Xbox 360 Avatars are avatars that represent users of the Xbox Live service on the Xbox 360 video game console.[1] Avatars debuted on the Xbox 360 as part of the "New Xbox Experience" system update released on November 19, 2008.
Users are able to customize body shape, gender, facial features, hair style, and clothing.[2] They can then display a 2D head shot of their Avatar on their Gamercard (although they are still free to use their previous picture should they so choose).[3]
Microsoft has indicated that earning Achievements in future Xbox 360 games can reward players with new clothing for their Avatar.[4][5] An example of which is Left 4 Dead 2, allowing people to earn T-shirts and a First Aid Kit trophy that is held by the Avatar.
Xbox Live GM Ben Kilgore stated in 2008 that the avatars will only be available for games that have an E10+ rating or lower only (featuring content that is considered suitable for children under 10 years of age).[6] This may change sometime in the future, though presumably in Microsoft's own games if it ever happens, to monitor their usage in mature games. It was announced at Game Developers Conference on March 24, 2009 that the XNA framework 3.1 would have API to support Avatars in Indie Games.
Users can edit their avatar online on Xbox.com with full control of the avatar. This allows Live users without access to the physical Xbox 360 console (i.e. Games for Windows – Live or Windows Phone 7 users) to edit their avatar. Users can edit every feature that they can from a real Xbox 360, and even equip awards that they have earned. The editor is Microsoft Silverlight based.
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This is a list of games on the Xbox 360 video game console (both retail and Xbox Live Arcade games) that use Avatars. Some games (marked with an asterisk) get updated to support Avatars when the user updates to the New Xbox Experience dashboard. The player must be signed in to Xbox Live to receive the game update for those games.[7]
The Avatar Marketplace was launched on August 11, 2009, allowing users to buy clothes via Microsoft Points.[10] Users are able to buy branded clothing, such as Adidas, from said store for their avatar, as well as game-related clothing, such as costumes from Monkey Island, BioShock 2, Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Halo, Splinter Cell Conviction and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. A player can also update their avatar's wardrobe by achieving certain goals and unlocking different clothing. New clothes and items are added to the Avatar Marketplace every Thursday.
As of late June 2009, various themed clothing articles were spotted in use by various members of the Xbox 360 Community - namely those who work for Microsoft. These articles in question were based mainly around Halo, various T-Shirts, Shorts, Hats and even full body costumes were seen not only being worn by current avatars but also in Avatar Marketplace Demonstration pictures and videos. The people who had access to these also were spotted to have a mysterious achievement in their profile named 'Xbox 360 Beta' and was orange in color with a Beta symbol and the number 09 - it was concluded that they were actually beta testing the new Avatar Marketplace.[11]
Aside from clothing, the Avatar Marketplace also has animated props available for purchase, these props allow the avatar to interact with them such as a remote control Warthog from Halo, Lightsabers from Star Wars, Footballs, skateboards, pets, and even Pom Poms. According to Major Nelson (Director of Programming for the Microsoft gaming network Xbox Live), those who attended the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2009 were eligible for a special E3 Trophy prop when the Avatar Marketplace actually hits - however to be in with a chance you had to have visited a special stand that was present at the conference.
Some games allow you to unlock clothing for your avatar by meeting certain conditions such as unlocking the required achievement. Games that currently award Avatar Awards are listed below.
• = means that the game has avatar awards which are linked to certain achievements in another game (for example: all the awards in HALO: Waypoint needs certain achievements unlocked in HALO: REACH except for the HALO: REACH BETA shirt which is no longer obtainable)
† = means that the game has achievements which can be used in another game to unlock avatar awards from there (example: a number of the achievements in HALO 3, ODST and REACH can be used in HALO Waypoint to unlock avatar awards)
⚥ = means that the game has avatar awards in a game looks different on the avatar depending on which gender you set it to (for example: the RECON helmet avatar award from HALO Waypoint is in two different colour schemes (Red for males and Dare's (From HALO 3: ODST) white RECON Helmet for females) .)
Avatars were developed by a Microsoft Game Studios internal development studio, Rare Ltd. before the Wii (which has a template similar to the Avatar, called the Mii) was launched.[12]
Avatars are a collection of data, less than 1 kB,[13] describing character details such as clothing and facial features, propagated to Xbox.com. These avatars can be as personalized as the player wants them to be, detailing all the way down to the size. However, players can also create an avatar that does not represent them at all. Like a roaming user profile the Avatar will follow the player wherever he or she logs on. This makes the avatar the actual player in the virtual world.
The Xbox 360 System Software includes a renderer and animation system that creates Avatars as they are seen in Microsoft's own titles. It is also be possible for developers to use the data and process it with their own software, allowing Avatars to be easily integrated with a game's engine.
Developers are able to use the data to create random Avatars to populate their game, or to create specific Avatars for specific roles.
By pressing the RS button in the creation screen, your avatar will burp. Also by pressing RB button your avatar will smile, while pressing the LB button your avatar will show random emotions. If you are viewing clothing that has zoomed into the Avatar's head, you can simulate a "head bonk" by pushing up on RS and then pulling it down quickly.
Avatar bodies are animated using skeletal animation, whereas Avatar faces are animated by changing the eye and mouth textures.[3]
Microsoft has posted a comprehensive look at the technical details behind the Xbox Live Avatar system on their engineering blog.[14]
Avatar images are available for use on Internet forums, social network services, as an email signature, or on a blog. They can be accessed by using the following user-specific URLs (replacing GAMERTAG with the Xbox Live Gamertag)[15]:
http://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/GAMERTAG/avatar-body.pnghttp://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/GAMERTAG/avatarpic-l.pnghttp://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/GAMERTAG/avatarpic-s.pngFor a less technical way to get your avatar, simply go to http://barathesh.com/xbox.php and type in your gamertag to receive the picture.
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