Microsoft working on Mii-style avatars

By Robert Purchese Published 16 June, 2008

So says leaked market research info.

Microsoft appears to be busy creating its own avatar system for Xbox Live, modelled on that popular Mii idea by Nintendo.

However, Microsoft plans to "provide a more lifelike, animated, and fully customisable persona", according to top secret Intellisponse research papers read by Xbox 360 Fanboy, and also aims to make it available by the end of the year.

Looking a bit more closely, it seems these avatars will replace your Gamerpicture and will also be worked into "various arcade and retail games" in a similar way that Miis appeared in Wii Sports.

We're told there are "hundreds of clothing options", and an accompanying picture shows samurai outfits, bunny costumes, and boxing attire, as well as suits, shades and all the rest of it.

The characters themselves are male and female, just like in real-life, and all vary in height and face.

One interesting avenue is the possibility for licensed attire, suggested by one of the pictured avatars decked out in an Incredibles suit.

Rumours from earlier this year put Rare as the creative force behind these avatars.

Do you want a little you on Xbox Live, Eurogamer reader?

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (35) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • seasidebaz #1 4 years ago

    Bit late to the party aren't we Microsoft?

    Mind you, this will probably come out before Home, which would make Sony the last...

  • paulf #2 4 years ago

    whats the betting they will sell clothes etc for these?

  • green_nifta #3 4 years ago


    Mii too!

  • the_dudefather #4 4 years ago

    whats next? motion controllers?
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/08 @ 09:29

  • DanWhitehead #5 4 years ago

    "whats the betting they will sell clothes etc for these?"

    I'd imagine that's the whole point, from a business perspective.

  • Arcadiian #6 4 years ago

    @ mem.

    Yeah, because Nintendo are the only company in the world to use avatars.

  • InsoFox #7 4 years ago

    Not surprising that they want to capture the nintendo magic, but somehow I feel their energies would be directed better elsewhere. Still. Microsoft Avatars... well, okay then.

  • DanWhitehead #8 4 years ago

    I'm only interested if you can use Spore Creature Creator to make your avatar.

  • Scimarad #9 4 years ago

    Look, just let us use the Spore Creature Creator...and automatically disalow any phallic monster:-)

    LOL - Someone had the same idea I see!
    Edited by 1 at 16/06/08 @ 09:42

  • jebus #10 4 years ago

    So Sony are making a Wii style pad and now this. F**king clueless.

  • miiiguel #11 4 years ago

    mem, yes, and Ford should sue Toyota, and Renault and VW and ..., because they're making cars with four wheels.

    And MS should sue Linus because he made an OS.

    And...

  • RobertFoster #12 4 years ago

    From my point of view, the current gamerpics are better than Miis. It's easier, rather than faffing about with height/clothes/face etc., you just pick a picture you like and forget about it.

    Home isn't interesting either.

  • Wash #13 4 years ago

    Makes sense, is an evolution of the gamerpic i guess, look at those things u can get for MSN where ya pick ya clothes and shit. Inevitability.

    One thing the wii does right in that world.

    (Y)

  • DFawkes #14 4 years ago

    Family Fortunes: We asked a hundred Wii owners the main reason they bought the console. Your answer is Miis. Our survey said..

    EHEH! (How do you spell the NO noise?)

    I'm happy enough with Gamerpics, thanks very much.

  • CallousB #15 4 years ago

    So will Microsoft start banning certain avatars if they look too gay? Will pink be disallowed for male characters as it's too provocative for their userbase? ;-)

  • kingdumpalot #16 4 years ago

    From the article, I would guess the Xbox 36miis would be more similar to Sony's Home avatars than the nintendo Miis.

  • bad09 #17 4 years ago

    "I hope we can keep using Gamerpics"

    +1, for me Miis are funny for about five minutes, but if MS wants to hit the Wiis demographic and steal some of Nintys thunder this sort of thing will help.

  • L42yB #18 4 years ago

    Having a cusomisable 3D avatar is nothing new and certainly wasn't thought up by Ninty... so I don't understand all the bitching along those lines in this thread.

    At any rate, I'm sure the gamerpics will remain since they are already used in a ton of existing games, and I really don't see MS going and getting devs to update every game that already uses gamerpics. So this will have to be an additional feature.

    My bet is it will only be available to Gold members too...

  • DrDamn #19 4 years ago

    I thought Miis were ok but a bit harmless and fun for five minutes. More recent games have started using them quite well though and if you have a lot of friends with recognisable Miis it can be really good. For example in Wii Fit on the run I was overtaken by a friends Jack Black Mii & I get cheered on in Mario Kart by friends. Yeah it's a simple little thing but it adds nicely to the overall experience.

  • Dan234 #20 4 years ago

    Sounds great. Can you buy horse armour for these avatars too?

  • The-Bodybuilder #21 4 years ago

    What's the point? It's not like MSs inept marketing department will actually advertise this feature anyways. They'll just spend thier remaining budget on Gears 2, like they did with halo 3 and didn't do with mass effect/ninja gaiden.

  • InsoFox #22 4 years ago

    "Our survey said..

    EHEH! (How do you spell the NO noise?)"

    I'd say... NIT-NER!

  • L42yB #23 4 years ago

    Sounds great. Can you buy horse armour for these avatars too?

    That horse has been flogged to death, armour or no...

  • DFawkes #24 4 years ago

    @InsoFox
    Yeah, I'd go for NIT-NER!

    If PS3 owners are getting Home, and Wii owners have Miis, I can't see MS giving customers a worse deal by forcing people to get Gold if they want one. They've already stuck a delay on demos, making it so you'd have to pay for something free on competitors machines would be madness.

  • Fab4 #25 4 years ago

    Will they make SS clothing for all the little racists running around XBL?

  • onyxbox #26 4 years ago

    all you have to do is remember that f*ing paper clip in MS Office to know where MS will take this.

    "I looks like you want to play a game, would you like to know how to play it first?"

    Arghhh!!.... It's happening all over again.

  • RazorObsession #27 4 years ago

    its a bullet point for the back of a box at best. customizable Mii's are hardly going to get bums on seats are they?

    one less thing my vision camera will be used for too.

  • Dan234 #28 4 years ago

    If granny has to sign up for XBox Live to use a Mii I'm not sure if the marketing department have quite got the point.

  • SeesThroughAll #29 4 years ago

    And MS should sue Linus because he made an OS.

    MS didn't invent OS... And... don't go there anyway ;)

  • CARL05 #30 4 years ago

    If granny has to sign up for XBox Live to use a Mii I'm not sure if the marketing department have quite got the point.

    ROFL! Granny on Live! XD - Pwnin the n00bs!

  • AOFanboi #31 4 years ago

    So they could not decide whether to copy the Miis or copy Home, so they make a mix of them?

    Microsoft, masters of "copyvation", strikes again.

  • DAN.E.B #32 4 years ago

    Microsoft, masters of "copyvation", strikes again.


    thats Sony isnt it?

  • memeroot #33 4 years ago

    meh

    there is no way they can compete with mii

  • Dan234 #34 4 years ago

    Here's a photo from Joystiq...

    Link

    Hmm...
    Edited by 1 at 17/06/08 @ 10:30

  • YourMessageHere #35 4 years ago

    Oh god no. There I was thinking they might actually look like people in a vaguely photorealistic way. Just as rubbish as the Mii concept. The hell with Spore, I want an avatar that I can use in a game that actually looks like me, not some super deformed chibi caricature transparently designed for low system requirements. License the APB character creator and we'll talk.