Xbox Live Marketplace Getting Pets

Xbox Live avatars are getting pets... for a price.

Either Major Nelson is completely on crack, or Microsoft has gone off the deep end with the latest addition to the Xbox 360 console. Unfortunately, for those gamers who still haven't taken a liking to the New Xbox Experience console UI, things are officially about to get a little bit more cheesier: pets. That's right. Microsoft has now unleashed a horde of new pets for Xbox 360 gamers to adopt and ignore.

Actually, the adoption process doesn't begin until tomorrow, December 3. Once the doors open, gamers can purchase a pet for 240 Microsoft Points. The list of animals include various dogs, cats, goldfish, a snake, a bird, a monkey, a pony, and a guinea pig. For gamers who are looking for something a little less down-to-earth, a limited edition Chocobo is up for grabs by registering here.

"Who didn’t wish for a cute puppy for the holidays?" Microsoft asks in today's press release. "Or maybe you’re more of a bird person? Have you always wanted a pony to call your own? So maybe your building doesn’t allow pets, but now your Avatar on Xbox 360 can have them!"

Apparently, there's no limit to how many pets a player can own. It may be possible to acquire a whole farm, but what fun would that be having to clean all that mess off the screen. While pets are probably just for decoration, perhaps Microsoft has something else in mind later down the road. We'll see just how interactive these virtual beasts will actually be when they appear Thursday. For those gamers who already applied for the Chocobo, it's safe to assume that the codes won't arrive until tomorrow as well.

In the meantime, click the image to the right to check out the Avatar Pets gallery.

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