Miis vs. Avatars

Microsoft's Avatars

If you follow the internet, you may know a thing or two about Microsoft's Avatars. Basically they're Microsoft's answer to Nintendo Miis. So will they dethrone Nintendo's little characters? Microsoft may think so, but I as a gamer see many flaws in their plans. Read on to see my analysis as to why I think so. Enjoy!

First off, Nintendo's Miis have been there since the beginning. The moment you bought a Wii, you could turn it on, adjust some of the settings and set to making Miis of yourself and family. And since the Wii's launch dozens of games have used Miis to some extent. Everything from Wii Play and Wii Sports, which allowed you to actually play as your Mii, to Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, which had you use a Mii for your save slot. Genius? I dare say so. But then Avatars are a different story... The XBox 360 has been around for almost three years, and Avatars have just been announced. So that means all those games that could've used them won't or will need some sort of patch, which can be a hassle for gamers and developers. Plus the Wii had Wii Sports packaged in. The game was great fun for a little while and the Mii integration was nice. It was great if you didn't have any other titles at the time. But the 360 doesn't have a packaged game like the Wii, so no using your Avatars right off the bat, which will suck for people who don't buy a lot of games.

Nintendo's Miis

Currently, there are only three games in development that are going to use Microsoft's Avatars: UNO Rush, 1 vs. 100, and Scene It? Box Office Smash, all casual catered games. Which brings up my next point. As you may be aware of, the Wii is a more family friendly console. Sure they're hardcore games too, but if you're thinking about buying a sytem for your mom or grandma, you usually don't think of the 360. But with Avatars, Microsoft is trying to cater to the casual folk. And I don't really think that's a good idea. Most of the buyers and player of Microsoft's XBox 360 are more core players. Most 360 owners buy the system for games like GTA, Gears of War, and Halo 3, not Avatars. While on the Wii, Miis are used in a variety of casual things, because casuals play the Wii. Stuff like Everybody Votes Channel and Check Mii Out Channel thrive on the Wii because of the expanded userbase. This isn't so much the story on the 360.

So overall, the Miis are better in my opinion. The main two reasons being that they've been on the system since launch and the Wii is more casual friendly.