Naruto and Lively Avatars

Naruto

I won't be adding any news about XBLA releases. Rather, given that everyone is probably chilling out during the holidays and booting up their favorite game, let's check out the rumors for Xbox. 

First, there was news that the folks behind Xbox are all worked up about their latest idea – realistic avatars. That's right, now your little pictorial depictions can represent what you really look like. Apparently this is linked to the release of Natal. Am I the only one who is a bit errr about this idea? Do you really want your online friends to know what you look like? Alright, so they limit certain features for folks under 18 on their Xbox account but they are fine with young whippersnappers looking like themselves, or as close as they can to their real life selves, in their avatar picture? And I wonder why MS thinks this will encourage good behavior. Anyone else ready to don the weird bunny suit from Donny Darko for this avatar shot?

Ooh, this is better news. At least less lame than the 'ways to make your life miserable' scheme that was mentioned earlier. Fairly soon, fans of Naruto will see a second game based on the popular manga/anime show coming to a store near you. And this time it will be released on both PS3 and the Xbox (take that, PS). Unfortunately, it looks like the game will only be released in Japan. Well, no one said anything about an English port of the game.