Xbox Live Avatar Remake On Its Way!

It looks like Xbox Live Avatars will soon be getting a remake.

A few "beta" avatars have been already been spotted in the wild - including that of Microsoft's Major Nelson. The new avatars appear more realistic and less cartoony/bobble-head. Most theorize that this change is so the avatars will work better with the soon to be released Kinect system.

Expect the new avatar design to probably be part of Xbox's yearly fall update and out in time for Kinect's November release.

Launch Kinects Will Not Read Sign Language

Rumors have been floating around that the Xbox 360's upcoming Kinect will be able to read sign language, but Microsoft has officially denied such claims.

The rumors surfaced after someone found patents Microsoft had filed for a Kinect that could read sign language. Microsoft says they made add this into later models of the Kinect if they improve the camera resolution on them, but the launch Kinects will be unable to read sign language.

Microsoft dropped this feature in order to keep costs low and maintain their $150 price for the Kinect.

Fable III Not Kinect-able at Launch

Although Lionhead's Peter Molyneux has been a huge supporter of Microsoft's upcoming Kinect system he has revealed that Fable III will not be compatible with the Kinect. At least at launch.

Fable III comes out in October, about a month before Kinect will hit the markets. According to Molyneux, they were trying to incorporate the Kinect into the game but in the end had to scrap the plans because Molyneux wanted to do more with it than a side quest or two.

Molyneux has hinted that some type of Kinect addition will be added to Fable III at some point in the future. It is unclear if this will be in the form of a patch or a DLC, if it does surface.