There's a leak that's been floating around the internet over the weekend regarding a new feature for XBox Live which may be announced at E3: Avatars. As you can no doubt see from the above image, they're pretty much a blatant rip-off of the Mii concept with what sounds to be a greater level of customization.

This is not what annoys me about the idea. I enjoyed Miis and I'd like to see the concept transitioned to the 360, provided it's integrated well and regardless of who had the idea first. The bit that's getting sand in my crotch is the suggestion that they might be replacing Gamer Pics.

I like my Gamer Pic, so much that I plopped down money to have it. Now it could very well be eliminated? The very idea is making my blood boil.

Not to mention the microtransaction possibilities that could ensue. Just imagine a world where we're paying 80 MS points for a new shirt to put on our animated caricature.

Now, I don't want to be all alarmist about this. It's entirely possible that Gamer Pics will be kept on the Gamercard but it seems unlikely. Live is all about ease of use and (in theory) seamless integration of its features. Under those guiding principles, allowing for two modes of visual identification would be out of the question if I were designing such a system.

So, in other words, I'm probably fucked.


via Kotaku