Gamer pictures are like hats: you can change them at will, but each one tells the world a little something about you. Which one are you using right now? COG logo? Master Chief? Soccer ball? Or maybe you’re above all that free–gamer pic business; maybe you splashed out some points on something fancier or a little more tailored to what you’re playing right now. Picking the right one depends on mood, personal style, and whatever’s available on Xbox Live Marketplace. So…where do they come from?

CREATURE FEATURES
Some gamer pics come from independent designers like Nick Busby. A self-taught freelance artist with seven years of experience, 23-yearold Busby comes from “a family of artists” and can also be found working on “advertisements, websites, and personal art commissions,” though he’s developing his programming skills as well. Nick currently has around 50 gamer pics available on Marketplace and has produced picture packs such as Globulars and his Creature Creations series.

If Nick's work has a common theme, it's "stay out of the water."

He originally got involved with Microsoft in 2006, when he submitted a game concept to the Live Arcade team. While waiting to hear back from them, he asked about creating content for Marketplace, and soon found his content appearing on Xbox Live.

“The process is pretty simple,” he explains. “I usually submit a proposal before investing much time in a project. After it’s approved, I create the art to specifications such as using certain file formats and dimensions. After I complete all artwork for a project, I usually ask for final approval. Once that’s [given], I get everything ready, which includes the content’s banner and any ads for it, and then submit it all for publishing on Marketplace. It usually takes one or two weeks to go live.”

While most of his work is created using Photoshop and 3D Studio Max, Busby prefers not to stick to any one style: “It’s more useful to be able to create things that people would never guess [were yours] by looking at your past works.” He says he’s always striving for something fresh, and usually achieves this by mixing up different elements to give his concepts “some sort of twist.” And while he’s often mindful about taking too much from outside influences, Busby does admit that elements from B-movies, childhood toys, and the Super NES game Zombies Ate My Neighbors “get through no matter what.”

POWER TO THE PEOPLE?
So if Nick can do it, why can’t you? Peter Orullian, group product manager for Xbox 360 at Microsoft, says that the company has considered the feasibility of user-submitted gamer pics. The main problem lies in the responsibility Microsoft has to its users — the language in a Halo 2 deathmatch might be out of its direct control, but the company can make sure that no one has to see a picture of someone’s ass on every other Gamercard they look at. For now, the only way to publicly distribute your own gamer pic is to go through official channels, or to have it hosted on OXM’s cover disc.

“All Marketplace partners are carefully reviewed,” says Orullian. “Often, business partners are recommended through nontraditional, as well as traditional, channels. And, of course, some partners we do solicit.”

Obviously, if you’re making a game, it’s much easier to get your pictures onto your fans’ Gamercards. In fact, Microsoft often requests that developers craft gamer pics — especially in the case of games they publish, like Real Time Worlds’ Crackdown. Even then, as with nondeveloper gamer-pic creators, the content is not dictated by Microsoft.

Oodles of Crackdown gamer pics were created, but only a few were released.

“I had pretty much free reign,” recalls Crackdown Characters Lead Steve Hodgson. “Once the request came through for the tiles to be created, we had a quick meeting about the kind of images we thought people would like to see and use for themselves, I then went away and started to work on a couple of test tiles. Everyone was happy with the style of the tests, so from that point on, I was left to my own devices to [concoct] the final set.”

Hodgson produced the pictures by posing characters from the game in 3D Studio Max and then touching them up in Photoshop. When the most recent downloadable content for Crackdown was released, he created 100 pictures, although only a small number of them were actually made available on Marketplace. Hodgson says the fate of the remaining pics is in the hands of Microsoft.

PRETTY AS A...
Busby notes that the tastes of Marketplace users are often varied, and that tapping into that shifting taste is as important to a picture pack’s success as the idea and execution of the pack itself. “I think a good gamer pic requires enough details to warrant it being made in the first place,” he tells us, “but not too much to make it indistinguishable.” Hodgson agrees that a picture’s visual composition is the most important factor, although he also feels that it needs to tie in as part of an overall set, and be easily identifiable if it’s from a specific game.

And even if the actual content isn’t directly controlled by Microsoft, Orullian certainly knows what he likes to see on the service: choice. “It’s subjective and all about what’s relevant to the gamer,” he says. “Some of the simplest designs are very compelling. On the other hand, sometimes ‘busy’ fits your mood. The cool thing about gamer pics is that you can change them as often as you want.”