I still remember the conversation with my husband the day we drove home with our new Wii: “I am soooo going to kick your butt. Just try to beat me. You might as well surrender now.” A ridiculously competitive couple we surely are, having both played NCAA D1 sports in college,
Wii Sports has become a good channel for our need to beat each other to a pulp. But the smack talking went to waste that night. We were Mii’ed! I created his. He created mine. We then created them for family members. And given all of the Web sites out there to download Mii’s, we were clearly not alone.
So what’s behind the fascination of creating graphical representations of ourselves? Maybe it’s a way for our alter ego to shine through or a chance for us to show a more idealistic image of ourselves. Maybe it’s because it’s just plain fun. Whatever the reason, they’re becoming popular outside the traditional walls of gaming and creaping into the realm of the Chic Geek. Here’s a couple girly usages of avatars that are quite clever.
Pose Prints, a cool find by Popgadet, allows you to create avatars to place in invitations for weddings, graduations or whatever the occasion. I wouldn’t dare put an actual photo of myself on my own personal stationary, but an avatar of me? Now, we’re talking! For fun I even created one of my very own:
Not too bad and I do love the scarf!
Another photo-avatar I am jazzed about will be available in late November for the Chic Geeks of Japan and then hopefully the rest of the world. As reported by Trend Hunter, Nintendo will be releasing “Project Beauty,” a game developed by Sega in collaboration with cosmetics company Shiseido. Ladies will be able to scan in their photo and apply makeup to it or their avatar based on elements, like atmosphere (i.e. work, play, dating).
There are also instructions on how to apply the makeup, once you lock on that special look you are shooting for. For only 6,090 yen (about $55 USD), I will be jumping at the chance to buy this when it hits U.S. shelves. What a fun and engaging way to use an avatar and your photo to define your beauty. I’m not sure if I am more excited about applying the makeup to my photo or creating another avatar and seeing how the makeup looks on it. Regardless, I know this one is going to lead to some good times with my friends and may even reign over Wii Sports in my house. Well, maybe not that far. Attempting to beat my husband in any of the Wii Sports Games will always take precedence!
How have avatars crept into your world? Do you enjoy making them of yourself as much as I have? Looking forward to your thoughts and comments.
August 13th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Cool!