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Gamer Pictures have been around for near enough eleven years now, launching alongside the Xbox 360 in 2005. They were the precursor to Avatars when it came to player expression - a neat way to show off who you were and what you liked at a glance. But did you know the Xbox 360 only featured 12 gamerpics at launch?
Kudos if you remembered, because over the years Xbox continued to add gamerpics for users to purchase and download from the Xbox Marketplace. It's crazy to think we used to pay for our profile pictures, but at the time, it felt the only real way to individualise ourselves from the millions of other Xbox Live players.
I can still vividly recall a schoolfriend of mine rocking the 'red monkey' gamerpic, and me thinking, "No way I can pick the same one, I need to be different", resulting in me donning the 'anime girl' one. At the time, nobody else opted for it, or at least I didn't notice, so I felt unique enough to crack on with 1v1 sniper duels against my pals on Canals in Gears of War. Those were the days.
It's funny how, from the 12 available options, I still managed to feel distinct from my friends. It was important to me at the time, and oddly, that same mindset has stuck with me through the years. Even now on the Xbox Series X, I rock a cute illustration of my dog, which makes me feel like a unique individual amongst the millions of players.
Apparently, you can tell a lot about a person by their choice of gamerpic. I know I had my preconceptions about a few. Like how you were probably my friend's parent if you rocked the smiley face. Or perhaps you were a bubble-blowing teabagger in Halo? I remember you!
So, with that in mind, I'd love to ask: what was your original Xbox 360 Gamer Picture? Make sure to vote in the poll below, and bonus points if you share your gamerpic stories in the comments section.
