The development rules behind using Xbox 360 Avatars in games have emerged, via Microsoft's XNA Creators Club website.
The guidelines give some interesting insight into the hurdles developers face when sticking our little Xbox people in their games. These include making sure Avatars don't talk, glamorise crime, be seen near of around alcohol and "no sexual or bodily fluids" come from the Avatar. Right...
According to Microsoft, every Xbox Live Indie Game that uses Avatars must be reviewed to make sure that the game "doesn't let the Avatar commit the following acts, have the act occur to them, or is a spectator to them".
Here they are (in Microsoft's words):
Player interacts with their avatar as if it's a separate character A player's avatar does not have an autonomous personality or instinct. The avatar is under the control of the owning player. It can have idle animations and can respond appropriately to game events but it should not interact with the user as if it is separate from the player, try to get the player's attention in an annoying manner.
Violence which causes blood, gore, dismemberment, decapitation, maiming, or mutilation Cartoon violence is allowed. Violence is allowed as long as there is no blood, gore, dismemberment, decapitation, maiming, or mutilation. An example of allowable injuries includes injuries that might befall an avatar in a sporting event such as American football. Avatars can die temporarily to depict failure.
Player's avatar talks The player's avatar should not have their own voice. They are allowed to make individual sounds, such as laughing and crying but otherwise cannot use a voice.
Xbox 360 Avatars
Gameplay footage
0:39National Football Team kit
Xbox 360 Avatars
Gameplay footage
0:39National Football Team kit
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Acts of sexual innuendo or mildly explicit sexual descriptions or images or sexual posturing Sexual acts or terminology cannot be insinuated or enacted.
Excretes obscene bodily fluids or substances No sexual or bodily fluids or substances can come from the avatar.
Glamorized criminal act Criminal activities need to be relevant to the story and are presented unfavourably.
Acts of an aggressive or threatening manner Gratuitous insults, bullying, intimidation or otherwise violent or emotional abuse of a position of power are not allowed. Avatars may leave innocents or bystanders slightly injured, but not dead.
Vulgar or profane act Game-controlled avatars cannot use profane, racist, or discriminatory language, nor can they make obscene gestures.
Use of controlled substances An avatar is not allowed to hold, be seen around or partake in any controlled substances or paraphernalia including, but not limited to, alcohol, tobacco and drugs.
Replace Avatar features The features of an avatar cannot be hidden or in obscured and cannot be replaced with alternative items. Items such as, but not limited to, masks, hats and alternative clothing, are not allowed.
Avatars proportions are not modified The proportions of an Avatar cannot be modified form their original settings. An Avatar can be resized as long as the proportions don't change.
lol im looking forward to that karting game thats coming out for the avatars hopefully it will be as good as mario kart lol well one can pray haha, im still waiting on premiership football tops i want my avatar in a fulham strip lol
my inbox has been brimming with hate mail recently, this ps3rubbish writes...
IV REED THE NONSENSE YOU RITE ABOUT PS-CRAP, OMG, YOU ARE LIVING IN FANTASY LAND CHUMP. WHY DONT U SHUTTY THE MOTH AND GO PLAY HALO, OH I FORGOT U DONT HAV HALO HAHA OWNED LOLZ U LOOSE
have you nothing better to do than send secret messages to people? loser!! there are others..
its people of this age that cause microsoft to censor avatars and even usernames from their beady, childish eyes.
my inbox has been brimming with hate mail recently, this ps3rubbish writes...
IV REED THE NONSENSE YOU RITE ABOUT PS-CRAP, OMG, YOU ARE LIVING IN FANTASY LAND CHUMP. WHY DONT U SHUTTY THE MOTH AND GO PLAY HALO, OH I FORGOT U DONT HAV HALO HAHA OWNED LOLZ U LOOSE
have you nothing better to do than send secret messages to people? loser!! there are others..
its people of this age that cause microsoft to censor avatars and even usernames from their beady, childish eyes.
lol that ps3rubbish guy makes me laugh he shud learn to spell instead of talking about halo lol but one funny guy lol BIG UP THE XBOX THATS THE WORD OF THE MOTH I MEAN MOUTH LOL
I'm convinced it's a second account by someone who has had enough of all the blatant PS3 fanboyism and is just trying to make a point.
Still, PM'ing is still a bit low.
I see just as much Xbox fanboyism on these threads if not more. But I do agree with you. It's definitely a second account of some xbot that is to scared to speak his mind on his real account.
I do actually enjoy reading his over the top p**s take comments. The PS-CRAP. You can't beat the originality of witty comments like that.
So basically they can only be used for family friendly games pretty much then. I think the worst thing is that you can't give them alternate clothing, so say you couldn't dress up your avatar in a cowboy suit if you did a western style game.
yo grasshopper nobody wants to know about how many ppl hate you....your a sap.
