Gamescom 2010: Rare Planning to Redesign XBL Avatars For Kinect

43
Richard Walker
 
Speaking with Rare at this year's Gamescom, the developer has told X360A that Xbox Live Avatars have undergone a redesign for Kinect to prevent issues with player's perceptions and hand-eye co-ordination caused by the "cartoon proportions" of the current Avatars.
 
"If the skeletal scale is off enough, the hand-eye coordination is broken. Not technologically, but it's a perception thing," said Rare's Nick Burton.
 
The solution to the problem has been to give Avatars more realistic, human proportions thus sidestepping problems with the position of hands and shoulders in relation to how you perceive them on the screen.
 
Make sense? Of course it does. Any existing games that use the current Avatars will be unaffected, unless they can be changed via the system update, which will be issued to coincide with Kinect in November 2010.
 
Comments
43
  • Beans on Toast.
  • cool nice to see changes
  • I still have doubts about Kinect
  • and our already bought clothes?? where do they go?
  • I think that's how the avatars should look in the first place.
  • Its a damn shame...microsoft bought rare for something like 300 million and this is what they work on..avatars..seriously fail...I remeber when rare had talent in making good games..how about a new killer instinct..or conker!
  • An option to not have one would be nice.
  • @4 That's why you don't spend real money on pretend goods.
  • I wouldn't be against it if they were to update avatars completely to match this new look. It's much better then the current design, though I have no problem with them now anyway.
  • @4 - I'm sure you'll still be able to use all of the old Avatar clothes and items you've purchased. It'd be outrageous if they suddenly stopped working because of the update.
  • in other news, mmartynns hammer will "kinect" with the avatards and natal =P
  • Cool!
  • RARE plans on actually making a ga- Oh, right...
  • anyone else think that avatar items might become un usable like the old themes?
  • I like Avatars as they are, This isn't a PS3 :/
  • ummmm k.
  • I like the goofy looking Avatars we have right now...
  • @10 One can hope, but remember what they did to the old themes................
  • The goofy ones are so much better
  • Well at least all the costumes will look better on these types of avatars! :D
  • @6: When was that? I don't remember any time where they an exceptional developer. I just remember a stream of average games.
  • I hope it scans people so that their avatar is as fat as them. I would lol at all of my fat friends.
  • @22 lol that would be awesom, do that and let you see non friends avtar. So when some kid is mouthing off in a match you could see just what he looks!
  • I actually liked the old avatars... hope the new ones don´t look too much like the dead psHOME ones... guess we´ll find out and @22 EPIC XD
  • Rare use to do amazing things for the gaming industry. Amazing things I say! :'(
  • nice
  • @21 and 22 - Heck yeah.... Like in Burnout where you got quick snapshots of web cam shots.... Everytime you kill someone in reach a body shot of them comes up, course that could eb potentially VERY scary.
  • #8 You must be thick to think Microsoft wont change the clothes as well, they earn millions through avatar items!
  • Rare please at least announce a game this year... Pinata.... Banjo.... Conker..... Kameo..... Anything other than lame sports game that dosent count!
  • I think #5 has a good question.. and boo to #8 for mocking him. If you want to /b/ an asshole go to 4chan
  • I meant #4.. i'm an idiot sometimes
  • Damnit #1 you made me hungry
  • haha everyone here wantes rare to come out with the amazing games they used to make. like conker (: my first M rated game and ill never forget all the fun laughs i had
  • im confused. it sounds like this will only affect kinect games and they're doing it because people with big heads and little arms and legs would mess up your gameplay. does that necessarily mean what we see on our dashboards are going to change?
  • @10 Ya, but look at what happened to the themes :P They still work, just not so well.
  • Yea I kinnda haet that they all looked gay and deformed.
  • Right, now Rare can we please have a new game. No the Kinect Sports game does not count. I would like to see maybe another shot at Perfect Dark again or maybe a sequel to Kameo, the list goes on. Also I like how the Avatars are now; not too cartoony and not to realistic.
  • So my clo9thes are going to look like my avatar grew out of them I guess. Are they giving us toes? Anyone wearing flipflops looks weird.
  • Avatars are useless, as is Kinect. Well, tbh, the Avatars are better than Miis, but still a waste of memory. Like so many others have said, give me an updated Rare IP game already!
  • I'd rather stick with the cartoony ones.
  • The only cool thing about Kinect is Dance Central. I would totally get it just because of that game, but only if it were way cheaper...
  • Rare needs to stop making Avatar stuff and make a new Banjo game and none of the Nuts & Bolts stuff. An old school platformer.
  • PLEASE MAKE BAD FUR DAY 2 :( :( :( :( :( :(
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