Microsoft did not copy Miis

[Eldritch Warlord]

At least that is what Mark Betteridge of Rare (the Microsoft owned studio that designed the New Xbox Experience's "Avatars") claims in an interview [http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3171143] with 1UP.

1UP: You were saying that the Avatars are something totally new and unique for Rare, but going back to what I asked earlier about the perceptions of Rare copying Nintendo's ideas, some could say Avatars are just Rare's spin on the Mii.

MB: Yeah, I think it's probably going to be a surprise to people that we had this concept before the Wii even existed. I'm talking about the hardware, never mind the Miis and everything else.

It sounds entirely plausible to me and I'm inclined to believe it. It annoys me to see so many people claiming that Microsoft just saw the Wii's success and thought "MUST COPEE NUW!!!!!11" especially with avatars (no capitalization) being an almost universal gaming conceit and customizing said avatars being a common idea long before Miis were first conceived.

I'm interested to hear other opinions on this matter although this is mostly "I don't think MS's Avatars are Mii rip-offs. Here's proof."

 

[Brokkr]

Haha, one company claiming that they thought of something before some other company. Big surprise there. Something like "we just didn't tell anyone but we thought of that before you "

 

[Neosage]

What hardware...?

 

[CoverYourHead]

If they had the idea, then it would have been completed a long long time ago, not years after Nintendo's success with the idea.

 

[dekkarax]

I don't think that avatars rip of the Miis-it is after all, quite a common idea.

However, I do think that they saw the Miis' popularity and decided to implement them themselves.

However, I own neither a 360 nor a Wii, so frankly, I don't care.

 

[y8c616]

of course M$ are gonna say that. Truth is, microsoft have never released a truly original product; most of their computer stuff is ripped off apple, and most xbox stuff is a hash of what their competitors make

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

Why is this random throwaway feature such a huge deal for some people/publications?

Don't know really. It's importance is minimal to me.

I just thought it was an interesting find. Keep in mind that this interview is not focused on the Mii=Avatar issue, that question and a follow-up question are the only two that touch on the subject. And the question I quoted is almost a follow-up itself.

Anyway, I found an interview. A guy said something in it. Interpret as you will.

EDIT:

What hardware...?

The Wii itself.

 

[LukeUK90]

I don't think it's a rip off of the Miis itself but more just being comercially apt enough to use a common and clearly successful idea.
I know that sounds a tad contradictory, but as Eldritch said avatars are pretty much a universal concept, so I wouldn't class it as a copy.

I do, however, find it slightly hard to belive that MS had the idea for over two years now and didn't act on it.

 

[superbleeder12]

of course M$ are gonna say that. Truth is, microsoft have never released a truly original product; most of their computer stuff is ripped off apple, and most xbox stuff is a hash of what their competitors make

ripped off apple? I chuckled a bit. more like Unix. and apple blatantly ripped off OpenBSD, I mean the Kernel is the same, the two just have different GUI's. At least microsoft created their own kernel.

 

[Aardvark]

We did not copy our avatars from the Nintendo Wii. We copied our avatars from an old Xerox machine that wasn't patented properly. Suck it.

 

[DirkGently]

How is it that the internet is awash with hate for Microsoft for 'stealing' the Avatars/miis and Sony's Cross Media Bar (such a pretentious fucking name for it to), and yet no one hated on Sony for stealing achievements?

And for the record, the new dashboard is far more Windows Media Center with a little bit of Cover flow than it is the cross media bar.

 

[Baneat]

Why should I care about who copied whom?

 

[gigastrike]

What hardware...?

The Wii itself.

So Microsoft is saying "Because we had an idea of a console with motion control input before the Wii was released, we can copy Nintendo's ideas?"

 

[black lincon]

just wait til 1-up gets on the phone with Shigeru Miyamoto and he says, "Well I thought of it before you were born!"

Simply saying they created it first doesn't meant they did. Especially since the Xbox avatars are designed to look a little more cute than real. If I'm going to believe anything it's that the PS home avatars are based on something close to second life.

 

[Bowstring]

of course M$ are gonna say that. Truth is, microsoft have never released a truly original product; most of their computer stuff is ripped off apple, and most xbox stuff is a hash of what their competitors make

Take off those ignorance-tinted glasses boi.

Sounds like a personal vendetta to me.

 

[qbert4ever]

Eh, ripoff or not, I hate both Miis and avaters.

 

[Ionait]

I don't think Microsoft copied Miis. Why? Miis are just avatars to begin with. Avatars are insanely popular. People want to have their own unique stamp on things. Signatures and avatars are monument to gamers and net goers. That's that. The concept has been around forever and more power to all of the people that use it! Avatars are unique representations of the gamer that everyone comes to appreciate. Maybe some are meh about it or just don't care but nobody hates the idea, surely, and 99.9% of Xbox users, no matter their opinion, have tried out the feature anyway.

Avatars all around! Call 'em what you want! Miis, yous, whatever.

 

[D_987]

Avatars have been around for a long time. Although Microsoft expanded the Mii idea, as did Sony with its Avatar system.

So all 3 consoles now have avatars systems - why are people still going on about this?

 

[Radelaide]

If you're going to say that Microsoft copied Nintendo, you can say Nintendo copied the idea from someone else! Avatars are not a Nintendo original idea.