See that little guy? That’s your dog. He’s pretty cute for simple 2D. Let’s hope for his sake you know what a Zune is. See, here’s the thing: are you going to trot up to a Transformers toon in the middle of your gaming session to get information on the film? Probably not. But… what if you got paid to do just that?

The documentation on the ad avatars (or advertars, as Spencer of Siliconera calls them; I’d choose advatars, me) includes a compensation system. Talk to a bot, answer some questions, and  you get some sort of reward… which, in the examples given, can include food for a virtual pet, like the doggy above.

Is this lame? Entirely, but if it’s not too intrusive, then an optional system like this would, to me, be better than just about any other system of ads! So long as the avatars stayed away, it would be voluntary. But that probably wouldn’t be the case. Let’s hope you can at least shoot them.

[via Siliconera]

Despite the limitations on design, the pins are really great representations of the Mii avatars. Not only are they true to the look, but there’s something about the way the little felt features are tacked on that really evokes the feel of Miis. Now if only you could order custom pins….

The Mii pins are available for $10.50 per pin.

[craftholic's store via Etsy]

Okay so the website’s name doesn’t exactly make sense. I think it would be better off with Mangafy Your Face, or Face Your Mangafied Face. Or Here You Ugly Bastard. Also, I don’t exactly understand why the main page is asking me to shake myself. But except for the engrish, the site delivers as promised. It’s not exactly the Mii Channel, but the avatar creator is really easy to use and has enough options that you can create a fairly accurate yet cuter version of yourself. Some options though, like the clothes, are quite limited and bland.

When you’re done you can either have your mangatar emailed as a low-res JPEG file or pay 1.50 euros to directly download a high-res version. Both methods are inconvenient of course; just take a screenshot of the page instead. I did make my own mangatar, and overall I’m satisfied. It didn’t really capture my essence but the resemblance is there:

My nipples should be a bit higher. Yeah. I think that’s the deal breaker there.

This couple took this project very seriously. The Mr. lovingly designed individual placecards for 77 guests, assigning each person his or her own specially chosen avatar. The Mrs. came up with themes and appropriately assigned each guest to the appropriate game table.

Each table included characters from one game, with retro games like Pac-Man and Zelda represented, as well as newer faves like Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft.

I know people stress about their weddings, but I can’t believe the incredible amount of effort and artistry that went into this! You can see all of the pictures and get the details here.

[via GeekSugar]

Luxury Swiss watch maker Hublot has revealed to our friends over at WatchLuxus that they’ll be setting up an impressive virtual shop on Second Life a little later this month. You’ll be able to immerse yourself in the upscale environs of the Hublot Island store, complete with elegant contemporary interior design, fancy landscaping, bars to hang out in and even a place to dock your imaginary yacht.

You’ll be able to peruse the collection of Hublot’s elegant high-tech and traditional watches and let your avatar accessorize with them. The Hublot virtual store will open its doors on September 12th. I’m not sure how many virtual bucks their timepieces will cost, but given the fancy digs, I’m sure that you’ll have to save up a few Lindens. But your virtual friends will certainly be impressed.

[via WatchLuxus]

Model makers Fabjectory are offering a service which will take your Mii avatar and output a real-life miniature figurine. Simply upload a picture of your Mii, and they’ll create either a 3-inch figure ($50) or a 5-inch figure ($100). Each model is made from thousands of layers of color-infused plaster using their Z-Corp digital prototyping equipment.

If you’re not a Nintendo Wii fan, Fabjectory can also generate 3D models from your Second Life avatar or from a SketchUp model.

[via Dave Curry via Make]