I originally wanted to just write a short post on how I was pleased to see that Microsoft was using the Avatars as a system of advertising, but not making it horrifically blatant. I’m just glad I was able to get a top hat and dress my guy up like a geeky, white version of T-Pain. Browsing the avatar clothing selection, nothing actually shouts out to you and says “HEY THESE CLOTHES ARE FROM THE NEW GTAIV EXPANSION!!” but instead promote them simply through a page on the Spotlight tab and leave it at that. I think that Giant Bomb was right on the money in their episode of the Bombcast that achievements should unlock bonus avatar clothing. Then not only would my 1100 gamerscore in Fallout 3 represent my dedication, but my Xbox LIVE avatar’s T-51b power armor would show I’m really hardcore. Looking at your Friends list and seeing your friends in Altair’s robe or Scorpion’s gi would let you better understand what kind of games your Xbox LIVE friends enjoy.
I commend Nintendo for bringing the Miis to the console generation. The Miis were just a stone in a pond for the advent of caricatures of ourselves on our consoles, and with Xbox LIVE and Playstation Home avatars, we are beginning to see the first ripples it is causing. When Miis were new, it was great to play around with, but stock facial features and lack of additional content made the fun run dry shortly after the well was sprung for hardcore gamers. The Check Mii Out channel was a great attempt to show off Mii creativity, but it never really let people express themselves. Sure you can make a face that looks like it has a penis on it if you move the nose and mouth properly, but does that really represent you? (If it does, talk to me again when you’re out of sixth grade).
This is where I feel like Nintendo shortchanged all of the hardcore fans in the Mii system. Everyone can point the finger at Microsoft and Rare saying that they were late tdo the party, and that they were ripping Nintendo off, even if the horse’s mouth says otherwise, but at this point, it’s easy to see that they kicked the game up a notch. (One could also make the argument that the idea of the avatar is hardly Shiggy & Co.’s brilliance, thanks to this thing called the internet, but for a console’s operating system they were the first.) It’s like that children’s song that says “Everything you can do, I can do better.” I feel like my avatar is a more accurate representation of myself (albeit slightly more absurd given my current outfit) than the highly cartoony Miis are. And, with the much lower barrier of entry to connecting to friends via Xbox LIVE, I feel like my avatar represents me more accurately to my friends. For example, I just ran into a friend the other day who I have not seen in at least 6 months, and we exchanged gamertags. When I checked his profile, I looked at his avatar and immediately could see the resemblance between his avatar and his real self.
What we have now are gaming consoles that take on aspects of social networking and expand the idea to allow further interaction. In this Web 2.0 world, we’re looking at more users with data presented up-front than ever before. In the early days of the internet and computer mediated communication, scholars found a lot of people hiding behind the veil of anonymity and refusing to establish our identity. However, today’s internet provides countless ways of self-expression on the internet, allowing us to establish a social presence that probably rivals that of a face-to-face encounter.
The Social Presence Theory of Short, Williams and Christie (1976) is one of the oldest theories on computer-mediated communication in our field, and was born in a world where Web 2.0 sounded even dumber then than it does today. The theory posits the idea that communication is more effective when we have more of a social presence, and our presence is most prominent in face-to-face communication. By their origins, online gaming removed our social presence entirely and replaced us with an in-game presence that often reflected the game more than our self. This is what leads to a lot of players in online gaming acting like total jerks, thanks to that anonymity. Looking at the way Miis and avatars bring in a social networking, and possible extensions outside of our consoles, we could see a future in which people are less likely to act like a complete ass in an online game if they feel like they know their team better.
I’m not saying everyone needs to look at the Myspace pages of their squad in Call of Duty, but maybe showing the avatars in the lobby may give you a better idea of what type of people we’re working with. A better online community would create an even bigger draw for whichever console manufacturer can pick it up. This is where Sony has the opportunity to pick up the pieces on home, and create exactly the type of situation I’m talking about, such as with Warhawk. The idea that gamers can take their avatar into Home and congregate with others in the Warhawk War Room to discuss game tips and strategies and then launch right into a game is really an exciting idea, and as a communication technology researcher, it’s something that I’d be really interested in seeing how it plays out.
Again, I originally wanted to just say how cool it is that I can get a top hat for my avatar.
