Rare: Work on Avatars done 'before Miis were part of the gaming scene'

by Dustin Burg { Sep 11th 2008 at 3:45PM }

In an interview with Eurogamer, Rare's lead artist Lee Musgrave revealed that work on Avatars was done "before Miis were part of the gaming scene" and were only decided to be a part of the New Xbox Experience after Microsoft saw concepts of the lil' customizable characters.

"Microsoft did not turn up one day in a speeding car and say, 'They've got Miis - do something!' It wasn't like that at all," says Musgrave, making sure to drive home the point that similarities between Avatars and Nintendo's Miis is purely coincidental. So, yeah ... take that Miis! You aren't being copied on purpose, you're just being copied coincidentally. Yeah!

Tags: avatars, dashboard-update, fall-update, rare

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ryan @ Sep 11th 2008 3:51PM

i believe em. i remember that elf chick from Kameo.

Moedean @ Sep 11th 2008 3:53PM

Do people even care about this?

RedSonRising @ Sep 11th 2008 4:28PM

yes, people do care because m$ needs to reach out beyond the HC crowd to make money..

even though im not a huge fan of Avatars i am interested because if they botch the launch early adopters wont like them.. its more important than continued halo 3 support IMO; halo fans arent out buying more 360s..

m$ cant afford anymore mistakes this generation (RROD, Hitachi drive failures, scratched discs, HD-dvd) and another misstep could jeopardize an xbox 720 from ever happening..

Neuromancer @ Sep 11th 2008 4:01PM

By the ghost of Uncle Curtis!

Neil @ Sep 11th 2008 4:03PM

If its true then its truly sad how slow these guys are....and as Neuromancer said, does anyone really care about them?

RedSonRising @ Sep 11th 2008 4:16PM

im getting used to these Avatars as they get closer to reality.. after playing soul calibur 4 primarily for the customizing options (i only played the single player to unlock more stuff to make more characters), i can see how the Avatars could be interesting..

i really hope they find a way to use my old gamerpics with the new Avatars.. if i cant use any of my old gamerpics as shirts or jackets for example, im going to be very disappointed.. \

im not planning to purchase clothes for my Avatar either (only purchased a few gamerpics) and if new games dont have unlockable clothes or accessories my Avatar might end up neglected and (possibly) nekkid

GWHawk @ Sep 13th 2008 1:30AM

You will be able to print your gamerpics on T-shirts

Mr Khan @ Sep 11th 2008 4:12PM

I kinda believe Rare on this, since their ideas have always paralelled Nintendo's without actively "copying" them

Solar @ Sep 11th 2008 10:58PM

They probably did work on Avatars prior to Nintendo coming out with Miis. But I think it is pretty safe to say that Nintendo's success is why Rare's work was resurrected and actually brought to market.

Bluestreak2 @ Sep 11th 2008 4:13PM

I don't even see why we would want either Mii's or Avatars. The Mii was only really used in that sports game and a few others but largely is forgotten once the wii finally got 3 games worth playing. And the 360 has had like 3 years of success without these Avatars, what's the point of adding them in now?

Doug @ Sep 11th 2008 4:13PM

And Sony copied Xbox achievements with trophies... and on and on... if it works, it works.

The question is, does it work. We'll know soon.

tommy @ Sep 11th 2008 4:33PM

mii have been in the works when the NES came out so there is no way avatars cam first

ryan @ Sep 11th 2008 4:44PM

i think the Egyptians invented Miis first actually.

DBoyFlex @ Sep 11th 2008 4:53PM

I thought Homo Erectus had an avatar. What about Lucy?

zourskittles @ Sep 11th 2008 4:58PM

I heard Adam and Eve were really Miis.

JerkfacedFed @ Sep 11th 2008 7:22PM

@tommy go suck a dick fanboy. even if ms copied it, its better now cuz its standardized across all new games.

joeybeast @ Sep 11th 2008 4:38PM

My avatar better be able to bend air.

LeMuRfArT @ Sep 11th 2008 6:26PM

mine better be able to bend all elements

DBoyFlex @ Sep 11th 2008 4:52PM

I guess this is ok. I don't really care if they copied or not. I am just stoked for the update. I am tired of the dashboard and want to install games on my HDD. Sweet. Can't wait. Oh, are they gonna have something where our avatars are gonna live in a community and live in a house and what not? Kinda like Sims? That would be cool.

Haohmaru @ Sep 11th 2008 5:19PM

Haha, that sounds a lot like Home, too. >.>

Alex @ Sep 11th 2008 5:11PM

I really don't care about the whole Avatar thing. I'll just stick with a Gamer Picture. Probably something with Fable II on it.

JimyD @ Sep 11th 2008 5:52PM

They still look like graphically improved Miis. Besides using them in games such as 1 vs. 100, I still don't understand the purpose of these avatars.

Lucky @ Sep 11th 2008 6:33PM

I love Rare. I love Xbox. But I got to say. I call Bull Shit.

GenoBaby @ Sep 11th 2008 8:40PM

I call bullsh*t... but either or... still can't wait to create my avatar.

Doll @ Sep 11th 2008 9:57PM

Bullshit or not, MS probably have done a better job at it. I just hope I have a huge selection of clothing and accessories, like on Rock Band.

mattclarkie @ Sep 12th 2008 4:47AM

So Rare are saying they designed these things around the launch of the 360 (only way they could have beaten Nintendo), but MS only decided to use them after the success of Mii's.

Right.

Carbonize @ Sep 12th 2008 1:46PM

Be even cooler once game developers start putting them into games even just as jokes. Imagine being able to play as your avatar on CoD or Tekken. Even better imagine running round a corner in Bad Company to be confronted by your avatar pointing a shotgun at you.

Be prepared to see yor avatar being tortured in GTA V.

siddifthe3rd @ Nov 19th 2008 8:54PM

Avatars (not the MS branded type) have been around for as long as i can remember, look at zwinkys, yahoo, imvu. etc... i dont think either can claim they invented them or had the idea 1st.

I like Miis and not owning an Xbox it makes no diff to me but i wish Rare would come back to Nintendo lol Donkey King Country was there finest hour (or 007 if you like that)