TaYLoRMaDE's PM to me...
have you played mgs rising???....NO so shut it u soar sony owner..rising is an action game lightning bolt action actually,sounds alot more interesting than stealth to me! what u got killzone 2 oooo hahah.halo 2's better than that sad excuse for a shooter.
as if the spasticated alternation between caps and lower case wasnt enough indication to his age, his PM's should be telling. of which there are at least four.
Boring!! If I cant decapitate my mates avatar in a friendly game of Samurai Sword Swinging I'm not interested in yet another gimmicky game. Oh yeah, and stick your Joyride game aswell!
yo grasshopper nobody wants to know about how many ppl hate you....your a sap.
TaYLoRMaDE's PM to me...
have you played mgs rising???....NO so shut it u soar sony owner..rising is an action game lightning bolt action actually,sounds alot more interesting than stealth to me! what u got killzone 2 oooo hahah.halo 2's better than that sad excuse for a shooter.
as if the spasticated alternation between caps and lower case wasnt enough indication to his age, his PM's should be telling. of which there are at least four.
Whilst I agree these guys are idiots, I think you bring it on yourself.
yo grasshopper nobody wants to know about how many ppl hate you....your a sap.
TaYLoRMaDE's PM to me...
have you played mgs rising???....NO so shut it u soar sony owner..rising is an action game lightning bolt action actually,sounds alot more interesting than stealth to me! what u got killzone 2 oooo hahah.halo 2's better than that sad excuse for a shooter.
as if the spasticated alternation between caps and lower case wasnt enough indication to his age, his PM's should be telling. of which there are at least four.
Whilst I agree these guys are idiots, I think you bring it on yourself.
i also got a congratulatory one saying 'keep up the good work'.
yo grasshopper nobody wants to know about how many ppl hate you....your a sap.
TaYLoRMaDE's PM to me...
have you played mgs rising???....NO so shut it u soar sony owner..rising is an action game lightning bolt action actually,sounds alot more interesting than stealth to me! what u got killzone 2 oooo hahah.halo 2's better than that sad excuse for a shooter.
as if the spasticated alternation between caps and lower case wasnt enough indication to his age, his PM's should be telling. of which there are at least four.
Whilst I agree these guys are idiots, I think you bring it on yourself.
i also got a congratulatory one saying 'keep up the good work'.
my inbox has been brimming with hate mail recently, this ps3rubbish writes...
IV REED THE NONSENSE YOU RITE ABOUT PS-CRAP, OMG, YOU ARE LIVING IN FANTASY LAND CHUMP. WHY DONT U SHUTTY THE MOTH AND GO PLAY HALO, OH I FORGOT U DONT HAV HALO HAHA OWNED LOLZ U LOOSE
have you nothing better to do than send secret messages to people? loser!! there are others..
its people of this age that cause microsoft to censor avatars and even usernames from their beady, childish eyes.
Pah that's nothing, you should see the PM that BRUTALGAMER sent me the other day, one nasty individual.
First off, why in hell are we discussing Splinter Cell against Metal Gear Solid, in a news article that is based around Avatar rules?
Secondly, those rules are way too solid and tight to actually get any good games. I wanted the blood and gore, and voices. That way we can make a sodding FPS. darnit, looks like its just going to be kiddy games from these then.
those seem quite harsh, but I suppose it makes sense when the Avatars have a public, kiddie-friendly image to uphold. Cue lots of 'fan art' of avatars being dismembered while smoking hash and shagging someone...
Mind you, I wonder what the guidelines for the use of Mii's are? I imagine, given Nintendo's rep, they are much more strict. Are non-Nintendo developed titles even allowed to use them in their games?
