Tuesday saw the release of a new Xbox 360 dashboard update, although some people (including myself) already had the new update due to a beta preview that you could join a few weeks before the official release. The update included a number of improvements and new features; which included the ability to buy and download games, Netflix parties (US only), user ratings and more streamlined navigation (for the full list of updates see here). However, one of the biggest new features and also one of the most controversial was the new Avatar Marketplace.

The Avatar Marketplace allows you to buy new clothes and props for your Xbox Live avatars. Up until now every new piece of clothing released for the avatars has been free, although it has always been a bit limited in terms of what you can dress your virtual persona in. Now there are themed clothes; such as Star Wars or Gears of War clothing, and even props that your avatar interacts with; such as guitars and pom-poms. Over the next few months we should see a vast increase in content for your avatar, but is it really worth paying for?

The main argument, as you’d expect, is why spend money on content for a virtual avatar? What you have to remember is that this trend isn’t knew, Playstation Home and Second Life have done it, as have hundreds of websites that allow kids to dress up their virtual creations. What links all these products? They sell, and they sell for so little that people have no qualms about buying a few items every now. It’s also a good source of profit, so no-one can really blame Microsoft for moving into this area when it’s already proven that it works.

The only criticism I have is that some of the items are priced a little high. 400 points for a lightsaber is a bit over the top (you can buy some Xbox Live Arcade games for that), but it’s understandable that branded content is going to cost a little more – just like in real life. I don’t have a problem with content being priced, since it was inevitable that Microsoft wasn’t going to be releasing free content forever. So, before you complain that content is no longer free you have to remember that people and companies often want to make money off their creations. It’s crazy right? This damn capitalism! In all seriousness though, wouldn’t you? I know we pay for a gold subscription already, but we don’t get the majority downloadable content for free so why would this be any different? Microsoft isn’t getting all the profit; it also goes to the content creators.

People have the right to choose what they spend their money on. Some like spending £1.36 (160 Microsoft Points, the price of the guitar I bought) on snacks, while others like dressing up a virtual doll. We don’t have to right to criticise what people choose to spend their money on just because you might not like what they’re spending it on. If you don’t like the new Avatar Marketplace then don’t buy anything on it, it’s really that simple. Maybe I wouldn’t buy some MS Points just to buy clothes, but it’s a good way to get rid of those 300 points I had left from buying Fallout 3: Broken Steel and Castle Crashers.

We have to learn to accept that micro transactions are only going to get more prevalent, and they will continue to sell by the bucket load. Some people may not like it, but I think it’s a good way to get rid of the spare change in my pocket. Maybe I’m also admitting that I like to dress up dolls, but we all have our secrets, right?