Miyamoto finds Xbox avatars "flattering"

By Robert Purchese Published 16 July, 2008

Thinks both will evolve differently.

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has said he is flattered that Microsoft pinched his Mii idea.

"To see that a company like Microsoft has taken something we've done and kind of looked at it in a way and brought it out on their platform to kind of show that we've done has become the standard, I find quite flattering," Miyamoto told IGN.

Miyamoto is confident that each company will take its avatar system two separate ways for two different audiences, despite Microsoft appearing to be after the casual audience that has been so lucrative for Nintendo and its Wii.

"On the other hand, I think probably the basic ideas behind perhaps those two different systems are different, and because of that I think they will probably develop in different ways," said Miyamoto.

Microsoft unveiled its avatar system during its E3 press conference on Monday evening. It is to be part of a completely redesigned Xbox 360 dashboard that will go live this autumn.

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 (51) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • Dizzy #1 4 years ago

    "and because of that I think they will probably develop in different ways"

    Indeed... 3D avatars have been around for ages. I am kinda shocked that it took Nintendo to bring them into console fashion. Both companies are going to do different things with them.. but in the end they will be used in games as well.

  • asphaltcowboy #2 4 years ago

    Ah! A man of sense!

  • LOLLERS #3 4 years ago

    I'm pretty sure simple avatars were around before Miyamoto 'invented' the idea. Or perhaps he's letting Nintendo take the credit for doing them in 3D first.

    http://www.weeworld.com/

  • Darkedge #4 4 years ago

    Miyamoto in claiming old idea was all his shocker.

    I'm sure they will develop in different ways, MS might actually release new clothes, parts etc not just leave the system to stagnate with what comes down to very few options. Come on Ninty give us some more haircuts, facial hair types, eyes, anything.

  • RockIsSponge #5 4 years ago

    "Develop in different ways"?

    Mr Miyamoto, Microsoft might actually develop them. Miis haven't really changed since the launch of the Wii!

  • monkie_king #6 4 years ago

    I don't quite get MS's avatars. I know they're going after the casuals, but it really risks alienating their core user base. How is the kid whose gamertag is "xX BloodKilla Xx" or "~nInJa SnIpEr~" going to reconcile their virtual identity with a friendly little 3D cartoon guy in a pastel jumper?

  • ps3owner #7 4 years ago

    do gamers really want to have 3D avatars?! I can only speak for myself but if we not had them I wouldn't miss them...

  • baardhimself #8 4 years ago

    I much prefer gamerpics to 3d avatars, i just wish they were free. paying for adverts is insanity.

  • LazyDan #9 4 years ago

    @monkie_king

    Personally, I'm all for those kinds of people being alienated off of my xbox live.

  • andywilkie35 #10 4 years ago

    i hope they don't get rid of gamerpics when the avatar thing comes in

    but what i like is that Miyamoto has shown a bit of class. Whilst Sony and Microsoft snipe at each other CONSTANTLY, this man has a reason where he could say "f*cking thieves" but doesn't.

    i own all three consoles by the way in case anyone thinks i'm being pro nintendo!

  • Lexx87 #11 4 years ago

    @monkie

    That made me giggle :D

  • pervertron #12 4 years ago

    The only reason why the Mii is cool is because of it's integration into Wii Sports, Fit, Play etc. What Xbox games are going to support them?

  • Doctor_What #13 4 years ago

    I notice you cut how the 'the theiving toerags' rant where he went on a Dead Rising style rampage through the MicroSoft stand, destroying all in his way with his mad bushido skills. Very kind of you EG ;)

  • Retroid #14 4 years ago

    @monkie: "How is the kid whose gamertag is "xX BloodKilla Xx" or "~nInJa SnIpEr~" going to reconcile their virtual identity with a friendly little 3D cartoon guy in a pastel jumper?"

