What's wrong with the NXE's avatars?

VGM writes: "A good portion of the Xbox Live community is satisfied with the "New Xbox Experience," including myself. While there are a few subtle changes I would make, the overall package has proved itself to be quite streamlined and manageable. Quite possibly the biggest part of the package that has noticeably divided the community most viciously has to be the addition of avatars."

[You bought an Xbox]

They suck

Ha Ha

[NaiNaiNai]

you have 1 bubble.

haha you suck.
-nai-

[ActionBastard]

They exist?

Seriously, there's is no real use for them right now. You can't even control them, so it's just this cartoony thing, burping and waving for absolutely no reason.

[Bareto]

HOME FTW!!!

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Noob of course there is a use for them... It can be used as a nice visual representation of yourself... Plus theres an XBL game that supports them... Its a lot better than making realistic avatars and running round with a real looking avatar in a bland space having people trying to rape you... aka home

[chrisnick]

AN? as in 1? u failed sir.

[ActionBastard]

Wow Gametime, there's ONE XBL game that supports them! What was I thinking?

[Capt CHAOS]

And which PS3 games supports your HOME avatars?

Just leave em alone, I for one don't give a sh1t about avatarts (See what I did there?), the menu, easy of use and in-game live facilities are what I care about.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

Yeah Action Bastard there is... So if you knew there was a use for them why bash them?

I think you're better suited to that zone >>>

and you can use them as your gamerpic >_>

[The Lazy One]

my avatar to be able to slap my friends in chat.

endless fun. WHY EVEN PLAY GAMES ANYMORE?!

[prunchess]

Yeah, they're not exactly manly looking. A bit naff really!

[Mr_Bun]

"running round with a real looking avatar in a bland space having people trying to rape you"

You make that sound like a bad thing

[Max Power]

for telling us the definition of 'avatar,' "It can be used as a nice visual representation of yourself..." because i don't think anyone knew that.

[Powertesties]

I love Live. In my opinion Live is much better than the PSN. I know we have to pay for it but it works so dang well. It is worth paying for in my opinion.

I do hate the avatars though. My avatar looks like some sort of phetophile. Home allows much better avatars and much more realistic looking phetophiles. lol

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

"It works so dang well."

...and the Playstation Network doesn't?

I'm lost here. Explain to me why the Playstation Network is worse.

[jcfilth]

"And which PS3 games supports your HOME avatars?"

There's no need for that. No need to copy Nintendo with that, we have full games in Home and plenty more to come, just ask EA and Capcom...

http://blog.us.playstation....

Your comment fails miserably.

@Powertesties
"love Live. In my opinion Live is much better than the PSN. I know we have to pay for it but it works so dang well. It is worth paying for in my opinion."

I have to disagree with you, just last week I played on Live, COD:WAW, FIFA09, and GeaOW2, and I experienced lag and disconnects from the game and party in COD:WAW, I can get that for free in PSN and not as often as I got them on Live, in FIFA lag happened twice, no problems with GeOW2. This are normal things in the online community but the fact that you have to pay for it on XboxLive really sucks.

Something else, the quality of voice chat is not the best, I had to speak very loud so my friend could here me, and he didn't sound natural, his voice was a bit different, not even like on the phone(I even asked him if he was sick lol)

As for the "Xiis"(avatars) they are pointless, there's nothing you can do with them.
Party system is good but it has its down sides too, when we were playing Search And Destroy in COD:WAW, I wanted to give a heads up to one of the guys in my team, but guess what? you can not hear anyone else besides the people in your party, they can not hear you either. That s@cks! there should be an option for that, that takes away a bit of the fun when playing online.

From my experience, LIVE IS NOT WORTH PAYING FOR!!

[JsonHenry]

Personally... I LOVE my xbox 360. But I hate those damn things! What a complete waste of time on MSs part.

[Pennywise]

GametimeUK - The gamer zone blemish.

[ActionBastard]

@ Capt CHAOS
Are you really trying to get in a pissing match over playing games with avatars? Really? Haha. Kinda sad dude. I don't even recall mentioning Home, but if you need something to fall back on, feel free.

@ GametimeUK
You are the last person to direct anybody to the Open Zone. Gamerpics you say?! Well that changes everything!!!

[Maddens Raiders]

I would be a little pissed about this avatar offering. That's all I'm going to say about that.

