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Modern Warfare 2 Avatar gear coming to Live tomorrow

by Xav de Matos { Nov 4th 2009 at 8:01PM }

Are your Avatars ill-equipped to raid a terrorist safe house? Well, good news: Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling (aka fourzerotwo) revealed Modern Warfare 2 gear will soon be available for players to purchase on Xbox Live's Avatar Marketplace.

Revealed in a recent Tweet, Bowling stated that Infinity Ward will upload the content to Xbox Live tomorrow -- which includes the Ghost outfit pictured above. In an email to Joystiq, Bowling confirmed the content will be made available for purchase tomorrow. Until then, we'll sleep soundly knowing that the Avatar world will soon be safe from terrorist scum.

[Thanks, B. Marriner]

1 vs. 100 Season 2 details dished on dev blog

by Ben Gilbert { Oct 29th 2009 at 2:45PM }

New information on Microsoft's still free for now Xbox Live-based game show 1 vs. 100 has been a bit on the light side since the game's initial release so many moons ago. The official 1 vs. 100 Blogs have detailed some new features of the game's second season.

For one, rather than Avatars amorphously apparating on-stage, "The One" will strut down a central staircase right after dropping a fancy pose on the plebeians below. Players in the hot seat will also have their Xbox Live statuses automatically set to "Busy," so as not to knock their concentration from the mind grape squeezing at hand. No details were revealed on when we might actually get to play more 1 vs. 100, unfortunately.

[Via Destructoid]

Show your college pride with Avatar university apparel

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 29th 2009 at 12:45PM }

Disruptive Media announced today that it has released new university Avatar apparel on Xbox Live. The clothing covers thirty different universities, with apparel ranging from 40

($0.50) wrist bands to 250

($3) varsity jackets. Unfortunately, if you happen to root for -- or have attended -- one of the universities that isn't on the list, you're out of luck (no OU? Seriously?). The press release does mention "plans for collegiate expansion," so you might consider holding onto your money until then. Or, you know, you could spend it on games. Up to you, really.

Browse the University Collection on Xbox Live Marketplace

Avatar Halloween costumes have scary prices

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 15th 2009 at 11:30AM }

In the spirit of the season, Microsoft has released some Halloween costumes for Avatars. There's quite a spooky selection to choose from, including ghosts, cowboys, werewolves, vampires, wizards, witches and Frankenstein's monster. For good measure, Microsoft even threw in a skeleton and a mummy. All of the outfits cost 240

($3), but you'll need to pay another 80

($1) if your outfit of choice features a hat.

Perhaps the most frightening of all is the male Sheriff's outfit. It's something about the combination of the incredibly tight fit, coupled with the standard, effeminate Avatar pose. It just don't look right.

Infinity Ward sets sights on Modern Warfare 2 Avatar items

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 12th 2009 at 12:15PM }

With most street savvy gamers expecting Modern Warfare 2 to be one of the biggest -- if not the biggest -- releases of 2009, it's not too surprising to learn that Infinity Ward has Avatar items in the works. According to IW's fourzerotwo, AKA community guru Robert Bowlling, the company is preparing some items for Xbox 360 Avatars, adding that some of them will "hopefully" be free. On the same subject, Bowling notes that he's "not sure" whether the game will include any unlockable Avatar Awards. That's unfortunate, as we've yet to see a single game use the Avatar Awards feature -- even the those that have been confirmed to support it.

Survey shows Xbox Avatar 'RetroCade'

by Christopher Grant { Oct 7th 2009 at 11:58AM }

If a consumer survey sent over to us by a tipster is to be believed, Microsoft is looking to bring a virtual Avatar arcade to the Xbox 360. Some of the potential names listed in the survey are "Game Room," "RetroCade," "Tower of ROM," and "Classics LIVE." Yeah, we're partial to "Tower of ROM" also.

If the proposed service sounds familiar, that's because it's nearly identical to PlayStation Home's arcade spaces – like Namco's virtual arcade – just replace the dead-eyed dopplegangers of Home with the scrunchable avatars of Xbox 360. The second survey question sent to us asks, "Which of the following names would most compel you to purchase the product?" indicating that the "Tower of ROM" might not be a free space but could instead have a fee associated with it.