    Easy. Just make shitty goatees & sk8r wear available for them, at a high premium. They'll love it! \o/

    :'(

  • Nikanoru #15 4 years ago

    Anyone who thinks Microsoft did NOT look at the success of the Miis when they did this, is completely delusional, in denial, or just a complete and total dumbshit.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #16 4 years ago

    LOLLERS and Darkedge you plonkers, where does shiggy say he invented the idea?

    Here, take your fangirl glasses off and read again

    "To see that a company like Microsoft has taken something we've done"

  • RazorObsession #17 4 years ago

    what if i don't give a shit about avatars? what if i bought a vision camera and am completely happy with my photo that i paid 40 quid for the privilege to have, to the point of resenting avatars? does that mean i still have to have one?

    what if i am cheap and don't want to spend MS points on clothes and trinkets, instead opting for games? Am I forced to be represented by a cheap and crappy basic looking default avatar in all future games, even though theoretically i could own the blingest bling and fashioniest fashions in real life, which would have cost considerably more than their virtual counterparts (I should hope anyway) which my camera could have captured in the first place? I'm not saying i do, what with the amount i already spend on games, but as an example.

    Alternatively, can I map a photo of my face onto the avatar, to give it that realistic, but uncanny valley look?

    Am I free to do as I please, or am i being forced to do something I don't want to?

    If it's optional, i might warm to the idea, especially if it meant that i would be missing out on something that turns out to be great, but i just don't like the idea of change for changes sake, and especially the idea of being forced to change something that i paid money for, and am happy with.

    this whole avatar thing just reeks of the casual gamer crowd, and I'm proud to have destroyed games for 25 years. casual gamer i am not...

  • asphaltcowboy #18 4 years ago

    RazorObsession, as has been said MANY times: Gamerpics (so, your ugly mug) and themes will still be applicable in the new system, so no wasted money there. No, it is not optional to have this new dashboard. If you're too busy enjoying playing the great games that are on the 360, why would you give a crap what your avatar looks like and why would you be bothered about what others think of your avatar based on how it's dressed? Seriously, the number of people overreacting to this (fantastic) news is staggering.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 14:34

  • asphaltcowboy #19 4 years ago

    @Aspic: I guess Live and the 360 pad completely passed you by? I also happen to think MS could take this further than Nintendo have done. They really haven't exploited (I'm talking about expanding the idea, not taking people's money) the Mii idea anywhere near as much as they could have!
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 14:50

  • sneetch #20 4 years ago

    @LazyDan

    +1 to that, the Avatars might remind such people that these are all just games for fun and it might just encourage them to be less of a dick.

    Avatars have been around a long long time, and have a long, long history. Nintendo didn't "invent" them with Miis and I don't think Miyamoto was saying they did.

    Nintendo were obviously the first company to make the concept of one avatar that could represent you in games a central concept in their console and MS and Sony copied that idea in the new Live and Home. Since Home has been in development for so long I couldn't really be sure who planned to use them first, Sony or Nintendo, however Nintendo are first to market and that means a lot. Also I don't know if we'll be able to use the Home avatars in games, although I would be surprised if you couldn't.

    Btw GamerPics are avatars too, plain old icons and so not at all fancy but still avatars so you could, if you wanted to stretch it, say that Nintendo copied MS first, but that would be stretching things to breaking point. :)

  • asphaltcowboy #21 4 years ago

    Innovation isn't necessarily the creation of completely new stuff you realise? Is it even possible to come up with something completely new and original? One can highly refine something and it be innovative (i.e. the near-perfect 360 pad). And yes, I would obviously hold up Live (and the dashboard) as an innovation in "console market" (why are you bringing PCs into this? You said consoles! Also, why are you bringing price into this? PS3 did it after 360 and less well - arguably, PCs do it less well also!). A massively functional approach to console gaming with unified friends list, cross-game invites, custom soundtracks, voice/video chat, text messaging and an online store for media, DLC and demos? Er, so yes it is highly innovative, you twit.

  • Dr.Mott #22 4 years ago

    Come Autumn, I'm disconnecting my 360 from the internet. I really don't like the new style.