[KRUSSIDULL]

Fanboy war in the open zone luulzz

[pav2323]

The NXE is not as great as everyone claims it is ( IMO ). I would have preferred a blade overhaul or something like that, maybe add a Netflix and movies blade etc.. streamline it a little better. The NXE is a lot more confusing as to where to find the content you are looking for, and presents itself in pastels and big headed pastel avatars that do nothing but spew lame. Even my 8 year old prefers the way it used to be.
Stupid Pastel Bobble Head Kids. I thought the NXE was suppose to be more user friendly.

[thats_just_prime]

1st off they article talks about clothing however they dont include the fact that MS has been slowing addin more and more clothing options. 2nd they talking about not being able to use avatars in games however they dont say anything about MS upcoming prime time space that will let you use your avatars to play games like 1 vs 100 for real prizes. Also they talk about unlocking new avatar options with achievements MS said they have ship tools to devs to do just that hopefully start seeing games with that in them soon.

As for home and using you avatars there to play games that a joke. you stand in line for hours to play a stupid bowling game or pool. When on the 360 you just need to invite a friend and you can play instantly

[Mr Blings]

with the new dashboard has to do with the music feature. The original dashbard would allow a user to switch up their playlist/album while in game.

Example: I'm playing NHL 08 and listining to O.A.R. I then feel like listining to something harder so I hit the guide button and decide to listen to the new AC/DC album. Then i just go back to playing hockey.

Now, if I try the same process with the new update I find that I am stuck listining to the O.A.R. album the whole hockey game because you can no longer switch up music on the fly while in a game.

I don't understand how features that were supported when the system was first released can be taken out with this new update.

I realise that this is a minor feature and most likely not many people have even noticed it being gone... but I have. It was a feature I used quite often while friends were over hanging out drinking, listening to music and playing games at the same time.

[NaiNaiNai]

you can too switch you music up. hit guide and go over 1 bar, theres your music section. i know cause i do it all the time, just select the music tab at the very bottom. its really much faster then the old system,
-nai-

[Mr Blings]

I have tried this several times since the new update and I'm told I have to exit out of my game to do so...I get to the music blade like you mentioned, but am not allowed to switch up anything.
Is your music on your hard drive? Or are you streaming? I am streaming my music from laptop to 360...I dont see why this would matter, but this is an issue with the ps3 as well(cant have in game music because I'm streaming, rather then loading music onto system hdd)so who knows.

[Ldubbz]

Yeah I stream my music from my Mac to my 360 and I can change the music as I please, just like before.

One cool, little-talked about feature with the in-game custom soundtracks is you can use your 360 remote to skip tracks independently from the controller, regardless of whats going on in-game.

[Mr Blings]

I went back and messed a bit more and I was making an error...got it working now thx much!!

[Nathan Drake]

I mean,it's cool to have a 3D representation of yourself,but what's the point if you can't do anything with the Avatar?

A Kingdom for Keflings was an interesting idea,but I don't want to buy and launch games just to see my Avatar walk.

[NaiNaiNai]

theres mini games you can play. and that kingdom game is actually a bit of fun.
-nai-

[RebornSpy]

I like my avatar, but I don't really care that it's largely useless. I'm just glad it doesn't force me to use it in any games. I am, however, interested in the games for avatars, though I don't feel like purchasing one. Whatever happened to Primetime?

[The Lazy One]

it's coming this spring hopefully.

I think that's when u'll start to see avatars actually being useful.

it'll be nice when developers start releasing themed clothing for achievements and butts.

[u got owned]

You guys are taking the avatar thing to serious, its just an added feature, what so bad about having them.

[NaiNaiNai]

fanboys
-nai-

[Sitdown]

perceived as being pointless...does not mean it can not be enjoyed or that there is not a place for it. I think some people take life to serious to just stop and enjoy the little/fine(not you pedophiles) things in life. It is interesting...people hate the avatars, but enjoy home.......I still have not downloaded home......because it feels like more work...and is it still in beta form?

[jaybdemented]

he has one bubble but hes right

[Sangria]

What steps in my nerves with NXE is the constant ads areas.
There are 6 menus in the NXE:
- Actualities: which shows the last released or soon-to-be-released games on 360;
- Inside Xbox: the most popular games or add-ons;
- Friends: where you can see others avatars;
- Video market: to buy videos;
- Game market: to buy games, add-ons, themes, etc...;
- My Xbox: to launch games, see the Gamertag informations, browse the demos, etc...;

Which actually means:
- Actualities: ads.
- Inside Xbox: ads.
- Friends: NXE avatars.
- Video market: ads & pay.
- Game market: ads & pay.
- My Xbox: infos.

Your console constantly shows ads, all over again, considering us as paying sheeps, and if i prefer that navigation, i'm really pissed of all those ads.

