I've been thinking a little bit about gamer pictures, personal pictures, and the Xbox Live Vision camera.

 

 

I'm sure many of you already have a firm grasp of this, but for everyone else, let me 'splain. (No, there is too much. Let me sum up.)

 

Your gamer picture is the little image or that shows up on your gamer card. You see it on the Xbox Dashboard and Guide, and in My Xbox and the forums on Xbox.com. It's your icon. Your avatar. The Xbox 360 console comes with a few gamer pictures to choose from, and you can get some more if you have the HDD, and you can download tons more from Xbox Live Marketplace. I'm sure you've seen the monkey, or the bubble-gum boy, or the pirate guy. Those are gamer pictures.

 

 

In the Spring update, personal pictures were added. This is a second gamer picture, visible only to people on your friends list. Everyone else on Xbox Live, and everyone looking at your gamer card on the web, still just sees your regular gamer picture. If you don't have a camera, your personal picture can be used as an alternate gamer picture, selected from the same list you choose a gamer picture from.

 

With the release of Xbox Live Vision, the real reason for personal pictures becomes apparent. We wanted a way for you to use the camera to make a custom gamer picture, but we were also keenly aware that some people would take the opportunity to show you things that are best left to the imagination. The team came up with a type of custom picture that was visible only to friends, the personal picture.

 

So, you can take your own picture (or, if you're shy, a picture of your Megatron figure or whatever) and use it as your unique personal picture. But wait, there's more! Add a little spice with an effect or two, and voila, instant art.

 

 

To change your gamer and personal pictures, first select your gamer card and open your profile. Select Edit Gamer Profile, Gamer Picture. Select Change Gamer Picture to change your regular gamer picture, or Change Personal Picture to change your personal picture. If you have the Xbox Live Vision camera, select Take Personal Picture and follow the steps. That's it!

 

Here's an interesting little tidbit: anytime you see yourself on camera, whether in video chat or taking a picture, your image is reversed, like a mirror. This was intentional. During development, we found that people were more comfortable seeing themselves in a mirror view than in a "real" photo view. Then, in the case of a picture, the image flips for you so you can see what you really look like.