  • slivir #23 4 years ago

    Bloody miis and avatars, burn them both.

  • SeesThroughAll #24 4 years ago

    360 fan before E3:

    Bloody Wii Fischer-Price interface! Mii are so stupid!
    Singstar is ghey!
    I really don't like JRPGs!

    360 fan after E3:

    Avatars are so cool! Better than Miis!
    Lips looks great fun! It will be better than Singstar!

    /Repeats the word "innovation" to convince himself that there actually was some kind of creativity behind anything.
    /Somehow convinces himself that FFXIII is now a 360 exclusive to tell himself that he "won" something.


    Sorry for trolling, couldn't help myself. Some people here are getting ridiculous with their MS ass kissing... Thankfully they're not the majority.

  • AOFanboi #25 4 years ago

    The 360 pad could be renamed "Wavemicrosoftbird". Unless it "borrows" even more from the DC pad that is. Innovative my tush.

  • miiiguel #26 4 years ago

    SeesthroughNothing, shooo troll!

    E3 really did you very bad, you're soooo bitter.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 16:14

  • Nithron #27 4 years ago

    It's gotta be said, the other two big names in gaming don't hold a candle to Nintendo. They're so goddamn innovative, they don't even need to make new games, they can just release the old ones again. And again. And again.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #28 4 years ago

    asphalt cowboy,
    hold the 360 pad over the top of a Wavebird, then tell us the miniscule amount of refinement (button layout almost identical) is 'innovation'.

  • Dan234 #29 4 years ago

    I suppose Microsoft are only doing the same for the XBox as they've always done in the computer world, where MS-DOS was a copy of CPM and versions of Windows up to XP were progressive copies of versions of MacOS Classic and Vista was a copy of MacOS X. Perhaps you could say that they innovated and made the right mouse button do something useful in Windows 95, but that came from somewhere else (Amiga Workbench).

    Maybe they'll add something distinctive to their copy of the Channel Menu, perhaps a one in five chance of zooming into a BSOD when you click on a screen?

    But really MS and innovation don't go hand-in-hand, all they do is concentrate on filling in all the tickboxes on a spec sheet and they're still doing it with the XBox now. If a competitor invents something new then a new tickbox gets added and they'll go to work on that. Eventually most of their products end up as Office does (some huge bloated program where only 10% of the features get used by 90% of the people).

  • Ryze #30 4 years ago

    @asphaltcowboy

    +1

    Excellent innovation where it matters for core / online gaming.

  • tancredo #31 4 years ago

    There are already rumors of mixing the MS avatars to the achievements in the games.

    For exaple unlocking an achievement in Conan would give you access to a Sword, another could give you access to a mask or a shield,... and so on with different games and achievements. That would give the gamers infinite possibilities toward personalizing their avatar, depending on the games they play.

    Also this way the avatars could be something of an image of the player's achievements. Imagine having a Burning Demon Mask for beating Ninja Gaiden on hard, or a medal for Call of Duty 4 on veteran, or something in that style.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 17:17

  • asphaltcowboy #32 4 years ago

    hold the 360 pad over the top of a Wavebird, then tell us the miniscule amount of refinement (button layout almost identical) is 'innovation'

    Didn't the Gamecube and Xbox come out in the same quarter of the same year?

    EDIT: @tancredo - great idea! Now that's some good innovation. In fact, I've long said that MS should let us use the achievement icons we unlock as our gamerpics - let's hope they do really make the most of it.
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 17:18

  • tancredo #33 4 years ago

    They could even go as far as, by clicking on someone's avatar, having an option of explaining what the avatar is wearing:
    Ninja Mask from Ninja Gaiden on hard
    Medal from Call of Duty4 on veteran
    Cube head from beating Portal
    .....

