Up until this weekend I hadn't really been too excited about seeing the upcoming Simpsons feature-length movie. That was until I laid my eyes on the film's Web site.
Like most other movie marketing sites out there, it's full of a lot of Flash with bouncy navigation and a nearly unbearable amount of sound effects. There are the usual mini-games (both of which I might add are quite enjoyable), and links to the movie's MySpace profile (it is Fox, after all). The real gem however, is the Simpsons avatar builder--a piece-by-piece character maker that lets people create their own Simpsons-esque persona right down to nose shape and facial hair coloring.
I've played with two other high-profile avatar creators before, one emulating Nintendo's Mii maker, and another that lets you make your own Picasso--missing ears and all. The Simpsons version is a little closer to Nintendo's offerings, giving users a wide array of body parts to choose from, along with a color pallet for further customization. There's also a "roll the dice" button that will spit out a randomized character.
When you're finished, you can print your character out to stick on the fridge, or save it for use around the Simpsons Web site. What it's really missing is the option to save it as an image file, IM buddy icon, or as a good size for social-networking profiles--the typical fodder for viral marketing.
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Design your own Simpsons character piece by piece with this avatar creator.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Here's CNET's very own Rafe Needleman. The beard is a bit off, and his hair isn't nearly as shiny, but the resemblance is striking.
(Credit: CNET Networks)It's no secret the Nintendo Wii has been doing extremely well as a gaming platform. One of the best things to do out of the box is play around with the Mii channel, a personal avatar creation tool for tailoring every aspect of your virtual persona. It didn't take long for an enterprising developer from Adobe to re-create the same experience online, which has resulted in the Mii Editor.
Mii Editor is a near-perfect recreation of the Nintendo Mii creation tool, right down to the interface. Users can change face shape, hair, eyebrows, eyes, and small details like glasses and facial hair. The entire setup runs in Adobe Flash, so there's no load time or need to refresh when making changes.
When you're done, there are several export options, including social-network friendly JPEG files and a URL permalink to send to friends. While some of the Wii magic is lost doing this with a mouse and a computer screen, making these things is a blast.
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I got a press release about Nintendo's new social democracy channel this morning, but not before I had already noticed it while checking the Wii's weather channel between bites of cereal (yeah I'm that guy). The new channel--called "Everybody Votes"--is a simple yes-or-no voting system with a gorgeous interface. It might be the most colorful and well-designed Wii channel yet.
Everybody Votes allows Wii users to vote on simple questions. It also allows you to suggest your own poll to be featured on the service. The entire voting process is done using your self-created Wii profiles called Miis. Your Mii is your vote, and to cast it you simply need to pick it up (using the remote of course) and drop him or her onto your answer of choice. There's also the option to predict which side of the argument will have the majority, which gets tracked in your Mii's profile. After you've voted on a number of issues, the channel will provide you with more advanced statistics, like how "tuned in" you are, and alternately, how much your vote differs from the popular opinion.
The service is reminiscent of several Web voting platforms (see EasyPoll and Buzzvote), but what really gets me is how much more enjoyable of an experience this is than an actual election in person or by mail. If we could get a system this simple and efficient for state and federal elections, I think most people would prefer remote control voting in their pajamas.
Below is a video overview of the service from YouTube user VOOK64:
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