lol that ps3rubbish guy makes me laugh he shud learn to spell instead of talking about halo lol but one funny guy lol BIG UP THE XBOX THATS THE WORD OF THE MOTH I MEAN MOUTH LOL
HI MY NAME IS WHAT MY NAME IS JIG JIGA JIGA BRUTALGANGSTA
YEA THATS RIGHTS ****** IM BAK WID A BANG TING YOU CANT BAN ME IM BLACK YOU WHITE bottomHOLES f**k BNP YOU c**ts DONT EVEN KNOW THE WORDS TO GOD SAVE THE QUEEN AND I BET YOU EAT CURRY YOU HIPOCRITICAL c**ts IM A POLITITION CATCH ME ON FRIDAYS AFTER I COLLECT DULL MONEY AND MY WEEKLY HALO FIGURE CRUTCH SNIFFING AND KIKIN THE f**k OUT OF HELPLESS KIDS WOMEN AND OLD c**ts THAT EVEN LOOK AT A SONY PRODUCT I PUT A MEAT HOOK IN THE OLD WOMENS c**t AND RIP HER WOMB OUT AND HANG HER UP BY HER s**tY COLON AFTER THAT I GO TO SPEAKERS CORNER AND CHAT s**t LIKE THIS AND CATCH THE MINDS OF CHANNELS SUCH AS CBBEBIES AND CARTOON NETWORK THEY UNDERSTAND WAT IM TRYIN TO SAY
NOW BACK ON THIS STORY ITS OBVIOUS SOMTHING SONY AND NINTENDO HAVE DONE TO TRY AND RUIN THE 360 COZ ITS TOO GOOD THAN THERE s**t I CUM ON THEM c**ts HARD IT BURNS THERE SKIN LIKE EGG MAYO HANGING OUT THE END OF MY DICK AND CHICKEN JOE FRAZIER CURRY FIRE OUT MY ANUS
I KNOW BILL GATES HE SAID TO ME THAT ITS A f**kin DISGRACE THAT THIS c**ts ARE PULLING THIS SICK TRICK
I WANT A WAR BETWEEN US BUNCH OF WASTE MAN GAMING c**ts GUNZ BLADEZ SHANKZ WANKZ c**tZ TREVOR MUNTZ TO FINSIH THIS BRUTAL WAR I THINK IT WILL BE EVEN BETTER THAN WW1 AND 2 (PART 3 WAS OVERRATED) NO LONG TING OUR GRAND KIDS WILL PLAY IT AS A GAME AND THANK OUR OLD CRIPLED FACES FOR THIS s**t
I WAS HOPING THERE WOULD BE A GAME WERE ME AND MY MATES COULD ALL RAPE EACH OTHERS AVATARS AND BLAZE THE SKENG AFTER LIKE NOTHIN HAPPENED WE COULD OF SNORTED YAYO OFF OF A DEAD TORSO OF IAN HUNTLEY CUM BUSTER THEN PULLED OUT THE NEEDLE FOR HEROIN OVERDOSE
f**k PS3 f**k WII
HOLD TIGHT GAMEBOY 1
RIP MADDIE MCCAN THEY FOUND THE ROTTING CORPSE NOW JUST SAW THAT s**t ON SKY SPORT NEWS , SETANTA HASNT PIKED UP ON THAT s**t YET
HI FRINED WE ARE THE SAME 2 PEOPLE (BRUTALGAMER AND OMEGA UK V1) THAT PS3rubbish GEEZA IS A f**kIN WANA BE THAT IS WHY WE ARE BACK HES s**t SAW OUR POSTS AND WANTS TO BE 1 OF THE MANS BUT HE AINT HES A c**t PEADO
UNTILL GRASSHOPPER MAKES A POST TITLES "SORRY MY YOUTS " WE WILL BE HEAR UNTILL WE BOTH DIE OF CANCER AND COK ROT (DR SAYS WE GOT 3 MONTHS EACH)
cn the cvg administarors please ban people like brutal gamer, what he said about maddie mcann is twisted u are a sick f**k seriously
You little f**king bottom licker. Bring your boys ill suck all their c**ks. f**k the police. What kind of name is dorian? You would never make it as a gangster where im from.
I think the Mods need to dust off the old banhammer, as this place is very quickly going down the s**tter as far as constructive comments are concerned.
If all those rules apply to XNA users, how come that Madballs game on XBLA that's just been announced has the option to completely modify your avatar by removing its body, and attaching large weapons to the side of the subsequently disembodied head?
Plus on the video for the same game, your floating head avatar appears to be constantly making daft in-game comments.
Personally, I haven't got any problems with having my avatars limbs hacked off in the name of entertainment, but surely this amounts to one rule for the "proper" developers and another for the rest of us?
If all those rules apply to XNA users, how come that Madballs game on XBLA that's just been announced has the option to completely modify your avatar by removing its body, and attaching large weapons to the side of the subsequently disembodied head?
Plus on the video for the same game, your floating head avatar appears to be constantly making daft in-game comments.
Personally, I haven't got any problems with having my avatars limbs hacked off in the name of entertainment, but surely this amounts to one rule for the "proper" developers and another for the rest of us?
SVD... Man I have ripped on you a couple times, probably didn't notice, I'm not a prolific poster, only when I have something I feel strongly about... Anyway, I take it all back.
Now can someone tell me when the sunshine bus arrived? Cos there are some real 'tards that just rocked up to the party.
Oh, and what the f**k is going on with the gay gangsters who have 'cancer and cok rot'. I would spend less time attempting to... Er... Ah hell, I haven't got a clue what your point was or what you were trying to say, but... I would go see someone. Firstly about the rot. Then the issues.
Still, thanks, I haven't laughed so hard in ages. That's probably wrong, you know, to laugh at those less fortunate, but damn, that was funny.
thats rite, me back to defend y'all from this brutal gangsta! it may - shhhh (drop ur c0ck from ur hand, silly, its tim to clap!) and guess when? may als dont type in caps! loloz
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i want my avatar in a fulham strip lol 
u are a sick f**k seriously