    Something to give you an idea of what games the gamer favors and which achievements he/she is specially proud of.
    (I think achievement points are fine, but they tend to show the players general ability rather than taste for games)

    OK, maybe that would be too much information to give, but still MS can do different things with it
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 17:40

  • Koozer #34 4 years ago

    I have to say the Xbox controller is more akin (in button layout, including triggers!) to the N64 controller and like the PS (1, 2 and 3...) controller in dodgy shape and analogue sticks. And I think that might be because Nintendo patented the 8 notch thing on their sticks...
    EDIT: actually I think it's more like the PS one, just nicking the triggers from the N64.

    Anyway...3D avatar dudes (Mii's for me) are fun for about 10 minutes when you're creating them, then you get bored and play a proper game that doesn't use them (ie. not a party game).
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 17:48

  • bad09 #35 4 years ago

    The terrible childish comunity page which replaces your simple easy friends with all the cute little Miis hanging about with adorable little speech bubbles showing who's playing what makes me cringe (that is part of the dashboard so NOT optional). It's not what I spent my money on and I don't want it (that's why I got 360, MS), I'll give it a go but if it turns out how it looks, and if MS's claims of integration of them into everything they will do are true, bye bye 360 I'm afraid. I couldn't care less if they want the casuals, it's not the console I brought, and I have a PS3 which won't force avatars all over my dashboard and into my games as HOME IS OPITIONAL.....

  • asphaltcowboy #36 4 years ago

    The terrible childish comunity page which replaces your simple easy friends with all the cute little Miis hanging about with adorable little speech bubbles showing who's playing what makes me cringe (that is part of the dashboard so NOT optional).

    I'm pretty sure you will be able to access your traditional friends list via the new-look guide, but if you want to sell your 360 over such an insignificant issue, then go right ahead :)

  • WinterSnowblind #37 4 years ago

    To be fair, it could be argued that Nintendo adapted the idea of Mii's from the 360, which has been using gamer pictures, to identify each player. 3D "Mii" like avatars, aren't anything new, and they certainly weren't developed by Nintendo, we've had things like that for MSN and Yahoo for years.

    It's undeniable that Microsoft have now chosen to use the 3D avatars because of the popularity of the Mii's, but as Miyamota himself said, they functions aren't all that similar, and I don't think it's fair to critisise another company, for chosing to use 3D avatars. It seems as if it makes communicating with friends a lot easier, or at least, easier on the eyes.

    I definitely prefer this new style, over simply having generic gamer pictures for each player. And again. It's not like Nintendo or Sony haven't both borrowed ideas like this from Microsoft, and each other before. It's how the industry works. It's pretty amusing trying to watch some people claim that Microsoft haven't added any significant features that the other two have ripped off as well. Both the PS3's and Wii's online systems and store set ups, for one, are very clearly based off the ideas of Live and the XBLA.

  • bad09 #38 4 years ago

    @ asphaltcowboy

    So I have access everything from the new look guide because they ruined my dashboard no thanks!

    Dude we already had this discussion and could debate it all night but it's not insignificant to many at the end of the day, maybe not you but many do not want it. You obviously do but no one is right or wrong. You like you keep, I don't I trade in. No harm no foul. It's called choice and preference, you know the things you use when you choose your consoles.

    I did say I'll give it a go but my initial reaction is I don't like what they've done. I don't want avatars or clothes shops for the little fellas, I don't want a silly primetime quiz show option, or a friends page covered in cute little avatars if people on my friends list choose to use avatars. I don't want avatars incorporated into everything MS does. I don't want netflix (if we even get it), I don't want to use my guide constantly to avoid my embarrassing Wii rip off dashboard.

    As a said before on this if I wanted that sort of thing I'd have got a Wii.....
    Edited by 1 at 16/07/08 @ 18:41

  • asphaltcowboy #39 4 years ago

    Fair enough, just seems odd to deny yourself all the great games for the sake of a dashboard. Of course, there's one thing you said that still doesn't make sense!

    "As a said before on this if I wanted that sort of thing I'd have got a Wii....."

    Bar the avatars, the Wii doesn't have any of the functionality you listed!