While the survey doesn't give us much more to go on (besides a sinking feeling that we're not interested), we thought we'd ask you, Joystiq Biomass, to weigh in on the product's name. Let the fat cats in Redmond know what you think!

Microsoft: Avatar clothing changed 150 million times

by Justin McElroy { Oct 6th 2009 at 11:15AM }

Speaking at the First Annual Microsoft Open House in NYC, Robbie Bach, president of the company's entertainment and devices division, was touting the strength of the 360 platform. Along with the impressive news that the results of 425 million games had been crunched for matchmaking, Bach also said that Avatar clothing had been changed more than 150 million times. When you divide that by the 20 million Xbox Live users the company's claiming, that's ... more than 7 changes each. We're a bit worried about some of you.

Gang, please, keep your dignity intact: Set it once -- walk away. It's the only sane thing to do. Of course, Bach also said that 200,000 games of 1 vs. 100 were being played every weekend, so maybe you guys are just trying to get spiffed up for Chris Cashman. We hope it was worth it.

TGS 2009: Joy Ride community can unlock 'Perilous Peaks' stunt track

by Xav de Matos { Sep 24th 2009 at 8:37AM }

During a brief closed-door Xbox Live Arcade showcase at Tokyo Game Show 2009, Microsoft revealed that a new stunt track in the upcoming Xbox Avatar title, Joy Ride, will be unlocked by the community. When the Joy Ride community reach a collective experience level, the mountain landscape of Perilous Peaks will become available -- similar to the unlock challenge of EA's Battlefield 1943.

Microsoft also showcased three new modes for Joy Ride: Delivery Dash pits players against each other, attempting to collect and deliver a pizza at random spots within the world; Coin Frenzy has players (alone or in teams) racing against the clock to collect as many coins within the world; and Trick Showdown requires players work alone or as a team to pull off as many stunts before time expires. As an added bonus, collected coins can be used to customize each player's ride -- a nice alternative to customization options available for purchase with Microsoft Points.

Joy Ride will be available on the Xbox Live Arcade (free to ~~Gold Subscribers~~ all Xbox Live members) this holiday.

Gallery: TGS 2009: Joy Ride

New 'Urban Culture' Avatar clothes available

by Richard Mitchell { Sep 17th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Some brand new clothing options have appeared on Xbox Live Marketplace. Dubbed the 'Urban Culture' collection, the clothes range from loose fitting jeans to sweet hats to golden pumps. There's also a nifty shirt with what appears to be a pair of "Kanye" shades hanging around the neck. They range in price from 80

($1) to 240

($3) and are available right now.

[Via @MajorNelson]

PAX attendees can grab free Avatar shirt, angelic glow sold separately

by Xav de Matos { Sep 4th 2009 at 9:30PM }

If you're in attendance at PAX 2009, make sure to head over to Microsoft's special Xbox table on the 4th floor of the North lobby and grab a redemption code for a free Xbox Avatar PAX shirt. Supplies are limited, but Microsoft will be handing out codes from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (Pacific) on Saturday, in case you missed today's giveaway rounds. Sure, it isn't as awesome as proclaiming your D&D skills ... but it's a great way to make your online friends jealous that you made it to the sold-out Seattle event.

Net a free Avatar shirt with the purchase of The Beatles: Rock Band

by Xav de Matos { Aug 31st 2009 at 5:00PM }

Specially marked boxes of the upcoming music title The Beatles: Rock Band include a unique bonus: an exclusive Avatar shirt. The freebie marks the first (and hopefully not the last) time Avatar apparel has been given away alongside the launch of a game, giving extra incentive for users to pick up a copy of the Xbox 360 version. Coincidentally, it'll make for a hilarious image when your Avatar shows up in Guitar Hero 5 donning a Rock Band promo t-shirt -- if Avatar apparel is able to show up in game, that is.

