But... but... the casual gamer wants hardcore games! Hear me, MS!

Good one, MS: 'mii-too' thinking is definitely the way to win marketshare (and far, far easier than actually innovating).

/sarc

i prefer gamer pics tbh.

...not sure what I feel about this... At this point, Microsoft definitely is in a better position to appeal to the 'casual' gamer market, and clearly the Miis are doing it quite well. However, these 'Avatars' look like they're more meant for regular gamers to make a consistent character for different games. Maybe you can toss them into shooters, racers, and other types of games?

I think it's an interesting tactic by MS, though--together with the Newton, I'd say they have a fair chance, if they market it properly, to appeal to the crowd that's intrigued by the Wii concept but wants more up-to-date graphics?

No one should be surprised by this. Microsoft's E3 05 conference had an entire portion dedicated to capturing the casual gamer market (a fact many like to ignore when claiming that Nintendo is destroying the industry).

MS failed miserably when compared to Nintendo, so what do you do? Rip off the competition...though they look more like Sim wannabes than Miis to me. There's also nothing remotely clever or catchy about "Avatars!"

Yeah, this is going to get bashed to hell, save for the intense faction of fanboys claiming that this is going to be much better than Miis.

soo..... This is what they mean by "Microsoft is being DESPERATE"..

now it all finally makes sense.

 yeah well you are not a casual my friend.... we'll see more and more stuff like that in the future on all 3 consoles.... who ever wants to win the position of multimedia box in the livingroom will have to please the entire family.... not only the gamer in the house... 

that's why i don't really believe the ranking in the console war really matters this gen... we are at the hybrid phase... all the gimmicks of the three platforms are easy to replicate.... but the three companies have different approaches.... nintendo is 100% on the gaming side... introducing gaming to casual..... Sony is 100% on the hardware offering the ferrari with it's specs.... MS is 100% on the software side trying to deploy networks and connectivity between what was the PC as a multimedia platform in the office with the console which was the entertainment unit in the living room

nintendo well it's nintendo they have been in the gaming industry for ages (so in your living room) and are decided to stay there in a good position

Sony has been in your living room with other products for a while but has heavy competition on those market and needs to expand with on top the fact that stand alones will tend to disappear.... we'll see more and more all in one

MS is loosing some ground on the PC software industry with general customers against apple with is gaining some momentum on the trend they have started when Job came back and the launch of the iMac and iPod and all related products..... they need new markets and quick or they'll be let behind

I bet R&D is going crazy for all three companies as we speak.... because no matter what next gen won't be only about consoles and gaming but all bunch of stuff we can't even imagine yet....

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=P7J_ereCiTo

this 10 min documentary explains how fast the world is moving today and it's not about to slow down... what's true for us as individuals is true for corporations too... why do you think MS is buying out companies everywhere right now ??? for the documentary it's not focused on gaming but it's related to the issues we are all facing at the 4 min mark is the part most interesting for us... 

Can't wait to play Gears Of War 2 online with my Avatar to blow my friends up!!
Or how about looking in the rearview mirror in Forza to look at my best friend Avatar driving the car behind me in second place...

That would be so... lame..

 So by SONY copying 360 in having in game music and ingame chat and other things such as XBLA features and achievements that doesn't mean SONY has changed. WOW which cave have you been living in SONY fanboy? SONY is the biggest copycat and everyone knoes that. From HDD, six-axis the PS3 is made by copying everyone else except for bluray and other miniscule things.

..........Desperate...no...that's not the word...
Rip-off...maybe....
Wack Juice Intoxication...yep, that's it.