  • bad09 #40 4 years ago

    @ asphaltcowboy

    If I'm brutally honest mate most of what I'm looking forward to is multiplatform anyway (and I own a PC for gears2 or any other 360 "exclusive";) and most of what I own now is multiplatform so if I wanted to I could use the trade in to invest in PS3 versions.

    In game XMB, custom soundtracks, Live and achievements make them a 360 choice, but online isn't that bad on PS3 (but does need improvement), now have in game XMB, custom soundtrack and rumble is back.

    Throw in B/C and my 360 wouldn't be missed that much now TBH (shock horror!!!). Six months ago no way but now? My 360 is looking a little tired (had it since launch).

    I think nobody would deny the revamp was needed, and I will try out the new look 360, but as I said I just don't like it. Sorry MS.........

  • effinwooly #41 4 years ago

    good point cowboy !

  • smelly #42 4 years ago

    Would there be any way to NOT get the dashboard update?

    I dont want anything brand new which has be made by microsoft.. i'd rather wait for a few service packs...

  • penhalion #43 4 years ago

    @bad09

    What has the dashboard got to do with the games you play?

    Seriously, if you hate Mii style avatars, then you'll detest HOME on the PS3 and given that, when it finally arrives, games will have functiuonality that can only be accessed by going through HOME. You're going to be left using a DS as it's the only console that isn't going to be getting involved in the 3D avatar movement.

  • bad09 #44 4 years ago

    @ penhalion

    Well I think that's where cowboy is missing the point also, it's not about the games first off, I spend a lot of time on the dashboard friends media etc so why should I spend time on a interface I don't like when the PS3 is sitting there with a interface I do like (as far as I can see at the moment, remember I could be wrong and it's only first impressions).

    Besides Sony have already said that the functions in home do not need home to be accessed and can be accessed in a sensible way from the XMB and as far as I know Home will not be needed for any game so Home is not forced down your throat, they leave that to the PR Hype :). On the other hand MS has already said avatars will be more and more integrated in everything they do.

    As I keep saying to cowboy I will try it but if I don't like the revamped 360 experience I'll trade in (as I said before most of what I'm looking forward to is/will be also PC/PS3 anyway). Although accused of it a lot I'm not a fanboy and if I have a dislike with a console I won't buy it or will trade it, simple.

  • RazorObsession #45 4 years ago

    @AsphaltbrokebackCowb oy

    I'm not against the dashboard update, and not once in my post did i mention that information at all.
    I'm against the constant cutesying up and dumbing down of games to appeal to everyone, and the fact that i paid for a camera that is seeing less and less use.
    to be honest i want competition online, not a million grannies, wannabe emo fashion whores who are playing games because its the new trendy thing to do, even more children and basically people who don't play games flooding the online space, because their dullard brains refused to 'jump in' until they found targeted advertising so damn effective.
    i want people who love games with a passion, who know how to play games, who have been playing games all their lives and couldn't give a shit about cutesy mii avatars, and the bracelets they are wearing, as they are the ones most likely to provide you with a decent gaming experience.

    people who think a simple gamerpic will suffice.

  • 8bitMofo #46 4 years ago

    They are fucking gay. End of story.

  • stallion185 #47 4 years ago

    Haha. Some people are so insecure :p

  • NegativeZero #48 4 years ago

    I like my shitty Idolmaster gamerpic far more than I like some crappy generic avatar thing.




    Namco, there is a huge market here for Idolmaster Avatars. 400 MS points, like your Ace Combat 6 aircraft skins. You know you want to.

  • davisorle #49 4 years ago

    bullshit

  • Bander #50 4 years ago

    MS should have used the avatars from the 2005 Dead or Alive 4 lobbies.

    Although I think the main reason people liked them is because pratting about in the lobbies was preferable to engaging in the slowdown-fest that was the online gameplay.

  • Farzlepot #51 4 years ago

    I don't play multiplayer games and I barely use the dashboard either, except for when switching between two games (where I only see it, and don't need to actually use it). I just don't care about this update either way, I only hope that it won't brick my console.