Extra customisation options for avatars revealed
May or may not set you back a few hundred space bucks
Hot off the heels of the New Xbox Experience launch (and with it the avatars) comes the first batch of downloadable content to spruce up your digital self. If you saw the avatar system as ripe for monetising when it was first announced, then your worst fears are confirmed- well, kind of.
Within the last week multiple avenues to expand your digital wardrobe have become apparent; some free, some not. Xbox Live product unit manager Jerry Johnson confirmed specialised threads will be made available within appropriate theme packs, the first of which was released last week for the upcoming Ninja Blade, containing five ninja-related avatar parts. You’ll be able to update your avatar this way for at least “the next six months” according to Johnson, at the currently standardised price of 250 Microsoft Points. And no, the previously mentioned Banjo and Piñata themes don’t come with bear or candy suits, to the dismay of furries everywhere.
Any of the more standard garments, however, will be free. The general manager for Xbox in Germany, Boris Schneider-Johne, divulged the first few steps of their clothing plan to start within “the following weeks”. You may even spot certain users on Live wearing as yet unreleased shirts or pants, as Schneider-Johne says “[they’re] probably just beta-testers who are already allowed to try all the new clothes.” It’s notable that the only add-ons currently planned are all attire, rather than expanding facial customisation options (sliders, please!)
Of course, in lieu of all this “waiting” malarkey, the good old Easter egg comes to the rescue with more adventurous hair colours to be unlocked. Simply idle on the “My Features” screen for about a minute and the Hairstyles button will spin, giving you access to a multitude of blues, greens and purples that would make James Thomas proud.
Somehow related news
- Coming features will allow garden visiting in Piñata ()
- Don Mattrick reveals the ‘true’ creator of the Avatars ()
- Perfect Dark XBLA getting fixes and new features in late April ()
- Xbox Avatars get free festive elements ()
- Edge Magazine on the new Avatar system ()