Of course, this news only matters if your Avatar's dress code includes wearing band logo shirts. Our Avatar dress code allows only suit and tie, because we're gentlemen. Make sure to check out Major Nelson's Flickr page for details on how to spot the free bonus at retail.

Interview: Xbox's Aaron Greenberg on the $300 Elite and all things Xbox

by Christopher Grant { Aug 27th 2009 at 6:40PM }

Last night, just hours before the price cut announcement went out, we had a chance to talk with Aaron Greenberg – the often outspoken Director of Product Management at Xbox – about the new $300 Elite console, the company's Fall lineup in the absence of Splinter Cell Conviction, Netflix "exclusivity" (whatever that means), the (still!) outrageous price of the WiFi adapter, and whether we're ever going to see Hulu or Groups/Clan support in Xbox Live (those are two of our favorite questions for Aaron). Read on for the complete interview:

Joystiq: Hey Aaron – so what do you have for us today?

Aaron Greenberg: So this may shock you, but effective on Friday we are dropping the price of our Xbox 360 Elite console by $100, dropping that down to $299. At the same time, we are also reducing the price of the Xbox 360 Pro or Premium 60 gig SKU down to $249 -- that will be effective while supplies last. And this will essentially set us up as we head into holiday with a two SKU setup: the $199 white Arcade SKU and then the $299 120 gig Elite black console.

The Elite price is effective Friday?

Yes. The price drop goes into effect at retail on Friday.

So of course we're totally surprised and had no idea this was coming, so any questions that might indicate I was prepared you should just take as good guessing on our part I think.

Right, exactly. So you don't read your own site or anything I guess?

Continued →

Guitar Hero 5 content walks this way to Avatar Marketplace [Update]

by Xav de Matos { Aug 20th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Update: The price of almost all the Guitar Hero 5 content has doubled.

If (for whatever reason) you think your Xbox Avatar is starting to reek from a lack of fresh clothing and you're a fan of rocking out, Guitar Hero 5 content is now available on the Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace. From torn shirts to plastic controllers, the Guitar Hero 5 Game Styles section has a varied selection of new Avatar items. Also, with most of the content modestly priced at 80

($1 USD) a pop, the Guitar Hero 5 styles are a long way from attacking gamer wallets (we're looking at you, $5 Lightsaber). Ignore the previous statement, this content is now as overpriced as the rest of the Avatar Marketplace. A full list of the new content and (new) prices can be found after the break.

Continued →

'Splosion Man Avatar Awards revealed

by Richard Mitchell { Aug 18th 2009 at 6:45PM }

Twisted Pixel has officially revealed the Avatar Awards that are set to appear in 'Splosion Man in the near future. Even better, the developer even told us the requirements to unlock the two awards. The first award is a men's T-shirt and a women's hoodie. To unlock it, simply break your first pane of glass in 'Splosion Man. The second one, however, is just a bit more difficult. To unlock the Big Science T-shirt and dress, you'll have to complete the entire co-op campaign. Yeah, the whole thing.

Finally, we've got one other bit of good news. If you've already accomplished these tasks, the items will automatically unlock. Unfortunately, we still don't know when the Avatar Awards will be available, but you can bet we'll be all over them -- and they will be all over our Avatars -- when they release.

Let's go shopping in the Avatar Marketplace!

by Dustin Burg { Aug 12th 2009 at 9:30AM }

You'll find screenshots of every single item that's purchasable via the newly launched Avatar Marketplace conveniently placed in a few galleries below. Not only did we diligently snap photos of each and every item, but we also catalogued each item's name and pricing information and even put together a text-based list of all collected information. We were bored, okay?

Feel free to browse the virtual clothes racks, take a gander through our hand-picked 20 Most Interesting Avatar Items and (if you're daring) navigate through photos of all 190 Avatar items. Fun fact: if you were to purchase every single item available, the total damage would amount to about ~~17,680~~ 24,720

or roughly $309. [Update: We've added an additional 58 female-only Avatar items to both our screenshot and text-based catalogs.]