Making an XNA game? Don't maim the poor Avatars!

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jun 22nd 2009 at 9:30AM }

It appears that a short while back, XNA developers were informed by the lordship at Microsoft of the things they can't have the Xbox 360 Avatars do in their games. The list is pretty much designed to stop some ambitious developer from making the most adorable Grand Theft Auto clone ever. Here's some of the rules:

Avatars can't engage in violence that causes "blood, gore, dismemberment, decapitation, maiming, or mutilation. ... Avatars can die temporarily to depict failure"
They can't talk.
Forget any sexual innuendo or "mildly explicit sexual descriptions or images or sexual posturing."
No bodily fluids can come from the Avatar.
Avatars can't go on glamorized crime sprees.
Avatars can't spend time with Mary Jane, shoot up, snort or do any other "controlled substances" ... they can't even smoke normal tobacco.

All use of Avatars must be approved by Microsoft -- and the full list is much longer. Check out the nitty gritty details here.

[Via CVG]

Tags: avatars, development, microsoft, rules, xna

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Rhamsey @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:40AM

yeah, i read this list when they released 3.1. Its not really that bad, and pretty much anything you would expect from a company letting people use their product likeness and letting anyone build games for free, even providing all of the software (for windows/zune).
They also stated that the avatar can do something morally incorrect, as long as there are repercussions for it.

snarfoogle @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:41AM

So lame. You basically can't even have a T rated, much less M rated game with avatars? I was looking forward to GTA:Avatar City.

cuteSAVAGE @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:55AM

So instead of the criminal, you can play the hardened cop. Instead of stealing cars, you can commandeer them.

snarfoogle @ Jun 22nd 2009 10:03AM

Unfortunately this "hardened cop" couldn't shoot criminals unless it was cartoon bloodless violence. He or she couldn't smoke or drink and as I'm interpreting the rules, couldn't even wear a police uniform. This is a lot of regulation which IMO could be partially handled by the ESRB rating system.

Access Granted @ Jun 22nd 2009 10:35AM

I'm just replying to this to say cuteSAVAGE's idea would be a great game! You don't have to smoke or swear to be a hardened cop. You can be an intelligent hardened cop that catches criminals in his or her own way maybe call for backup AI and tazers lol... a GTA style sandbox game would work but what I'm worried about is the limited amount of space available to xna games... I think it was 150 MB or something.

keddren @ Jun 22nd 2009 9:44AM

GTA: Avatar City would be novel for about six minutes.

GRegory @ Jun 22nd 2009 10:05AM

Oh come on. This isn't the wii, it should accomodate adults & teens
the average gamer is over 20 & they have a rating system.
The most exciting things that the avatars will ever do are those fruity 1vs100 dances. [vent over]

Prox @ Jun 22nd 2009 10:35AM

Which rating system? I didn't think the ESRB ever looked at XNA games...

Jerkamie @ Jun 22nd 2009 10:15AM

They can't be named "jerkamie" either because it contains the word "Jerk" and that's just offensive somehow.

huntermunkey @ Jun 22nd 2009 10:15AM

This isn't a big deal. Avatars are a family type of gaming aspect. Think about it. They appear in games like Uno and 1 Vs. 100.

If you really want blood, gore, drugs, and language just play a real game like CoD or GTA. Avatar games are probably intended to go along the lines of the Lego series, which I'm perfectly fine with.