Let me start by saying that I decided to get Kinect as I watched this past E3. I was impressed, I knew right away it probably wouldn't be something a clan can get behind, but as a gamer I saw the possibilities and I was pretty excited for this. I wasn't sure how it would work, it's pretty futuristic, I mean voice commands are nothing new, but what is new is the fact that these voice commands actually work. The sensor itself is rather small, they sell stands that lock them to the top of your television or stands that sit on the floor like a tripod, what's cool about Kinect is, it doesn't have to be right in front of your television to work.
I'll start with the positives. The sensor is extremely accurate, if you have enough room, around six feet from the sensor it's pinpoint accurate, if you have less room, it's still accurate but not pinpoint. It has facial recognition, which blew me away, I was playing it with Hellhammer and when he jumps in for his turn it automatically recognizes him and changes the avatar over to his, same with when it's my turn.
The games look good, colorful and are a lot of fun! Try it and you'll want one. Hellhammer was skeptical as well, but he was having a blast in no time, you totally forget your making an ass out of yourself and just have fun. That's why I got it. Above all else I'm a gamer, I was gaming on the Atari back in the day and I've been gaming since before internet enabled gameplay, so I just enjoy gaming for fun. This is a lot of fun.
The games can give you a good workout, it's so fun though that you don't even realize it until the next day when your arms and legs are a bit sore from gaming. The variety is a big plus as well, right now there is a wide array of different games to choose with more "Core" titles due next year, I knew that Dance Central was going to be a big hit, though it's not my thing, I can see why it's so popular.
The Kinect sensor has motors on it, so it tracks you, the sensor itself moves up and down and left to right.
Every Kinect game is online. I love the Wii, but to me a huge failure on the Wii is the lack of quality online, Microsoft made the online more of a social thing, you can disable voice chat and it matches you up against someone, so it's just fun, no trash talking, no B.S.
The games are cheaper then standard games, $49 is pretty fair, there is a lot of content and gamerscore to be had. I'm excited to see when some titles come available used.
Even though it's controller free, there are already some add on's.
Though the boat add on doesn't interest me, I'd love to see a Light saber add on down the road, maybe for that Star Wars Kinect game that is due out next year.
As for the negatives, I'd really say the price to some people $149 is a bit negative, but when you consider you need nothing else and it's capable to do multiplayer right out of the box and it comes with a game (Kinect Adventures) it's worth it. The best deal for Kinect would be to get the 360s Arcade bundled with Kinect for $299, you save $50 that way. That would be best for those new to the 360 and wanting to try Kinect.
If you have an older Xbox 360 you need to use a separate power cable that comes with Kinect as well as a USB cable that also comes with it, if you have a 360s, it hooks up into a USB hub in the new 360 and thats all you need, so it's very little to set up.
I'd also say if your strictly a "Core" or online shooter person you probably wont find much use for Kinect, though being able to use voice commands on the dash and control media this way is pretty nice on it's own.
If you get the chance though, try it. It's a lot of fun, you'll lose yourself just having a good time gaming, which is what it's all about right?
I'll give it 5 T-Bags out of 5. I wasn't prepared for it to work as well as it actually does, it's impressive to say the least.
Subject: My Kinect Review 
Sat Nov 06, 2010 8:14 am
