Avatars, “before Miis were part of gaming scene”
Avatars were part of a "former project"
Ever since the rumor that Rare was making avatars for the 360, you’ve heard people in whatever forum of choice cry out that they’re ripoffs of the Miis. Unashamedly, we at MundoRare have thought the same, even to the point of saying “Mii avatars” at the most inopportune places. Ahem.
In an effort to tell us exactly where they came from while at the same time not telling us where they came from, Rare spoke with Eurogamer.tv about the upcoming Avatar system for The Xbox Experience. Said Lee Musgrave, Head of Art at Rare: “It was an idea we had, even before Miis were part of the gaming scene, of putting these characters that you have an affinity with, not necessarily as part of the Xbox dash, but somewhere in the Xbox that you would play multiple games with, that you would have multiple experiences with that same character.”
Sound convincing enough? How about something from Avatars’ producer, Chris Sutherland? “We had a project up and running that had Avatars in them and the aim was always to have this component where you were able to customise your character and apply clothing to them.”
Now, this is new. This is the first time we’ve heard of a project that used avatars… unless it was an offshoot of Fast & the Furriest, which was stated to use your face through the Vision Camera. Although one wouldn’t be surprised if there was something based on the canceled game. Not to mention that was cancelled in 2006, which easily could’ve been before the release of the Wii.
Musgrave also mentioned two more matters. “Microsoft did not turn up one day in a speeding car and say, ‘They’ve got Miis – do something!’ It wasn’t like that at all; it was something that fell into place over a period of time”, he said. The team was also pontificating on what the Avatars should be: “Should these things be little animals, should they be quirky characters, should they be Spore-like creatures, should they be ultra-real humans? We landed in the place that we have from the overriding theme that is approachability.”
Verdict? Honestly, we don’t know when exactly Nintendo started the Mii project except for the fact that it was on the DS before the Wii, and we don’t really know when the Avatar project existed. Either way, in the end, does it really matter who made what first as long as 360/Wii owners can get their creationist fetishes on with their systems?
Somehow related news
- Don Mattrick reveals the ‘true’ creator of the Avatars ()
- Edge Magazine on the new Avatar system ()
- 360 Avatars are restricted to family friendly titles ()
- Avatars set for November 19th ()
- Microsoft could be working on Wiimote’s rip off ()
6 Comments
yes but people believe that they took the idea from the miis when they worked on the idea before the miis came in 2006. besides the avatar thing has been done way before the miis so theres no way they ripped the idea
Comment by saicambanjo — 13.Sep.08 @ 5:32 am
I don’t really care who was first or who took the idea from the other. In the end the only thing that matters is who works it out the best way.
From what I’ve seen the Avatars system is way more advanced than the Mii’s.
Comment by Perfect Dark 0 — 13.Sep.08 @ 2:09 pm
Rare also said that they came up with Ghoulies before “Luigi’s Mansion”.
Comment by Erik Schröder — 16.Nov.08 @ 2:10 am
The Mii’s started out on the Famicom or Super Famicom I’m pretty sure. Nintendo was working with them since then.
Comment by Hammer Bro. Mike — 12.Sep.08 @ 12:37 am