Wii thought of it before yuu!
A few months ago I posted an idea to LJ about a "universal character generator" that would let you import your own custom persistent avatar into multiple games. It turns out that the Wii will support such a feature, called the Mii Channel:
This morning, Nintendo also took the wraps off the machine's final feature, which it calls "Wii Channel". From the same menu used to boot games, users can browse the web, edit and share photos with friends, and get free news and weather updates from dedicated services. Other functions of the hardware include "Mii Channel," which will allow users to customize character faces that will then be automatically inserted into compatible Wii software. Wii Sports will use the customized faces you create as the faces of your in-game tennis players, for example. Built-in memory in the Wii controller will allow users to store their Mii caricatures on the controller, then take them to a friend's house.
Other than the hopelessly out-of-date "channel" paradigm, which implies "push media" (remember PointCast and Active Desktop?) I really love this idea. I can't wait to see my face on Link, or a samurai, or a giant city-smashing robot lizard. Now if only I could get paid for coming up with the idea first.
This morning, Nintendo also took the wraps off the machine's final feature, which it calls "Wii Channel". From the same menu used to boot games, users can browse the web, edit and share photos with friends, and get free news and weather updates from dedicated services. Other functions of the hardware include "Mii Channel," which will allow users to customize character faces that will then be automatically inserted into compatible Wii software. Wii Sports will use the customized faces you create as the faces of your in-game tennis players, for example. Built-in memory in the Wii controller will allow users to store their Mii caricatures on the controller, then take them to a friend's house.
Other than the hopelessly out-of-date "channel" paradigm, which implies "push media" (remember PointCast and Active Desktop?) I really love this idea. I can't wait to see my face on Link, or a samurai, or a giant city-smashing robot lizard. Now if only I could get paid for coming up with the idea first.