[DJ]

There should be absolutely no advertisements in the System Interface. They already make plenty of money with Xbox Live. Using their customer's hardware as advertisement machines is just insulting.

[u got owned]

@ DJ

Does the ads really bother you, really or you guys just want to hate. I don't see how this change the experience in any way, its not like you have pop ins coming up your screen.

Do you even have a x360?

[UnwanteDreamz]

lol typical he doesnt like something about the 360 and rather than accept that he has his own opinion you question if he owns an xbox.

I see comments like these coming out of both camps and its stupid.

You want to know if he is a fanboy take 2 minutes to check his comments.

You just can't assume that everyone is drinking the koolaid cause you are. You can like a console and still think it has a problem in some areas, I know.... I know.... It wouldnt make sense to a fanboi lol.

[shinobi333]

well we all know the porpuse of these little guys is to reach out to the casual market.microsoft is gonna have really make some intresting things for the avatars or ppl are just gonna forget about them over time.

i dont even remember what my wii avatar looks like.

[dylantalon]

the xbox 360 avatars are a bit silly. i dont understand people who are namely xbox 360 fanboys and others makes fun of "home," when home is clrealy a way better social network than that of any other systems.

ps. the talon stands for talneted

[gamfreak]

Isn't it obvious....? *Cough*(for gays)*cough*

[NaiNaiNai]

LMFAO i think i got your other account banned. XD
-nai-

[Socomer 1979]

they make xbox360 gamers open targets.

thier entire sexuality is suspect now.

Quite inferior to home.

Game Informer hates them.

So does IGN but Game Informer really hates them. In fact, avatars are used in thier rating system. avatars are the new 1 rating, lol.

Avatars need defending. Hardcore gamers have been shamed and sold out to the casuals.

Avatars make Home look and feel so much better.

Avatars arent worth talking about and should be kept secret if you truly do enjoy youre little manboy.

Everytime I see someone use a avatar in thier sig I puke in my mouth.
Please stop.

well, im off now to go socialize in home. I wonder whats going on in there today?

[peeps]

they feel so pointless. I'm 20 years old and enjoy playing games but i don't bother with home and don't care for avatars because it's not realyl my thing at all. It seems to me that both home and these avatars, ok so you can't really comapre the two, but the point i'm making is that both companies are trying to appeal to more casual/younger gamers and get a slice of the nintendo success pie.

I just can't imagine someone in his late teens or older (cus alot of gamers are much older) playing a game like gow2 with his mates and then showing off his 'avatar' or going on home to chat and show off his latest virtual clothing...

[tplarkin7]

I just don't like them. They look cheesy. What would be very cool is licensed avatars and a level of creation in Soul Calibur.

[Ldubbz]

I actually like the avatars...its not like you sit there staring at the thing. The coolest feature about it to me is when you check your friends list and its now represented by avatars with a logo of what they are playing or doing. IM not sure what the author is talking about, but most avatars I have seen look like the people I know, in a funny way of course. Though I will admit my Wii avatar looks a bit more like me....but his fashion sense is lacking...lol.

Keflings is also a good game for the avatar.

[Covenant]

I could care less about them...I mean, I've tweaked mine a few times for different looks, but otherwise, I ignore it.

But other NXE features like game installations, party chat, and Netflix I've embraced WHOLEHEARTEDLY. They ROCK.

[ForROME]

Well one thing that would easily up the variety in atleast accessories would be, every piece of clothing should have the option to change the color of the tshirt etc, so they you are not stuck with one color of shirt in one design

[dash--]

For 1 I don't like the fact that your hand seems to always be on your hip. If I was a women then that would be fine.

[Magic_The_Celt]

I like them :) but they could use more variation in hair and clothes especialy

it really gives "life" to the 360.. i dunno just makes it more fun and accessable imo.

[IWentBrokeForGaming]

they get NO use or play time to the extent of HOME! so whats the purpose?. Im not going to keep going to "create a avatar" just to click my right joistick to make him burp, our move my left joistick in circles to make him googly eyed all the time! BORING. MS needs them to be used in a HOME like fashion. If not... why do they even exist?

[redsymphony]

Why do they all stand like a bunch of homo thats really gay!!!!!!

[XPC HARDonE]

whine whine whine whine

go play some games instead of worrying about hats and facial hair

[Raoh]

i actually find it useless.

and it keeps me from looking up my friends. sometimes i go and see what friends are playing or doing. by the time i've sifted past the 5th avatar i just give up and continue what i was doing.

its basically a page/screen per person.. the game installs and netflix is cool even though i use playon media server for netflix.

but microsofts mii's are useless.