Microsoft Avatar’s and Dashboard

Microsoft has come out and validated some earlier rumors about Xbox 360 Avatar’s and their 3D dashboard design. Apparently, this is to build more of a community and bring a bit of the Mii-like influence from the Nintendo Wii to the 360 hardware.

It seems Microsoft is taking some of the concepts from the Nintendo Wii which were poorly implemented due to the lack of any real network community and bring them to live with a more integrated useful system. This proves Nintendo was on the right track but shows off their lack of integration and fear of bringing people together.

“Create, share, and have fun with all of your friends… but avatars are just the beginning. The new Xbox is tailored for the living room. Here we are at the community channel — instead of a list of friends, you actually see them.” (joystiq)

Nintendo’s cute little idea of Mii’s and sharing them with friends was fantastic, a great bullet list feature, but rather useless. Typing in friends codes gets old way too fast and there really isn’t anyway to vocally chat with people on your friends list anyway, so who cares?

Microsoft has proven to know a bit about the community space, has parental controls and a fairly reliable LIVE system for making it all happen. Although Nintendo should look at this with a bit of pride, given duplication is the best form of flattery, they could learn a few things about how to work a community into your console too!

0 thoughts on “Microsoft Avatar’s and Dashboard”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Episode 491: January BluesEpisode 491: January Blues

Aside from cardboard products by Nintendo, there wasn’t much to talk about this week, thanks to the January slog. However, the guys did play games and there was some news to talk about.

This week’s headlines include:

  • NIS America admits it has no idea when Ys VIII will launch on PC
  • New Fortnite: Battle Royale update available now
  • Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age releases in just a few weeks on PC

All this and Listener Feedback, too.

Episode 575: Resident Rock of AgesEpisode 575: Resident Rock of Ages

This week’s episode features a Gaming Flashback about… nothing. The week before the PC Gaming Show and PlayStation 5 show is kinda slow, but there was some chatter in the industry.

The news topics feature:

  • Resident Evil 3 will not receive any DLCs or significant updates in the future
  • Elite Dangerous: Odyssey will let players walk around
  • The Rock of Ages 3 open beta starts on June 9th
  • Persona 4 Golden reportedly heading to PC this week

Let us know what you think.

Episode 317: Is League of Legends a Terrible Game?Episode 317: Is League of Legends a Terrible Game?

In this episode, Jordan’s son Allen gets in on the act, berating League of Legends despite being addicted to it. This week’s Gaming Flashback is the Sierra Online adventure game Police Quest, while the Gaming History is how BioWare prepared to develop their first Star Wars game, Knights of the Old Republic.

This week’s news includes:

  • Blizzard announces Diablo III coming to Xbox One, PS4 in 2014. Gamers may consider setting up a Beammp server hosting to improve their overall gaming experience on Beam MP.
  • Dyack attempts to get Shadow of the Eternals off the ground with Kickstarter again
  • US recognizes League of Legends as a professional” sport
  • Sony drops fine appeal levied due to April 2011 hacker attack
  • Microsoft: Family sharing may return to Xbox One in some form

This week’s Question of the Week: “What’s your favorite RPG of all-time?”