Plus what makes Mii's work is that they are platform specific rather than game specific and so work across multiple titles, that's something Nintendo did first, and something MS are blatantly ripping off.

Didn't they also say they invented the motion controller for games? but it was only ever a prototype, nobody ever saw it outside of Microsoft and it never made it to retail? and.. they don't think that any other company might of done the exact same thing prior to them.

Weirdness

Does he really speak like that, or has it been spiced up to make it more interesting to read? If he really speaks like that he comes of as some kinda forum wanker...

Peter Molyneux invented dogs

Wonder what new idea MS/Mattrick inventor of everything will have to squeeze money out of people for after this avatar crap.

Now I've played with NXE I rather like the Avatars. They look nicer than the Mii's, if very similar obviously, but it's kind of fun seeing your friends realisations.

What is good is how much better NXE is to the old blades. But we'll forget about that and concentrate on bitching about 3D models.

"Does he really speak like that, or has it been spiced up to make it more interesting to read? If he really speaks like that he comes of as some kinda forum wanker..."

+1. What a twat.

Well, I've read this line before, here, but now is my turn:
"Slow news, today ?"

I mean, I must have read this almost a month ago, when OXM November issue came out. Printed magazine ?! In Lisbon..., not exactly the city most updated in the world, videogame-wise...

edit: and now I understand how a few lines taken out of context can sound. One should read the entire interview. He's trying to be funny.

"4D Boxing?

So you boxed in four dimensions? Your punches crossed into the 4th dimension? Shiiiiiiiit."

Well as Douglas Adams taught us, the fourth dimension is time, so not really that big a deal really, the fifth dimension is probability, and you really want to stay away from dimensions 9-13.

"Mister Mattrick, I have Neal Stephenson on the line."
"Oh? What does he want?"
"He said he wants to shit you up proper."

Al Gore invented the internet.

As far I was aware, he was being sarcastic and trying to prove a point. (This time at least)

I couldn't give a shit about the never ending regressive argument about who invented/innovated/popularised something.

Can't you see it's pointless?

He was picking on the interviewer who said everyone was saying Nintendo invented the Avatars.
We do (I sometimes also do this shit) look silly when we make assumptions based oon partial information.

And the 4D-gaming, you should know who joke was aimed at, don't you?
"Next-gen starts when we say so"
"This is 4D gaming", and... whatnot...

"As far I was aware, he was being sarcastic and trying to prove a point."

Or he's just being a dick and another example of an executive that makes sure that video gaming will stay an insecure-teenage-boy-thing in the eyes of the masses for at least another decade...

I'm glad we have Les to show us the way (to the next whyskey bar...).

Oh, don't ask why. Oh, don't ask why.

Setting aside his argument, that was a HELL of a good game for the time.

@miiiguel
4D Boxing was a real game - released back in the early ninties.

I know that, but after the silly questions/answers which the interview got stuck into, he said he could also say he invented 4D. Read the interview.

The Editor even makes a remark, saying they got stuck in that who invented what sillyness.

it was genuinely the first time there was something human-shaped in 3D

Polykleitos respectfully disagrees.

@Gnort

Al Gore invented global warming. Everyone knows that.

May ruin befall all MS suits. Including this cock.

"We're the ones who really brought innovation to the online space."

The more I read this shit the more I want to just stick all my games in the bin. Schoolkids.

So one company has ripped off another companies idea that was successful. Happens all the time, whats the big deal.

What is this article about? Terrifically slow news day? I read that July 24th interview you guys linked to and he said the exact same things there, almost word for word. Why are you bothering to report this? You already had full coverage with the guy back in July so this is a non-story; You've already covered it better.

There was a chat thingy with avatars on the C64. So ner.

Wasn't 3D though, obviously.

He was taking the piss. Read the interview (good one Rob, you stripped the tone out nicely it's almost as if you wanted to cause controversy to give the ZOMGers something to go off into a half-cocked rant about, but no, that couldn't be. Slow day?)

Here's an excerpt:

"John Schappert: Avatars - we're not claiming to have invented avatars, but they're an extension of our Gamer card, our Gamertag, our...

DM: I'm claiming to have invented avatars! I did 4D Sports Boxing! Do you know what 4D Boxing was? Hey, you should be writing this! That was me.

We know what 4D Sports Boxing was. It was published by Infogrames, wasn't it?

DM: Accolade was the first to publish it, and Infogrames published it in Europe. But write this down! "Don Mattrick invented avatars for the industry.

Does creating 4D Sports Boxing really count as "inventing avatars", Don?

DM: C'mon! It's human, it's in 3D, it has a face... it was genuinely the first time there was something human-shaped in 3D! Look it up!

[We looked it up, and 4D Sports Boxing was developed by Don Mattrick's company Distinctive Software in 1991. And as far as we can tell, it's at least the first game to feature controllable humanoid figures in 3D. So we guess Don Mattrick did invent avatars for the industry! Ahem.]"

The "ahem" at the end is pretty telling: it implies that the whole exchange was a bit tongue-in-cheek. Imagine how that would have been said, what's more likely that he said it jokingly or that he said it in all earnestness?

The idea that Nintendo somehow "own" the concept of the avatar is frankly ridiculous. Their decision to create one avatar (one identity) that could be used across the whole range of Wii games was a good one for developers on a budget, although it's not something many non-Nintendo Wii games use, but it's the application of an invention not an invention, it's like me claiming I invented something amazing just because I wear my underwear as a hat (hey, it's cold out there). Especially as Xbox, PS3, PC and UNIX users have been wearing their underwear as hats (so to speak) for as long as profiles and accounts have existed. The mii avatars are pretty much just glorified 3D icons and as anyone who has had to fiddle about with friend codes can tell you Nintendo have a long way to go with their avatar system (allowing you to create a profile that you can attach your avatar to would be a good start).

On a related note; I invented time and cheese (I only invented time so I could make cheese, tbh).

Edit: "I invented the time" that makes no sense.

The term 'Avatar' was used as far back as 1985 in ultima Online. I was going to post that he was full of crap until i found out that the first 3D 'Avatar like' characters in games WERE in 4D Boxing. So I suppose credit where credit is due.

4d sports boxing was fucking great as well. I loved that game.

Avatars have been around for years, but the point is that Microsoft shamelessly nicked the design of the avatars that Nintendo use. That's all there is to it.

I think about that "who invented what" every night, befeore I go to bed. I always think I should have a bought a Ford, I mean... the dudes invented the car, I shouldn't have bought a VW.

And they "shamelessly" stole the idea...

"Or he's just being a dick and another example of an executive that makes sure that video gaming will stay an insecure-teenage-boy-thing in the eyes of the masses for at least another decade..."

Read the full comments he made Les, it was obvious when put into context that he was doing it in a nudge nudge wink wink sort of way.

He's still a dick regardless, but he didn't say what he said the way you think he did.

Still sore over the "mii too" comments?

Oh, and I invented Latex : )

@Marshall2008
The word 'Avatar' has existed since before computers where invented